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Challenges facing tertiary institutions in

participating and contributing

to African aviation

Sunil MaharajDEANUniversity of Pretoria

AGENDA

Our Global Competitiveness National Development Plan and HEI The Bottleneck – a broader view Food for thought Conclusion

Research and Development is the cornerstone !

Global Competitiveness Index 2014 - 2015

Mauritius, Rwanda and South Africa (burgundy red) whileBotswana and Morocca (ligher red) are relatively more competitive

12 Pillars for competitiveness

The most worrying is that Africa is underperforming in Education and Public Health

54% of African employers state that job seeker’s skills do not match their needs

Ref: Africa 2015 WEF Competitiveness Report

7http://www.nber.org/papers/w16082 (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010, USA)

Value Proposition of doing Postgraduate Studies

Graduate School (ie. Postgrad.)

Ref: DHET Jan 2015 Research Outputs Report

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National Development Plan Targets

Based on 2013 data SA produces 2051 PhD graduates This implies 38 PhD graduates per million of population

Industry must see the HCD value proposition and buy in!

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National Development Plan Targets

Based on 2013 data SA produces 2051 PhD graduates This implies 38 PhD graduates per million of population

In Comparison: UK 288 PhD’s per million USA 201 PhD’s per million Korea 187 PhD’s per million

Industry must see the HCD value proposition and buy in!

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National Development Plan Targets

Based on 2013 data SA produces 2051 PhD graduates This implies about 38 PhD graduates per million of population

In Comparison: UK 288 PhD’s per million USA 201 PhD’s per million Korea 187 PhD’s per million

SA’s target for 2030 is 5000 PhD’s This implies approx. 100 PhD’s per million of population Majority needs to be in SET for SA to be a leading innovator

Industry must see the HCD value proposition and buy in!

GERD in South Africa SOUTH AFRICA VALUE  

2008/09 2009/10

Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D - GERD (Rand Millions) 21 041.0 20 954.7

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market prices (Rand Millions) 2 283 822 2 395 967

GERD as a percentage of GDP 0.92 0.87

Civil GERD as a percentage of GDP 0.87 0.82

Total R&D personnel (FTE) a 30 801.5 30 891.3

Total researchers (FTE) b 19 384.3 19 793.1

Total researchers per 1000 total employment (FTE) 1.4 1.5

Total R&D personnel per 1000 total employment (FTE) 2.2 2.3

Total researchers (headcount) 39 955 40 797

Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers b 39.7 40.8

 

National Survey of Research and Experimental Development, DST. Pg. 5

Comparator Countries

India and Comparator Countries: Key R&D Statistics  

Table 1: R&D Investment Statistics of the Countries Examined in this Study (2012)  

  Total GDP1 Total GERD1 % Share of

World R&D2

GERD as % of GDP

Researchers2

USA 16244.6 452.6 29 2.8 14,25,550

Japan 4488.3 157.1 11.1 3.5 6,56,651

Germany 3377.5 104.4 6.1 3.1 2,90,853

France 2371.9 53.4 3.8 2.3 2,15,755

UK 2368.2 41.9 3.2 1.8 2,62,303

Russia 3373.2 36.4 2.5 1.1 4,47,579

South Korea 1540.2 53.1 4 3.5 2,88,901

China 12314.7 197.1 13.7 1.6 13,18,086

India 1841.7 14.8 2.8 0.8 1,54,827

South Africa 569.5 5.4 0.4 0.9 19,320

Brazil 2435.2 30.4 1.9 1.3 1,33,266

Source: NSF (2013), OECD Stat (2013), Eurostat (2012), and UNESCO report (2010); Note: 1Figures of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GERD (Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D) are in US Billion Dollars; 22012 or latest data available.

Scientific Research in India. ISTIP Bulletin No 3.

Increasing Scientific Activity of Emerging Economies: Another major cause behind the global publication growth can be seen from the increasing scientific activity of emerging

economies. The figure provides evidence for this statement. BRICKS countries.

Scientific Research in India. ISTIP Bulletin No 3. P8

South Africa’s investment into R&D in 2009-10

(0.87% of GDP)

• Business sector on R&D spent R11.1b (9.7% decline)

• Higher education spent R5.1b• Government spent R4.5b• Non-profit sector spent R189m• International funding for R&D was R2.5bYear % of GDP

2007-8 0.93

2008-9 0.92

2009-10 0.87

Target of 2% set for R&D by 2018?

South Korea

Around 1965 (50 years ago) South Korea poorer than Mozambique

5.2% of public spending to R&D 224 universities (174 are private) for 48m

population GERD as % of GDP is 3.5% (in 2012) Joined OECD club of rich industrialized

countries

Research in Germany

Almost 1000 public and publicly funded institutions of science, research and development

More than 500 research and innovation networks and clusters

590 000 R&D staff In 2012:

almost 2/3 of research funding was provided by industry

18% invested in higher education institutions

Where is the bottleneck?

Broader view

• Relatively small fraction of people in South Africa educated at tertiary level: ≈ 18% tertiary participation (2011)

GRADE 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Grade 1 1 277 499 1 303 016 1 233 581 1 186 011 1 172 659 1 122 114 1 105 186 1 116 899 1 177 089 1 208 973 1 222 851 1 235 901

Grade 2 1 111 858 1 109 201 1 118 690 1 082 501 1 051 255 1 031 821 1 003 071 994 410 1 003 353 1 074 788 1 116 427 1 149 894

Grade 3 1 003 331 1 081 956 1 078 001 1 100 150 1 067 684 1 017 656 1 003 394 972 668 957 209 967 373 1 025 185 1 073 447

Grade 4 952 465 985 139 1 061 770 1 073 604 1 091 594 1 050 860 1 018 450 1 002 645 974 860 966 349 964 630 1 036 378

Grade 5 1 035 707 916 911 951 372 1 026 779 1 036 163 1 043 012 1 007 928 978 983 957 203 939 025 923 562 929 735

Grade 6 1 101 740 997 365 898 493 920 187 1 002 266 1 001 852 1 011 105 978 016 946 427 935 446 909 095 894 517

Grade 7 987 876 1 050 554 972 542 872 693 896 545 964 345 969 519 980 747 941 291 912 528 902 099 875 311

Grade 8 976 750 1 010 710 1 052 499 1 021 377 930 522 926 603 989 609 1 001 180 1 008 110 971 509 942 345 935 624

Grade 9 902 129 914 729 930 797 971 493 958 009 902 656 925 417 1 009 327 1 049 904 1 096 113 1 073 060 1 048 823

Grade 10 1 096 214 1 057 935 1 069 494 1 093 750 1 116 765 1 076 527 1 016 360 1 039 762 1 094 189 1 103 495 1 146 285 1 139 872

Grade 11 736 720 829 137 839 009 890 902 920 716 902 752 880 515 841 815 847 738 874 331 834 611 897 342

Grade 12 475 069 505 392 538 909 568 930 626 358 595 216 599 626 579 384 534 498 551 837 597 196 571 819

TOTAL 11 442 710 11 574 437 11 657 358 11 762 045 11 745 157 11 808 377 11 870 536 11 635 414 11 530 180 11 601 767 11 657 346 11 788 663

Number of children that started Grade 1 in 2003 and who then matriculated in

2014

SOURCE: From 2014 School Realities report as on www.education.gov.za

School Drop Outs 2012 & 2014

Drop Outs in 2012 Drop Outs in 2014

598 800 705 680

The number increased by 106 880!

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South Africa: Tertiary Enrolments (CHE Vital Statistics 2011)

26

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Opportunities

SKA Gartner predicts that 4.4 million jobs in Data

Science and Big Data Analytics Aviation Industry embracing new technology SA Civil Aviation claims 6200 pilots and 200

aircraft engineers by 2021 etc……

ISSUES Funding for tertiary educational institutions Funding to students from low income groups Strengthening tripartite arrangement:

Industry – Academia – Government

ISSUES Funding for tertiary educational institutions Funding to students from low income groups Strengthening tripartite arrangement:

Industry – Academia – Government Re-engineering the primary/secondary education

landscape Changing the risk averse culture (TIA, IDC, SEDA,

etc..) Fostering the culture of entrepreneurship

ISSUES Funding for tertiary educational institutions Funding to students from low income groups Strengthening tripartite arrangement:

Industry – Academia – Government Re-engineering the primary/secondary education

landscape Changing the risk averse culture (TIA, IDC, SEDA,

etc..) Fostering the culture of entrepreneurship Value proposition to industry in working with HEI

ISSUES Funding for tertiary educational institutions Funding to students from low income groups Strengthening tripartite arrangement:

Industry – Academia – Government Re-engineering the primary/secondary education

landscape Changing the risk averse culture (TIA, IDC, SEDA,

etc..) Fostering the culture of entrepreneurship Value proposition to industry in working with HEI Culture of long term investment (vis-a-vis short

term bonus!) Legislation / contractual obligation to invest into

HCD at tertiary institution Tax incentives to industry etc……

Let Africa be our world for now!

Conclusion

The opportunities are great but we collectively must address the skills needed for the Knowledge Economy

Thank You