By Zibonele Ntuli

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says the Baswa le Meetsi Awards are in line with government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgi-SA) as they targeted skills development among the youth.

The Deputy President was speaking at the award ceremony on Friday 10 March, saying economic growth would be achieved through having the right skills.

“We have identified skills needed for the infrastructure. We will be motivating the young and old to come forward to be utilised in this,” she said.

Meanwhile Water and Forestry Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said the awards was one of the sub-programmes of the 2020 vision programme for the department, which seeks to educate broader society about water and sanitation related issues.

Sonjica said her department collaborated with the Department of Education through the programme in order to ensure that water and sanitation issues were integrated into the curriculum for sustainability and continuity.

“Outcome Based Education encourages learners to do projects that stimulate their minds and be solution-oriented,” she said.

The Baswa Le Meetsi Awards are aimed at recognising the role of youth in education and awareness campaigns around water and sanitation related issues.

“We are committed to nurture the children’s talent and encourage them to choose careers in the water sector. Through this initiative we hope that the talents and potential of our children to be engineers and scientists would be unleashed.

“Through this initiative, we hope to equip our country with appropriate skills that will contribute to Asgi-SA, which is very close to your heart,” she said.

Grade six learners convey education messages through drama, traditional music, poetry, praise singing and posters.

Mammutla Primary School from North West scooped the first prize in the music category wining a R6 000 cash prize, a media classroom, 10 computers connected to the internet, a cell-phone, television set and video player.

The same prizes were won by the following schools in these categories: Gobhogobho Primary School, KwaZulu-Natal (drama); Imbubu Primary School, KZN (poetry), and Rebonasediba Primary School (praise-singing).

Source: BuaNews