SOUTH AFRICA: New strategy to produce scarce skills

Universities in South Africa have higher enrolment and participation rates than the further education and training sector, and not nearly enough appropriately skilled and qualified people in disciplines central to socio-economic development are being produced by the post-school system, says the country's third National Skills Development Strategy.

Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande (pictured) unveiled the new five-year strategy this month. It will be implemented largely through the country's skills development structures - 21 sector education and training authorities, SETAs - in the coming months, but universities will have important roles to play.

The National Skills Development Strategy III, NSDS3, aims to support the integration of workplace training with theoretical learning, and to facilitate the transition of young people from school to college or university and then to the workplace.

It also focuses on problems faced by individuals who have been unemployed for periods, to assist them into sustained employment and in-work progression.

The strategy says a major challenge is access to higher education - lack of availability of places in relevant programmes and the social constraints and academic, geographical and financial problems faced by the majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"Public further education and training institutions as well as universities and universities of technology should have the capacity to deliver skills for the new economy," says the plan.

It says the university sector must also find ways to identify and help address national development and economic needs, including engaging in government processes such as the National Human Resources Development Strategy and the NSDS.

While the emphasis is on people without relevant technical skills or adequate literacy and numeracy skills to enable them to access employment, the plan also tackles perennial problems such as lack of synergy between post-school institutions like universities, further education and training (FET) colleges and SETAs.

There is lack of clarity regarding the roles expected of the various parts of the skills development system, and the objective is to improve effectiveness.

"The extent to which employers and workers benefit from the knowledge economy will be determined by our capacity to conduct innovative research and apply new knowledge in the workplace," says the plan, adding that this requires the development of research capacity, which is related to building new knowledge linked to sector and national industrial plans.

South Africa has numerous universities of technology and FET institutions with structured learning-at-work programmes involving professional placements, work-integrated learning, apprenticeships and learnerships.

According to the plan, these programmes have been aided with a 10% professional, vocational, technical and academic (Pivotal) grant to ensure greater employer participation. Employers who provide workplace-based opportunities can supplement the cost of the programme with the grant from the SETAs.

A drop in mandatory grant rates to 40% and the creation of a 10% Pivotal placement allowance is central to the objectives of NSDS3 as it will facilitate improved placement of both students and graduates, especially from FET colleges and universities of technology, said Kirti Menon, Acting Deputy Director General in the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Menon told University World News that Pivotal programmes, which provide full occupationally-directed qualifications, will typically start in colleges or universities and include supervised practical learning in a workplace as a prerequisite for graduation.

She said the new strategy speaks to the imperatives of the post-school education and training system. It draws on lessons learned from NSDS1 and NSDS2, and is aimed at ensuring improved access to quality learning programmes, increased relevance of skills development interventions and building strong partnerships between stakeholders and social partners.

"This translates into coherent and coordinated integration of the various sub-systems of the post-school education and training system in order to address the human resource development needs of the country in a comprehensive way," she said.

The National Skills Fund, which provides support for skills training through an employer levy, will be supervised to ensure that the entire skills development pipeline from universities and colleges to the workplace, produces priority skills in high-level occupationally-directed programmes.

Among South Africa's many areas of skills shortages, one of the most severe is a lack of skilled artisans and technicians.

NSDS III departs from previous strategies by steering clear of national targets. But each SETA will have targets that are applicable to its skills set and level, to ensure that programmes and activities are relevant to the sector.

The plan says the education department will work with the vice-chancellors' association Higher Education South Africa, and the advisory Centre for Higher Education to develop a strategy for improving academic staff qualifications and teaching competence across all universities, universities of technology and colleges.

As the Department of Higher Education and Training identifies its role as the coordinator of the whole skills development drive, tertiary institutions and industry are mandated to carry our relevant research and implement plans that provide much needed skills.

Andricus van der Westhuizen, the opposition Democratic Alliance Deputy Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, was upbeat about the plan. But he is worried that the key strategy of centralising all planning for skills development will undo most of good work that skilling initiatives seek to achieve.

"NSDS 3 comprises eight goals that deal with skills planning, access to occupationally-directed programmes, FET college responsiveness to skills deficits, co-op and Small to Medium Enterprises development, adult language and numeracy skills, public sector capacity, and vocational guidance.

"Most of these goals are fine, but the minister implies that these will be directed from a central planning body - a 'credible institutional mechanism' - that will oversee and coordinate the whole process of national skills deployment.

"This is unnecessary," Van der Westhuize said in a statement.

At least 2.4 million of South Africa's youths between the age of 18-24 are not in education or employment. Currently most post-school training takes place in the university sector, with a student body of some 800,000, although the government is expanding the college sector.

Van der Westhuize said the college sector should be at five times larger than it is currently to absorb at least 1.5 million students, and should be larger than the university system to extend skills training to eligible people.

Comment:
We seem not to understand that universities of technology (UoTs) are the major producers of technicians and technologists. At present, UoTs do not have the capacity to produce the required number. And we are mistaken if we think that Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) can do so. Think again.

Khehla Ndlovu,
Tshwane University of Technology