TRANSFORMATION MODEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION
TRANSFORMATION MODEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION
n promoting economic and employment growth and social development by fo- cusing on education and training;
n the development of the skills of the South African workforce and the im- provement of the employment pros- pects of unemployed persons, via train- ing and education;
n the use of the workplace as an active learning site; and
n increasing levels of investment in educa- tion and training in the labour market and improving returns on that investment.
The Department is resolved to align the National Skills Development Strategies (NSDP) more carefully to the HRDSA so that learners are able to move more easily from full-time learning to structured work- place learning and from work to learning. This will be evident in the next multi-year NSDS, NSDS III, which is still ‘under con- struction’ but should be launched later in 2010. However in the next five years we have our work cut out for us on some more immediate priorities which include:
ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL ARTISAN MODERATING BODY (NAMB) AND THE QUALITY COUNCIL FOR TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS (QCTO)
Artisan training is an urgent priority for this government. Recent amendments to the NQF and to the Skills Development Act provide for the establishment of a National Artisan Moderating Body (NAMB), reforms in trade testing, and a Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), to qual- ity assure qualifications for trades, as well as for learning in and for the workplace. Both the QCTO and the NAMB have yet to be fully established.
IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SECTORAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AUTHORITIES (SETAS)
The SETAs established by the Skills Devel- opment Act. They are essentially constitu-
ency-based fora (representing in the main labour, business and government), whose key functions include:
n The development of a sectoral skills plan within the framework of the Na- tional Skills Development Strategy.
n The implementation of sectoral skills plans.
n Identifying workplaces for practical work experience.
n Approving workplace skills plans. n Establishing and promoting learnerships.
n Monitoring education and training in the sector.
n Allocating grants in the prescribed man- ner to employers, education and training providers and workers.
All of these key functions could be per- formed more effectively across the current 23 SETAs, and this is compounded by a poor public understanding of the role of the SETAs.
IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE NATIONAL SKILLS FUND (NSF)
Our goal is for the NSF to operate at the highest standards of efficiency and effec- tiveness, with high levels of client satisfac- tion, and making use of its resources to have a major impact on the provision of skills development in the country. The NSF had the primary function of funding proj- ects identified in the National Skills De- velopment Strategy (NSDS) as a national priority. Immediate key challenges for the NSF include:
n An alignment of the NSF with priorities of the post-school education and train- ing system and HRDSA.
n Improving its own institutional mecha- nisms and capacity.
n Establishing provincial capacity, after fi- nalisation of the move of the NSF from the Department of Labour to DHET.
A STRATEGIC FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
The growing complexity of the workplace, accelerated by the dynamic impact of glo- balisation on national economies, produc- tion and trade, requires greater flexibility and capacity in the workforce, in order to adjust speedily to the rapid changes in technology, production, trade and work or- ganisation. South Africa needs to develop as a 21st century economy, but we have gaps in critical skills required for a range of social and economic development strat- egies currently being implemented by all spheres
of government. These include
the National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF); the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP); the Anti-Poverty Strategy; the Rural Development Strategy; and the Technology and Innovation Plan. Skills shortages in a number of occupations and economic sec- tors inhibit growth and investment. These include skills shortages in SET fields with regard to sectors such as energy, medium and high-technology manufactured goods, and agricultural biotechnology.
The goal of the long-term HRDSA Strat- egy will be to contribute to human devel- opment, including building capabilities for generating sustainable economic growth, as well as capacities related to social values, good citizenship and to wider develop- ment objectives. The Strategy will encour- age optimal responsiveness from education and training activities and resources to the country’s developmental needs, and to the demand for skilled human resources.
ACCESS
A strategic priority of the HRDSA is to ad- dress the demand for quality further and higher education, which is to be accessible in all provinces and at all locales. It is clear that the capacity of the system must be substantially increased to provide greater access to post-school youth between the ages of 16 and 24, and more in particular
those who have left the schooling system. Estimates are that currently 2.8 million or more 18-to –24-year-olds are not in em- ployment, education or training.
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE POST- SCHOOL SYSTEM
The post-school learning system is domi- nated by a public perception that opportuni- ties for personal advancement can only be met through access to university. Diversity in post-school options must be increased and vocational colleges promoted as a viable and an attractive alternative. Linkages between formal vocational education and workplace opportunities must be strengthened. The post-school system must be supported by an institutional base that is both diverse and differentiated, as well as being conceptual- ised as an integrated and coherent whole in which meaningful learning pathways are developed across institutional and workplace education and training forums. The differ- entiation of the system must recognise the unique role and identity of the sub-systems, and the further differentiation of mission and purpose of institutions within these sub- systems. Funding frameworks must be devel- oped to move towards these differentiated goals for the post-schooling system.
Support must be provided to individuals as they navigate transitions between sub-sys- tems and between basic and post-school education and training. A high quality, inte- grated and responsive career guidance and information system will support the goals of the DHET, in relation to equity, access, success rates and overall development.
PLANNING, COORDINATION AND MONITORING
The university, vocational college and skills sub-systems were planned with insufficient integration of the holistic needs of the economy across these sectors as interre- lated components of the post-school edu- cation and training system. In order for the system to be relevant to national develop-
ment, it must be in alignment with long- term development requirements. The role of the HRDSA will be key, as will effective co-planning with the Planning Commission, and key partner departments such as DST, DTI, the National Youth Agency and Rural Development and Land Reform.
Strategic Priority Nine of the HRDSA is to generate annual data on the demand for priority skills, in order to guide measures for supply, including HET and FET enrol- ment planning, SETA sector skills plans, and managing the immigration of skilled per- sons. We need to do this and more. What is needed is knowledge and planning instru- ments for the system as a whole – strategic intelligence for strategic decision-making for the post-school system.
QUALITY AND RELEVANCE
Another strategic priority of the HRDSA is to create an environment within which the occupational learning and the further and higher education systems can focus on con- tinuous improvement in the quality of edu- cational inputs and outputs, and increase the level of throughput. This is necessary in order to develop a skilled and capable workforce to support our inclusive growth path, and will require the support of a diverse set of higher education and training institutions and programmes. The DHET plans to promote the notion of PIVOTAL programmes, name- ly Professional, Vocational and Technical, as well as Academic Learning Programmes, which embrace both an institutional as well as a workplace/community dimension, such as professional engineers and artisans, as well as social workers and rural extension officers. These programmes have moved to centre stage, following the highlighting of the criti- cal skills scarcity in many of the occupations towards which they are geared.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN: GOALS FOR 2015
The DHET identified the following ten key goals from its long-term vision and from the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF):
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CHAPTER 10 | HIGHER EDUCATION
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