I hope you ll leave today with new ideas and insights to enrich our own dialogue in the future.

Transcription

1 Minister Pandor s opening remarks at the SA-EU Social Dialogue on mobilising stakeholders in support of the TVET dual system for training artisans in South Africa Emperors Palace, Kempton Park 17 July am I m delighted to welcome you all to this Social Dialogue today and I m particularly delighted to do so in partnership with the Ambassador of the European Union, Dr Marcus Cornaro. Today is all about dialogue between South Africans and Europeans and I m most grateful for the support the European Union has given us to make this exchange possible. I m also happy to welcome the representatives from Germany, Poland and Austria who have joined us today both those from their South African-based embassies as well as the social partners who have come all this way to share their experiences with us. And to my fellow South Africans, those from business, from labour, from the TVET colleges as well as from government, thank you for accepting my invitation to participate. I hope you ll leave today with new ideas and insights to enrich our own dialogue in the future. Dr. Cornaro, this is a very timely engagement. In South Africa we intend to produce at least 30,000 artisans, or what you call professionals I believe, by This is a modest number in comparison with the numbers of apprentices trained in many European countries, but for us it is an important target that we 1

2 hope to increase over time. But it is not just a number. We want to see well-trained artisans, who are up to date and innovative. To achieve our target we need to work hard on at least two fronts. The first front is our working partnership with employers and unions. That working partnership must be willing not reluctant, encouraged not cajoled, and driven by informed self-interest and shared goals. I know for instance that employers and unions in many of your member states, Dr. Cornaro, participate in their apprenticeship systems for reasons that have to do with their own need for the skills, either to enhance their productivity and market competitiveness in the case of employers, or for decent work, decent wages and exciting career futures in the case of workers. Of course, unlike yourselves, we don t have a rooted culture of such commitments, but we are looking to build such a culture. Let s hope our discussions today really help us on our journey towards this end. The second front is our Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges, equivalent to your vocational schools. When our government came into office in 1994 we inherited a vocational training system in which the link between the labour market and our colleges had all but been broken. 2

3 Our problem seems to have emanated from the introduction of what was called private students, that is, students who enrolled at a college without an apprenticeship contract. Prior to this all students had contracts before enrolling. At the time, and I m talking decades ago now, employers supported learners in college programmes before entering apprenticeship because they viewed it as a cost saving: the state would pay for theory and the employers would pay for the workplace component only. However, the price they paid for this saving has proved to be exorbitant. The programmes have wilted in relevance and quality as the years have passed. Although the NATED programmes offered at our colleges are still formally set as a required component of an apprenticeship, in reality their content is seriously out of date, and employers who do train are forced to teach trade theory again at their own expense. And more worrying, because these have become stand-alone programmes, young learners have to search for apprenticeship contracts, often on their own, after completing at college. Far too many fail in this quest, rendering the value of the training they ve received questionable at best. Of course, much has happened since We now have a Quality Council responsible for setting qualifications and framework curricula for trades and occupations: the QCTO. It has re-united theory, simulated practice and workplace learning into the design of their qualifications, and many of these new qualifications have been developed for trades. 3

4 Our challenge now is to offer these programmes in a more integrated fashion, hence our interest in the dual system. This is not a new interest. Some time ago, together with our German colleagues, we embarked on a Dual System Pilot Project, initially at four colleges, focusing on just two trades, electricians and plumbers. Many useful lessons have been learnt in this process, and we are deeply grateful for the collaboration we have had. However two trades at four colleges was only a start. We are now hoping to build on these lessons and take this integrated model of delivery to scale. In our Centres of Specialisation Programme we have identified thirteen trades (including the initial two), and have selected twenty-six college sites, two per trade, and now plan to roll them out in the dual system modality with employer partners next year. But this jump from two to thirteen trades is challenging us to move beyond project-think to system think. How must the TVET college system adapt as it moves away from a private student model to a contracted apprenticeship model? And how do we do this for many youngsters, not only a privileged few? And it s not just the college system that has to adjust. 4

5 In South Africa we have a set of twenty-one Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) each responsible for a cluster of companies or departments grouped according to Standard Industrial Classification codes. These SETAs are responsible for managing the disbursement of 80% of the skills levy that is collected from their firms. These grants are given directly from SETA to firms who commit to training in one form or another. And SETAs are governed by employers and unions and government appointees. While the relationship was primarily between a single employer and a SETA, the system was relatively stable. However, by mainstreaming TVET colleges in the dual system a problem has emerged. Colleges are geographically located and the programmes they offer often serve more than one sector. An electrician for example can work in any one of seventeen sectors, and so can plumbers and diesel mechanics. So a college offering a programme in any one of these areas can form partnerships with firms in their vicinity that belong to any one of the relevant SETAs. However, they have a problem when doing so. Each SETA has its own grant timetable, its own procedures and forms. I ve heard College Principals say that this is very difficult. The solution is: we must streamline the SETA systems, but this too requires a system change. But, of course, changes are not only needed within the college and SETA systems. 5

6 Changes are also needed between the two, so that the apprentices can move seamlessly between them. This is where our desire for this Dialogue first began. What lessons can we learn from those who have walked this road before us? If we want a system that supports a dual-system apprenticeship delivery model, how should we organize ourselves at local, sectoral, provincial and national levels? In South Africa we have the QCTO that develops the individual qualifications with social partners. We have the trade-test community and the National Artisan Moderation Body that work with employers and unions. We have curriculum developers that again work with employers and unions. We have the TVET college community with various structures, We have the SETAs. And we have a stakeholder board, the National Skills Authority, that gives me advice on skills matters. Our challenge is to bring these various structures into a working dialogue with one another in a way that makes the learning path of the apprentice clear, not only for the apprentice but also for the employer, their parents, and the labour market as a whole. 6

7 If some restructuring is needed, let s be bold enough to restructure. And that brings us to today. How do Austria, Germany and Poland tackle this challenge? They all have systems that synchronize these various players in a clear manner. How is this done? I note that they frequently have parallel structures for the two legs of the system, but nevertheless bring them together in a way that all accept. They all have much greater experience than we have. I invite all present to participate in this dialogue as actively as possible. Let s build a strong bridge between colleges and workplaces for the benefit of our young people and of our economy and country at large. In conclusion, let me thank those who have participated in the processes leading up to today. I must say the idea of a single official undertaking the visit to Europe with a small team of filmmakers and then sharing their insights with a large group, such as is present here today, by means of a video, is inspired. I for one am looking forward to watching the video and learning of the outcome of the engagements. But let s not stop here. The lessons we learn here today must form stepping stones on which we can walk together to build the kind of apprenticeship-stroke-tvet system of which we all dream. Finally, thank you again Dr. Cornaro, for making this Dialogue possible and thank you to the Dialogue Facility that has provided such outstanding support to the team that has driven it. 7

8 Issued by the SA Ministry of Higher Education and Training 8