09/05/2024
Skills Development Providers, Facilitators, Assessors, Moderators, Employers, Students and concerned citizens – help us to remain in business. We also have mouths to feed.
South Africa is on the brink of a Skills Development crisis unless decisive action is taken by our leaders soon. An open letter directed to Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande, publicly released on May 3rd, 2024, represents the voices of over 5,000 concerned individuals and continues to gather support. This letter emphasizes the critical need for urgent intervention.
In addition to the open letter, a petition has been initiated, gathering input and signatures from training providers, facilitators, assessors, moderators, learners, and affected companies. If you share our concerns, we invite you to add your voice by completing the petition linked below.
It is imperative to take a moment to review the statistics and messages outlined in the open letter. The current trajectory risks exacerbating unemployment in our country. Maintaining the June 30th deadline for the conclusion of numerous qualifications and Unit Standards will result in dire consequences. Training companies may be forced to cease operations, companies may refrain from investing in skills development, and many unemployed individuals will miss out on opportunities for learnerships and skill enhancement, further hindering their employability.
We urge for a responsible transition process, advocating for the removal of qualifications only after suitable replacements have been established. Here are some key contextual points to consider:
Thousands of qualifications and Unit Standards are set to expire by June 30th, 2024, barring new enrolments.
Despite the mandate of the QCTO over the past 14 years to replace these qualifications with occupationally focused ones, fewer than 1,000 qualifications and part qualifications have been registered. Many of them has also expired and not been replaced or re-registered as yet.
Developing replacement qualifications can take between one to three years – which needs a Task Team, industry experts, subject matter experts – giving voluntary time without remuneration.
After replacement, it may take up to 18 months for training providers to develop their learning material against the new curriculum to obtain accreditation with the QCTO.
Many replaced qualifications lack Assessment Centres, hindering learners from obtaining competence certificates. Some Assessment Centres are too far, and a logistical nightmare for learners that cannot get transport.
Rural skills development faces significant challenges due to procedural barriers and the absence of rural assessment centres and Providers find it difficult to upskill in other areas (such as rural areas), as they need to ask permission to conduct training now (30 days in advance to obtain permission).
If you stand in solidarity with our cause, we urge you to support our petition by completing it. Together, we can advocate for a sustainable and inclusive approach to skills development in South Africa.
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We hereby appeal to the Minister Dr Blade Nzimande, to extend the SETA Legacy (historical) qualifications and unit standards for 3 years, and to monitor the SETAs in aligning them to occupational qualifications and skills programmes with a streamlined approach. We want the Minister to monitor all SE...
