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“ I don ’ t believe that industry is willing to take on graduates of public TVETs , as students don ’ t learn sufficiently there . The TVETs , for instance , don ’ t for the most part utilise practical workshops notwithstanding the large amount of public money they receive . There are exceptions , of course .”
The dysfunction of public education is illustrated by a Western Cape project with international assistance who initiated a project to introduce R290 refrigerant training to the Western Cape , with the aim of job creation . Even in the Western Cape , because it was at a governmental level they wouldn ’ t use a private training provider , their focus being on Public TVET . The international funding bought equipment for them , and industry supplied two lecturers for the initial training interventions but since the initial training was completed , to date no additional training has been done and no jobs have been created ,” says Laidlaw .
That underlines the problem – public TVETs just don ’ t perform and something dramatic would have to happen to change that .
The situation is not unique to public TVET colleges as some private technical colleges have quality issues .
FUNDING FOR TRAINING Funding for training in South Africa comes from a number of sources , both private or public . The public TVETs are funded by the government , though Laidlaw describes that as “[ A ] numbers game based on number of students passing through the system ”. That ’ s why quality is affected in a culture of no consequence for non-performance by TVETs .
“ In the private training space , if one doesn ’ t perform there ’ s the institution ’ s reputation at stake as well as financial consequences . Being solely profit driven can and does result in some private institutions taking shortcuts to improve their margins . Some funding for private education comes from government sources in the form of grants . These grants are available to both public and private providers , though it ' s more difficult for the private colleges . Then , the industry itself funds some either directly ( a little ) or through the SETA ( Sector Education and Training Authority ) system , from the 1 % of wage turnover that SARS receives .” The South Africa Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association ( SARACCA ) offers training funding to its membership .
Laidlaw explains how this works practically : “ For a small airconditioning company employing 20 technicians , which wants to upskill or take on interns , there is a window of opportunity every year whereby it can apply for grants . This stems from the fact that the company has paid into the National Qualifications Framework ( NQF ) system via the Skills Development Levy and can get about 70-80 % of that money back . There are also discretionary grants , which a business can apply for if it wants to take on , say , two apprentices . That is attractive , if they can get it , given the payout can be in excess of R200 000 over three years per apprentice .
“ It ' s a structured , contracted arrangement that more or less covers the cost of the apprenticeship , including wages to an extent .
However , he notes that this grant system is unreliable and companies tend to receive the grants sporadically , if at all . “ Some companies pursuing this option give up and ultimately acquire a negative view of training in general because of all the hoops they have to jump through to get a grant – and on top of that to no avail . While frustration is understandable , this attitude misses the point that they should in any event have a budget for training company staff as a sound business practice ,” emphasises Laidlaw .
For private technical training , industry itself is the ‘ bread and butter ’ of funding . “ For instance , there are companies that send employees for training and pay for it themselves . The smallest portion of money comes from parents who put the kids into private training – which is roughly the same cost as moderate school fees . Some providers such as ourselves will guarantee work placement following training . We do this to show we stand behind our quality of training . As there is a shortage of refrigeration tradespeople in South Africa , and air conditioning and refrigeration is on the national skill list , it ’ s relatively easy to find employment or indeed self-employment .”
He notes that the secret to ACRA finding jobs and designing courses appropriately is to be close to the industry . “ We don ’ t tell them what training they need , they tell us .”
Some funding for education comes from international sources , usually directly to service provider . “ To be a recipient , you have to develop and submit a formal proposal . One example being to register a skills programme with the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations ( QCTO ) and to upskill to formal qualification approximately 400 informal traders in the refrigeration sector against the registered skills programmes curriculum . The purpose was to formalise the informal sector to some extent and give them something to assist them with their businesses inclusive of their authorised refrigeration practitioner ’ s registration . The funding was from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation together with the South African National Government Department of Forestry , Fisheries and the Environmental .
“ That was at a governmental level and consequently a TVET public service provider would have been their first choice , but none were able to meet the deliverables ,” in particular when it came to the development and registration of the skills program with QCTO . RACA
To be continued in the May issue of RACA Journal …
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