News
LOW COGNITIVE SKILLS
HAMPER EDUCATION ( PART 2 )
By Eamonn Ryan
Barney
Richardson , director of SARACCA .
School education continues to drive scholars to either the jobless market or to universities as opposed to where the need really lies – in trade employment . This is Part 2 of a twopart article .
Continued from the April issue …
Grant Laidlaw , CEO of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Academy ( ACRA ) and SAIRAC National Treasurer , says : “ We have apprenticeship programmes which work and are supported by SAIRAC and SARACCA , industry and Government . However , one of the weaknesses in the system is the quality of matriculants seeking entry to the industry – whether private , public TVETs or apprenticeships . It is a massive problem ,” he says , “ in particular the numeracy levels which are extremely low .”
RACA Journal has had sight of independent assessments of matriculants ( with maths ) pre-assessed by government to enrol on such an HVAC apprenticeship , tested on an N1 level below that of matric , which showed marks on the maths test as low as 2 %, 4 % and 5 %. On average , only 25 % of applicants passed the full assessment .
Laidlaw notes that when talking about general cognitive skill level , as many as a third fail even the simplest practical test such as finding the 42cm mark on a measuring tape or calculating the most basic area or volume . This comes from having matriculated with four post-matric years studying in a technical field at a TVET . “ We are now being forced to add basic numeracy and literacy to our training curriculum .
All photos © RACA Journal | Eamonn Ryan
“ This is a true reflection of where we are as a country whereby out of a sample group of people only 25 % can pass . As a learning institute it raises the question of what we do with them ? We cannot qualify them to an objective standard . This is a quandary because in order to meet the qualification outcomes and the industries standard we have to take them on and conduct basic school training in order lift them up to the desired level .
“ The problem is compounded by pressure to reduce the training time for an apprentice to two years , almost an impossible task ,” adds Laidlaw .
“ There is some light at the end of the time frame tunnel with the new QCTO registered occupations ( Refrigeration Mechanic , Refrigeration Mechanic [ Ammonia ], Refrigeration Mechanic [ CO 2
] and Air Conditioning and refrigeration Mechanic ) all requiring around a four-year apprenticeship . These qualifications are fully developed , include natural refrigerants , are in line with international standards and are in the final stages of implementation ,” adds Laidlaw .
WHAT SARACCA SAYS … In the long term , an issue that is not receiving the attention required is the development of our skills pipeline . Early Childhood Development ( ECD ) and Basic Education is the gateway to STEM careers , sustainably and systemically enabling the development of homegrown engineering skills for a transformed society and a transformed industry .
Barney Richardson , director of SARACCA , relates a personal anecdote of the impact – his wife having been trained in ECD , and who was principal of an ECD school . A security guard ’ s three-year old child who spoke no English came to stay and used to look yearningly at the kids playing . Richardson ’ s wife pulled some strings to get her enrolled , and through that experience the child ( from an unprivileged background ) went on to become a qualified lawyer from that early life stimulation . “ Without that , many of these kids only go to school when they ’ re seven or eight , struggle from the start to keep up and drop out of school as soon as they can ,” he says .
He explains that the main source of skills are the private colleges , as at the moment the public sector TVETs are mostly dysfunctional . “ They are unable to offer air conditioning , ventilation and refrigeration as training courses , because they don ' t have the lecturers or the facilitators . Generally , they only
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RACA Journal I May 2023 www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za