STUDENT 911
SETA and NWU VAAL
provides in-service
training to graduates
Annette Willemse
Getting a perfect job is every graduate’s dream but this
is not always the case, this is where internships come in.
Internships are a good way to gain experience and get
exposed to the workplace.
To provide skills and training for the graduates the ETD
SETA (Education, Training and Development) SETA
provided 33 internship opportunities for the NWU, of
which 17 positions were made available on the Vaal
Campus. Seventeen graduates from the Vaal Campus
are currently posted in internships at different schools
and departments on the Vaal Campus.
The SETA is mandated to promote and facilitate the delivery of education, training and development in order to
enhance the skills profile of the Education, Training and
Development (ETD) sector and contribute to the creation of employment opportunities, especially for those
previously disadvantaged.
Interns currently on the Vaal Campus have learnt the
importance of professional conduct, time management
and team work. Most interns have worries about the
money they receive from their internship, but according
to Lebohang Mokoena, head of finance and marketing
at the Centre of Continuing Professional Development
(CCPD), money is an issue when you start working. The
stipend provided by SETA to the interns makes it easy
for them to be able to come to work and gain experience
before going into the workplace, which is more impor-
24 - Student 24/7
tant at the moment.
“It is not always that you are placed in the department
of your choice or study, but you have to take advantage
and make it work for you. You never know when you will
need the skill that you learned,” says Motlalepule Mohlapholi, HR graduate and intern at the NWU Vaal Campus’
Marketing and Communication Department.
Interns wish that mentors and the people supervising
them would try and understand that they are there to
learn and should do work that is related to their line of
study. Most of the interns say that they sometimes feel
like they are taken for granted and that they would like
mentors to delegate more important work to them.
Most interns would also appreciate proper job descriptions, as being an intern is a great opportunity to gain
experience. Interns are not looking to be pampered but
they would like their mentors to make them comfortable
by establishing proper working relationships.
Through the effort of the NWU Vaal Campus to accommodate the interns, ETD SETA has managed to provide
skills and training to 17 graduates and from the group
2 interns already managed to get jobs. As a way to improve the skills of the graduates, the ETD SETA is planning to provide the remaining interns with a project management skill by providing them with bursaries to train
with the CCPD on the NWU Vaal Campus.
ETD SETA has an ongoing initiative in which it strives
to provide young graduates with skills to prepare
them for the workplace and to increase their chances
of employment.“If we are the pillars of strength (ETD
SETA and the university) it is easy to provide training
and development to young graduates,” says Lebohang
Mokoena.