Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) cannot just be about dishing out millions of rand in training tenders, without the systematic development of labour market sector experts and practitioners.
Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, said this in his keynote address to delegates at the Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA’s 5th Biennial Conference at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand today.
“In short we need to develop a new cadre of SETA practitioners and experts. I am also concerned about the phenomenon of what one can call 'Setapreneurs', whose sole purpose is to fleece the SETA funds often corruptly and without provision of quality training. Of course there are also training providers who are genuine and provide valuable training,” Minister Nzimande said.
He added that the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) wanted the SETAs to focus their training activities on the provision of full occupational or professional qualifications rather than on short courses, although there was still a need for the latter to keep workers abreast of new developments in their areas of work.
In response to the Minister’s call to SETAs to open offices at public Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges, SETAs have already opened offices at 12 of the 50 FET Colleges in the country.
“We have to improve access to SETA services through collaboration with FET colleges and Universities of Technology. Such an approach will ensure that the national skills development interventions and projects are not only accessible to those with a privilege to stay in urban and developed areas but also benefit those who are in the periphery of the economic system,” Minister Nzimande said.
He added that given the large number of school leavers each year, and the high levels of competition for jobs, SETAs, working with labour, employers and especially public FET colleges, should be a vehicle for arming the youth with the necessary foundational knowledge and practical skills, while at the same time assisting them to gain access to workplace opportunities.
“I am also very pleased to hear that the ETDP SETA, even before we opened SETA offices in our colleges, had taken the initiative of recruiting and deploying 200 learners in all 50 colleges to work in student counselling. This is very important as one of the critical roles of SETA offices in public FET colleges is not only work placement, but also career guidance,” said the Minister.
To improve the sector overall and strengthen articulation between institutions of higher education and training, the ETDPSETA must define its role in the training and improvement of quality of FET College lecturers. The ETDP SETA has a particularly important role in expanding and strengthening its role in supporting the rest of our education and training system,” Minister Nzimande said.
