Mr Programme Director
Organised Labour
Business and State Colleagues
Distinguished guests Ladies and gentlemen
The Minister is not well tonight and has asked me to address you on this auspices occasion. Since taking office in April 2009 the Minister has consistently kept the need for the development of qualified artisans to support the economy high on the Human Resource Development Agenda of the country.
To give even greater impetus to a national artisan development programme and explore ways to remove the blockages to such a programme, the Minister approved a National Artisan Development Conference to be held on 4th and 5th July 2012. Tonight I will share some brief remarks on the Ministers broad vision for the national artisan development programme.
Some of the milestones already achieved through the leadership of the Minister in respect of national artisan development include:
a) The establishment of the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations in April 2010 that oversees the design of occupational qualifications and their curricula within the sub-framework for trades occupations.
b) The upgrading in July 2010 of the National Government Trade Testing Centre known as INDLELA located at Olifantsfontein, Gauteng to a Chief Directorate within the Skills Branch of the department and the allocation thereon, of the responsibility of the development and implementation of a national artisan development programme.
c) Establishment of the National Artisan Moderation Body on 30 November 2010 that has the statutory responsibility to coordinate artisan development in the Republic as contemplated in Section 26A(2)(a) of the Skills Development Act as amended in 2008.
d) The formal establishment of a Ministerial Task Team for Artisan Development with Organised Business and Government Departments on 30 November 2010 that merged with and became the Artisan and Technician Development Technical Task Team (ATD-TTT) of the Human Resource Development Council in February 2011, which has since included representatives from Organised Labour, State Owned Companies, Government Departments and SETAs to ensure full stakeholder representation in one single consultative and coordinating structure.
e) Signing of the National Skills Accord on 13 July 2011 by the Minister and all other social partners, an accord that includes eight firm commitments related to skills development, of which three commitments have a focus on artisan development.
f) Appointment of the National Artisan Body on 20 July 2011 as the first Assessment Quality Partner of the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations that centralises all quality assurance functions for artisan development in one national body located within the Department of Higher Education and Training.
g) Ensuring that there is a steady consistent increasing number of new artisan learners entering and completing artisan learning programmes since April 2007 up to March 2016 that considers existing capacity and future resources.
In this regard last year we registered 24 378 new artisan learners and 13 168 completed their learning. The completion figure in particular is excellent as it is the highest since April 2007. While the SETAs are to be commended on reporting these figures, the partners we really need to thank are the employers and organised business colleagues, as without workplaces we would not have artisans. So I thank you on behalf of the Minister for excellent results. I am sure you will do even better this year.
As part of the work being led by the Minister, the department, through the National Artisan Moderation Body has developed a framework for a single national artisan development programme that is known as the 7-Steps to Becoming a Qualified Artisan. These seven steps follow a natural logical progressive and simple to understand process for becoming and Artisans.
The 7-Steps are:
Step 1: Career Management
Step 2: Fundamental & Vocational Theory
Step 3: Learner Programme Registration & Funding
Step 4: Occupational Knowledge and Practical Training
Step 5: Workplace Training
Step 6: Trade Testing
Step 7: Trade Quality Assurance and Certification
This 7-Step programme was first discussed at the national skills conference held in October 2011 and was endorsed by all role players as a practical and useful framework for a national artisan development process. The department has developed a second edition of the 7 Step booklets that will be released tomorrow at the National Artisan Development Conference. The booklet details each of these seven steps, which also elaborates on the inter-connectedness of the different steps.
Therefore this first National Artisan Development Conference that the Minister has approved for 4 to 5 July 2012 will allow stakeholders to further explore the 7-Step Programme and in particular build on work in progress to remove blockages that are impeding an efficient and effective massive roll out of the national 7-Step programme.
The three key blockages have been identified and described by the Artisan and Technician Development Technical Task Team of the Human Resource Development Council as being: Artisan Development Data: Identifying and facilitating workplace training opportunities for an annual national target of learners as agreed with stakeholders and developing and implementing a single national artisan development database and management information system, based on a single, national rationalised list of artisan trades and implementing a system of continuous artisan trade development prioritisation that supports economic growth.
Funding and Learner Administration: Developing and implementing a single, guaranteed funding and learner administration system for all artisan trades applicable to all sectors. Sustainable Artisan RPL System: Developing and implementing a single national sustainable Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) system for persons who work as artisan aides or engineering assistants. The National Artisan Development Conference will also explain the process that has already commenced within the department to remove the practices of the Manpower Training Act of 1981 and the implementation of the new Artisan Development regime provided for in the Skills Development Act as amended in 2008.
This includes the publication in the Government Gazette and release by the Minister at the Conference of the first ever list of 125 occupations that are considered to be artisan trades in South Africa and in other parts of the world. In conclusion I would like to stress the following key issues as we go forward: The need for the public FET Colleges to progressively take on a national and provincial leadership role as the implementation arm of the National Artisan Moderation Body. The need for SETAs to support the public FET Colleges and the National Artisan Moderation Body to implement a single non-sector based national artisan development programme.
The need for the SETAs, the National Skills Fund and other funding agencies to support and commit to a single national funding and artisan learner administration model. The need for organised business and organised labour to collaborate with INDLELA to build a sustainable and efficient Recognition of Prior Learning System for all engineering support workers such as artisan aides and engineering assistants. The need for SETAs to ensure that all stakeholders in their respective sectors register ALL artisan learners including RPL candidates with the SETA.
The need for all SETAs to consistently, accurately and weekly upload all relevant artisan learner data to the centralised departmental artisan database to ensure a consistently accurate and credible supply pipeline data. In conclusion I would like to on behalf of the Minister formally release the first ever list of occupations that will be published in the Government Gazette as the official list of artisan trades. All of you tonight and all the conference delegates will also receive your personal copy of this poster. Enjoy your meal and we look forward to a positive conference.
I thank you.
