Lucky Masilela is the new chairman of the information systems, electronics and telecommunications technologies (ISETT) Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA).
Masilela previously served as a board member and exco member for the SETA.
Speaking at the SETA`s annual general meeting in Johannesburg last week, Masilela said it needs to align its national skills development strategy closer to government programmes. This may be facilitated by partnering with skilled overseas candidates who would transfer skills to those in learnership programmes, he said.
Looking forward to his term of office, Masilela said he plans to arrange a meet and greet programme with stakeholders over the next few months, in order to access the state of the ICT sector. "We will focus on the trends of the economy, even fine-tuning existing learnerships, in order to improve our services."
Also key is the implementation of brand awareness programmes for the organisation, Masilela said. "We are not covering our space as well as we could. We are a coy, bashful, sleeping giant."
Established in 2001, the SETA has been re-established for a second term of five years, beginning 31 March 2006.
Scarcity of skills
"The SETA has made a positive strategic decision in the last term," said outgoing chairman Lesaiye Chiloane, speaking about the National Skills Development strategy. The ICT sector was evaluated with the aid of indicators which served as benchmarks against which the sector must grow.
As at 31 March 2005, 95% of employees in the ICT sector had a qualification higher than NQF level one on the National Qualification Framework (NQF).
To put it into perspective, end-user computing is considered an NQF level one qualification and NQF level four is the equivalent of matric, while NQF level five is matric plus one year of tertiary education, according to Oupa Mopaki, CEO of ISETT SETA.
"The indicators made us wonder if we are doing enough to fulfil the skills in the ICT sector, so we commissioned research through the Department of Trade and Industry to find out," Mopaki said.
"The figures revealed the scarcity of skills in the sector. Huge numbers need to be trained."
SA needs to train 316 369 IT technical support and system development specialists, 181 550 telecoms and electronic technical specialists and 4 048 end-user computing candidates over the next two years in order to fill the gap, Mopaki said.
"In order to be business ready, we had and have to look at high level skills," he said.
Internship programme
About 400 Bachelor of Science graduates were recruited last March in an effort to add to the ICT sector`s skilled workforce. The arrangement with companies was that after the internship programme was completed, the graduates were locked into permanent employment at the company, Mopaki said. "Because we can`t have high-level, trained graduates roaming the streets."
Under the new board, rural training programmes like the "train the trainer IT facilitator programme" will be carried out in six provinces.
The implementation of ICT learnerships is a key challenge for the coming year and programmes like these will ensure rural coverage, Mopaki said.
Further to this, SETA will partner with employers in ICT hubs in order to identify learners for venture creation, said Jabu Sibeko, senior manager, operations, ISETT SETA.
Adult basic education and training will also be implemented as an end-user programme within the ICT sector in order to facilitate proper training, Sibeko said.
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