Government's plan to restructure and refocus its Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) will be delayed for a year.
The new plan, which has been welcomed by all the Setas, was supposed to have been completed and implemented by April 2010.
The National Skills Development Strategy, which would see structural, operational and financial changes to all Setas, would only be introduced at the end of 2010. Government says it needs time to “apply its mind” to what changes need to be made and ensure the right results are reached.
All Setas, including the Information Systems Electronics Telecommunication Technologies Sector Education Training Authority (Isett Seta), would be affected by these changes, says Blade Nzimande, minister of higher education and training.
This follows the relocation of all authorities from the Department of Labour to the Department of Higher Education and Training, and government attempts to improve their efficiency.
Nzimande says the restructuring will be a priority for his department and would completely change the way Setas are run.
“We need a co-coordinated skills development strategy, informed by an overarching industrial strategy, based on clear sectoral industrial strategies, placing particular emphasis on scarce skills. This will require re-focusing and possibly restructuring of the Setas to be guided by this overarching objective, rather than the other way round,” he says.
Government recently released a national response to the impact of the economic crisis. The “Framework Response to the Economic Crisis” sets out several programmes, critical to government's response to the economic situation. Funding would cover skills useful to companies concerned and generic skills - with a particular focus on basic education and training and ICT skills.
Over R5 billion has been set aside to fund initiatives dealing with the economic crisis. The Setas will receive the bulk of this money, which is yet to be allocated. The funding will be sourced from resources in the National Skills Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Collapsing boundaries
Nzimande will hold meetings with all the Setas to examine issues and find ways to enhance their capacity to meet the skills needs, he comments.
“This fundamental rethink requires that we have to think out of our boxes if we are to develop an overarching, highly-integrated and articulated system of higher education and training, but without at the same time mechanically collapsing into each other the distinctive roles, features and contribution of each of the components of such a system,” he says.
While it is wrong to paint all the Setas with one brush, there is clearly unevenness in their performance and this needs to be addressed, Nzimande notes.
“There is definitely a need for an intensive assessment of the Setas to ensure greater accountability, improved employment of resources, better management of funds and streamlining and alignment of their operations in order that they fulfil their role as a central cog of our skills training and job creation machinery.”
Share
