The ICT sector education training authority, ISETT SETA, admits there have been abuses of learnerships, but says a new strategy will solve these problems.
"It is true we have had problems with workplace training in past learnership programmes, but we remain committed to delivering skills through learnerships and have adopted a new strategy that focuses on quality, not quantity," says ISETT SETA`s CEO, Oupa Mopaki.
"There is no doubt in my mind that learnerships are the best, most effective approach to build critical ICT skills because they are properly structured and are designed to meet the skills needs of employers," he says.
Mopaki concedes that some learners have emerged from learnerships without solid, marketable skills, but says the SETA has adopted a new strategy of entrusting the "extremely important" workplace experience component of learnerships to only the top 50 ICT companies.
"While not wishing to exclude small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from learnerships, ISETT SETA has made a decision to restrict learnerships to the bigger companies that have the resources to ensure learners get proper workplace training," says Mopaki.
[VIDEO]"Although theoretical training has never been a problem, we have often had problems with workplace training because there was little or no training and insufficient mentors and coaches to guide learners," explains Mopaki.
By restricting workplace training to the top ICT companies in the country, the ISETT SETA hopes to avoid these pitfalls. "Our push to promote learnerships is not merely a matter of chasing numbers and meeting targets. What counts is the impact learnerships will have in alleviating critical skills shortages," says Mopaki.
Explaining that although SMEs cannot be involved in the initial workplace training because training is not their core competency and they do not have the necessary staff resources, Mopaki says SMEs will remain an important source of post-learnership workplace training and still have a role to play.
"Once learners have completed their base training, they will become a resource to SMEs who can then provide the opportunity for learners to continue training beyond learnerships," says Mopaki.
Driving home the importance of providing access to training through learnerships, Mopaki points out that while only 8% of school-leavers achieve the grades necessary to study further, not all of them have the financial means to make that possible.
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