Guide to Skills Development

Building a business and sustaining it is not just about the money or time you put in. You also need to have the proper skills to be able to take your business from one level to another. Proper skills development is crucial to the way entrepreneurs become successful and the way businesses grow. The more skills you have and develop the better your business venture will be. Skills development is something you should seek for yourself. There are many platforms that you can leverage to upskill yourself or your employees. Another route you can take is to utilise the government’s many skills development programmes.

The importance of skills development can be summarised as follows:

• It creates employment opportunities by increasing your employability.
• Promotes economic growth because the workforce is highly skilled.
• Social inclusion of marginalised communities by helping them develop skills for the now and future.
• Skills development fosters personal development and growth.

The National Skills Development Plan (NSDP) 2030 was ushered in on the 1st of April 2020. The NSDP aims to ensure that South Africa has enough people with adequate, appropriate and high-quality skills. These skills should contribute towards economic growth, employment creation and social development within South Africa. The NSDP has set out objectives that need to be met by 2030. These are as follows:

1. Expand the college system with a focus on improving quality and attracting more learners.
2. Provide 1 million learning opportunities through Community Education and Training colleges.
3. Improve the throughput rate to 80% by 2030.
4. Produce 30 000 artisans per year by 2030.
5. Increase enrolment at universities by at least 70% by 2030.
6. Increase the number of students eligible to study maths and science-based degrees to 450 000 by 2030.
7. Increase the number of Ph.D qualified staff in the higher education sector to over 75% 2030.
8. Produce more than 100 doctoral graduates per million per year by 2030.
9. Expand science, technology and innovation outputs by increasing research and development spending by the government and the private sector.

The New Growth Path (NGP) says there is a need to improve skills in every job. The organisation targets 1,2 million workers for certified on-the-job skills improvement programmes. Additionally, the NGP says every Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) should aim to facilitate and co-finance training for at least 10% of the workforce annually. The NSDP requires a lot of involvement from Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. However, these educational facilities face their own challenges which need to be overcome. According to experts, some of the challenges faced by TVET colleges include:

• Inadequacies in teacher qualification and teacher quality.
• Inadequate infrastructure.
• TVET learning programmes are insufficiently responsive to the current labour market.
• Limited support for students facing academic challenges leading to high dropout rates.

These are just some of the challenges faced by TVET colleges which need to be dealt with first before these learning institutions can facilitate proper skills development. You now have an idea of what skills development is and how the government is working towards addressing the lack of skills development in the country. In this guide, we are going to look at some of the best skills development initiatives and programmes available in South Africa.

As mentioned before, the government has put in place a number of programmes aimed at increasing skills development

Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA)

SETA is a South African government body which oversees the skills development and training within various sectors. The organisation works to monitor the quality of education and training in the different sectors. Some of the important features of SETA are:

• Each SETA has its own sector (manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality, tech, etc) that it focuses on. This is to ensure that the quality of training and education is high and adequate enough to meet the needs of the economy.
• Each SETA learning and training programme is fully accredited.
• SETA provides funding for skills development initiatives using grants and bursaries.

SETA Learning Opportunities for Skills Development

BankSETA – BankSETA offers programmes in financial services, banking and microfinance opportunities. CATHSETA – This SETA arm focuses on the culture, arts, tourism, hospitality and sport sectors. ETDPSETA – The ETDPSETA focuses on programmes for the education, training and development practices sector. It has programmes aimed at early childhood development and school administration. FASSETA – FASSETA focuses on the finance and accounting services sector. It has programmes on accounting and bookkeeping. HWSETA – The HWSETA aims to provide skills development opportunities to the health and welfare sector. It has programmes on community health work and social work. MERSETA – The MERSETA works within the manufacturing, engineering and related services sector. It focuses some of its programmes on automotive repair and maintenance and fabrication. MICTSETA – MICTSETA works within the media, information and communication technologies sector. It focuses on information technology, media studies and practical technologies. TETA – TETA works with the transport education and training sector. It has a focus on programmes about freight handling and professional driving. W&RSETA – W&RSETA is within the wholesale and retail sector. It focuses its programmes on retail operations and sales. These are some of the different SETAs which work to facilitate skills development programmes within their designated sectors. Another great thing about SETA is that you can get funding.

How to Apply for SETA Funding in South Africa for Skills Development

SETA has two ways in which it provides funding. It has mandatory grants and discretionary grants. Both grants are claimed back by you (business owner) or your employer as part of the company’s skills development levy. To get access to SETA funding, your business must submit a workplace skills plan and an annual training report(s). Mandatory grants are paid by the relevant SETA to your business (depending on eligibility). The funding is calculated at 20% of the business’ skills levy. Discretionary grants are the remaining 80% of the skills development levy. This is awarded to employers by SETA; however, you need to ensure that you apply for it through the relevant SETA.

TVET Colleges

All TVET colleges are public learning institutions which makes them government owned. These colleges are run by the Department of Higher Education and Training. Finding a skills development course at a TVET college depends on what skills you want to learn. Programmes range from artisan, sewing machine mechanics, pattern making, team leader skills, plumbing to electrician skills. It all depends on what you want to learn, your location (find nearest TVET college) and your time available to study. If you need funding to go study at a TVET college, do not stress as there are bursaries available for you. You can find a list of bursareies from Bursaries South Africa on the website.

National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)

The NYDA does not only provide financing for youth entrepreneurs but also business development support. The aim of the business development support is to provide young entrepreneurs with resources that can give them the necessary skills to establish survivalist businesses.

Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA)

SEDA is another government-owned agency that provides funding and development support to businesses. Some examples of the skills development programmes at SEDA include:

• Women enterprise coaching programme.
• Empretec programme.
• SEDA supplier development programme.
• Manufacturing support programme.
• Entrepreneurship in schools programme.

The above programmes are just some examples of the government initiatives developed to help South Africans gain practical skills which can be implemented in work (as an employee) and their own businesses.

Workplace Training and Skills Development Programmes

When it comes to workplace and upskilling programmes, there are many available. Some of the most popular types of programmes include:

TVET Workplace Learnership Programmes

These TVET programmes enable learners to finish the programme and receive nationally recognised qualifications. Usually, these programmes consist of knowledge, practical and work experience components. They are there to effectively teach learners new skills or upskilling employees. If you enrol for a TVET workplace learnership programme, your learning will take place either at the college using virtual classroom technology or in-factory learning.

Utilising e-learning platforms is great for upskilling as an individual or for your employees. If you want to upskill your employees, e-learning platforms can give you benefits such as:

• They offer a range of learning courses and degrees.
• The skills development courses are affordable for businesses.
• Flexible learning for your employees.
• Most e-learning platforms have packages aimed at enterprises. Making it more affordable for you to upskill your employees.

You can integrate the e-learning platforms with other apps. Also, some of these platforms are already integrated with technologies such as artificial intelligence. Some of the best e-learning platforms you can explore include: GetSmarter GetSmarter is an e-learning platform which provides a wide range of short courses. GetSmarter has partnered with more than 18 local and international universities to provide the best learning courses. For businesses, you can enrol your employees into any course for upskilling. You will receive an account manager who will help you find and sign-up for the right course for you. Once your employees have completed the course, they will receive a digital certificate. Skillshare Skillshare is a skills-based online learning platform. Its skills courses are run by professional teachers and highly skilled individuals. Additionally, the platform collaborates with popular influencers who are experts in their field. For businesses, Skillshare offers you an opportunity to upskill your employees. For small teams you pay a fee per seat and for bigger teams the pricing is customised towards your needs. These are the best two e-learning platforms when it comes to upskilling. They are suitable for individuals and also enterprises (small and big teams).

Google For Start-ups Accelerator Programmes

This Google programme is designed to help black-owned start-ups get the right business skills for their businesses. The programme is focused on tech start-ups and will look to provide participants with a chance to pair up with Google and industry experts. Additionally, there will be one-on-one mentoring sessions and skills development to help them solve any challenges they might face.

Microsoft Youth Skills Development Programme

Technology company, Microsoft South Africa has a partnership with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to allocate funds towards various skills development programmes. The programmes will have a focus on digital skills such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. The partnership also includes a technology fund aimed at early-stage start-up development. There will be a youth skills development fund, and a fund aimed at driving the local production of goods and services. These are just the two of the skills development programmes happening from private companies. Other companies will announce theirs early next year so keep your eyes open and apply for the right for you.