THE NQF4 LEARNERSHIP (PLANT PRODUCTION) AS
PRESENTED BY THE ‘KOUE BOKKEVELD
OPLEIDINGSSENTRUM’ (KBOS)(CERES DISTRICT) –
A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Joachim Ewert
(Former) Professor of Sociology
University of Stellenbosch
AgriSETA conference: “Fruits of the 10 years”
Emperors Palace, Boksburg
16 September 2010
A) BACKGROUND
• Officially the learnership is an NQF4 Learnership in ‘Plant
Production’
• Unofficially it is aimed at the delivery of Junior Farm
Managers to what is a de facto fruit and vegetable growing
region
• It was first launched by the Koue Bokkeveld
Opleidingssentrum (KBOS) in 2004; this year’s class is the 4th
intake
B) THE LEARNERSHIP
The learnership consists of 6 components:
1)
Orientation
2)
Course work (i.e. modules)
3)
Practical assignments (relating to farm operations)
4)
‘Field days’ (i.e. visits to farms in the region for the sake of
practical illustration of the course work, e.g. soil science)
5) Excursion to Cape Town and Stellenbosch
6) The ‘big’ assignment (in which students must demonstrate
that they can manage an orchard from beginning to end, i.e.
from planning the layout of the orchard to production and
marketing)
Although it does not involve the learners directly, one could
argue that there is a 7th component, viz.:
6) ‘Voluit Vrou’: a course designed for the learners’ partners
which is intended to assist in ‘managing’ their relationship for
the duration of the course and after, when the partner may
move into a new managerial role
C) THE ASSESSMENT
• Main objective: to find out what was ‘good’ and what was ‘not
so good’ about the learnership; to identify the ‘gaps’ and see
where it could be improved
• Methodology: from 42 learners who had completed the
course between 2004-2007, we drew a random sample of 20
ex-learners, with whom we conducted in-depth interviews
• We also interviewed their superiors (‘hoofde’); 9 of these had
also been their superiors whilst doing the learnership
D) FINDINGS: LEARNERS
• Response overwhelmingly positive
• Especially the following aspects:
 the orientation
 the competence of the ‘presenters’ (i.e. lecturers)
 the field days
 the excursion to Khayelitsha, Cape Town harbour and various
institutions in Stellenbosch
 the spirit, solidarity and mutual support in the class
• Also appreciated: the support of their superiors and their
partners (value of ‘Voluit Vrou’ highligted)
• All expressed an interest in further studies; 14/20 in a course
that would equip them with higher level managerial
competence (e.g. NQF5)
• All except 1 said that the learnership helped them ‘to get
ahead’, 11/20 held a post at junior production manager level
after completing the course; 6 were full production managers
Shortcomings/gaps:
• More opportunities to get to know one another at the
beginning of the course (i.e. during the orientation)
• Most superiors not sufficiently involved in the course; result:
too little understanding/empathy
• More practical demonstration of the ‘theory’ learned in the
class room, especially ‘pest control’
• Better coordination of theoretical modules and their practical
demonstration in the field
• Easier access to company data needed for the completion of
assignments (in a minority of cases)
E) FINDINGS: SUPERIORS
• Response less straightforward
• On the one hand, most admitted that they are not well
informed on the course, are not involved
• On the other, most did not hesitate to offer suggestions as to
how the course could be improved
• The most frequent suggestion (3/20) was that the KBOS
‘inform us better, involve us more’ (question mark)
• More than a third (7/20) think that the learnership is ‘only the
beginning’; learners need a few more years of practical
management experience
• Nevertheless, most managers are satisfied with the outcome
of the learnership
• For instance, 9/20 managers think that ‘their’ junior manager
is better when comparing them with others in a similar
position (e.g. on neighbouring farms)
• Likewise, 9/20 are certain that ‘their’ ex-learner will progress
to a higher level of management; 3 others think that he/she
‘has the potential’
• If we give those 3 the benefit of the doubt, that represents a
‘success rate’ of 60%; the same as at university level in SA
• When reflecting on the reasons why some ex-learners are
unlikely to progress, a lack of technical skills and know-how is
NOT the most important one; more often it has to do with
personality
• E.g.: ‘too little initiative’, ‘unable to take responsibility’, ‘does
not follow through’, ‘cannot assert authority’
• This raises an important question: is it possible to develop
more effective selection procedures in order to prevent
‘unsuitable’ candidates entering the learnership in the first
place?
F) BY AND LARGE THE KBOS MODEL IS A
SUCCESS, BUT CAN IT BE TRANSFERRED?
Four important things to keep in mind:
• 1) the learnership is an INTEGRATED WHOLE , i.e. together the
different components create a synergy that is more than the
sum of its parts; conversely, if one component is left out, the
learnership is weakened disproportionally
• 2) the learnership has been built on many years of SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT in the Koue Bokkeveld region by the founders
of the KBOS (Joy and Archie van Biljon); where the same
foundation does not exist, extra efforts have to be made to
build trust and confidence
• 3) a lot of learning takes place and much mutual support is
generated by the fact that learners from different farms meet
in a CENTRAL PLACE OF TRAINING and are exposed to
different farming situations; this is much more conducive to
learning than training providers going to individual farms and
workers remaining isolated
• 4) the KBOS has not only a physical address, but is also
administered by COMPETENT, FULL-TIME STAFF ; although
always focused on further improvement, the KBOS does not
go about its business in a haphazard way, but is run on a
‘system’ honed over many years
G) QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
•
Is the NQF4 qualification a certain ‘ticket’ into management?
• Does it have the same value than similar qualifications
obtained at other institutions?
• If not, why not?
• And where graduates do receive recognition, how easy or
how difficult is their integration into management – both
professionally and socially?
THANK YOU
We would like to thank the AgriSETA for funding the research;
it was a most interesting, enlightening and satisfying
experience
Joachim Ewert & Gary Eva (co-researcher)