Skills System Review
Technical Task Team
HRDC Summit
March 2014
AIM of Task Team
To review the current skills
development system and to determine
whether the sector based approach to
skills development is the best model
for delivering skills in the country
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Methodology /Process
1. Terms of reference
2. Research
 International: 5 countries – UK, Brazil, Netherlands, Singapore,
Germany
 Desk research – many previous reports
 Local: SETAs, QCTO, NSA, regional structures, NSF, DHET Skills
Branch
3. Workshops
4. Stakeholder Engagement
 Large businesses, organised business and SETAs
 Small businesses and organised small business
 Organised Labour
 NEDLAC Community constituency – women, co-operatives,
people with disabilities, youth
 The DHET Skills Branch Management
 HRD Council and individual members
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Focus Areas
Linked to structure of the Report
1. Background and
purpose
2. Problem statement
3. Skills system
environment
4. Overview of
international literature
5. Vision and Mission
6. Fundamentals
7. Key outcomes
8. Existing Skills System
9. Models
10.Recommendations on
building a new skills system
11.Proposed road map for
implementation
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Skills system focus:
 The Department of Higher Education and Training and
the Skills Branch
 National Skills Fund
 National Skills Authority
 Quality Council for Trades and Occupations
 Functions located in 21 SETAs
Key lessons from the current system analysis:
Fundamentals are complex
Difficulties in responding to needs
Silos
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Problem statement 16 key areas
There is a general sentiment that SETAs are not assisting in
addressing the skills shortages that are holding back economic growth
and which act as a barrier to inward investment and job creation.
Quote: DHET Guidelines on Implementation of Seta regulations
 Impact on the economy
 Skills needs
 Low and unmet expectations
 Poor linkages
 Funding & management of funds
 Addressing current and future
needs
 Qualifications vs competence
 A confusing QA system
 Accessibility
 Complexity of public sector
skills framework
 Governance
 Bureaucratic inefficiencies
 Effectiveness and efficiency
questioned
 Structural issues
 Challenges in the management
of the skills system
 No single or simple solution to
the problems
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Key Learnings
 Wide agreement on problem statement, vision, key
fundamentals and outcomes
 Sector silos a major constraint on the system
There is a need to:
 Design and build a long term sustainable system
 Put increased effort into making the fundamentals
work
 Have wide consultation
 Have an implementation plan that does not disrupt
delivery.
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International findings
5 differing state/market models
UK
A worst-case ‘statist’ model.
Supply-side led and imposed by the state. Little employer
involvement.
Netherlands A best-case ‘social compact’ model.
Strong employer input with ‘college–sector skills council–
industry’ linkages and governance
Singapore
A best-case development state model:
state interventionist and successful in directly linking education and
training to industrial policy needs over 5 decades
Brazil
A good employer-dominated system – the 1940s ‘Ssystem’ is still operating, led by employers and effectively meets
training needs
USA
A successful voluntary model:
Workforce Investment Boards broker voluntary partnerships between
colleges, employers and the local or regional state.
Community colleges providing employers with customised training
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Vision
An inclusive and integrated skills system that is
responsive to the needs of the economy and society now
and in the future.
An effective skills system will need:
 Ramping up
 Strong partnerships and buy in from all sized business
 Skills part of wider agreement on economy
 Link skills system, education system and workplace
 Meeting current and future needs
 Balance employer and development needs
 Addressing real skills needs
 Contributing to growth, productivity and employment
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Fundamentals
 Identification of sector skills
needs
 Strategic skills planning
 Learning interventions:
development and
implementation
 An inclusive system
 Provider profile
 Policy alignment
 Monitoring & Evaluation
 Quality Assurance
 Governance and
leadership
 An effective &
credible funding
model
 Human capacity
 Brokering partnerships
and collaboration
 Effective back office
functions and shared
services
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MODELS - 6 organising principles
Multi-Sectoral (as current)
• Logical consolidation
Clustering - broad economic sectors
• Clusters based on natural fit within broad sectors and shared skills focus
Value chain clustering
• Mapping of main value chains in the economy. e.g. food, energy; minerals
Regional and local presence
• Focus on coordination with employers at a regional, city-region and local level
A voluntary system
• Stakeholder bodies agree on how to best implement skills development voluntarily
Occupationally based system
• Based on broad occupational groupings e.g. Artisans and engineering, Accounting
and finance, managerial and administrative etc.
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No single organizing principle
 No single organizing principle will work for South Africa
 An inflexible system that does not allow for elements of
each one will also not work
 Inflexibility due to the way governance has been structured
with boards in each of 21 sectors. Agreeing national
priorities is difficult
 The recommendation: remove the sector-based accounting
authorities, establish a single governance structure for the
entire skills system, retain many of the sector structures,
but not all, and different structures will be provided for.
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National Skills Council
 Standard setting and QA of
 Planning, Management of funds
provisioning
 Shared services
 Monitoring and evaluation
Sector Bodies
 Serve the needs
of particular
sectors
 Skills research
 Skills
development
implementation
Provincial
Structures
 Needs
assessment
 Skills interventions
implementation
 Monitoring
reporting and
evaluation
Employers from large
to SMME’s
Stakeholders
Learners
Local
Structures
 Liaison with local
municipalities and
stakeholders
 Develop projects
 Managing funds
allocated
 Monitoring and
reporting
NGOs /
Co-ops
Proposed interventions towards a new system
Process
Responsibility
White Paper
Minister of Higher Education
and Training
MTT report into SETA functioning and
performance
DHET Skills Branch
supported by a Task Team
LMIP and building an Institutional
Mechanism for Skills Planning
DHET Planning Branch and
HSRC
SETA clustering
DHET Skills Branch
SETA Turn Around Strategy – strengthening
capacity of DHET to drive the skills agenda
DHET
Repositioning of the NSF
DHET
Business Case for the new skills system
DHET
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Conclusions
 Principles & framework for decision making.
• An “integrated skills system” debate, not a “landscape”
review
 Skills System recommendations
• Hybrid model with National skills council, provincial and local
structures with blend of sector, supply chain, occupational
 Managing change
• Strategic decision for change – the status quo is not going to
address current or future challenges
 Human Resources
• Develop the skills of those employed in the system
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