South Africa is currently in a tremendous state of flux, with massive adjustments occurring in the fields of education and training. This is due to the Government of National Unity's efforts to equalize opportunities and empower the disempowered. A structured approach, involving the State, employers' and workers' organizations, is being adopted to harmonize the State's objectives in terms of economic growth and the general well-being of the country. State policies and strategies are therefore being developed on the basis of a fully democratic and inclusive process involving extensive debate and evaluation.
The apartheid era in the Republic of South Africa ended when full democracy became a reality on 27 April 1994. With it came massive changes to governance, legislation, socio-economic practices and education and training structures. The Reconstruction and Development Programme was adopted by the Government of National Unity as the mechanism to guide a democratic South Africa back into the international community.
Apartheid resulted in discrimination, limited training and a lack of development opportunities for non-white human resources, which added in the long term to economic decline and large-scale unemployment. Realism therefore necessitated adjustments to training structures some years ago to facilitate a departure from the bondage of poorly trained workers. This process had already started in 1985 and was accelerated in 1990, when amendments were adopted to the Manpower Training Act. Early in 1994, a new system and approach to training and development was heralded with the publication of the National Training Strategy Initiative (NTSI) by the National Training Board, which is part of the Department of Labour. The core strategy of the NTSI is the notion that "Education and training must empower the individual, improve quality of life and contribute towards development targets in the national economic plan through a national qualification framework." This approach was further promoted by the publication of a White Paper on Education and Training on 15 March 1995 and a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Bill on 2 June 1995 by the Department of Education. These developments were facilitated by the commencement of close cooperation between the Departments of Education and Labour.
The National Qualification Framework (NQF), the core of the new education and training approach, is based on a system of credits for "learning outcomes". A "learning outcome" (also referred to as a "competency") is a capability which reflects the integration of knowledge and skills that can be understood, applied and transferred to different contexts. A qualification can be acquired through full- or part-time study, distance learning, work-based learning or a combination of these methods. It may also include an assessment of prior learning and/or experience. Qualifications are accredited via the South African Qualifications Authority Act and are therefore portable throughout the economy.
In this paper, the situation in the building sector is examined as an illustration of the practical interaction of strategy and policy. The example of the Building Industry Training Board (BITB) is cited to indicate how policy is implemented in practice.
| Proposed level | ||
| Level 8 | Masters and PhDs | |
| Level 7 | Professional qualifications | |
| Level 6 | Degree and diploma | |
| Level 5 | Advance Certificate | |
| Level 4 | Further Education Certificate
A system of credits which combine for qualifications | |
| Level 3 | ||
| Level 2 | ||
| Level 1 | General Education Certificate | |
| Schooling Compulsory 9 years including educare Progression towards learning outcomes at GEC level |
Adult Basic Education and Training ABET - level 3 ABET - level 2 ABET - level 1 | |
South Africa faces a challenge to catch up on its huge housing backlog. It is envisaged that, in addition to normal building activities, housing construction has to escalate to a rate of 300,000 units per annum to cope with the housing shortage in the near future.
It is a challenge which could easily turn into a crisis. The building industry is already experiencing a shortage in skilled manpower. Add to this the fact that the industry could be required to train up to 15,000 additional persons for every 100,000 of these new houses, and the need for training becomes critical.
One of the key areas for the Building Industry Federation of South Africa (BIFSA), as industry coordinator for the Building Industries Training Board (BITB) and in its role as statutory lead and awarding body, will be to ensure sufficient training capacity through universities, technikons, technical colleges, accredited training institutions and on-site courses.
The lack of adequate housing and basic services in urban townships and rural settlements in the Republic of South Africa has reached crisis proportions. The urban housing backlog in 1990 was conservatively estimated at 1.3 million units. When hostels and rural areas are included, the backlog rises to approximately 3 million units. The crisis is compounded by the formation of an estimated 200,000 new households each year.
About 50,000 houses were built in South Africa in 1992. This figure could reasonably be increased to over 300,000 units each year by the end of the five-year Reconstruction and Development Programme period. The objective is to build a minimum of 1 million low-cost houses over the five-year period. These units should be specifically intended for low-income households and should be constructed in both rural and urban areas. The building industry obviously has a vital role to play in the achievement of these objectives.
A mass housing programme can help to generate employment, skills and economic activity, both directly and indirectly. It should therefore help to ensure peace and stability. The development of small, medium-sized and micro-enterprises owned and run by black people is incorporated into the housing delivery programme. It is obvious that, once affordable housing is available, the quality of life and therefore the standard of living of the peoples of South Africa will be improved. This, in turn, will have a positive material influence on socio-economic development.
The housing programme that is already in progress has had a tremendous impact on the financial sector, which has been involved in making finance available at favourable interest rates. The spin-offs in terms of economic acceleration and the multiplier effects in terms of the generation and expansion of income have had a positive effect on employment in South Africa, as well as on economic growth. To date it is estimated that R4 billion (in excess of US$1 billion) has already been diverted into the housing industry, with very positive effects on consumer spending and on the growth of the related industries, such as manufacturers of domestic appliances, providers of electricity and decoration.
The building industry, with government assistance via partnerships, has embarked on an extensive programme of training unemployed persons. As a result, many thousands of unemployed persons have already been provided with basic building skills and have been absorbed into the industry, while many thousands of additional persons will be required for the construction of the new homes. A large number of these are persons who were unemployed. The expansion of the housing industry has therefore clearly had a positive effect on job creation for the unemployed persons.
The State lacks the funds, experience and infrastructure to meet the housing requirements of the nation. Its role is to provide the enabling environment, backed up by limited training funds, while the private sector voluntarily does the job within its own parameters.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme has created a unique umbrella opportunity for the country, and in particular the banking sector and the building industry, to play a major role in the improvement of national housing. The banks make funds available and have the assurance that the State will guarantee loans made to persons who do not have the necessary security. The building industry, on the other hand, can only make use of the funds provided by banks if contractors are able to guarantee the quality of their work for a period of five years.
The Manpower Training Act provides the enabling environment in which the building industry can facilitate skills training for housing and related construction through the Building Industries Training Board (BITB), the composition of which reflects the environment in which it operates. It comprises employer and trade union members. It is obvious that trade unions will play a much more significant role in training matters than was previously the case, particularly since they are actively lobbying to improve the skills of their members.
The vision of the BITB is to facilitate the development of human resources for the building industry through an integrated approach to education and training. Its functions include determining the qualitative and quantitative education and training needs of all current and future employees of the building industry on a regional and national basis and facilitating delivery of a pool of desirable and critical competencies in management, craftsmanship and productivity, thereby contributing to the development and prosperity of employees, employers and all other stakeholders.
It should also be noted that the BITB operates to some extent in partnership with the Building Industry Federation of South Africa (BIFSA), which is a federation of employer bodies. BIFSA owns two training colleges, which are accredited to provide trade training. It also serves as the administrator of the training scheme for the entire building industry. BIFSA, together with the BITB, therefore addresses the education and training needs of the industry.
In this context, the functions of BIFSA include:
However, the principal body that coordinates and oversees training in the sector is the BITB, which has caused the following trades to be classified as designated trades by the Department of Labour under the terms of the Manpower Training Act: bricklayer, bricklayer and plasterer, carpenter, joiner and wood machinist, painter and decorator, plasterer and tiler, plumber, roofer, and shop fitter.
Up to 1995, a total of 26 training boards had been accredited and were operational. A training board may be described as an organization established by an industry for that industry. Training boards can be established by an employer, an employers' organization, groups of employers' organizations, a trade union or group of trade unions. There is no obligation on a training board to apply for the accreditation of its training by the Department of Labour. If, however, it opts to become an accredited training board, it can do so by applying to the Registrar of Manpower Training. If the Registrar, after considering the application and any further relevant information requested, is satisfied that the main objective of the training board is to promote training in its specific industry, that its constitution is consistent with the Act and that there is not already a training board which is accredited in respect of the industry and area concerned, he or she may accredit the training board under the terms of the Act.
In industries in which there is an apprenticeship system, accredited training boards are assigned the full responsibility for the management of the system from the date of accreditation. Nevertheless, the Registrar of Manpower Training is still responsible for overseeing the smooth functioning of the apprenticeship system at the national level.
The structure and functioning of each training board is adjusted to the industry in which it operates. The functions of the BITB include the following:
The BITB operates as an enabling organization to facilitate training in the building industry within the terms of the Manpower Training Act. The Building Industry's Training Scheme (BITS), administered by BIFSA, in accordance with the Manpower Training Act, requires all contractors in the building industry to contribute 1.5 per cent of their annual wage bill to the scheme. It therefore follows that only employers which contribute are entitled to the benefits offered by the scheme for the training of their employees.
In the case of apprentice training, financing is provided through the BITS for institutional training, technical college tuition fees for two block releases in the trade concerned, the first trade test and the minimum prescribed wages during technical college and institutional training. In the case of trainees, the cost of institutional training and the minimum wages during such training are paid through the BITS. Certain non-trade-related training and wages are also paid through the BITS where applicable. Approximately 90 training institutions countrywide are accredited by the BITB to provide off-the-job institutional competency-based training. These include educational institutions, regional training centres, (including their satellites) and private institutions.
In addition to providing financing for apprentice, trainee and certain non-trade-related training, the scheme also currently funds the development of training courses, research, BITB operations, as well as technikon and university building courses.
Unlike their counterparts in countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, South African employers do not have to absorb these training costs during the course of the year. Employers in the above countries may only lodge their claims for grants for completed courses at the beginning of the following year. Moreover, the grants provided only cover part of their training costs.
The extent to which funding is available for training depends on the demand for training and the income of the training fund. The rules for funding, according to the constitution of the BITB, as prescribed by the Manpower Training Act, may therefore be amended from time to time.
An integrated trade and manual skills training model has been developed jointly by BITB and BIFSA to meet employer and employee needs in the industry. The model was specifically designed within the context of the Manpower Training Act and, in particular, the principles of the National Qualification Framework (NQF). Its purpose is to enable workers of all educational levels to enter the building industry and to facilitate the advancement of existing employees.
The level of entry is determined by the prospective employees' educational qualifications or their level of literacy and numeracy. Employees who have entered at one of the lower levels and have successfully completed a course at that level can then progress from the lowest (Level E) to the highest level (Level A) if they so wish, as shown in the figure below.
These levels are as follows:
The advancement of employees depends on their ability and will to succeed. It should also be noted in this context that employees do not necessarily stop when they pass a trade test at Level A and thereby attain the N2 level. The Building Industry's Education and Training Pathway makes it possible for employees to progress ultimately to top management, as shown in the figure below.
Another important feature of the model is the fact that workers can be equipped with all the basic trade skills in a relatively short period of time. Time studies have indicated that, if properly screened, employees only need between 12 and 20 weeks to complete the entire institutional (TPC and PPC) training.
The BITB Board is composed of employers' and employees' representatives who decide on the standards that are to be set. Guiding principles with regard to levels and competencies are received from the various technical committees of the BITB and inspectors of the Department of Labour, who monitor the training carried out by the BITP. Inspectors from financial institutions, such as banks and building societies, also oversee the spending of the money made available for bonds for prospective house-owners, which means that they also carry out quality control. A Defects Warranty Scheme and a Home Builders' Registration Council exist for this purpose. The South African Consumer Council also takes action on complaints by home-owners regarding concerning standards of workmanship. The various Regional Building Industries and Master Builders' Associations also receive complaints if poor building standards are due to poor workmanship. The BITB endeavours to avoid bad publicity of this nature by maintaining sound standards through its own internal control standards when training employees.
Institutions which provide training also fulfil a quality control function in ensuring effective standards of competency for those whom they train under the accreditation of the BITB.
The training standards which must be complied with by employees for each level are based on the principle of competency-based modular training (CBMT). To maintain uniform standards countrywide, the BITB has compiled a skills register for every trade which the building industry. The skills registers were compiled in cooperation with employers' and employees' representatives and contain detailed performance criteria for every trade which needs to be attained by every trainee.
A training body, whether it is an institution or an employer, receives accreditation to train in a building trade or part thereof when the BITB officially recognizes the training body as competent to provide training. The training must conform to the criteria determined by the BITB for the trade concerned in the applicable skills register. Accreditation is initially granted for a probationary period of three months after an applicant has satisfied the relevant BITB Regional Training Adviser that it has at its disposal the necessary infrastructure for each task in which it intends to provide training, including:
During the three-month probationary period, the institution is expected to prove that the result of the training provided conforms with the performance criteria laid down in the relevant skills register. A moderation panel evaluates the training at the institution during these three months and permanent accreditation is granted upon receipt of a positive recommendation by the moderation panel. Thereafter, the training standards of an accredited institution are moderated on an ad hoc basis by an official moderation committee and a BITB training adviser.
In South Africa, the process of democratization has now been under way for a number of years and the involvement of all the stakeholders has contributed to the rapid establishment of structures and processes to enhance the training process. The involvement of the State and employers' and employees' organizations was essential to obtain the necessary consensus to provide an effective policy and practical framework for successful training in the building industry.
Partnerships between the State and private enterprises to establish structures and relations have been effective, firstly, because the Manpower Training Act is an enabling statute which makes industry training possible and, secondly, due to the establishment of a National Training Strategy Initiative (NTSI), which was formulated with inputs from all the social partners and has become the vehicle for the integration of all levels of training. Any industry wishing to establish coordinated training can apply to the Department of Labour to establish an accredited training board.
The building industry has also actively involved all its stakeholders in the context of the NTSI, supported by committed management to make the process work. The process was facilitated by the implementation of a simple yet effective model within the emerging parameters of the National Qualification Framework and the NTSI. The social partners recognized the advantages of the system, including greater profits with a qualified staff and more employee satisfaction due to a higher earning capacity, with a consequent increase in standards of living. Moreover, the model is structured to address the general needs of the population, its culture and, in particular, the poor level of adult education.
The BITB system has also been successful because elements from international systems were carefully selected and adapted to the specific training needs of South Africa, as well as the desperate lack of housing in the country.
The future success of the BITB model will be gauged from its ability to achieve the following in the near future:
The majority of these aims are in the process of being achieved. The success of the BITB training approach can therefore be attributed to the effective interpretation of national needs, backed up by the provision of the necessary infrastructure and the introduction of a levy structure. Within the context of the broader socio-economic situation, industry training boards could fulfil a valuable role in extending adult education and training, thereby augmenting the State's role in providing general education.
The approach to partnership between the State and industry with regard to training in South Africa is based on the State exerting influence and leaving it up to enterprises, employers' and workers' organizations to provide training within the parameters of the enabling legislation. In practice, the industry is left to itself to arrange and provide its quality training for the benefit of its employees and the satisfaction of its clients. It is therefore recommended that the present system of training boards for training by the private sector, of which the building industry is an example, be expanded to include all industries in the near future. The system by which industries can finance their own training, but are guided by the relevant legislation, appears to offer the advantage of enhancing training, promoting economic growth and, as a result, reducing unemployment, poverty and political instability.
The application of the BITB model of State/enterprise partnerships has considerable potential for application in other African countries, in view of the fact that the situation in South Africa reflects the African context and experiences, including the numerous problems of other African countries. However, the prerequisites for the application of this model are democracy and the adoption of an integrated approach to education and training by the State and industry in terms of economic policy and effective training legislation. The similarity of conditions in other African countries and the simplicity of the system makes its application in other African countries eminently possible.
It is therefore recommended that a comparative study should be undertaken to determine the level of portability of the model in terms of partnerships between the State and private enterprises in other African countries. Since the model for the building industry is already being used on an ad hoc basis in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, more research should be done to assess its success. Action is also being taken to apply the BITB model in Mozambique and Namibia.
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Gerber, P.D.; Nel, P.S.; Van Dyk, P.S. Human resources management, 3rd edition, Halfway House,Southern Publishers (1995).
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Magau, N. "Human resource development: The quality is all important", in Human resource management, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 4-7 (Feb., 1995).
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Republic of South Africa. "Draft National Qualifications Framework Bill", in Government Gazette, No. 16439, Vol. 360, 2 June 1995, Pretoria, Gov. Printer.
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1. The terms "education" and "training" are coupled in the title of this Ministry of Education document, and at many points in the text. This needs explanation.
2. Training is a vital part of many learning programmes administered in schools, teachers' colleges, technical colleges, technnikons and universities. The Ministry of Education therefore has great interest in the training function by virtue of its own responsibilities.
3. Education and training are each essential elements of human resource development. Rather than viewing them as parallel activities, the Ministry of Education believes that they are in fact closely related. In order to maximize the benefits of this relationship, the Ministry is committed to an integrated approach to education and training, and sees this as a vital underlying concept for a national human resource development strategy.
4. An integrated approach implies a view of learning which rejects a rigid division between "academic" and "applied", "theory" and "practice", knowledge" and "skills", "head" and "hand". Such divisions have characterized the organization of curricula and the distribution of educational opportunity in many countries of the world, including South Africa. They have grown out of, and helped to reproduce, very old occupational and social distinctions. In South Africa such distinctions in curriculum and career choice have also been closely associated in the past with the ethnic structure of economic opportunity and power.
5. Successful modern economies and societies require the elimination of artificial hierarchies, in social organization, in the organization and management of work, and in the way in which learning is organized and certified. They require citizens with a strong foundation of general education, the desire and ability to continue to learn, to adapt to and develop new knowledge, skills and technologies, to move flexibility between occupations, to take responsibility for personal performance, to set and achieve high standards and to work cooperatively.
6. In response to such structural changes in social and economic organization and technological development, integrated approaches toward education and training are now a major international trend in curriculum development and the reform of qualification structures. An integrated approach to education and training will not in itself create a successful economy and society in South Africa. However, the Ministry of Education is convinced that this approach is a prerequisite for successful human resource development, and it is thus capable of making a significant contribution to the reconstruction and development of our society and economy.
7. An integrated approach to education and training, linked to the development of a new National Qualification Framework (NQF) based on a system of credits for learning outcomes achieved, will encourage creative work on the design of curricula and the recognition of learning attainments whatever education and training are offered. It will open doors of opportunity for people whose academic or career paths have been needlessly blocked because their prior knowledge (acquired informally or by work experience) has not been assessed and certified, or because their qualifications have not been recognized for admission to further learning, or employment purposes.
8. Such concepts are not the property of the Ministry of Education alone, but are part of the emerging consensus on the importance of lifelong learning as the organizing principle of a national human resource development strategy. The National Training Board, a consultative and research body which advises the Minister of Labour, has made a major contribution through its research on a National Training Strategy Initiative. This was an investigation undertaken by a task team comprising representatives of organized labour, organized business, education and training providers, and the former Department of Manpower.
9. The concept of lifelong learning organized in terms of a National Qualification Framework is incorporated in the human resource development strategy of the Government's Reconstruction and Development Programme.
10. In promoting an integrated approach to education and training under the NQF, the Ministry of Education does not wish to assume executive responsibility for the provision of training which falls within the competence of other ministries.
11. The Ministers of Education and Labour have established an Interministerial Working Group to develop their common interests in an integrated approach to education and training and a National Qualification Framework, and to clarify their respective competencies with regard to training. Both sides are strongly committed to achieve these goals. The joint policy work of the Ministries of Education and Labour on this matter necessarily involves very close cooperation between the two sides, on the basis of a careful definition of where their respective interests, responsibilities and competencies converge and diverge. The Ministry of Education recognizes the Ministry of Labour's essential interest in its active labour market policy, of which the promotion of skills development outside the formal provisioning system for education and training is an integral part.
12. The Working Group includes representatives of the Departments of Education and Manpower, the National Training Board, organized business and organized labour. The Working Group recognizes that the prospect of an integrated approach to education and training has alarmed some professionals in both the formal education and the skills training camps. Some training practitioners are concerned that the specific requirements of occupational skills training will be swamped by unreasonable demands for the inclusion of general or academic courses. Some educators are concerned that the intrinsic values of general or academic education will be overridden by a narrow vocationalism or a merely economic approach to learning.
13. To some extent, such concerns probably reflect past divisions between the education and training sectors, and may not be fully informed by the most advanced international practice in the design and assessment of learning programmes, either in industry or in educational institutions. Nevertheless, they are not unreasonable and they need to be addressed seriously. Enabling the National Qualification Framework to be developed in an evolutionary, participatory and consensual way, within clear policy guidelines, will be the best way of implementing the new strategy. The organized teaching profession, and the representative bodies of the university, technikon and college sectors, as major stakeholders, will be invited to become fully involved in this process.
14. The draft National Qualification Framework Bill being prepared by the Interministerial Working Group will therefore allow ample scope for the NQF to be developed from within the diverse education and training sectors, in terms of national guidelines and a mutually agreed regulatory framework, not by bureaucratic dictation from one or other department. The decisive steps to set the NQF in motion are expected to be taken early in 1995, when the Ministers of Labour and Education will consider the text of the draft Bill, and release it for general consultation.
15. The National Qualification Framework, for which the Minister of Education will accept executive responsibility in Cabinet, is envisaged as being developed and implemented on an interdepartmental basis, with fully consultative processes of decision-making, including all concerned government departments, education and training providers, and major national stakeholders in education and training. The establishment and operation of the NQF on this basis is the main strategic objective of the Ministry of Education in the development of an integrated approach to education and training.
16. Most other Ministries have responsibilities for skills development and professional training with their spheres of competence, such as Health, Agriculture, Water Affairs and Forestry, Local Government and the Public Service Ministries. The provision and examination of professional education and training is also undertaken by many professional institutes and by a wide range of private colleges. The establishment of the NQF will enable all existing public and private sector education and training providers to assist in establishing appropriate national standards in their specialist fields through the respective accrediting bodies, and to seek recognition for their programmes in terms of such defined standards. Learners engaged in education and training under the auspices of RDP programmes will be able to earn credits towards national qualifications by so doing.