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26 March 2007

JIPSA has succeeded in injecting urgency amongst relevant stakeholders in addressing the skills challenge as a contribution to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa's (AsgiSA's) targets of accelerated and shared growth. The Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) has, through better co-ordination and synthesis of information and initiatives, achieved significant progress.

JIPSA brings together stakeholders who had been working in related fields but not worked together. Halfway through the 18 months JIPSA was given to outline a framework for addressing priority and scarce skills, stakeholders have reached consensus on what the scarce and priority skills are, and how they are to be acquired and produced.

JIPSA has in addition dealt with the practical implementation of some of the short-term programmes – such as matching unemployed graduates and employers; and the creation and co-ordination of placement opportunities. It is looking to stakeholders – public and private – to attend to the medium and long-term actions that are needed.

The progress that has been made is detailed in the report on JIPSA's first nine months, which also identifies areas needing further special attention. These include second economy interventions which, as in the case of AsgiSA generally, have proved more challenging than anticipated.

The full report on JIPSA for March-December 2006 is available on South Africa Government Online http://www.gov.za.

JIPSA

JIPSA was established in March 2006 to help address the challenge of skills, one of the binding constraints on faster and shared growth identified in AsgiSA. Inadequacy of appropriate skills to match the needs of the economy and the quality of education, largely inherited from the apartheid regime, are critical areas requiring interventions that will help open the way to the faster and shared growth required to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.

Further recommendations required optimisation of National Skills Fund in targeted training programmes, addressing skills immigration challenges as well as optimisation of training facilities.

Given the urgency of acquiring skills in the short to medium term, which would be aligned with critical AsgiSA programmes, JIPSA was created as a joint initiative between various stakeholders to focus on priority and scarce skills acquisition. It was given 18 months to outline a framework for addressing skills shortages in the priority areas, identified as:

* high-level, world-class engineering and planning skills for the 'network industries' – transport, communications and energy
* city, urban and regional planning and engineering skills
* artisan and technical skills, with priority attention to infrastructure development
* management and planning skills in education and health.
* mathematics, science, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and language competence in public education
* skills required by the AsgiSA priority sectors such as Tourism, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Biofuels
* cross cutting skills in project and financial management, ICT and Adult Basic Training and Education (ABET).

JIPSA is a collaborative effort by all its stakeholders to unpack challenges faced in each of the priority skills areas and refer the implementation process back to the relevant custodians with an emphasis on better co-ordination and synthesis of available information and integration of stakeholder initiatives.

JIPSA's methodology is to:

- seek consensus between stakeholders on scarce and priority skills
- Isolate, adopt and synthesise existing programmes and develop new programmes addressing same
- identify short, medium and long term interventions e.g. placements
- to provide backward linkages which influence policies and legislation.

JIPSA adopted the existing education and skills programmes that were managed by the Departments of Education and Labour, in the main, and brought the blockages to the attention of the other stakeholders.

Progress

Details of JIPSA's achievements include the following:

* A detailed plan was agreed to by various stakeholders to increase the number of B Sc Eng/B Eng graduates.

- At the moment universities are producing 1 400 graduates.
- Whilst a conservative estimate of the demand in the built environment indicates a need for an additional 1 000 graduates, the government and universities estimate a possible increase of between 480 and 600 graduates, given additional resources and capacity. Additional budget allocations have been granted to this effect.
- The stakeholders are considering further plans to address the gap that could be filled through other means such as overseas scholarships, importation, etc.

* A detailed plan for production of 50 000 Artisans by 2010, implying an annual increase of 7 500 (150%) was also agreed by the stakeholders. Many of the challenges that have been dealt with are systemic in nature. The implementation plan includes:

- alignment and clarification of the agreed pathways through announcement in Government Gazette
- finalisation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) during April 2007
- improving and increasing the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) performance to increase artisans in training
- working with Further Education and Training (FET) colleges and employers to improve quality and increase artisan training opportunities.

* Stakeholder discussions are taking place to address qualification, registration and continuing professional development of Town and Regional Planners.

- This would include a process through which the AsgiSA team would assist JIPSA to address legislative challenges relating to definitions and role of town and regional planners.

* The Business Process Outsourcing and Offshoring business plan was compiled by Department of Trade and Industry and Business Trust and was launched in the last few weeks.

- Within this sector, skills plans are being co-ordinated with the work that is being done by JIPSA.
- The team set a target of thirty thousand (30 000) entry level skills, five thousand (5 000) supervisory and managerial levels and an on-going building of globally competitive talent pool.
- Up until 31 March 2011, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will make available training support grants of up to 50% of qualifying training expenditure limited to twelve thousand (R12 000) per agent. This grant is in addition to other investment grants under the Government Assistance Support programme, GAS.
- In addition, DTI and Department of Labour are running a pilot project known as Monyetla Work Readiness Programme in which one thousand (1 000) unemployed and underprivileged youth will be trained with 70% job guarantees, including 1 supervisor per every 10 trainees. It is hoped that the pilot will be extended to benefit thirty thousand (30 000) learners until 2010.
- Further training activities are taking place at provincial level through funds advanced by National Skills Fund, estimated to benefit six thousand two hundred (6 200) trainees.

* Tourism skills plans are being drafted as a co-ordinated effort between four government departments [Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Department of Labour (DoL), Department of Education (DoE), DTI]; organised business, Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA); communities, the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) and organised labour, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

- Some of the scarce skills identified include Technical occupations (i.e. IT, gambling software, and actuarial management), product knowledge (ie heritage), skills in development and promotion of tourism products, etc.
- Through Tourism Enterprise Programme, Foreign Tourism Technical Training Assistance (from bilateral agreements with foreign countries) and assistance from the National Skills Fund (NSF) several focused training activities are taking place.
- The team will issue a detailed skills plan later in 2007.

* The DOE has intensified attention to improve quality of education in public schools by introducing an incentive for schools which produce good results.

- These include R1 000 to a school for every additional student who passes Maths higher grade, grants to most improved schools, club 100, etc. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) opportunities are being explored to increase the impact.
- Budget allocations have been given to address school infrastructure, training of teachers and principals and salary adjustment to performing teachers.
- Importation of Maths teachers from India will equally be finalised shortly.

* FET colleges have successfully enrolled twenty five thousand (25 000) students in the first year of revitalised programmes.

- Improved infrastructure, curriculum reforms and bursaries are the main attributes of this programme.
- Marketing efforts are being increased to encourage more students to do vocational training.

* Local placements have benefited at least four thousand (4 000) candidates whilst international placement have benefited 700 people, most of whom were women.

- Co-operation from various countries continues in respect of placements, exchange programmes, information sharing as well as collaboration in research and development.

* JIPSA will continue to work with different stakeholders to address the remaining priorities in areas of:

- education and healthcare management systems
- financial and Project management skills
- further improvements in public education.

* Direct Second Economy interventions through Education and Training remain slow and challenging; this includes a need to train people with less than 12 years of schooling.

- It is hoped that integration of the JIPSA activities with National Youth Service will increase the impact in the Second Economy.

In the light of an urgent and greater need to share the benefits of growth going forward. Much more has to be done to enhance public education and re-skilling youth out of school languishing in the second economy with less than 12 years of schooling.

Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
26 March 2007