Learning in vivo

Career progression of professionals and increasing role of councils

Eight statutory councils and two professional bodies—not established by South African law, participated in producing the Skills for and through SIPs (DHET, 2014: 63-64). Professionals generally follow a protracted development pathway, of 8 to 10 years after matriculation, prior to independent service/practice. Figure 16 (DHET, 2014: 65) below illustrates, in red on the left: schooling (having demonstrated a mathematics and science aptitude); followed by higher education; and workplace candidacy. This is followed by the orange section: assessment (by examination, peer review, or both) for professional registration; and continued professional development (CPD) to acquire and enhance expertise. The professional pipeline is concluded with retirement, in green on the right.

CPD (continued professional development), mentioned above is illustrated in figure 19 (DHET, 2014: 93), form candidacy level through various levels of advancement.

An increased role of statutory councils and professional bodies is advocated in Skills for and through SIPs (DHET, 2014: 96-97). In addition to registering professionals, statutory councils generally ensure continuing professional development of registered professionals. The Council for Higher Education (CHE) further rely on statutory councils and professional bodies to help with accreditation of the qualifications of higher education institutions. The Council for Higher Education (CHE) furthermore recognise Voluntary Associations (VAs), especially in dealing with misconduct; but also to protect public interests with regard to health, safety and responsible use of funds. Most of these efforts (“such as peer reviews, setting exams, carrying out accreditation visits, participating in investigations and hearings”) are done by voluntary experts that are associated with disciplines and sub-disciplines of the respective councils, bodies of VAs. It is recommended that the watchdog role be expanded.

Vision: skilling South Africans for SIPs through SIPs

The vision of the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) Skills Plan (Skills for and through SIPs, Chapter 1, 2014: 26) is skilling South Africans for SIPs and through SIPs. A core principle in this regard is that building people's skills is as critical as building physical assets. The notion occupation—and the organisation framework for occupations (OFO)—is of particular importance for the SIPs Skills Plan.

In order to estimate the skills required (Skills for and through SIPs, Chapter 2, 2014: 37-39) for the 18 approved SIPs, the occupational needs of a typical prototype project had been considered.

 

The scarce and critical skills required were determined (Skills for and through SIPs, Chapter 2, 2014: 41). In order to determine the skills gaps (Skills for and through SIPs, Chapter 3, 2014: 47-53) the methodology included consideration of the flow of staff per occupation:

 

The overall envisaged demand, including private sector (industry and commerce); other public and the 18 approved SIPs; is depicted below:

Occupational Teams, comprising people who care

The purpose of Occupational Teams in the management of the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) includes ensuring curriculum relevance and the alignment between institutional (theoretical) and workplace (practical) learning; as well as to address systemic problems with work placements at national level. Occupational Teams comprise representatives from education and training providers, employers, professional and other assessment and certification bodies. Illustrated as follow:

The notion Occupational Teams originates historically from the former apprenticeship committees and the system of technikon-advisory committees; aimed at keeping the training and/or education up to date and relevant. The publication Skills for and through SIPs, states that much work still need to be done in building occupational networks. The SharePoint portal serves as critical tool for dispersed communities of practice; in order to engage with, comment on and contribute to draft reports prepared by the core team. Higher education institutions are encouraged to:

• Establish employer- partnerships to expand learner and lecturer placements with the view of enhance institutional responsiveness.
• Volunteer lecturers/academics to take part in Occupational Teams and/or their networks with the aim to comment on generated reports.

‘SIPping’ skills towards national growth

Sipping means to drink (a liquid) a little at a time; or to take small tastes of; or to absorb/take in, for example ‘to sip knowledge at its source’. In this instance SIP, as acronym, stands for Strategic Integrated Project; for which and through which scarce skills acquisition is envisaged. Schedule 3 of the Infrastructure Development Act (No 23 of 2014, p. 32) list 18 SIPs.

In 2012, the South African Government adopted a National Infrastructure Plan with the aim of transforming the economic landscape and simultaneously creating jobs and to strengthen the delivery of basic services. The webpage of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), under Special Projects in the green menu bar, the fourth item opens a September 2014 published document titled Skills for and through SIPs, with the subtitle what has been done and still needs to be done to Skill South Africans for SIPs and through SIPs. The ministries of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Economic Development, Public Works, and Public Service and Administration collaborated in identifying the scarce skills needed for the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs). An invitation is extended for commentary—through the portal https://sip-skills.onlinecf.net—on the recommendations contained in the report. Chapter 14 identifies several ways in which the processes might be taken forward and call to action all stakeholders.