Future SA - Volume 1 l Issue 3 - November 2021 by Media Xpose

EDUCATION l SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING l EMPLOYMENT VOLUME 1

ISSUE 3

NOVEMBER 2021

When tomorrow comes, will you

be ready? African women

can future-proof their career in a digital age

November 2021 | R39.90 Incl. VAT

People are a business’ greatest asset –

investing in them is essential for growth

It’s adapt or die for

education as technology forges ahead

21002

9 772788 710006

Entrepreneurship education is critical to creating a thriving entrepreneur culture in SA Meeting the need for multi-skilled workers in South Africa

Registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a Private Instituti Tel: 087 821 1109 or 012 110 4080 | Fax: 086 550 3692

Email: education@foundation.co.za | www.foundation.co.za

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN DISTANCE HIGHER EDUCATION (NQF 8) SAQA ID: 109941

ABOUT THIS COURSE

BECOME AN ONLINE LECTURER

The Postgraduate Diploma in Distance Higher Education is designed to enable potential, new and current lecturers to facilitate their courses online. The development of this programme is in accordance with a broad move towards online learning (e-learning) and the tendency to supplement contact programmes with a range of online teaching technologies, at both public and private higher education institutions world-wide.

WHO SHOULD ENROL?

COURSE FEE

This qualification is aimed at lecturers at higher education institutions with an interest in embracing e-learning.

R 31 000.00 (Inclusive of all VAT and taxes) + R350 Application fee

CERTIFICATION The successful candidate will be awarded with a Postgraduate Diploma in Distance Higher Education (NQF Level 8).

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER https://portal.foundation.co.za/Course/Details/484

MASTERCLASS ON CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT THIS COURSE PREVENT MISTAKES IN THINKING

Critical thinking is one of the top skills identified by the World Economic Forum as what companies want to see in their employees. Critical thinking is described as disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence that will help individuals respond to the rapid rate of change in technology, business and education.

WHO SHOULD ENROL?

This short course aims to provide critical thinking strategies that can be applied to situations that call for reflection, processing and evaluation of information.

Any individual who has identified a need to develop their critical thinking skills. For example, managers across a variety of sectors.

COURSE FEE

CERTIFICATION FPD will award participants with a certificate of completion for this course, should they successfully complete the assessment process.

R 3 000.00 (Inclusive of all VAT and taxes)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER https://portal.foundation.co.za/Course/Details/1024

500 000 Students 45 Countries 24 Years

REGISTERED with the

DHET SINCE 2002

ion of Higher Education under the higher education act, 1997. Reg No. 2002/HE07/013 FPD Knowledge Park, 173 Mary Road The Willows, Pretoria

PO Box 75324, Lynnwood Ridge Pretoria, 0040

FPD is a member of the SAMA Group

HIGHER CERTIFICATE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION (NQF 5) SAQA ID: 112139

ABOUT THIS COURSE

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

WHO SHOULD ENROL?

This programme is intended to develop educators who can support and promote early learning and development for babies, toddlers and young children up to and including four years of age. By enrolling for the HCert (ECCE) participants can gain an entry level qualification that will afford them recognition as an early childhood development (ECD) educator. Furthermore, graduates who successfully complete the HCert (ECCE), and who want to become professionally qualified, can then enrol for a Diploma (Dip) in ECCE or a Bachelor of Education (BEd) in ECCE.

COURSE FEE

School leavers who want to enter the field of Early Childhood Education, caregivers and/or au pairs.

CERTIFICATION The successful candidate will be awarded with a Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education (NQF Level 5)

R20 500.00 (Inclusive of all VAT and taxes) + R350 Application fee

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER MASTERCLASS ON HOW TO FACILITATE COURSE OBJECTIVES

PRESENTATION & COMMUNICATION SKILLS

To enable facilitators and subject experts to transfer their knowledge and skills through effective and efficient teaching practices designed to meet the need of adult learners within the higher education framework.

WHO SHOULD ENROL? Individuals providing training or that need to present workshops. New lecturers and aspirant educators with an interest in embracing teaching excellence.

INTAKE DATES INTAKE 1: 19 - 22 October 2021 INTAKE 2: 07 - 09 December 2021

COURSE FEE R4 500.00 (Inclusive of all VAT and taxes)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

https://www.foundation.co.za/course/115/masterclass-on-how-to-facilitate

Editor's note

As we hurtle towards the end of 2021, let’s take a moment to reflect on the incredible resilience shown by individuals and organisations. There is no doubt that 2021 proved to be a challenging year, similar to 2020, where our lives have been dictated to by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this edition of Future SA we delve into the critical role education plays in driving an entrepreneurial culture. This is more essential than ever – one of the key takeaways from the Covid-19 pandemic is to look beyond the usual and tap into alternative business markets that are not necessarily mainstream. If people can start harnessing their entrepreneurial talents through education from a young age, South Africa has the potential to be an entrepreneurial haven. Entrepreneurship is often spoken of in lofty terms, but the idea is to demystify it and start building the confidence within our youth who will be our future leaders. Another key focus area in this edition looks at the need for transformation. Transformation is very broad but in the context of development, transformation is needed at school level, tertiary level and in the business environment. The world has changed and will continue to change at a fast pace – education, business and individuals will need to transform to remain relevant and drive future development that will enable job creation and help eradicate the socio-economic realities we face. That being said, while change can be daunting, it can also be the impetus to drive growth that will be beneficial to all. As 2021 winds down it is important to take stock, have a break and to also look towards the future. At the end of the day while there are a number of initiatives that can assist in empowering youth and individuals, we are ultimately responsible for our own journey. So, let’s be armed with the knowledge to make informed and empowered decisions that will ultimately ensure our ability to secure jobs, create jobs and continually grow. To conclude, I would like to highlight the following – we are a country brimming with talent, and we are a country that has immense opportunity from a technological, infrastructure, education and training and resource perspective. If we work together, share information and ideas and enhance collaboration between all sectors, SA has the potential to be a global leader in all areas.

Tashne @FutureSA.Media

@FutureSA9

future__sa

While the pandemic has brought on many insecurities – job insecurity, funding challenges for education and training, budget cuts, unrest, and a somewhat lost-at-sea feeling for many – there is still hope, as evidenced by the flexibility of individuals to seek out opportunities outside of the norm.

CMY

Contents 6

Mercedes-Benz South Africa – how to secure a bursary programme

Superiate Upliftment Programme launches in SA

Failure to prepare for learning: where most corporate learning and development programmes go wrong

Saving for the best education you can afford for your kids

42 44 47 50

How to compile a resume for your first job Attitude vs aptitude: selling yourself in challenging times Advertorial: University of the Free State When tomorrow comes, will you be ready?

People are a business’ greatest asset – investing in them is essential for growth

Advertorial: Wingu Academy

Meeting the need for multi-skilled workers in South Africa

It’s adapt or die for education as technology forges ahead

How universities are adapting to prepare students for the future

What to do if your child’s educational needs changed over the past year

Why you should be spending more money on short courses

When a positional good drives unethical behaviour: a case for inserting ethics into the curriculum

The jobs problem – what’s really behind SA’s shocking unemployment numbers?

African women can future-proof their career in a digital age

Investing in ECD could increase women’s employment

16 20

34 36 38 40

How to effectively reboot SA’s classroom environments

Education needs to ignite entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship education is critical to creating a thriving entrepreneur culture in SA Advertorial: MTN Financial education is important for children at any age

6 Carlton Crescent, Parklands, 7441 | Tel: 021 424 3625 | Fax: 086 270 9693 Email: info@futuresa.co.za

@FutureSA.Media

Website: www.mediaxpose.co.za

@FutureSA9

future__sa

The importance of work experience in job creation Book reviews

PUBLISHER Elroy van Heerden elroy@mediaxpose.co.za

DESIGN & LAYOUT: Anja Bramley artwork1@mediaxpose.co.za

EDITOR Tashne Singh editor@futuresa.co.za

ADVERTISING SALES Elroy van Heerden elroy@futuresa.co.za Bruce Crowie bruce@mediaxpose.co.za

SUB-EDITOR Tessa O’Hara tessa.ohara@gmail.com CONTENT MANAGER Wadoeda Adams artwork@mediaxpose.co.za

PICTURE CREDIT: 123rf.com DISTRIBUTION:

ON THE DOT PRINTED BY:

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or its agents. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information published, the publisher does not accept responsibility for any error or omission contained herein. Consequently, no person connected with the publication of this journal will be liable for any loss or damage sustained by any reader as a result of action following statements or opinions expressed herein. The publisher will give consideration to all material submitted, but does not take responsibility for damage or its safe return.

74 78

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Dr Eric Albertini Aunyana Moloisane Professor Ahmed Shaikh Dr Ronel Blom Lydia Zingoni Kate Mayo Numair Hussain Lyn Mansour Daniel Orelowitz Mamiki Matlawa Rajan Naidoo

SOCIAL MEDIA Kyla van Heerden social@mediaxpose.co.za MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS Maurisha Niewenhuys maurisha@mediaxpose.co.za DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Shihaam Gyer distribution@mediaxpose.co.za CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Shaun Mays shaun@mediaxpose.co.za RECEPTIONIST Daniela Daniels receptionist@mediaxpose.co.za

www.futuresa.co.za

Bursary

Mercedes-Benz South Africa –

how to secure a bursary programme Get a head start into the world of work by participating in the MercedesBenz South Africa (MBSA) Bursary Programme and transport your career with one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. The MBSA Bursary Programme aims to harness outstanding achievers from tertiary levels into our fold of growing talent. Eligible participants are offered financial assistance throughout their academic studies as well as experiential learning where applicable. Bursary applications are available for both our sales and marketing environment (Pretoria) and our world-class manufacturing plant (East London).

What the MBSA bursary offers

The MBSA bursary offers funding for learners to study at a university or private tertiary level institution of their choice. The benefits include funding towards tuition and registration fees, accommodation, meals, textbooks, stationery and a monthly stipend to assist the learners with their everyday expenses.

towards their studies. Through the experiential workplace experience bursary recipients get the opportunity to play their part as an integral team member on specific projects within the organisation.

In addition, to accommodate the current academic longdistance learning introduced by most academic institutions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MBSA also makes an additional contribution of a laptop and/or data allowance to the programme offerings. Bursary holders also have an opportunity to work at Mercedes-Benz South Africa during their vacation.

In addition, the bursary recipients are able to amplify on their networks through the relationships formed during their vacation period. These relationships can entail professional working relationships with key stakeholders within the organisation at all levels, as well as with fellow bursary holders, immediate colleagues and managers. This is an important first step in creating own networks within the group of companies, as well as providing bursary recipients with real opportunities to positively contribute to internal work processes.

Through vacation work, bursars get a career head start as they are able to put theory into practice while continuing with their studies. Bursary recipients have opportunities to work in specialised areas that provide them with real insights into their higher education modules, thus contributing significantly

After successful completion of their studies, bursary recipients will have the opportunity to join the company’s Graduate Development Programme; which will, together with the vacation work experience, offer the graduates excellent prospects for a future career at Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

www.futuresa.co.za

Bursary

Application process

Interested candidates can apply to be MBSA bursary recipients in response to an advert on the Daimler Careers Website at www.daimler.com/ career. The bursary programme is advertised annually in both Pretoria and East London, with the commencement of applications taking place from September to November. All applications must be submitted online on the careers website. The MBSA Bursary Programme is applicable to all South African citizen students pursuing fulltime studies at a university or private tertiary level institution. High school students may apply for the Bursary Programme from Grade 12 or use their final Grade 11 marks should their matric results not be available at the time of application. Should prospective bursars be successful during the application process, all results provided will only grant provisional acceptance. Final acceptance is based on final results from either Grade 12 studies or the respective year of study at the relevant tertiary institution. The qualification streams funded are relevant to the requirements of the organisation. Therefore, the streams covered on the bursary programme are: • Engineering: Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Industrial, Mechatronics and Metallurgy • Computer Engineering/Information Technology • Finance related fields • Supply Chain/Logistics • Human Resources • Business Studies – Sales, After sales and Marketing • Legal and Compliance – Law

Selection criteria

• Grade 12 learners who have a minimum average of 70%, and applicants with distinctions in Mathematics and/or Physical Science will have an added advantage in the applicable career streams/qualifications. • Applicants at tertiary level are required to have a minimum aggregate average of 65% to be considered for the Bursary Programme.

All applications should include the following documents:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV) 2. Certified copy of Grade 11/12 results, or recent full tertiary academic record 3. Certified copy of Identity Document (ID) Mercedes-Benz South Africa is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered; in addition, foreign nationals must qualify for a study visa or permit as per the provisions of the Immigration Act 13, 2002. The Mercedes-Benz South Africa Bursary Programme aims to provide similar offerings in both environments, however, due to the significant difference in the sales and marketing and manufacturing environments, the two Bursary Programmes may have slight differences in their offerings to students as well as with the required career streams. Students interested in the Mercedes-Benz South Africa Bursary Programme may contact the HR Specialists mentioned below for further information: • East London – Jade Vengadajellum (jade.vengadajellum@daimler.com) • Pretoria – Koketso Mookeletsi (koketso.mookeletsi@daimler.com)

Testimonials from previous bursary recipients

“The Mercedes-Benz South Africa Bursary Programme has given me the opportunity to chase my dreams. I am now able to complete my studies without the additional stress I would have had due to my financial situation at home”. “This programme has given me the opportunity to form relationships with students at my university, at other institutions as well as with great people within the company. My mentor, which the company also provided for me, has been a great sounding board when I hit a stumbling block in some of my modules. Thank you MBSA!” Bursary application website link: www.daimler.com/career/

www.futuresa.co.za

Community Upliftment

Superiate Upliftment Programme launches in SA

Youth and community upliftment initiative, the Superiate Upliftment Programme (SUP), has been launched nationwide, bringing together business, government, schools and communities. The SUP drives the upliftment of youth throughout South Africa and encompasses skills and personal development initiatives to those that sign up. The launch phase targets over 500 000 learners in 500 high schools, as well as those surrounding households and communities. “Working with brand partners and the Department of Basic Education, and while coming out of Covid and remaining Covid conscious, we asked the question, how can we still have relevant conversations with school learners and their families?” says Brad Stern, Founder of Superiate Marketing. “The objective is for SUP to be the connector between brands, the youth and their communities in aiding learners’ social upliftment and education. This programme allows us to ‘invite’ youth and their households (in fact anyone in SA) to hop on board, by signing up to the programme. “The initial launch to 500 high schools is through prominently displayed posters and brochures in the schools that reaches and informs the learners and their parents/guardians of the initiative. Our work with the Department of Basic Education will ensure we drive schools, teachers and learners to benefit and that the programme provides upliftment,” adds Stern.

www.futuresa.co.za

Community Upliftment

Big-name brand partners on the SUP programme include: • Google – provides development training and education to budding entrepreneurs and SMEs with Free Google Digital Skills Africa training • McDonalds’ McCafe – education relating to sustainability, responsible production and growing vegetable gardens for communities to benefit from • RSAWeb – provides high-quality internet to learners at schools and to homes; and enables better access to online learning materials and teaching resources • Score Energy – balances intake with exercise, a healthy mind and body • Yenza – supports via a career & CV development app • Presto and Splashlearn – educational development software • Scoot – a sim card special offer specific to teachers throughout SA • Global Citizen – creates activists for positive change in the world • TEARS Foundation, Operation Smile, Menstruation Foundation – highlights conversations and information on critical issues facing the youth such as gender-based violence, abuse, physical and social media bullying, contraception, period poverty and other topical and meaningful topics “The programme aims to uplift and educate the youth, teachers and community members. Additionally, brands will gain valuable market research and insight relevant to their industries. We will also be featuring budding entrepreneurs, SMEs and charity organisations throughout communities of SA – there are so many good stories to tell and promote,” adds Stern. “Our current partner brands have certainly put their money where their mouths are.” When learners and teachers sign up to SUP, some notable benefits are: • Access to prizes amounting to over R2 million • Free educational software from Head Start Education to the value of R100 million (this includes the study hacks guide from Presto and the Maths software from SplashLearn for Primary schools in the communities) • Teachers can access the Scoot sim card offer which offers data at a cost of R5 per gigabyte “This is the launch, phase one. Sign up is not restricted to the 500 high schools and those surrounding communities. Anyone throughout South Africa can join the programme. Phase two begins in the fourth term and more brand partners will be joining. The brands on board all sign up to ‘the more the merrier’ mantra – the more brands and rewards, the more the youth and community benefit. SUP are inviting brands that share this vision to get in touch with us to join this initiative. We’re currently in discussions with top brands in telecoms, banking and FMCG, amongst others, to join as partner brands,” explains Stern.

www.futuresa.co.za

“We believe that stimulating learning and future-focused economic activity is much-needed, particularly in these challenging times. Our vision is that SUP becomes a connector between business and government, where the real benefit goes to the youth and communities. “We hope that SUP will leave a lasting mark in the hearts and minds of young people and communities throughout the country.” www.superiate.com

Superiate is a boutique marketing consultancy and project management agency designed to uplift, exceed, and overcome, with targeted communication and marketing. Superiate’ s specialist youth and community-based marketing initiatives connect brands with young people by building brand loyalty and showcasing brand power and affinity. It strives to do good marketing while doing good. Individuals and brands can contact Superiate at info@superiate.com or call +27 (0)83 280 9990.

Education

Failure to prepare for learning:

where most corporate learning and development programmes go wrong By Dr Eric Albertini, SA Business School

www.futuresa.co.za

Education

Globally, organisations spent $359 billion on learning and development (L&D) in 2016. It’s an eyewatering sum of money invested in corporate L&D, yet it seems that for the most part, the return on such investment amounts to nil. In fact, a McKinsey survey showed that only a quarter of respondents believe that training measurably improved performance and only 12% of employees actually applied new skills learned in L&D programmes in their work environment and job roles. It would seem that the majority of corporate L&D training is ineffective.¹ wrong? So where is it going

a successful A key factor in having has real impact L&D programme that ployer, is the for the learner and em rner BEFORE preparedness of the lea ion takes place. the learning intervent stage where It is at the pre-learning fail to lay the most L&D programmes sful duringfoundations for succes and post-learning.

Pre-training preparation of employees is critical to success

The lack of a structured pre-learning phase means that employees don’t get the answers to their who, why, and what questions. For a start, there is very little alignment between the needs of the employee and their development objectives, the needs of the business and providing a clear view of what the expected outcomes are for the individual and business in terms of impact and performance.

Being mandated to learn, versus wanting to learn because the benefits and objectives are clearly laid out are vastly different. Too often, already busy employees are mandated to attend training, often at the worst possible time, that has very little relevance and context for their needs and challenges at that time. In an article published by Harvard Business Review, author Steve Glaveski states that people learn best when they have to learn. Applying what’s learned to real-world situations strengthens one’s focus and determination to learn. Today’s employees often learn uniform topics, on L&D’s schedule, and at a time when it bears little immediate relevance to their role – and their learning suffers as a result.¹ In an extract from ‘The influence of pre-training factors on motivation to transfer learning at the post training stage’ research study², the authors state that learning readiness, which is the extent to which individuals are prepared to enter and participate in a training event, is a significant predictor of motivation to transfer training – in other words, transfer and apply learning at the post-learning stage.² It is the neglect of this pre-training preparation of employees that sees learners disengaged, unreceptive and simply not motivated to attend or actually ‘learn’ on these programmes, which companies are spending billions on each year. It is commonplace to find employees arriving for training who don’t understand why they were selected or nominated for a particular programme, they don’t know how they will benefit from the learning programme, and they don’t see the connection between the training and their role and objectives. There is also a complete disconnect between them and their line managers in terms of ‘what to do’ with ‘what they have learned’ back in the workplace. It’s one of the key reasons why what is learned in the training room never evolves further to be transferred and applied in the business and employee’s role – and the hefty company investment in L&D never pays dividends.

www.futuresa.co.za

Education Establish a common goal of training In terms of ‘learner readiness’, the candidate needs an understanding of how the training programme affects their performance and whether they can really apply the new knowledge or skill on the job. Trainees and managers should communicate prior to training to establish a common goal of training. It is only when they understand the aim and objective of the training, and most importantly how this training corresponds to their current challenges, that they will be motivated to transfer the skills acquired in any L&D programme.² In addressing this fatal flaw in so many L&D programmes, SA Business School formulated an intentional approach to how learning and development of employees should take place – and the importance of getting the pre-learning stage right. • In a bid to tick boxes and earn credits, we often see L&D managers throwing as much as possible at their employees by way of training programmes in the hope that something will stick. We recognise that sometimes, learning and development is not always the solution and on its own, it is not a change strategy. The objective and justification for every L&D programme should be thoroughly interrogated and fit for purpose in the bigger picture of the business strategy and mission. • Effective and sustainable learning always happens from the ‘inside-out’ and starts with preparing the learner. • Learning must be human-centered and cater for both the individual development and career growth aspirations of the employee and organisational capability building and transformation. • Learning is about change, stretch and transformation – in particular it’s about delivering the appropriate amount of stretch or challenge for each learner. • Our learning is based on activity-centric design, in other words, practical, business-driven action learning that can actually be applied straight away and has relevance and context. • Learning is a journey not an event. • Using Agile Learning Design, we seek input from participants to build into their learning programme so that there is ownership and accountability. • We integrate multiple stakeholders – from the participant, line manager, facilitators, HR business practitioner – across all three phases of learning namely Pre-Learning, DuringLearning and Post-Learning. • We use real-world, business-driven metrics to measure and demonstrate the impact of learning. References: 1. Harvard Business Review. Where companies go wrong with L&D. https://hbr.org/2019/10/where-companies-go-wrong-with-learningand-development - accessed 25 July 2021. 2. Celestin, Bekolo & Yufen, Shao. (2018). The Influence of Pre-training Factors on Motivation to Transfer Learning at the Post Training Stage. Human Resource Research. 2. 1. 10.5296/hrr.v2i1.12483.

‘Transfer of learning’ is the ultimate aim of training investment ‘Transfer of learning’ is the ultimate aim of training investment. It is the key to maintaining competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing operating environment where organisational success often depends on the motivation with which employees can learn and apply new ideas and information. The motivation to transfer learning is influenced by: • Learning readiness – the extent to which learners are prepared to enter and participate in the training/learning (pre-learning). • Performance self-efficacy – can I do the job, or will this training help me to my job better? • Perceived content validity – how does this content link to my Key Result Areas and my business strategy? • Organisational openness to change – can I apply this learning in the business? Even well-trained and motivated employees cannot apply their new knowledge and skills if they return to business units which have an entrenched and established way of doing things and is unable/unwilling to change tack. Our learning design and delivery philosophy focuses on all aspects of the learning engagement matrix – pre-, during and post-learning. Where so many L&D programmes will focus solely on some sort of follow-up and reinforcement post-training to ensure the new knowledge is being transferred and applied, we believe that setting the groundwork right upfront during the pre-learning phase is key to ensuring maximum transferability of learning. It means that there’s no wastage of L&D investment, that employees are engaged in their learning journey and take ownership and accountability from the outset, and finally, all role players and line managers are involved in the process, so that ‘what is learned’ can actually be applied in a business that is open to change and embraces the newfound knowledge and skills that are key to business competitive advantage. www.sabusinessschool.com

Dr Eric Albertini, SA Business School

www.futuresa.co.za

WEB classroom

for schools Cami Web

is fully aligned with the CAPS curriculum and is available in English and Afrikaans.

Cami Web is the perfect tool for your classroom. The highly effective computer programs can be used anytime, anywhere on any computer or tablet with an internet connection.

Cami Web is an online program that offers: A 9

New feature

A Perceptual Skills Builder

Mathematics for Special Needs

Mathematics (includes Singapore Maths)

Cami Web now also includes an assessment bank with online tests and examinations that include step-by-step solutions and detailed reporting.

Benefits for learners Cami Mathematics (includes Singapore Maths) for Grades R – 7 Cami Mathematics for Special Needs for ages 5 – 18 The following features assist learners in mastering mathematical concepts: • Learners can practise in the classroom and at home on any tablet, laptop, or PC via Google Chrome. • The programs provide on-the-spot explanations of exercises with step-by-step solutions. • The programs intelligently adapt the difficulty of the exercises according to the learners’ performance. • Cami Maths includes Singapore Maths. The method teaches learners how to think mathematically and how to become successful problem solvers.

Benefits for educators

Cami Perceptual Skills Builder for Grades RRR – 1 The program allows young learners to develop essential skills. Features include: • Thousands of exercises based on areas of perception: colour, shape, spatial orientation, associative skills, comparative skills, mental retention, and numeracy. • Learners hone their problemsolving skills through play. • Learners receive step-by-step guidance to steer their learning in the right direction. • Excellent learning tool for children and adults with learning disabilities and attention deficits.

helloclassroom@optimi.co.za

012 941 1945

• Easy-to-use educator dashboard. • Educators can create assessments and courses to match the diverse learning needs of their learners. • Assessments are marked automatically, with detailed reports available afterwards. • Educators can monitor their learners’ progress easily. • All exercises are categorised by grade into CAPS-aligned topics or terms.

Add on

Subject diagnostic assessment Educators can test and benchmark learners’ proficiency in Mathematics against acceptable standards using online assessments. The online assessments can be purchased at an additional fee.

www.itsieducation.com

Education

Saving for the best education

you can afford for your kids Until a few years ago, South African parents wanting to give their children the best possible education were faced with a tough choice: if their kids couldn’t get into a good public school, they either had to find the means to pay for private schooling or take their chances in a stretched government schooling system. As a 2019 study by Sanlam showed, education is one of the top priorities for South African parents, with saving for education one of the top four monthly expenditures among lower-income households. But how do you plan and save for school fees at a time when many families struggle to make ends meet every month? It all starts with a budget, says Natasha Vellieux, Financial Manager at SPARK Schools. Think of your budget in ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’. Must haves include the best education for your children, saving for your retirement and unplanned events in your life. This will help you to identify exactly where you can cut costs in other areas to accommodate for the best education you can afford for your kids.

From left - Gr 1 SPARK Scholars Orifa Mpho-entle Makhale (known as Entle), Thandolwetho Soko, Mikhail Van Wyk, Isaac Kwame

www.futuresa.co.za

Education

If possible, pay fees in advance While not everyone can pay a child’s entire school fees in advance for the year, this is one of the best ways to save on school fees, as many schools offer a discount for early payment.

Put aside money every month This will help relieve the financial burden at the beginning of the new year when stresses are high, and money is tight. “It’s far easier to come up with regular, smaller amounts of money than one big lump sum all at once,” says Vellieux.

Use your loyalty programmes Many banks and retailers offer reward points that you can put towards items like uniforms, stationery and the numerous small expenses that come with a new school year.

Choose the right savings account When saving for school fees, make sure you’re able to balance the best possible returns with accessibility. If you’re saving for the next year, choose a short-term savings account, which will allow you to withdraw the money when you need it. But if you’re taking a longer-term view, for high school or even university, rather choose a long-term savings or investment plan.

Use your retirement annuities tax benefits Retirement annuities have tax benefits; investing in a retirement plan has both a tax advantage which puts more money in your pocket at the end of the month and gives you peace of mind when you retire. “The most important thing is to start saving as soon as you can for your children’s education. The more you can save, the more you’re helping your kids lay the foundation for a successful future,” says Vellieux.

SPARK Schools is a network of private schools offering affordable, globally competitive education. Concerned by the state of South African education and committed to finding a solution, Stacey Brewer and Ryan Harrison cofounded SPARK Schools in 2012. They believed that an innovative approach could disrupt the crisis in South African education and dedicated themselves to creating a new model that would provide access to high-quality education for all. SPARK Ferndale, the first school in the SPARK Schools network, opened in 2013 in Johannesburg. Since then, the network has expanded to serve more than 10 000 SPARK scholars at 18 schools in Gauteng and the Western Cape. SPARK Schools’ purpose is to build a nation through high quality, affordable education. They are society shapers, committed to nurturing scholars who are responsible, persistent, and kind and who positively contribute to South Africa’s future. For further information on SPARK Schools visit www.sparkschools.co.za or follow on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

www.futuresa.co.za

Education

How to effectively reboot SA’s classroom environments By Aunyana Moloisane, MD of Optimi Classroom

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started, all public primary schools in South Africa fully reopened on 2 August 2021. Over the last 18 months, these schools have either been temporarily closed during periods of intensified lockdowns or, at best, operating on a limited rotational schedule where children have only attended schools for a few days a week. The impact of this situation is only beginning to be fully understood now. Latest statistics, cited by the likes of UNICEF, have indicated that many learners across our country have lost anywhere between 75% to 100% of a full school year since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Other concerning statistics point to how school children have lost 54% of learning time, while up to 500 000 learners have reportedly also dropped out of school altogether over the past 16 months.

r endeavou ls o o h c s If all our lear ning e t a r le e c n to ac e period i u q i n u s i h r amid t efocus ou r n a c e w histor y, to change t r a t s d n effor ts a the better things for

In addition, 2 000 schools were looted and damaged during the hard lockdown last year, and we are still counting the cost that the recent unrest had in schools in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

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Education

nity Opportu up to catch th Africa a t th t Sou

o doub nges There’s n ary challe xtraordin e g id in c m a fa is em cation syst in our edu s. e umstanc these circ be on how ow must n s u c m fo The tion syste our educa e v at o th m e w e ensure nd how w a rd ft a le rw fo y is our countr no child in . d Chiefly, there are four things that our schools can and should do in their catch-up efforts. in beh

testing: 1 Diagnostics This should be carried out among learners

in extra class interventions: 2 Investment This would entail having more lessons outside of

to find out what gaps they have so that adequate remedial measures can be put in place. If teachers and principals have a better understanding of where the shortcomings are, they can deal with them more effectively.

parent involvement and 3 Intensifying support:

Parents need to be stakeholders in their children’s education. Even though schools are returning to full-time education, parents still need to understand that learning at home will be an extended part of the school day. In this regard, parents need to be aware that they have a role to play when it comes to assisting learners with difficult learning areas.

ordinary schooling hours, and this could prove key to catch-up education efforts across the country. Already, many South African schools have become accustomed, for example, to having extra mathematics and physical science lessons after school hours and on weekends. These efforts will need to be redoubled and expanded. of supplementary educational material, 4 Use at least where parents can afford it.

In closing, we know that our schools face many challenges, especially those in township and rural areas. More than ever, these schools will need greater support and attention. However, if all our schools endeavour to accelerate learning amid this unique period in history, we can refocus our efforts and start to change things for the better.

Aunyana Moloisane, MD of Optimi Classroom

www.futuresa.co.za

About Optimi: The Optimi Group provides accessible learning solutions that support every step of your learning journey. Optimi provides offerings in four divisions: home, workplace, classroom and college. Together, these divisions support more than 200 000 learners every year.

Due to the global pandemic and the subsequent disruptions in the traditional schooling environment, home-schooling, and specifically online schooling, has seen a significant rise. With the concern for their children’s health, coupled with the flexibility and

convenience

that

online

home-schooling

offers, it has become a viable option for many

CHALLENGING EXPECTATIONS ABOUT SCHOOLING FROM HOME THROUGH EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION

parents. Wingu Academy arguably has the most advanced distance and blended learning platform in the online space in Africa. Our platform gives educational support to home-schoolers all over Africa between the ages of 5 – 19 years. Live classes and tutorials are presented along with interactive online content. The platform aims to enrich learners with 4th industrial revolution (4IR) skills such as critical thinking, creativity, complex problem solving and online collaboration. Housed at TuksNovation (University of Pretoria’s High Tech Business Accelerator), it has been developed by teachers, UP alumni, and postgraduate students who are experts in their respective fields with additional collaboration with researchers from the Wits School of Education. The

ever-evolving

Wingu

platform

provides

the

internationally recognised British curricula and as of January 2022 Wingu Academy will extend their high-school offering to include the South African CAPS curriculum. Enrolments are now open for the January 2022 intake! Wingu Academy focuses on a blended learning approach that includes asynchronous (self-paced, student-led) and synchronous (interactive live classes) learning, enriched with animations, video content, infographics, gamification and simulations to cater for the major types of learning styles (visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinaesthetic learning styles) and implementing constructive feedback in continuous assessments providing a wide variety of choices to support individual learning at home. The learners are exposed to computation thinking from as early as grade 1, and the coding and robotics courses culminate into industry relevant software development certificates for the high school learners, increasing their employability and readiness for the Future of Work.

A proud member of TuksNovation - the University of Pretoria's high-tech business accelerator

Wingu is also very proud to announce the launch of

continue our homeschooling friendships and still allow our

WinguNet. “The launch of WinguNet has been much

kids the time to follow their passions. Our children enjoy

anticipated and serves to address the need of stable, high-

the social events offered by the school, the staff who make

speed internet in areas where there is poor or no coverage,”

every effort to ensure lessons are fun and interactive, and

says Ian Strydom, Wingu Academy Managing Director.

the new friends that they are making,” says Marlene van der Colf, another happy Wingu Parent.

The introduction of WinguNet to the range of services delivered by Wingu Academy further indicates how in tune

But what do our students say?

we are with the needs of parents and students. “This will be introduced to the existing parents and students first on the

“My favourite part about Wingu is that we can do school

platform who struggle with connectivity, thereafter being

anywhere and we don’t have to wear a mask. I like the

rolled out with the mission of connecting and educating

homework and announcements so I can be ready before

students in difficult-to-reach, isolated areas. This satellite

class,” says Ariana age 8, Stage 3.

initiative is the first of its kind – just another way that Wingu stays true to their principles of advancing education and

“I enjoy the fact that we can learn online with less pressure

enabling excellence,” Strydom concludes.

and no unnecessary subjects and inapplicable projects. It gives me more flexi time during the day,” says Conrad, age

The platform is well suited for full-time learners, global

13, Stage 8.

citizens that travel frequently, star athletes that need to focus on training but still want an internationally recognised

Student well-being, particularly mental health, is at the

education, and students that would like to obtain entrance

heart of Wingu’s core foundation. Our Wellness Hub is

to university degrees either locally or abroad.

expanding to offer professional guidance to both students and parents in areas of concern, as well as leadership

‘’We decided to homeschool four years ago when we were

initiatives for the learners.

wanting to relocate. Although we did not relocate we continued with homeschooling because of the freedom it

Another addition to the Wingu offering is the establishment

gave us. The cost and distance of “good” private schools

of Learning Centres. We have identified that there are

were extremely high and exhausting. With homeschooling

certain towns, rural or lower-income areas where there

we didn’t have to leave home early and spend hours in

is a need for learning centres. The aim is thus to assist

traffic, the money we saved on school fees, travel expenses

these learning centres with developing and growing their

and uniforms were spent on extracurricular activities and

business into small independent schools or becoming

family outings”, says Melissa Dhunraj, a Wingu parent.

registered Cambridge Assessments International Education schools. We do so with a special Incubation Programme

Many parents may be worried that their children will miss

which offers business development, management and

out on social interaction, but they still get to meet friends

operational support.

and even form study groups as they are not bound by geographical borders. In fact, Wingu also offers a variety

Wingu Academy’s innovative strategy is at the forefront

of Clubs varying from fitness, chess to photography and

of equipping students for the 4IR with a forward-thinking

parents have the opportunity to become involved too.

strategy of anywhere, anytime, staying connected and offering the future classroom today!

“We have been home schooling for a few years and decided to go a more formal route with our children this

Enrolments to start schooling in January 2022 are officially

year. We have been pleasantly surprised with the support

open. There is limited space, so reach out soon. Go to

and structure that Wingu Academy has offered us, whilst

wingu-academy.com/book-now/ to book a FREE consultation

still allowing us the flexibility of being able to travel, to

now!

087 550 5169 info@wingu-academy.com www.wingu-academy.com

Education

It’s adapt or die for education as technology forges ahead Higher education institutions have long been considered to be the repositories of knowledge, learning and the structures through which knowledge is produced and disseminated. By Professor Ahmed Shaikh, senior academic, researcher and Managing Director of Regent Business School

Human skill in creativity, imagination and problem-solving will become key differentiators in a hybrid workforce that involves collaboration between human talent and technology in the form of smart machines and robots.

www.futuresa.co.za

Education

They have survived sweeping societal changes created by technology – the moveable-type printing press, previous industrial revolutions, information and communication technologies, electronic media and computers.

Curriculum reform needed to match the skills revolution

Today, however, higher education institutions appear to be susceptible to technology disruption as much as other informationcentric industries such as the news media, magazines and journals, encyclopaedias, music, movies and TV. This can be reflected in the fact that the transmission of knowledge does not have to be tethered to a fixed location or campus. The technical affordability of cloud-based computing, Artificial Intelligence-based learning platforms, massive open online courses, high-quality streaming video, and just-in-time information gatherings have pushed vast amounts of knowledge to the ‘placeless’ World Wide Web. This has sparked a re-examination of the role of contemporary higher education institutions within society. Indeed, higher education institutions are being disrupted by a wide variety of social and technological forces. Developments, including the globalisation of services work, the increasing value of domain expertise, rapid developments in educational technology and the rise of online open courses are creating both challenges and opportunities for incumbents as well as new entrants. The unbundling of research, educational delivery, content and block chain certification means that new business models and ways of engaging students will be at the heart of the future higher education landscape.

The pace of the decay of knowledge has increased significantly

With the world in a state of major transition, education in general, and higher education in particular, becomes critical in this seismic shift because the transitions being experienced are centred on two essential elements – knowledge and skills. Additionally, in the past, a university student would enrol for a degree, graduate and live off the knowledge obtained for at least 10 years. Today, by the time a qualification is achieved, the knowledge and competencies need to be refreshed. By just about any measure, the pace of decay of knowledge is increasing. One of the implications of this rising pace of knowledge decay is that we must be specialists. Without world-class expertise in our domain we are reduced to being commodities. As these pools of deep knowledge around the world are connected, the phenomenon of collective intelligence is beginning to emerge. While this idea is not new, it is only in the last decade that we have become so richly connected through technology that collective intelligence is moving from a dream to reality. This is a major shift in who we are, our human identity, and in how we learn.

Collective intelligence is moving from a dream to reality

A former director of Xerox PARC laboratory, John Seely, wrote in 2011 that the half-life of a skill is five years (and shrinking). This means that half of what is learnt today will become obsolete in five years or less. This idea is receiving a great deal of attention from leaders of higher education institutions, who must plan for a future in which students will need to keep learning new skills ever more frequently before and after they graduate. The advent of and necessity for continual re-skilling will impact most on the graduate professional education segment, which has traditionally been structured around oneand two-year Master’s degree programmes. A widely held view is that such graduates will consume this lifelong learning in short spurts when they need it, rather than in relatively lengthier blocks of time as is the case presently. However, the most important challenge will involve a shift in the way students consume higher education. Participation in tertiary education is set to increase. New educational technologies could open the doors to new knowledge for a wider audience if the current social stratification of access and usage patterns could be overcome.

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Education

Education institutions are learning to be nimbler, entrepreneurial and student-focused

Consequently, higher education institutions like Regent Business School are learning to be nimbler, entrepreneurial, studentfocused and accountable for what students learn. New learning styles and mounting financial and sustainability pressures are impacting the education landscape. Equally, there appear to be many trends, pressures, and concerns that society through its political and economic leadership is imposing on higher education institutions.

A cacophony of voices, a diversity of expectations and contradictory requests are all evident. There is no doubt that the world finds itself in a precarious situation where constant change is ubiquitous and responses are slow. It has also been frequently argued that higher education is a ‘consumer market’. Such a market would exceed a billion ‘customers’ with varying behaviour and demands. Higher education institutions will have to adapt to changing consumer behaviour trends, while maintaining a focus on the balance between disciplinary skills, in-demand skills and employability competences.

In today’s job market there is an increasing need for training and retraining of individuals

A focus on job-oriented education and on economic participation is driving an emphasis on relevance on what can be called vocationalism – and thus changing the demand structure for higher education with profound effects on the support of, demand for, and appropriate preparation of participants for a rapidly changing job market that requires 21st century skills and competencies. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and its attendant skills revolution) the number of jobs involving routine skills has shrunk as a result of increased automation. AI technologies like machine learning and computer vision are permanently eliminating lowskill jobs. The trend in economies is to turn from manufacturing to service, in which most new jobs do not require advanced education. Rather, human skill in creativity, imagination and problem-solving will become key differentiators in a hybrid workforce that involves collaboration between human talent and technology in the form of smart machines and robots. Finally, in conceding that education in general and higher education in particular are on the brink of huge disruptions, two questions have become paramount. What should young people be learning? And, what credentials will indicate that they would be ready for the workforce? We believe that to remain relevant, higher education will have to fundamentally reorganise its current (post-industrial) model and engage in deep curriculum reform in order to match the skills revolution required for a complex and uncertain future.

Professor Ahmed Shaikh, senior academic, researcher and Managing Director of Regent Business School

About Regent Business School: Since 1998, Regent Business School (RBS) has been at the forefront of premium management education across the continent. Headquartered in South Africa, RBS’s acclaimed business, finance and management programmes have helped individuals and organisations build and sustain competitive advantages in a rapidly-changing, complex business environment. With campuses in all major hubs of South Africa, including Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, as well as in SADC countries, Swaziland and Namibia, the institution’s alumni base of 10 000 is rapidly expanding. RBS’s leading centres for excellence – The Institute of Entrepreneurship, The Centre for Islamic Finance and Banking, and The Centre for Public Sector Administration Management and Innovation – are popular with high performers who are serious about making positive, impactful change within the global finance and management sectors. It’s latest 4IR innovation hub and academic makerspace, the iLeadLAB, is at the forefront of the institution’s strategy to empower students and stakeholders with in-demand skills as well as the hard and soft digital skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution. www.regent.ac.za

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2022 APPLY NOW

Education

What to do if your child’s educational needs

changed over the past year Over the past year and a half, the pandemic threw the educational journeys of learners into disarray. Many schools responded with mitigation measures that resulted in a variety of impacts and outcomes on learners. At the same time, the educational needs of many learners have also changed. Learners that seemed to be in the right place and on the right track at the start of 2020 are now finding that this may no longer be the case.

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Education

As parents start considering their children’s educational options for next year, they must be aware of a variety of different offerings which may provide a better fit for their children’s current situation and needs. Education experts say that there are options available to learners requiring more tailored or niche offerings or environments.

with an understanding of and response to neurodiversity. Few mainstream schools, especially in the current environment, are in a position to provide the focused yet comprehensive support these learners require to perform to the best of their ability and become confident, empowered and selfactualised,” he says.

“Many parents often do not consider the idea that they have alternative choices instead of remaining in an environment that no longer serves their children to the degree it did before,” says Desiree Hugo, Academic Head at ADvTECH Schools, SA’s leading private education provider.

Dr Pienaar adds, “If you have noticed or have had confirmed challenges that would require therapy, coaching, greater individual attention or the like, it is worth considering a school which will help your child deal with and overcome these challenges while continuing their academic journey.”

She says the past year and a half has taken a tremendous toll on parents and students in various ways, and that many students who performed well and were doing well emotionally and developmentally before, are now struggling, necessitating the consideration of alternative approaches or specialist interventions.

Online school

Chris van Niekerk, Managing Director of Abbotts Colleges, says whereas a child’s school and academic experience may have been suitable for them and made sense before, that may no longer be the case.

Some realised that the online learning environment was more suitable to their personality/needs, and may now be considering a permanent move to online homeschooling. The consideration of online homeschooling has also become a reality for many families reviewing their futures and who may be considering a move elsewhere but would like to keep their child’s routine intact should circumstances change.

“It could be that the environment changed because of the last year’s experiences, that the needs of your child have changed, or both. Where learners are no longer rising to their potential, particularly in the wake of observations over the past six months, and where mid-year reports indicate there are areas requiring attention, parents should review the existing conditions and, if need be, make changes in consultation with professionals,” says van Niekerk.

Some learners were fortunate enough to attend schools that could provide a high-quality online offering during lockdowns and continue the curriculum without interruption. Most of them were happy to return to in-person schooling when the time came.

“If you are considering homeschooling, you must do your homework thoroughly before choosing a curriculum provider, as the quality of offering varies substantially across the board, and so do outcomes,” says Colin Northmore, Principal at Evolve Online School.

According to van Niekerk some learners may require smaller class sizes with more individual attention, a learning environment with a more rounded approach, mental and emotional health assistance, a less structured setting, or specialist support to ensure they overcome challenges and realise their potential in future. He adds that making a move requires an understanding of what alternatives are on offer.

“Of course, it is non-negotiable that parents investigate the registration and accreditation status of an institution. That is not enough, however, as a school must also be able to show that it can provide the highest quality of academic excellence online, while supporting the integrated development of a child through providing ample interaction with peers and educators,” he says.

Assisted learning

Online learning that merely provides a paper-behind-glass style curriculum makes it extremely difficult for students, especially young ones, to get deeply involved in and excited about their learning journey.

Dr Greg Pienaar, Principal at The Bridge, South Africa’s leading assisted learning school, says that over the past year parents may have noticed their children present with needs not seen before, such as ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, mild autism or anxiety. Children also might have been through illness or trauma which affected their academic progress. “Many children of average and above-average intelligence face these kinds of challenges and require an environment

www.futuresa.co.za

“So when deciding on an online homeschool offering, prospective parents must enquire about the efficiency of the technology and the logistics of an offering, as well as whether they will have access to qualified educators to step in and assist them should the need arise,” says Northmore.

Education

Setting out on a new path may mean simply allowing a learner to continue within a differently structured and more nurturing environment.

Non-traditional schools

Van Niekerk says setting out on a new path may simply mean allowing a learner to continue within a differently structured and more nurturing environment. “If things are not going well for a learner, and parents are starting to get concerned about their current trajectory, it might be worth looking for a high school that will allow a learner to continue within a setting focused on progressive academic improvement.

Chris van Niekerk, Managing Director of Abbotts Colleges

“Every student can develop and achieve academic success, but if you are feeling overwhelmed and in a rut, it is not easy to lift yourself out of this space or even to see the way forward. For these students, an environment that focuses on progressive academic improvement and individual support, instead of strict rules as they relate to, for example, hair and uniform regulations, can mean the difference between continued sadness and success.” This time of year, in general, is an excellent time to review the educational options for the year ahead after reviewing progress and development over the previous six months. In 2021, that is truer than ever, notes Hugo.

Colin Northmore, Principal at Evolve Online School

“As we have seen over the past 18 months, change and upheaval are inevitable and a given. Whereas historically, the approach might have been to grit one’s teeth and see things through even in the face of a non-optimal academic path, our world has changed sufficiently for most people to realise that it no longer makes sense,” she adds. “Parents who feel that their child could do with a different educational environment or better support would do well to investigate some of the lesser-known or non-mainstream options, which they may not even have been aware of, but may make a world of difference to the prospects and wellbeing of their children.”

Dr Greg Pienaar, Principal at The Bridge

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At Rhodes University we believe in infinite possibilities. That’s why we give you the option of making up your own degree by choosing two majors across faculties. #RU interested in studying Chemistry and Music, OR Environmental Science and Law, OR Human Kinetics and Ergonomics and Psychology? If so, apply to Rhodes University today! Not only is Rhodes University ranked as one of the top 10 universities in South Africa, but also ranks #801-1000 in QS Global World Rankings 2021. Rhodes University is globally respected for research, acclaimed for academic excellence and will guide you to real success. T: 046 603 8276 | F: 046 603 8300 | E: registrar@ru.ac.za | W: www.ru.ac.za/admissiongateway

Educational Ethics

When a positional good drives unethical behaviour:

A case for inserting ethics into the curriculum By Dr Ronel Blom, Academic Dean, Regent Business School

In South Africa, as elsewhere in the world, education is seen to be a ‘positional good’. According to Fred Hirsch1, the English economist who coined the phrase, a positional good is seen to be something that has value because of its scarcity and its difficulty to achieve, and it results in a perceived or real advantage to the individual who holds it.

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Educational Ethics

Given South Africa’s history of exclusion from education in the past, it is small wonder that education is seen to be a positional good in this country. We know that people with higher levels of education benefit in direct and indirect ways, including achieving higher incomes, gaining more career opportunities and breaking the poverty cycle2. Indeed, in higher education circles, the notion of ‘first generation’ graduates is a well-known phenomenon3. Who can forget the #Feesmustfall campaign, where students fought for their rights to be the first in their families to graduate from university? The positional good of education was the driving force behind the campaign and has also spurred the growth of the private higher education sector in the country. “Nothing wrong with that”, I hear you say – societies benefit from an educated citizenry; we see lower crime rates, better health, smaller family sizes, and many other benefits when people have higher levels of education.

Benefits from obtaining a degree could be encouraging many students to leave their ethics at the door

However, it is when the desire for these positional goods leads to unethical behaviour and academic dishonesty, that we have a problem. It appears that the direct benefits derived from obtaining a degree (better resources, a better chance at getting and retaining a job), could be encouraging many students to leave their ethics at the door. Not only has ‘contract cheating’, where non-students are paid to complete assignments, research reports, and even dissertations, become prevalent, it is in danger of becoming the norm4. Likewise, students are finding ever more sophisticated ways to cheat during their examinations. Couple this with the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, and the scramble to maintain the academic year, universities’ vulnerability to many different forms of academic dishonesty, including cheating during an examination, was laid bare.

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So, do we treat the symptoms, or do we treat the cause?

There is no doubt that higher education, and specifically, the technology available to higher education, must be improved to prevent and detect academic dishonesty. However, these moves treat the symptoms, and not the cause. Diego (2017)5, for example, maintains that cheating is a social behaviour, and that it is likely that students who cheat see nothing wrong with it. It therefore follows that where students do not believe that cheating is wrong, they will have no moral qualms in committing such acts. And, if students act in this way, there is no reason to believe that such behaviours will not be carried into the workplace.

Introduce and reward affirming behaviours

One way of addressing the problem is to introduce and reward affirming behaviours, for example by incentivising ‘moral principles which originate from social value’6. This relates to the indirect positional good of education, namely the contribution that education make in students’ critical thinking, in their reasoning skills, thought processes and moral awareness – ethics should be embedded in the curriculum, and should be seen to be an outcome of the curriculum. Most universities will have Codes of Conduct or Codes of Ethics. However, more often than not, these codes are part of the student welcome pack, and once the student has agreed to (or ‘ticked’) the form, it is never referred to again. In addition, it is common for a Code of Ethics to be associated with compliance, and risk mitigation7 and is not seen to be part of the taught and examined curriculum. Codes may drive behaviour due to the punitive measures associated with it, but it does not change attitudes. Attitudes can only change when ethics become part of how students think (McDonald, 2004)8.

Educational Ethics

Ethics awareness and reasoning skills should be integrated into the curriculum McDonald (2004) recommends that ethics awareness and reasoning skills be integrated and says that the curriculum should achieve the following goals: • the development of a moral imagination by recognising (and addressing) ethical issues; • by eliciting a sense of moral obligation; • by developing analytical skills to interrogate moral dilemmas; and • by integrating professional competence and moral competence.

ethical decisions. We will know that we have achieved our goal when our students make the right choices ‘when no one is looking’9, because the alternative is that if academic dishonesty is disregarded, the positional good of all higher education degrees is devalued. www.regent.ac.za

This requires more than teaching business ethics as a discipline – it is infusing the curriculum with a critical life skill. Ethics principles, concepts and content, ethics assignments and ethics examination questions should become the bedrock, the conceptual framework, for all subject areas and learning fields. This allows for “repeated application of ethical concepts, principles, and decision tools as they occur in a variety of discipline-related circumstances and are presented by a variety of different staff, reaffirming the importance of ethics” (McDonald, 2004). The pandemic has had, and continues to have, devastating impacts on the lives and livelihoods of students and their families. It is not difficult to imagine that they may have to make many moral choices daily. It is therefore incumbent on higher education institutions to consider educational praxis that will support students’ thought processes to make

References: 1. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopediasalmanacs-transcripts-and-maps/positional-goods 2. https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/benefits-of-education-are-societaland-personal/ 3. https://www.collegeraptor.com/getting-in/articles/questionsanswers/what-is-a-first-generation-college-student/ 4. https://www.turnitin.com/blog/what-is-contract-cheating-why-doesit-matter 5. Diego, L. A. B. (2017). Friends with benefits: Causes and effects of learners’ cheating practices during examination. IAFOR Journal of Education, 5(2), 121–138. 6. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business/ethics/ ethics/99812#Ethics_Factors_Affecting_Individual_Ethics 7. https://www.ethics.org/resources/free-toolkit/code-of-conduct/ 8. McDonald, GM (2004). Integrating Ethics into the Academic Business Curriculum. Journal of Business Ethics , Nov. 2004, Vol. 54, No. 4, Business Ethics in the Curriculum: Of Strategies Deliberate and Emergent (Nov. 2004), pp. 371-384 9. https://www.higheredethicswatch.com/2020/11/cheating-during-thepandemic-an-ethical-dilemma-in-academia.html

Dr Ronel Blom, Academic Dean, Regent Business School

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Education & Entrepreneurship

Education needs to

ignite entrepreneurship By Professor Ahmed Shaikh

Actions being taken to combat South African poverty and Covid-19 have proven that with new options and renewed commitments, there is still much that can be done to alleviate poverty.

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Education & Entrepreneurship

Globally the perennial battle to alleviate poverty is an enduring one and in this respect South Africa is no exception. According to Statistics SA almost half of the adult population in our country is living below the upper-bound poverty line. While the battle against poverty has been a difficult one, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, especially in terms of poverty rates, the economy, health, education and employment prospects. In addition to the pandemic, the country is also in its worst economic recession in 100 years. South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.6% in the first quarter of 2021 from 32.5% in the previous period (Trading Economics – 2021). Stats SA also confirms the official unemployment rate among youth (15-34 years) was 46.3% in the first quarter of 2021. Millions are at risk of losing their livelihoods. The combined effects of the pandemic and economic recession may not only present a temporary shock but have lasting implications for poverty rates in South Africa through its effects on people’s health, education, and employment prospects. Actions being taken to combat South African poverty and Covid-19 have proven that with new options and renewed commitments, there is still much that can be done to alleviate poverty.

Entrepreneurship and innovation touted as a significant part of the solution to poverty reduction

Indeed, poverty reduction has become a critical issue for almost all sectors of society. Guided by this new reality, entrepreneurship and innovation, especially through small business development has been touted as a significant part of the solution to poverty reduction. It is now an established fact that entrepreneurship and innovation generate the majority of decent and sustainable jobs and contribute significantly to economic growth, thus enabling a large portion of the population to move out of poverty.

Sadly though, until recently, business education has adopted a theoretical and laissez-faire approach to this proposition and has been lackadaisical in its attitude toward making entrepreneurship and innovation a catalyst for action. In essence business education has paid lip service to the creation of an empowering and inclusive entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem that can genuinely contribute to job creation, economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Purveyors of business education must forge inclusive strategic partnerships with all stakeholders To be truly authentic and relevant in a world that is riddled with innumerable problems and challenges such as poverty and inequality, the purveyors of business education have to forge inclusive strategic partnerships with all stakeholders, especially local communities that host them. For example, Regent Business School (RBS) besides forging close ties with all its stakeholder communities through its business education, research and outreach programmes, has held steadfast to its mission and made considerable investments to create an entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem to support the many facets of small business development for poverty and unemployment alleviation. As part of this initiative, RBS has established Regent Enterprise Development Hub (redHUB), an accelerator which has leveraged the institution’s iLeadLABs or national technology hubs and harnessed its academic, research and outreach intellectual property to champion entrepreneurial development. The redHUB’s mission is to provide impactful education, training and mentorship for aspirant and creative entrepreneurs by nurturing their disruptive and innovative skills using resilient and anti-fragile strategies. www.regent.ac.za

Professor Shaikh is an academic and researcher and Managing Director of Regent Business School. He writes in his personal capacity.

Dr Ahmed Shaikh

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Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship education is critical to creating a thriving entrepreneur culture in SA The future hinges on youth entrepreneurship. Youth are pivotal in tackling existing and new challenges with new technology and sustainability. They are resilient, and able to diversify into new income-generating opportunities. If young South Africans are to succeed in the local job market based on their ambitions and interests, there needs to be a stronger focus on entrepreneurship education. This generation is hard hit by economic crisis, challenges in the education sector, as well as the seemingly relentless onslaught of the Covid pandemic, to name a few, thereby hampering employability. Their ability to be employed is further impeded by inadequate skills, limited geographic mobility, and inadequate remuneration.

Entrepreneurship education has the potential to yield good results Our current education system needs support if it is going to be able to adapt to the challenges that it currently faces. Tools such as entrepreneurship education has the potential to yield good results because it focusses on soft and core skills such as problem-solving, team building, and other competencies such as learning-to-learn; initiative-taking; and cultural awareness. Additionally, entrepreneurship education supports learners from all socio-economic backgrounds to think ‘outside the box’ and nurture unconventional talents and skills. It is a lifelong learning process, which ideally should start at primary school level and progress through all levels of education, including adult education. Not only can entrepreneurship education empower young people to start successful businesses, but they also have the potential to become valuable contributors to the South African economy. It also reflects society’s capacity for boldness, risk-taking and creativity. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute (GEDI), there is a strong positive association between entrepreneurship, economic growth, and innovation.

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Entrepreneurship

Create a culture of entrepreneurial learning at school level The Director and Founder of SA Teen Entrepreneur, Lydia Zingoni, says that if we want to see a flourishing entrepreneurial culture in South Africa, we need to create a culture of entrepreneurial learning at school level. The technical vocational education and training (also known as TVET) college system should be integral in the pipeline to receive young people who have been taught the foundations of entrepreneurship at school level. Young people who have received TVET education are equipped with the practical and entrepreneurial skills which are needed, and because of the greater flexibility of their skills set, can move to where the business opportunities are. Greater awareness needs to be generated around the benefits of entrepreneurship education; it is essential that educators are engaged and that they receive the requisite training and development to deliver entrepreneurial learning.

Future perspective Entrepreneurship education should not just be focussed on the learner; it is also about integrating educators with the world beyond their school’s borders. If we want to see more thriving entrepreneurs, and real economic impact, we need to integrate the business community to support entrepreneurship at school level through their social responsibility initiatives. This can be in the form of funding, information-sharing, and mentorship programmes, as well as through their enterprise development initiatives by integrating small businesses into their supply chains. Such collaborations are critical to ensuring that our young people are equipped to compete in a competitive job market. It is imperative that conditions are created for young people to cultivate their skills and entrepreneurial spirits and put these into practice. We need to create the tools and channels to guarantee access to appropriate training and development. Nurturing and promotion of this entrepreneurial spirit is necessary and vital for the future of South African, and African economies.

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Lydia Zingoni, Director and Founder of SA Teen Entrepreneur.

About SA Teen Entrepreneur : The SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation is a registered NPO Trust. The vision of the Foundation is to cultivate and promote an entrepreneurial spirit amongst high school learners across South Africa through interactive seminars, workshops, conferences, and exhibitions. It targets primarily high schools, but also interact with universities, churches, and youth centres to promote entrepreneurship and enterprise development amongst youth. SA Teen Entrepreneur aims to instil the following values in those young people who are keen to develop their entrepreneurial skills and thinking such as: • Become my own boss and be a forward-thinking leader in South Africa. • Realise my own ideas and innovations in order to make a meaningful impact in our economy. • Create jobs through my business and create wealth for others. • Build and develop a set of values which will guide my business; they will be values of which everyone who interacts with my business can be proud. • Massively increase self-confidence and give hope to others.

Advertorial: MTN

More needs to be done to connect the unconnected SA youth There is an urgent need for digital literacy to take its place as a key pillar of youth education, yet access to technology remains a major stumbling block for our children. It is crucial this access gap is closed.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), a staggering 40% of the world’s population live within range of a mobile signal but aren’t able to make use of it. Digital literacy stands out as the single largest barrier to the uptake of broadband connectivity and the loss of array of opportunities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). A survey cited by WEF, for instance, found that almost 70% of people overall indicated they do not understand what the internet is or how to use it. As a major player in the telecommunications industry and employer of a large workforce, MTN South Africa is committed to playing its part in providing the youth with opportunities to enhance their ICT skills and long-term career prospects. MTN also has a role to play in creating an enabling environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, skills enhancement and job creation in the digital economy. Through the MTN SA Foundation and MTN Pulse – MTN’s youth-only proposition which offers the youth access to lower data fees and opens opportunity to skills enhancement - MTN SA is directly responding to this challenge by connecting the unconnected youth. Significant strides are being made. The GSMA’s State of the Mobile Internet Connectivity 2020 report highlights that in Sub-Saharan Africa mobile broadband coverage has seen improvements in recent years and affordable handsets have become more widely available. Through collaboration with key government and other partners, MTN SA is on a quest to improve this situation – and it all starts with education. In a recent report, the WEF rightly says the lack of digital skills in Africa can be addressed by investing in broadband infrastructure, partnerships and investment in digital education, access to funding and education recovery. The good news is that the technological revolution sweeping the world is beginning to have a profound impact on the continent, presenting an opportunity to “hit the reset button” and “reimagine the education landscape” by addressing the challenge of exclusion, to achieve quality education for all. MTN SA is not standing still on driving this change and we are already connecting more of our youth to a world of digital opportunity – and opening the door to prospects for jobs in the 4IR. Our flagship programme to create shared value in

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Advertorial: MTN

education is complemented by several carefully selected themes and interventions to help the most marginalised among us. These include digital inclusion, with a view to equipping young people, and people with disabilities, with the ICT skills they need to cope in a rapidly changing world.

Equipping young people for the future Access to the e-learning platform of the Siyavula Foundation, is already zero-rated for all MTN customers. In addition to this, the MTN Foundation has sponsored all of South Africa’s Grade 10, 11 and 12 students, with an amount of R3 million, to have full access to the mathematics, CAT and IT as well as Physical Sciences, Natural Science and Life Science learning materials. MTN has also zero-rated over 1 000 educational, public benefits websites (PBO) and e-learning resources. These offer learning materials, all aligned to Government curricula, for all grades and subjects. Through the Department of Higher Education and Training, we have zero-rated public universities websites. Every university comes with multiple URLs, with some of the large universities requiring support for up to 30 URLs each. MTN has also zero rated TVET Colleges websites, where online curricula can be made available. Currently MTN has zero-rated a number of URLs for TVET colleges. Among the initiatives MTN Business partnered with Unisa to provide free data of 30GB for Unisa students; and also partnered with the Eastern Cape Department of Education to provide 72,000 SIM cards preloaded with data to grade 12 pupils. MTN’s School Connectivity programme, meanwhile, targets basic education and tertiary education. These initiatives include schools for learners with special needs and other marginalised schools in disadvantaged communities and rural areas. Over the years, MTN has donated over 300 multimedia centres across South African schools.

through skills enhancement opportunities and workshops, access to connectivity, affordable data offers and relevant lifestyle benefits. Youth unemployment is, of course, one of South Africa’s biggest challenges, and to address this, MTN Pulse continues to embark on initiatives that can help bridge the gap, one young person at a time. In collaboration with MTN Business, MTN Pulse launched the Youth Best App Category for the MTN Business App of the Year Awards to drive innovation amongst our youth. In support of the #R10GoesALongWay initiative, MTN Pulse alongside MTN Foundation, pledged R200 000 towards assisting students who are suffering financial difficulty, such as facing academic exclusion and require assistance to register to study further at university for their 2021 enrolment. In our experience, the youth in South Africa are talented and hungry for opportunities. They want to turn their dreams into a reality, but just aren’t provided with enough resources and opportunities. In April 2021, MTN SA launched an initiative called “The Go Show” to provide South Africans with a small business or community project with a digital makeover. To empower the youth, MTN Pulse has taken over The Go Show during June and July 2021 to provide under 25s with a digital boost for their hustle. This will enable them with tools that will enable digital connectivity, upskilling themselves and to take their hustle to the next level. At MTN SA we believe that everyone is entitled to a modern, connected life and it is our commitment to ensure that the children of our nation are given every opportunity to thrive and benefit from the exciting digital world we live in. The alternative is that they are left behind, and as a nation we cannot afford for this to happen.

Through MTN Pulse, launched in 2019 as a lifestyle plan tailor-made for the youth, we are making impressive progress in empowering the youth to grow and succeed ABOUT MTN GROUP Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging markets operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our 240 million customers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code “MTN”. We are pursuing our BRIGHT strategy with a major focus on growth in data, fintech and digital businesses. Visit us at www.mtn.com or www.mtn.co.za

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Financial Education

Financial education is

important for children at any age Children as young as three and four have an inherent need to learn and be independent, and it is no different when it comes to earning cash. Old Mutual Wealth financial planning coach, Sharon Moller, says that children have a better chance at developing positive financial habits when introduced to money at a young age. "The earlier they can understand that money can be earned and saved, the sooner they will learn about how money works. They will also begin to understand the benefits of delayed gratification by working towards an important money goal," she says. By giving children their own money, parents will observe how they save and spend, says Moller. In turn, they create an opportunity to teach kids the basics of money management principles. "One of the ways parents can help set their children up for financial success is to implement a wellstructured system of earning pocket money," she adds.

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Financial Education

How much pocket money should parents give their children?

Moller's advice is that the child's age should determine the amount, what makes financial sense for the family, and what tasks can be done at home to earn pocket money. She says that these tasks should be chosen together with the child and hopefully includes a task that they enjoy doing. "Pay the children for having done something to the best of their ability. Let them choose something they feel is achievable and realistic for their age, and ask them what monetary value they would place on these tasks. Encourage them to stretch themselves a little and to step outside of their comfort zone, but always ensure that they decide what they are capable of doing," says Moller. She adds that letting children help around the house with age-appropriate chores that will earn them a couple of Rands is a good start. "Start off giving them cash. Keep little savings jars with money allocated for different things such as rainy-day savings, saving for something special and spending money,"advises Moller.

Open a bank account for older children

"When children are older, consider opening up a bank account and letting them transact like adults using e-banking and other online tools," Moller further suggests. If the predetermined outcome as agreed is not achieved, Moller says money should be withheld. However, she warns against withholding cash as a means of disciplining children for ‘frowned upon’ behaviour. "Doing so could leave the child with an unhealthy relationship with money that might be carried over into adulthood, precisely the opposite of what this approach aims to achieve," she says. Moller concludes by saying that implementing an earned-pocket money system positions parents well to help their children curb damaging money habits, which will set up kids for future success.

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Job Seekers

How to compile a resume for your first job By Kate Mayo, CV Champions

At the end of the day, no matter how you look at it a resume is a sales document. The best advice is for you to take the emotion out and focus on being objective about your skills. When I say emotion, I mean the part of you that is humble and does not want to boast. You need to find a balance between coming across as arrogant and selling your skills in the best possible way. An important note is to never lie on your resume, that will most certainly come back to bite you in the worst possible way. Lying on your resume is a sure-fire way to destroy your reputation in an instant.

Choose a template

So, to start, choose a resume template that is modern but not too cluttered – the information needs to flow and be easy for the reader to find. The most professional colours are considered as black and white, and blue and grey. I advise not using red or orange, rather choose formats with more muted colours so that the format style does not detract from your information.

Should you use a photo of yourself?

The debate on using a photo is ever ongoing. In the UK it is frowned upon, as they feel it instantly opens you up to bias. A few other countries beg to differ and require a photo. If you look past the potential bias, a photo can add value as it makes your resume more personable and more memorable. The decision is entirely up to you, but if you do decide to use a photo on your resume, make sure it is professional – no group photos, no alcohol, sunglasses or hats.

Contact info and introduction

Include your contact information at the top – be sure to include cell phone number and email address. This information needs to be clear and easy to find, if your reader is fumbling around trying to find your contact details, they will just close the resume. Compose a powerful introductory paragraph that tells the reader about your skills and what you offer their organisation. Keep it short – four to six sentences are enough here – people do not have the time to read pages and pages of information. They want, short, impactful messages.

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Job Seekers

Highlight your skills and education

Highlight your skills with an ‘Areas of Expertise’ section, but again keep it short – not more than 8-10 skills in this list. This is a list that you can easily adapt for each job you are applying for to make sure that the resume is aligned with the position. Make a sure you have a meaningful education section, list your education chronologically from the most recent.

The best wording or jargon to use on a resume

Diction or word choice is important when it comes to drafting your resume; not just to ensure that your resume is reviewed positively by software that scans it, but also because you want to wow recruiters with your skills and competencies. Steer clear of overused clichés and check, check, check your spelling – misspelled words are immediate grounds for rejection. Make sure your spell check is turned on when using MS Word and check the settings – quite often US English will give you a spelling error if you use British spelling. Decide which conventions you want to write with and adjust your settings accordingly. It is best to use action words when describing your experience such as managed, redesigned, launched, modernised, orchestrated, created, led and so forth. Examples of some hard skills for a resume include: • Technical skills (these include • Presentation skills specialised knowledge and • Management skills expertise in fields such as IT, • Project management skills engineering or science) • Writing skills • Computer skills • Social media skills • Analytical skills • Relationship management • Marketing skills skills

Focus on your work experience

Then it is time to focus on your relevant experience. Here you need to include the company you worked for, your job title and the dates you were employed. You can include approximately three to five bullet points with information on your roles. Ensure to include your key job functions and skills, and any achievements.

The best things to include on your resume when you have little to no experience • Professional summary: even if you have no experience it is important to start with a short summary that gives the reader information about yourself, any work experience you may have had (no matter how small) or any volunteer experience. If you have no work experience, speak about your interests and career objectives. • Key skills: include key skills you have learned in school or university and draw on other experiences, such as leadership roles during your studies. • Achievements: education and academic achievements. • Classes, training and certifications: include any courses that you have completed, even if they are not directly aligned with the job you are applying for – they show that you are continuously developing your skillset and employers value that quality in their employees. • Projects: personal or academic projects relevant to the job you are applying for. It is never advisable to fudge information or an outright lie on a resume. The employer will find way more value in you being truthful about your work experience and that you have the passion and drive to learn and succeed in your role. All the best in creating your first resume and getting started on building your dream career! Kate is a professional writer, editor and job coach with almost 20 years’ experience both internationally and in South Africa.

If this is your first resume, it is important to stick to a one-page limit. Your resume will grow and develop with your career. There is no need to put irrelevant information or make up roles to expand the length of your resume. Including an additional information section is optional. You can include information such as languages spoken, volunteer work experience, driver’s license, additional training, memberships and computer literacy. No references or personal information, such as ID numbers, are required.

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Kate Mayo, CV Champions

Job Seekers

Attitude vs Aptitude

Selling yourself in challenging times Numair Hussain, Head of Finance and Operations at Roche Diagnostics, discusses his personal career journey, from humble beginnings to senior management, and shares a few pearls of wisdom for job seekers today.

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Job Seekers

There are a few things in life that have a lasting impact from a personal point of view. These moments stick with you, shaping your outlook for years to come. For me, one of these formative moments stands out when I was around 11 years old, growing up in Saudi Arabia. As part of a Muslim family, celebrating Eid, all the kids would dress up in fine clothes, receive gifts and celebrate in style. On this occasion, all my cousins decided that they would buy suits. Of course, I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and get one too. But my parents had already bought me a set of clothes for Eid and, being from a humble home, could not afford to get a suit as well. I was disappointed, of course. But my mother sat me down and said something that really stuck with me. It was along the lines of, ‘Sure, you can’t afford a suit right now. But anyone can buy a suit. How many can carry off wearing it, having worked for it themselves?’ My interpretation of this has always remained that you must work to make yourself worthy of the clothes you wear and chase your dreams. That takes persistence, hard work and passion.

Take what you are offered When I got my first job, it happened at a time when my father had lost his job, shortly after I finished high school and my mother was working as a teacher. Fresh out of school, I started applying for work. At first, I was offered a job serving tea. I was prepared to take it because I had no qualifications to speak of, and I felt nothing was beneath me if it provided an income. Before I got the chance to pour my first cup of tea, though, another opportunity came my way. A company was looking for an administrative assistant who could speak both English and Arabic. As I was fluent in both, I leapt at the opportunity, even though at that tender age, I had no idea quite what an administrative assistant did. I had no skills, no university degree and had to learn on the job. I didn’t know MS Office or any of the tools I needed when I began. But I did have two things that really helped – confidence and an innate desire to better myself. I took to learning on the job, embracing any opportunity to better my knowledge and add more value. Earning my own money for the first time felt really good. I worked at the company for two years, studying the more accomplished people around me and learning as much as I could from them. When I joined the organisation, in the back of my mind, I knew I was not there to stay, even though I made sure that I applied myself as best I could, relishing the opportunity to learn.

Persistence pays off I wanted to make more of myself and truly be worthy of that suit. I focused and applied for a number of more senior administrative and finance positions until my persistence eventually paid off, and I was offered my first position as a Project Administrator. As my career path continued, I took in all the valuable experience I was lucky enough to be gaining, and it all led me to where I am today, working as Head of Finance and Operations for Roche, where I have been for almost two decades. I do not take anything for granted and am very grateful to the people along the way who had seen potential in me and allowed me to explore it. The people that saw potential have had an immeasurable impact and that is something I hope to do for people who show promise, no matter what their background, race, creed or qualifications on paper may be. Ultimately, the point I am trying to make is that you can start anywhere. And much like I have, you will experience a lot of rejection and obstacles along the way but it’s important not to give up. Ambition, confidence (but also humility), determination and the willingness to learn from every incident are the keys to overcoming obstacles, whether you feel you are qualified to or not. Seek out companies that give you an opportunity to be yourself and are willing to take a risk on you. Remember, it’s okay to fail.

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Job Seekers

A good support system is critical for a successful career I found mine in my wife and children. My wife Sana stood by me and supported me as my career took us across continents and even though, in many cases, she chose to put her career on the backburner. The importance of personal support cannot be understated. A career is something you can grow into, and the right employer will afford you the time to do that. It’s never quite as black and white as your CV might suggest. I, for one, am grateful to the leadership at Roche for providing a fertile environment for my career. All it takes to make a difference is one individual, willing to makes conscious decision to take a chance on the right person.

Grasp at any opportunities that come your way In these challenging times, I encourage job seekers to grasp at any opportunities that come your way, even if you have to start small. But keep evolving your ambition and using every point in your working life as a learning experience. Try to visualise the next step in your own evolution and set realistic benchmarks for yourself along the way. Do it one short-term goal at a time with a bigger picture in mind. Work your way up and break your journey into chunks that map it out as you give yourself a chance to improve your skills. Keep reading and educating yourself, because even though you may not be certified, you could potentially make yourself qualified.

Ambition, aspiration, resilience and focus pay off Nothing is impossible if you are single-minded. In a crisis, you can either disappear or succeed. And transformative thinking means disconnecting yourself from the environment and finding ways to add value to society. Try not to limit yourself to your comfort zone. Look to doing things that you would not normally do or are not even necessarily qualified for. If you have downtime, keep improving on your CV. It is your main selling point. Despite the crisis we are currently experiencing, the world is never going to stop moving and changing around us. We are all responsible for our own destinies and the best we can do is sell ourselves, try to be in the right place at the right time, be focused, be committed, and stay hopeful. Dream big, even if you have to start small. Numair Hussain, Head of Finance and Operations at Roche Diagnostics

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Advertorial: University Of The Free State

A university

that stays relevant amid changing times Universities are traditionally seen as institutions that produce thinkers, while the job market seems to increasingly demand doers who can immediately make a valuable, practical impact after graduating. At the University of the Free State (UFS) we deliver students who encapsulate both.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice- Chancellor of the UFS.

Bloemfontein Campus.

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Advertorial: University Of The Free State

Qwaqwa Campus in the Eastern Free State.

Our society-focused role

semester of 2020 after the national lockdown was announced, 99.95% of our students successfully participated in online learning, while the remaining 0.05% received support to continue their studies successfully. Despite severe pandemicrelated challenges, our overall institutional success rate improved by 5% in 2020,” says Prof Petersen.

“At the UFS, we embrace this society-focused role by producing research that has industry and social impact as well as realworld application,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and ViceChancellor of the UFS.

"We are currently implementing a digitalisation implementation plan at the UFS, aimed at transforming leadership, institutional culture, technology, and how we as an institution approach strategic and operational tasks through digitalisation. The UFS hopes to play a leading role in developing and expanding online teaching and learning strategies that will benefit South African higher education as a whole."

The role that universities can and should play has evolved from that of pure knowledge creation to a more society-focused one. Uwniversities are increasingly called upon to use skills and knowledge to make a real difference in their surrounding communities.

Together with leading teaching and learning and focused research, the UFS's third core function is impactful engaged scholarship, where academic expertise is used with an intentional public benefit purpose. Each of the university's seven faculties has a service-learning component, where students in various disciplines get a chance to obtain hands-on work experience and co-create practical solutions and new knowledge with industry and community partners, while making a positive difference in communities.

Excellence in online and blended learning

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shift to emergency online learning and teaching, accelerating the move in a direction we have already advanced in, namely embracing online tuition. UFS has successfully used advanced data analytics to track students’ participation in its online offering, and to introduce tailor-made interventions where needed. “Our staff and students have passed the university’s move to online learning and teaching with flying colours. In the first

Collaboration and life-long learning

Collaboration with industry partners, valued alumni, and role players from the private and public sectors is of the utmost importance for the UFS. Apart from having access to internships and practical workplace training opportunities, the university has also introduced industrial advisory boards in most of its academic departments, drawing on the expertise of specialists in the private sector, industry, and government. "They keep us informed of changes in their sectors and assist us in co-creating programmes," explains Prof Petersen. In the university's Kovsie Phahamisa Academy, short learning programmes are continuously developed in various disciplines, attracting students who are already employed in the private and public sectors. In this way students are kept abreast of the latest developments and that their skills and knowledge remain up to date and relevant.

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Advertorial: University Of The Free State

South Campus in Bloemfontein.

Delivering sought-after graduates

According to Prof Petersen, the UFS has carefully examined local and international workplace requirements in order to draft a set of graduate attributes. The university's academic programmes and non-academic initiatives are all structured to equip students with these qualities. With academic competence remaining at the centre of the university's vision, aspects such as critical thinking, problem solving, oral and written communication, ethical reasoning, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship currently make up the rest of the UFS's graduate attributes. "These characteristics are not only vital for the current world of work but will ensure that our graduates have the required skills and flexibility to adapt to the ever-evolving workplace requirements," says Prof Petersen.

Creating good citizens

“While they spend time on our physical campuses and in our virtual spaces, we also want to play a transformative role in the lives of our students. Our institutional culture promotes equity, ubuntu, and accountability. We want to be a microcosm of an ideal society, where we address challenges and issues as they emerge, and deal with them openly in a way that promotes social justice and human rights,” says Prof Petersen.

INTERESTING FACTS

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years old (1904-2021) faculties total students undergraduate students postgraduate students international students permanent staff members works of art departments NRF-rated researchers P-rated scientist A-rated scientists (NRF) tier-1 SARChI research chairs, 1 Tier 2 SARChI research chairs SANRAL Research Chair international postdoctoral fellows

Contact Us: Bloemfontein Campus: +27 51 401 9111 Qwaqwa Campus: +27 58 718 5000 South Campus: +27 51 401 9111 info@ufs.ac.za https://www.ufs.ac.za/

“Our vision for our graduates is this: Critical thinkers with an entrepreneurial mindset, equipped with knowledge and skills that will make them good workers and good thinkers, but who will also possess the values and ethics that will make them good citizens, and ultimately, good leaders to take our country – and our world – forward,” he says.

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Skills Development

When tomorrow comes, will you be ready? Now isn’t the time to simply watch things unfold. Accelerated change requires consumers to be more proactive about investing in tech-literacy and artificial intelligence (AI) prowess, as many jobs are going to involve embracing automation on some level. This is according to Lyn Mansour, Founder and CEO of KLM Empowered, a leading Integrated Skills Development Solutions Provider and Project Management Conglomerate. “There is a dire need for South African businesses and citizens to ramp up on AI acumen. With AI tracking as one of the fastest growing disciplines in technology, it has grown more and more important for employers and employees to understand and embrace its applications,” says Mansour. “We believe that AI will be a great transformer, improving the efficiency of many sectors and enabling the creation of higher-value services that can lead to overall economic growth,” she adds. “We are living in the age of AI, robotics, and smart machines. More human tasks are being automated, fundamentally shifting the way we work and changing the skills being sought by organisations. What’s more, the skills and jobs we’ll require tomorrow are largely unknown to us today, raising a considerable talent challenge at a time when we’re already dealing with so much,” says Mansour. So just how will we navigate the AI landscape? KLM Empowered encourages businesses to define and take the following steps to help people and organisations to thrive in the face of continuous disruptive change:

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Skills Development

Step 1: Embrace the future of work

AI is not intended to fully replace humans in the workforce; rather it will be a universally accessible tool to augment human abilities. Therefore, as AI becomes more integrated into the workplace, the onus is on business leaders to embrace the necessary skills development efforts to helping their people and organisations prepare for AI and embrace the opportunities it will create.

Step 2: Identify the jobs of the future

While technology develops to allow methodical tasks to become automated, new jobs will be created, bringing about a large-scale reclassification and rebalancing of work. This means, companies of South Africa cannot afford to wake up after the fact – the key to increased productivity is to prepare for these ‘new’ job titles that are about to break through. According to the World Economic Forum, the following 20 jobs will see an increasing demand over the next five years: 1. Data Analysts and Scientists 11. Project Managers 2. AI and Machine Learning Specialists 12. Business Services and Administration Managers 3. Big Data Specialists 13. Database and Network Professionals 4. Digital Marketing and Strategy Specialists 14. Robotics Engineers 5. Process Automation Specialists 15. Strategic Advisors 6. Business Development Professionals 16. Management and Organisation Analysts 7. Digital Transformation Specialists 17. FinTech Engineers 8. Information Security Specialists 18. Mechanics and Machinery Repairers 9. Software and Application Developers 19. Organisational Development Specialists 10. Internet of Things Specialists 20. Risk Management Specialists

Step 4: Turn up the HEAT Step 3: Develop future-fit skills South Africa has been battling an increasing skills shortage for the last decade. With more and more skilled workers leaving the country, there is an opportunity for young people to take ownership of closing the gap, as well as for people established in their careers to up-skill and pivot towards where they are most needed.

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As AI continues to open up new business and employment opportunities, human characteristics like EQ and agility – that are difficult for computers to mimic – will only increase in importance. “We are therefore now looking to 'H.E.A.T' as a well-rounded multi-disciplinary approach: Humanities, Engineering, Arts and Technology as the future of business,” says Mansour. “The future of business needs a population of creative, emotionally intelligent digital natives who are all leaders in their own right, and H.E.A.T strikes the perfect balance of discipline. In addition, those workers performing tasks which automation cannot yet crack will become

more essential – and this means creativity, innovation, imagination, and design skills will be prioritised by employers. “We certainly cannot underestimate the value of our uniquely human talent. The workplace has seen an increased demand for emotional intelligence, leadership ability, and creativity which will only continue to grow. “Skills such as critical thinking, decisionmaking, stress management, people management, virtual collaboration, change management, negotiation, complex problem-solving, adaptability, and analysis are the bedrock to building the strong and agile teams required to navigate rapid change,” adds Mansour.

Skills Development

Step 5: Adapt learning approaches

The future of education is all about learner-centred experiential learning. Theory must be integrated with real-life practice and on-the-job learning. Learning must be designed to be engaging and shape graduates who are able to lead themselves and collaborate effectively with others. “This is the blended learning approach that KLM Empowered stands by because it is the only way to truly acquire a skill,” says Mansour. Blended learning is a combination of online learning, theoretical learning from facilitators and industry experts, real-life work experience and engaged discussion. According to KLM Empowered, our education and skills need to adapt, and quickly. Focusing on skills that nurture creativity, innovation, and leadership as well as the development of technology and software superpowers are now the cornerstone to all businesses. “The new normal that we are all facing demands a new level of leadership, innovation, and agility. We have a choice to make – ride out the storm or catch the wave. Those organisations and individuals who understand their potential futures, and what each might mean for them, and plan ahead, will be the best prepared to succeed,” says Mansour.

Lyn Mansour, Founder and CEO of KLM Empowered

KLM Empowered and the Knowledge X-Change Microsoft AI University

KLM Empowered recently announced its collaboration with Microsoft, in the launch of its first AI University through its Knowledge X-Change Centre of Digital Excellence. This is a 12-month programme offering comprehensive study in AI. This programme is the first of its kind in South Africa and offers a unique opportunity for IT graduates to develop future-fit skills and for organisations to groom their next generation of AI engineers. In partnership with KLM Empowered, the Knowledge X-Change Centre of Digital Excellence has developed a series of accredited master classes to build digital citizenship and digital transformation capability. As a Microsoft Education Partner, it now also provides training and certification for AI Engineers, Data Analysts, Data Engineers, Data Scientists, Information Security Specialists, Software and App Developers, Database and Network Professionals, IoT Specialists, and Robotics Engineers. Considering the jobs that are rapidly gaining prominence in terms of demand, KLM Empowered has aligned its catalogue of qualifications and skills programmes to develop the skills required to perform those jobs, with a focus on Software and Application Development, Project Management, Business Administration, Business Analysis, and Risk Management. For more information on the Knowledge X-Change Microsoft AI University, connect with KLM Empowered at www.klmempowered.com or email ai@knowledgexchange-global.com

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Opinion: Skills Development

People are a business’ greatest asset –

investing in them is essential for growth

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) was meant to address the inequalities of the past by creating equal employment opportunities. Unfortunately, rather than speeding up economic transformation, it has often simply enriched a select few while most previously disadvantaged individuals remain at a disadvantage. By Daniel Orelowitz, Managing Director of Training Force

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Opinion: Skills Development

Every element of economic transformation needs to be made broad based, and skills development lies at the very heart of this ability. Investing in the skills of people, and then having mechanisms in place to obtain ownership through skills development, is the only way to create ongoing and sustainable economic transformation and real employment equity.

It’s all about people

For any organisation, people are not only the biggest asset, but are also the biggest expense. Without the right skills, it is impossible for a business to grow and thrive, even as technology plays an increasingly central role. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) evolves, skills development becomes even more important as skill sets are changing, and if South Africa is to compete on a global scale, the workforce needs to be improved. Hiring people without the right skills for the job, but simply to tick a box on the BEE scorecard, will not enable them to add value to the business. B-BBEE needs to become more about creating equitable employment and developing the necessary skills, rather than simply fulfilling a set of requirements to be awarded a certificate.

Understanding people’s unique circumstances

One of the challenges around creating a truly equitable employment environment lies in understanding the circumstances of disadvantaged job seekers. Without the necessary skills, they are less employable, but without employment, they are unable to gain skills or experience that will make them more likely to get a job. The number of discouraged job seekers in South Africa is significant, and this, in conjunction with high levels of unemployment, creates an unsustainable economic situation. This in turn perpetuates the cycle of poverty and addressing this challenge should be where B-BBEE comes into play. Every individual has value and has something to add to a business, but often, people are not given the opportunity to prove their worth. Learnerships are an invaluable tool that businesses need to embrace to uplift people, provide opportunities for individuals to obtain qualifications and experience, and allow organisations to develop the skills they need to enhance business growth and value.

Partners in success

B-BBEE sets the foundations for companies to spend money on skills development, which should be used as an opportunity for businesses to help previously disadvantaged individuals uplift themselves. The key is to match people who want to learn with companies that offer the opportunity for them

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Without the right skills, it is impossible for a business to grow and thrive, even as technology plays an increasingly central role. to learn new skills that are aligned with their interests and abilities. Not every business can take on people specifically, but they may be able to offer funding to help another business that can offer the practical workplace experience. A skills development and training partner is central in navigating this complexity and acting as a facilitator. This is important in helping people to find opportunities and businesses to offer them, and matching resources to requirements, while ensuring that skills development is aligned with needs to help businesses grow.

In the true spirit of transformation

Embracing B-BBEE as more than a tick-box exercise means examining the entire scorecard and understanding how best to make the requirements work for your business and maximise value. For example, is the ownership requirement truly adding value, or are you simply giving away part of the profits to ‘tick’ that box? Ownership should be about wealth creation and sharing, and about benefiting the business through new leadership, rather than simply being viewed as a tax that will further enrich a select few. The same applies to skills development and enterprise supplier development. The right partner can help to ensure that all these elements help the business, while uplifting people, and creating a more sustainable economy in which businesses can grow and thrive. Skills development is essential in giving people the opportunity to develop and unleash their unique attributes and talents. This in turn will benefit businesses and the entire economy – if all businesses work together to train people and collectively grow the pool of talent available, the entire country will benefit. When addressing the B-BBEE scorecard, give it the time and attention it deserves. Businesses spend a lot of money on their certification, so it may as well be done the correct way so that it adds value. With the right partner, this investment in time and resources can be maximised to the benefit of all.

Opinion: Skills Development

Meeting the need for

multi-skilled workers in South Africa Temporary employment opportunities are on the rise in South Africa and with many global enterprises seeking to outsource certain business processes, the South African labour market is becoming increasingly attractive. By Mamiki Matlawa, MD at Qunu Staffing

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Opinion: Skills Development

Many local businesses have a need for certain skills, which are not necessarily ‘full-time’. As a result, temporary employment is being used to meet global needs and plug local skill gaps. This type of working relationship is beneficial to both the enterprise and the individual; and multi-skilled workers have a competitive advantage if they can perform more than one function at a company. Organisations benefit from being able to fill multiple posts with one multi-skilled individual, while the worker stands to earn significantly more than someone who can only fill a single temporary post. Where can businesses find the skills they need, without hiring in-house full-time? Temporary Employment Service (TES) providers can help enterprises meet their short-term labour requirements, while assisting skilled individuals to find multiple fixed-term working opportunities.

Mamiki Matlawa, MD at Qunu Staffing

Adapting to the times

Making more skills accessible

Permanent jobs are becoming progressively scarce as economic conditions continue to tighten as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few businesses are in a position to hire employees on a permanent basis.

Access to a database of pre-screened candidates means that TES providers can easily match candidates to fixed duration job opportunities. Temporary placements can tap into experienced workers that already have the necessary skillsets, while allowing businesses to maintain their permanent core team.

This is not a new trend, however, as Statistics South Africa’s employment figures indicate that temporary employment numbers rose to 3.9 million from 2.6 million between 2017-2018, through choice and necessity. In the second quarter of 2020, the South African economy shed 2.2 million jobs, a devastating effect of the pandemic. Seventeen percent of the workforce (2.4 million) were classified as ‘self-employed’ which includes employers, freelance workers and those providing help in a household without pay. Now, as we become accustomed to working under new conditions and vaccination programmes are rolled out across the country, enterprises are looking to move beyond survival mode and explore their options for growth. Gaining a competitive edge demands innovation and speed but developing fully employed workers can be expensive and timeconsuming. Tight budgets and tight production timelines mean that businesses have limited options when it comes to bringing in the skills they need. This is where partnering with TES providers can give them an advantage.

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In addition to sourcing exactly the right skills, TES providers can reduce wasted time. For example, it takes 2.7 days at most to hire a freelancer through a talent marketplace, while it can take a minimum of 34 days using traditional recruitment methods, which impacts negatively on operational performance as this post goes unfilled for so long. Such a lengthy process is counter-productive in today’s fast-paced business environment, where agility and flexibility are critical. For specialised skills or once-off projects, by using a TES provider, it is possible for businesses to fill more than one post with a single multi-skilled worker within days. This allows businesses to tap directly into the benefit of flexible workers and their skills can be rapidly integrated into the project to reduce wasted time.

The rise of the unicorn: the multi-skilled worker While there has been a massive decrease in sectors like hospitality, other industries are booming, and job seekers need to assess and update their skillsets accordingly. Financial services, technology, marketing and customer service industries are on the rise, despite a significant reduction in brick-and-mortar offices in response to work from home conditions. However, businesses aren’t just looking to bring in a single worker to fulfil a single function – they want one person who can wear multiple hats, known as a ‘unicorn’ worker. Essentially, TES providers can help businesses to source the ‘unicorn’ skillsets they require, while offering workers the opportunity to further expand their skillsets (and their marketability) in other industries and verticals, making it a win-win for everyone.

Tertiary Education

How universities are adapting to prepare students for the future As school leavers and first-time university applicants begin a higher education journey quality of education, full-time employment opportunities and the future of work are significant, top-of-mind factors that are informing their decisions. Over and above the shrinking job market, automation and redundancy, and ever-increasing unemployment among South African youth, we also know that flexibility, sustainability and equality are equally important for younger generations. So, what role should universities play in preparing students for a working world that is constantly changing? Universities are adapting to meet the desires of young people as well as the requirements of businesses. The traditional structures, courses and programmes of universities are changing, not only due to the disruptions and restrictions caused by the pandemic, but also to respond to the demands of the future of the working world. A student enrolling for a BSc can expect to learn physics, chemistry, mathematics and other facets of pure science. But this is all going to change in response to the needs of students and a working world that is requiring well-rounded citizens who can contribute to economies and offer visionary thinking to new world problems.

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Tertiary Education

A shift to multidisciplinary programmes ‘’There is a paradigm shift in academics pertaining to multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways of producing graduates relevant for the twenty-first century,” says Dr Phumeza Kota-Nyati, Dean: Learning and Teaching at Nelson Mandela University. ‘’Universities and their faculties are being re-imagined to revitalise their transformative potential and become vibrant, dynamic spaces of higher learning,’’ says Dr Kota-Nyati. Nelson Mandela University has been integral in this higher education evolution. Prior to Covid-19, the university developed South Africa’s first dedicated Ocean Sciences Campus, providing state-of-art teaching, training, research and innovation support to boost the emerging ocean economy. The recently launched Medical School offers cutting-edge, context-specific medical training, research and innovation to improve the quality of healthcare services in our public hospitals and clinics, and quality of health within our communities. Right now, recalibrations are taking place among an array of disciplines. The humanities faculty is being revitalised and integrated into all the disciplines of the institution, while associated fields of study like engineering, finance and IT are being included in crossdisciplinary programmes to offer students a rich, multifaceted experience. “The presence of this crossover extends to our combination programmes too,” says Dr Kota-Nyati. “To be relevant in the financial space of the future, an accounting student will need to understand the logic behind how an automated financial transaction is processed and also feed that logic into automated systems. Therefore, they would need to have a deeper understanding of a blend of fields like accounting, economics, IT and engineering.’’

Encouraging entrepreneurship It can be discouraging for a young person to pursue higher education with the expectation that few employment opportunities exist, even with a university qualification. In a country with an unemployment rate of 46.3% among young people aged between 15 and 34 years, students should be encouraged to explore entrepreneurship and nurtured to be excel in the field. At Nelson Mandela University, alumni are providing mentorship opportunities to current students, by presenting entrepreneurial webinars to demonstrate how knowledge and training gained from a university qualification can be leveraged to start a sustainable business. “Having a university qualification goes beyond just landing a job,” says Dr Kota-Nyati. “It cultivates personal growth, imparts valued skills, empowers people to think for themselves and opens up entrepreneurial opportunities.” “We have heavily invested in entrepreneurial programmes to provide students with real-life experiences of running a business and this, together with our webinars, is delivering on preparing students to launch businesses of their own,” notes Dr Kota-Nyati.

Support beyond the lecture hall The university experience of 2022’s first-years is going to be very different in a traditional sense. Many Grade 11s and matrics have had to adjust to a hybrid learning approach, so universities are taking steps to ensure that any gaps (academically speaking) created by disruptions in learning caused by the pandemic can be bridged. “At Nelson Mandela University, we want to reassure students that we are sensitive to the realities of Covid-19. In our preparations to receive the new cohort of first-year students, we will be hosting supplementary programmes as part of the first-year orientation programme to prepare new students for their first classes,” says Dr KotaNyati. This will enable the university to address gaps in learning and step in to take a student to the next level. More student support initiatives will be carried out, such as student success coaching, writing consultations, mentoring, tutoring, and student counselling and wellness.

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Training

Why you should be spending more money

on short courses

You have read or heard a million times that a company’s competitive advantage in today’s current economic climate depends on its people’s skills and talents. You have also heard platitudes like "people are our most important asset" but when times are tough, the first line item that gets yanked from the budget or put on hold is always training. f thinking “This kind o nse but make any se ys just doesn’t e again”, sa me and tim MD ’s we see it ti Network s & Training ill Sk ni anies p sa m lu A h many co ta. “Althoug ri ere Ta th en t g o en Im investm ning a good ai tr end er sp id to ns co sitant are simply he ho w se s ca er in th o are loyees just aining emp tr ned n ai o g y e ne g o d m the knowle ke ta d an on ink they move ipside and th ut on the fl st ve in elsewhere b don’t what if you about this, ey stay… th d nt an in your tale ur impact to yo what is the n then?” organisatio

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Training

How do you get the best out of the talent that you already have? Internationally renowned HR Guru Dave Ulrich said, “competent employees have the skills they need. Committed employees deploy these skills regularly and predictably.” This quote is quite apt because it means that you probably already have the talent that you need in your company and you don’t need to rush out and recruit new talent, but what you need to consider is, how do you get the best out of the talent that you already have? However, some senior executives continue to agonise over the bottom line and bemoan any investment in training. Their employees are realising that because they aren’t being trained they may not be reaching their full potential where they are currently employed, and so they start looking for employment elsewhere with someone that will train them. Like Ourobos (the Greek symbol of infinity), think of the picture of the dragon eating his own tail and creating a never-ending circle; this standoff between management and employees over training can easily become a vicious cycle and quite frankly someone needs to blink first and break the deadlock. In short, if companies want to progress then one of the quickest and easiest ways to make your employees feel valued, is to train them. The ongoing skills shortage in South Africa leaves the entire country extremely vulnerable. This means that decisions fall to relatively inexperienced people who do not have the correct technical skills.

Development plans, mentoring, coaching and training will be critical in the future Think about it this way, it takes up to 15 years for an engineer to be sufficiently experienced to serve in a managerial capacity. Developing appropriate development plans, mentoring and coaching and training to grow this talent from graduate to effective engineer is going to be critical in the future. Offering training programmes is an essential component in increasing and retaining the valuable skills required to keep the country sustainable. Training courses are important as they can assist engineers to getup-to speed quickly with any given subject. “The benefits of short training courses are literally instantaneous”, says Tarita. “If you want to make a big impact quickly then sending your engineers on a university course isn’t going to show immediate results but a two or three day course will do the trick in many cases.”

No substitute for a ‘live’ training course When it comes to improving your employees’ skills it seems that there really is no substitute for a ‘live’ training course. By interacting with a roomful of your peers either face-to-face or online and having the opportunity to ask questions of subject matter experts and examine real-world applications of the information you’re covering really helps to cement new knowledge learned. The trick is to spend your training money wisely. Alusani Skills & Training Network offers over 175 courses in 19 different categories and are a Level 2 B-BBEE value-adding supplier. They offer post-course support for 12 months after the training course, free of charge. Alusani Skills & Training Network are accredited with the Services Seta and offer a variety of CPD-validated training courses. For more information about the public and onsite training options visit www.alusani.co.za.

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Unemployment

The jobs problem –

what’s really behind SA’s shocking unemployment numbers? In the second quarter of 2021, South Africa's unemployment rate rose to a record high of 34.4%, with close to 12 million people falling within the broad term of 'unemployed' in the country, and ranking South Africa’s unemployment rate the highest on a global list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg. This translates into a youth unemployment rate, measuring job seekers between 15 and 24 years old, of a record-high 64.4%; a figure that forecasts a bleak outlook for graduates, the economy and Africa’s most industrialised nation at large. The persistency of the Covid-19 pandemic and its knock-on effects across industry, along with the riots, looting and unrest that took place in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal – two key economic hubs – in July this year which cost the country an estimated R50 billion in lost output and placed at least 150 000 jobs at risk, have worsened any efforts to revive an economy that shrank 7% last year, and have set South Africa further back. This, along with a decade-long slump where performance has consistently remained at a level where economic growth has been lower than the average population growth of 1.5% per annum and where government’s plans for improvement have not translated into effective action, the net upshot is that the South African economy is shrinking and with it, across all sectors, we are losing jobs.

Who or what is really to blame? According to Kerry Morris, CEO of leading recruitment specialists, The Tower Group, there are a few key factors at play – from corporates not hiring owing to critical skills shortages or limiting new hires owing to the increased risk-averse Covid-19 climate; to inadequate training and education on both corporate and educational or school levels; as well as the attitudinal mindsets of millennials entering the workforce. “From a recruitment perspective, there is a bottom-heavy hierarchy. South Africa has a larger population than the jobs that are crossing our desks every day. The current risk-averse attitude based on a poorperforming economy and made worse via the impact of Covid-19, means that companies are wishing to save any money they have rather than expanding and spending on new hires, and we assume they are subsequently combining a few roles into one job as part of a cost-saving exercise,” says Morris. “We also have a critical skills shortage and continue to lose skilled professionals to foreign shores. Infamously referred to as ‘the brain drain’, the arrival of Covid-19 in March 2020 has seen thousands of skilled professionals emigrating abroad – from engineers to doctors and nurses. This means that we are unable to fill the positions required by big corporates as there are simply not enough skilled South Africans to fill them,” Morris adds.

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Unemployment

Where to from here?

A 5% GDP growth per annum is the target to reduce the unemployment rate in South Africa and is also the number that will allow the country to make a real dent in eradicating poverty. Yet before we can get to that number and start implementing strategies that include labour revision laws pertaining to hiring and firing, or better equip financial institutions to help finance and support small businesses, what are some of the immediate solutions to turn the trajectory of jobs in South Africa around?

A shift in corporate mindset

According to Morris, the progressive, proactive mindset of business is truly the key to change. “Adjusted training courses are needed to up-skill learners and bridge the critical skills gap. Putting quality learnerships on the table, and absorbing learners into the company and into required roles, is undoubtedly the solution. Despite a risk-averse environment, this is the mindset needed now. It is important that companies adopt it and take the leap, as it is the only way forward.”

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A shift in career guidance

In order to train, better equip and guide graduates as the labour market of the future, career guidance in school is also highlighted as a key solution to better educate pupils on what happens after school. As it stands, secondary and tertiary institutions do not provide enough post-graduate guidance. Says Morris: “Career guidance is imperative to link the loop between after-school and learnerships. This is where we are seeing the greatest gap.”

Putting quality learnerships on the table, and absorbing learners into the company and into required roles, is undoubtedly the solution.

Women In Employment

African women can future-proof their career in a digital age Women in Africa are primed to benefit from the increasing digitalisation of the global work culture and should ensure that they embrace a habit of life-long learning and upskilling to remain relevant in their industry and career.

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Women In Employment

This was the consensus from a recent online seminar titled ‘The Future is Female’ organised by Full Potential Consulting to commemorate Women’s Month in August. Hosted by Mabore Sithole, Founder and MD of Full Potential Consulting, the conversation around where the world is headed in terms of digital transformation and the roles African women can play in this evolution is today more relevant than ever before. “We need to keep the emancipation of women on the radar and discuss how we, as women in Africa, can start to engage beyond borders and lift one another up,” said Sithole.

The future of work is digital and African

As Dr Roze Phillips, Executive Director of Value Creation at GIBS Business School explained during her keynote address, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalisation of global work culture and requires women to adapt to this new normal. “The future is digital, as technology is uncoupling work from finite hours and locations. Work used to be a place we go, and now it is a place in which we connect virtually and in which our co-workers are freelancers and robots. “We are also being required to work with people from different parts of the world in a multicultural and multi-geographic workplace,” she noted.

According to Phillips, Africa will hold 20% of the world’s population by 2030 and 2.5 billion people by 2050 – hosting the globe’s youngest population and the largest labour force in the world. The continent’s rate of connectivity and digitalisation is also growing due to increased investment in communication technology, such as undersea cables, as well as pro-innovator regulation, such as supportive start-up acts and regional legislative harmonisation. Venture capital investment in Africa is reaching all-time highs, with investments in the fintech and e-commerce industries leading the way. “By 2019, Africa had over 40% mobile digital connectivity and over 700 000 technology developers. We are attracting venture capital because they believe in the future of innovation in Africa,” Phillips said. Importantly, with advancing digitalisation, women in Africa are now able to make a greater impact in the world of work without having to leave their countries of birth. “You don’t have to forgo your status as an African to make a difference. When asked, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently said his next biggest competitor will be the product of two women currently coding in a garage in Africa. We have to believe that we are capable and can make it happen,” she added.

How African women can evolve their careers in the digital age Importantly, Phillips emphasised that it is not only women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields whose skills would be in demand in the future of work. Given the reality of work in an increasingly multicultural environment, there remained a need for broader, softer skills offered by the likes of female educators, social change agents and politicians. Sub-Saharan Africa has, for example, made significant progress on improving women’s representation in government, with the share of women in parliament in the region having doubled since 2000. “You don’t only need to be a techie to be successful in the digital future of work. We have lots of problems that can be solved by women in Africa digitally, including those related to technology, climate change, social issues, and politics,” she said.

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Phillips advocated for African women to cultivate a growth mindset in business by: • Developing skills to interact, build relationships and show the self-awareness needed to work effectively with others in person and personally • Building skills to approach problem-solving creatively, using empathy, logic and novel thinking • Creating a solid knowledge of technologies and data in their field of expertise • Embracing a culture of life-long learning – including embracing experimentation • Specialising for work by developing the relevant skills to address local market priorities and industry needs while remaining open to continuously learning, growing and adapting “The most important thing is not whether you have all the answers, but whether you are asking the right questions,” Phillips concluded.

Women In Employment

Find ways to make yourself more competitive Lindiwe Matlali, founder and CEO of Africa Teen Geeks and Commissioner of 4IR, added during the seminar that women should consistently look for ways in which they can make themselves more competitive in their industry by following industry news and trends. “Find a publication in your industry that covers trends and predictions and be willing to learn and adapt. You need to prepare for the opportunities you seek, so that when the opportunity presents itself, you are ready,” she said. In addition, take advantage of the myriad of free online courses available and seek out women mentors in your industry who are able to provide guidance and advice.

Lindiwe Matlali, founder and CEO of Africa Teen Geeks and Commissioner of 4IR

“Always be willing to learn. Be intentional and bold and don’t be shy to be ambitious and put yourself out there,” Matlali added.

Lift as you rise During her address to attendees, Founder and Lead Consultant of OutsideIn HR, Ngozi Adebiyi, reminded African women to support one another as they advanced in their careers, calling on them to: • Ensure all women’s ideas are heard by setting a good example, speaking up in meetings,and encouraging other women to do the same • Look for opportunities to celebrate women’s accomplishments, and point out when women are being blamed unfairly for mistakes • Look for opportunities to boost other women’s confidence • Look for opportunities to give the women you work with constructive input that can help them learn and grow • Commit the time and energy to mentor other woman • Stay informed about the gender gap and work towards contributing to the correction of the disparity

Ngozi Adebiyi, founder and Lead Consultant of OutsideIn HR

Dr Roze Phillips, Executive Director of Value Creation at GIBS Business School

“Other women are women’s greatest allies. Together, women can level the playing field and go further faster. Competition among women has no place in the world we are building and the more we work together, the more we’ll be heard. There is always strength in unity,” she asserted.

Full Potential was founded in 2013 to accelerate people development by using technology and a holistic development approach that cultivates extraordinary organisational potential in the future of work.

Mabore Sithole, Founder and MD of Full Potential Consulting,

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Women In Employment

Investing in ECD could increase

women’s employment Universal access to early childhood care and education – currently available to less than 40% of South African children under six – would better equip the nation’s children to reach their full potential and significantly enable more women to occupy meaningful, paid jobs.

Investment in expanding access to high quality, age-appropriate early childhood care and education for the nearly four million children under six could create more than 450 0001 new jobs in the ‘care economy’, mostly for women who currently make up 95% of the childcaring workforce. Although the National Development Plan (NDP), along with numerous other legislation and policies, recognises that early childhood development (ECD) is central to eradicating poverty and inequality, a focus on investing in jobs in the sector would also address the national policy goal of increasing women’s participation in the economy, says economist Laura Brooks. Brooks is one of the contributors to the 2021 Women’s Report released in August 2021, sponsored by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) and distributed in partnership with the SA Board for People Practices (SABPP).

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Women In Employment

ECD would aid in addressing persistent inequality

In the chapter ‘Early childhood care and education can boost women’s employment in South Africa’, Brooks found that “while the benefits to children of ECD are clear and widely accepted, the associated opportunity to achieve another key developmental imperative of enabling women to participate meaningfully in the labour force, is seldom considered – yet this too would aid in addressing persistent inequality.” It is estimated that more than 300 000 people are employed in early childhood care and education, 95% of them women, serving approximately 2.5 million children and mostly operating in the informal and non-profit sector. Brooks said that beyond the direct job creation opportunity in the ECD sector itself, providing more widely available and affordable early childhood care and education services would also have “an exponential impact of enabling many more women to participate in the labour force”. “For each woman who works in caring for children, whether as a childminder or day mother in a private home or community facility, or working in a formal ECD centre, another 6 to 10 women2 are able to take up full-time employment,” she added.

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Increased investment in ECD could deliver a triple social and economic benefit

Brooks said that increased investment in early childhood care and education would “deliver a triple social and economic benefit”. First, by promoting young children’s development and capacity for learning in formal schooling; second, enabling greater participation by women in the work force; and third, by creating more and better-paid jobs in the care economy. “However, to achieve this, government needs to move away from the paradigm of ECD as a social welfare service and see it as a socio-economic development opportunity to grow a sustainable, community-based sector that generates employment and supports better education outcomes,” she added. “This will require an urgent overhaul of the regulatory framework and excessive red tape which currently excludes rather than enables providers of this vital service. State funding of early childhood care and education is minimal and needs to be greatly increased. This would secure better conditions and meaningful livelihoods for workers and in turn improve the quality of services provided to children,” Brooks said.

Women In Employment

Target public employment schemes and enterprise development funding to ECD

A potential financing strategy may be to target public employment schemes and enterprise development funding to the early childhood care and education sector, with a specific view to job creation and entrepreneurship opportunities for women, Brooks said. Unlike public health services and basic education that are provided by government, early childhood care and education services are almost exclusively provided in the private and non-profit sector, by NGOs and private individuals operating as subsistence entrepreneurs or micro social enterprises. The sector is largely informal, operating from homes, rented venues, community halls and places of worship, as well as mobile facilities, with staff typically earning subsistence stipends below minimum wage and not having employment contracts or benefits. Brooks said that ECD was seen as a social welfare service, currently falling under the Department of Social Development, and that the sector “battles excessive red tape, with a legislative framework that is effectively punitive and exclusionary”, resulting in very few ECD facilities being able to register with the Department and being eligible for funding support.

State subsidisation of ECD is minimal

State subsidisation of early childhood development via the Department of Social Development is minimal, at R17 per child per day, of which only 30% can be used for salaries, and the subsidy reaches only about 620 000 children, less than 25% of the children reported to be accessing ECD programmes. “This means that almost all community-based ECD facilities, even those who do receive the state subsidy, rely on fees from parents to supplement their income. Fee income can be inconsistent, especially in poorer communities, as it relies on parents’ ability to pay, which is often highly variable,” Brooks said. While the NDP explicitly states that current funding for ECD is not adequate for the target of universal access and must be improved, and the country has a National Integrated ECD Policy approved by Cabinet in 2015, Brooks said that the funding required to give effect to these goals and policies “has not materialised to date”. Meanwhile, the Children’s Act does not distinguish between different types and locations of ECD programmes in its registration requirements and “therefore does not cater to the reality of most home-based ECD centres, childminders and playgroups”. Brooks said these challenges and barriers pointed to the urgent need to address the funding and regulatory framework of early childhood care and education to realise the opportunity for women’s employment and economic empowerment, and in turn for the sector to make its envisioned contribution to improving education and supporting economic growth and social stability through educated, skilled people.

About the Women’s Report: The 2021 Women’s Report focuses on the life and work of women in South Africa. The report, sponsored by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) and distributed in partnership with the by the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), is available to download from www.womensreport.africa. Laura Brooks is a development economist and Senior Manager: ECD Expansion & Financing Support at Ilifa Labantwana, an organisation working to secure an equal start for all children in South Africa through universal access to quality early childhood development. She has a Master’s degree in Economics from UCT and a BA(Hons) from Rhodes University.

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Work Readiness

The importance of

work experience in job creation More than 1.5 million South Africans with post-school qualifications are without work. First time work seekers, many of these bright youngsters remain unemployed or underemployed and most will end up taking jobs unrelated to their education just to make a living. Rajan Naidoo, Managing Director of EduPower Skills Academy, says though talented and intelligent, these graduates are simply not work ready. “Employers are reluctant to offer these young people jobs because they have no work history and are unlikely to yield massive value in their first year of employment,” he explains. Naidoo adds that in addition to these graduates, there are also many first-time work seekers who don’t have post-school qualifications. Armed with Grade 12, they have an even smaller chance at landing a job. And, the situation is even more dire for the many young South Africans without a Grade 12. “This all adds to the massive youth unemployment and unemployability that is entrenched in our economy,” Naidoo says.

Rajan Naidoo, Managing Director of EduPower Skills Academy

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Work Readiness

Naidoo believes there are a number of factors that impact employability and offers some workable solutions:

1. Work-ready skills: Most of the youngsters looking for jobs lack the work-ready technical skills that can yield a return on investment for employers in the first 12 months. This includes life skills relating to workplace maturity and include an understanding of work relationships, labour rights, performance management, personal financial management, long-term goal setting and career orientation.

2. Career guidance: We need to ensure that youngsters studying tertiary qualifications choose courses that are relevant to the job market and will assist the candidate in becoming economically active. Career guidance is paramount for young people to understand their choice relative to the economic demand and their aptitude. 3. Relaxed labour legislation: South Africa needs to introduce legislation that allows employers (particularly small businesses) a reduced labour risk when employing first-time work seekers with no job references and work history, at least for the first 12 months. 4. Bridging programmes: We need to strengthen and fund learnership and internship programmes to assist in bridging the skills, experience and work readiness gap for first time workers. These programmes must have components that provide work readiness life skills. 5. Focus on the outcome: B-BBEE in its design is laudable, but many corporates apply a begrudging compliance mentality with minimal care to ensure the investment they make in the skills component is indeed life changing for the beneficiary. This also applies to enterprise and supplier development. Partnering with the right skills provider is not just about the lowest cost and tax savings but also about sustainable, positive outcomes for the beneficiaries. 6. Simple, low-cost solutions: B-BBEE and other funding initiatives must be geared to address the economic futures of young people. For low-skilled and under-educated youth, we need to create skills through lower-level learnerships and entrepreneurial opportunities. One example is cooking with basic business skills, training that will allow a youngster to run a street food outlet. This does, however, require support in skills, logistics and equipment. At a relatively low-cost though, we could create an economically active young person who will become financially independent. This is but one example among many of a simple low-cost solution that is scalable.

Naidoo says that given the recent unrest in South Africa, it is more important than ever that we do everything possible to create employment opportunities for our youth. “The answer is simple: every stakeholder, be it business, labour, government or civil society must embrace and acknowledge the gravity of our youth unemployment challenge and conduct themselves in a way that will deliver a collective solution rather than the narrow, self-interested manner that is the focus for most,” he explains. “The social impact of unemployment doesn’t only create victims of the poor but touches all our lives – and this touchpoint will only intensify with the growing inequality until it again reaches critical mass for a meltdown.” “We can change our nation’s current trajectory. Many of the solutions are simple but require a dramatic change in our values and principles across all sectors of our society,” Naidoo concludes.

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Labour Law in Practice

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The Struggles and Secret Talks that Brought Apartheid South Africa to the Negotiating Table By Mac Maharaj and Z. Pallo Jordan

Now in its second revised edition, this book has sold over 10 000 copies and has helped numerous South African managers and business owners navigate their way safely through what sometimes seems to be an impenetrable maze of labour law and practice. Andrew Levy, arguably South Africa’s best-known labour resource, has over 50 years’ experience in the field, and has taught and trained thousands of students and managers. Written in an easy-tounderstand style and laid out in an accessible format, this book covers all essential labour law areas.

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AA Technical College –

getting the right tools for the future Trained and skilled artisans are often the unseen heroes of many organisations although they are the cogs that keep companies on the road. Without their skills many companies would not be able to keep their vehicles operational and their contribution to the bottom line is therefore immense. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of skilled artisans in the automotive industry with fewer people entering the profession than is needed. To address this, the Automobile Association of South Africa NPC (AA) launched its Technical College which was awarded accreditation as a training provider on 21 June 2006, for the facilitation of the full learnership qualifications of Autotronics and Maintaining Vehicles as well as apprentice training in the trades of: Automotive Electrician, Automotive Engine Fitter, Diesel Fitter, Diesel Fuel Injection Technician, Diesel Mechanic and Motor Mechanic (accreditation number: 17-QA/ACC/0023/06).

Skilled artisans play a crucial role in any company “Skilled artisans play a crucial role in any company as they reduce down time and maintenance costs for businesses with big fleets. And, they are employable across a wide variety of industries from mining and agriculture to construction and transport. Many government departments also rely heavily on automotive artisans to keep their vehicles on the road,” says Werner Wandrey, National Technical Training Manager at the AA Technical College (AATC). Since its inception in 2006, around 1 200 students a year have passed through the AATC’s learning centre, qualifying in a range of different disciplines. “We train people to become automotive electricians, diesel mechanics, diesel fuel injection technicians, motor mechanics (petrol), diesel fitters and automotive engine fitters. When these students leave us, they leave with a nationally accepted and useful qualification, with which

they will be a scarce resource in a competitive economy,” says Wandrey.

Two main streams of learning

There are two main streams of learning offered at the AATC: Competency Based Modular Training (CBMT) and learnerships that are NQF aligned. There are different courses within each of these streams. “There are huge benefits to companies sending staff on these courses. The error ratio is reduced and the quality of work of the artisans who have been through our doors is markedly improved. There is great value in people attending these courses – not only for themselves personally but also for the companies who send them to us,” explains Wandrey.

AATC is an accredited training facility

Importantly the AATC is an accredited training facility and trade test centre. Accreditation has been awarded by the Department of Higher Education and The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). As such AATC can provide training for companies no matter which Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) skills levies are paid to. Each of the courses offered at the ranges from between 18 months and four years with the artisans then leaving with a formal qualification. “I think we understand the market extremely well and are teaching quality artisans here; after all, when they leave, they will say the AATC trained them, so we work hard to keep the highest standards,” he says. And this hard work is paying off judging by the quality of clients who send their learners to the AATC for training. Among these are, OEM’s, Dealers, Groups and even the SME aftermarket.

AATC can be contacted on 086 133 3668 or email: aatrainingjhb@aasa.co.za

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