The Services sector education and training authority (Seta) has disbursed more than R180-million in grants to its members, according to its CEO, Ivor Blumenthal.
The Services Seta comprises 29 industries with 65 000 member companies and about two million employees. Many of these are in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Seta deals with the development of current and future staff and is responsible for issuing accreditation to the 29 industries.
‘We also give attention to learnerships and skills programmes with 38 registered learnerships that we’re currently providing,” Blumenthal says.
He says the Services Seta identifies skills needs in its sector and ensures that skilled people are certified as competent. ‘The Seta has met its challenges to get the SMEs to understand what our programmes are all about, but we have to get them to be interested in what we have to offer them.”
The Seta does not provide bursaries but learnership grants. The learnership grant allows subsidisation of people to be employed within a company registered with the Seta for a year.
Through learnerships the Seta has assisted 4 000 unemployed people and students, with qualifications such as degrees, certificates and diplomas, to acquire skills.
‘It’s all free. We want to deliver services and development to the people out there. The intention is — for learners to be employable and more marketable for permanent employment,” says Blumenthal.
The Seta also offers companies a selection of candidates it has screened through career centres. The prospective employer is presented with a list of three possible employees, and the company chooses the successful candidate.
‘Employers are not required to run a school, but [rather] allow a learner to practice skills under supervision and [receive] on-the-job training, so that they [can] contribute to the business’s productivity,” said Blumenthal.
To date, learnerships offered by the Seta include those in marketing communication, hairdressing, venture creation, contact centre, customer management and funeral services.
The Services Seta also pioneered one of the first learnerships for the disabled. The project, a joint venture between the Seta and Optima College, aims to equip the visually impaired with the skills to work as call centre operators — one the fastest-growing industries in South Africa.
Members of the Services Seta say Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana has expressed his excitement with the commitment displayed by the sector.
He has commended them for going beyond boundaries and collaborating with other organisations such as the South African Qualifications Authority and the University of South Africa in a learnership that is not within its sector.
This week the Services Seta held its annual skills conference, where it briefed members to ensure that they are kept up to date with the developments in relation to the Skills Development Amendment Bill.
Other issues discussed included the role of the SMEs and whether they are the answer to job creation in South Africa.