News release - October 2005                                                                       

Learnership abuses mask overwhelming successes

          But assessment, business case challenges remain

Unscrupulous companies are giving learnerships a bad name by cashing in on tax breaks and grants without providing the requisite training - but the initiative is still highly successful and meeting most of its objectives.

So says Sarah Babb, Managing Director of The Skills Framework, one of South Africa ’s leading strategic skills development consultancies that has previously consulted to the Department of Labour on the Skills Development Act and to corporate leaders like SAB, VW, MTN and Total. 

“Learnerships have had quite a bit of bad press recently with reports of some companies defrauding the system by benefiting from the tax rebates and grants while turning out people who have not been trained at all. And when these people turn up at a new company with their qualifications and no skills, people lay the blame on learnerships.

“But learnerships are an amazingly cost effective, tax efficient and flexible way to tap talent and train people to have the requisite skills to enhance an organisation’s resources as well as meet the employment equity criteria for the various charters. Since 2000, roughly 80 000 people have benefited from these programs through some of South Africa ’s leading companies.”

Babb says the Department of Labour is looking at making the requirements for taking on learners much more rigorous to counter abuse.

“Site visits and greater compliance requirements are just some of the things that may change.”

Babb however acknowledges that while learnerships are on the whole effective, there are still some challenges.

“Poor learner assessment skills and unclear understanding of the business case for implementation are two of the main factors stymieing the intended benefits of learnerships – more so that crooked companies.”

“Sometimes a company will not have the wherewithal to properly assess candidates against their qualification framework - often because they don’t have the time or capacity to recruit and train people.

“And many businesses don’t assess the business case for taking on people under a learnership programme. They really need to ask themselves why they are taking a learner on board and can they properly manage them and truly give them experience.

“It’s pointless having them make coffee for a year because no-one has though through what they should be doing.”

Babb advises companies to assess in advance of learnerships implementation the business case of doing the learnerships which involves planning, development of a holistic curriculum and ensuring there is a registered assessor available for appraisal and feedback.

“Having a sound, strategic reason and coherent plan for a learnerships programme will ensure the drop out rate falls. It’s is very damaging to candidates’ careers and the overall economic development to have people leave.”

Babb notes that many learnerships experience for candidates would be greatly enhanced through effective work readiness programmes as many people enter a business from the ranks of the unemployed and education institutions without any ‘real world’ understanding.

“Work readiness ensures graduates have adequate ‘soft skills’ such as communication, business etiquette, presentation skills and conflict management skills as well as ‘business’ skills like research, IT know-how, business writing and time management before they learn a new skill.

“It not only accelerates their development, but it also gives them an immediate sense of achievement and they are able to contribute from the outset at a higher level.”

Ends

Issued by Renee Schonborn Publicity

For The Skills Framework

For more information contact Renee Schonborn on (011) 886 5434 or Sarah Babb on (011) 442 0162.

About The Skills Framework