Leaders of the ICT Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) have faced stakeholders with confidence and been congratulated by government and trade unions on their achievements.
Sam Morotoba, a senior executive manager in the Department of Labour, told the Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications (ISETT) SETA annual general meeting on Friday last week that progress had been commendable. "ISETT SETA has excelled on learnership intake."
Morotoba congratulated the SETA on its achievements, but said government would still like increased efforts to give learners access to NQF level one, to engage small enterprises, to recruit unemployed young people into learnerships, and to meet equity targets.
"SETAs occupy an important place and expectations are high," cautioned Morotoba, and added that government expected SETAs to be sector-based, performance-oriented, and be the centre of expertise on learning and skills in their sectors. "The national challenges of inadequate skills, unemployment, and realising the potential of our nation, demand nothing less."
[VIDEO]Oupa Mopaki, ISETT SETA CEO, told stakeholders the SETA was serious about experiential training. "We believe the learnership programme is an informed process." He detailed the SETA`s learnership projects, high-level skills programmes, and special projects. Mopaki said the SETA is committed to generating the skills employers need.
Mopaki highlighted that although the larger enterprises were supporting the SETA`s initiatives, it was important to increase the participation of small and medium enterprises. He said this would be an important area of focus in the future.
Innocentius Makola, acting chairman of the ISETT SETA board, began his report by saying there was much to celebrate. He said the SETA was now moving in the right direction. "ISETT SETA is starting to deliver in terms of learnerships."
[VIDEO]He recalled that earlier in the year he said the SETA`s leadership would have much to answer for if they had not started to deliver on its targets by the time the AGM was held. "I believe I have kept my promise that by the end of the year the SETA would start delivering."
Makola said ISETT had built the necessary infrastructure and the delivery train is now on the move. Seven learnerships have been registered, are up and running and awaiting learners to engage in training and skills development, he said. "It`s all systems go at ISETT."
Wynand van der Merwe, ISETT SETA business development senior manager, gave substance to the leadership`s upbeat mood. He compared the SETA`s achievements with National Skills Development Strategy targets, showing that many learnership targets have already been exceeded, while targets for March next year are well on the way to being met.
However, Van der Merwe said improvement is still needed with regards to racial, gender and disability distribution of trained employees in the ICT sector.
Share