TVET college certificates backlog being cleared, says department

Major steps have been taken to clear the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) examination results and certificates backlog, the Department of Higher Education and Training said on Thursday, 9 March 2017.

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The certificates backlog has compromised prospects for employment or further education for many graduates and has raised questions about the quality of SA's college sector.

The number of outstanding certificates has been reduced significantly from the 236,821 recorded in August 2015, to 29,583. The department said the issuing of outstanding certificates was being hampered by data problems at TVET colleges. These included data-capturing errors, authentication of identity numbers and other personal information, said department spokesman Madikwe Mabotha.

He said TVET college principals had been engaged in a process to validate and confirm all preliminary examination data from the examination centres.

The problems besetting the sector are likely to hamper the government's efforts to make colleges an attractive education choice as part of its plan to ease pressure on universities.

Mabotha said more than 2-million subject results for the November 2016 exams had been processed and released. The final outstanding and pending results were released to TVET colleges earlier in March.

"This means that all outstanding November 2016 results have now been released.

"In addition, a further 450 subject results that were suspended due to suspicions of acts of dishonesty have also been cleared following thorough investigations. These results will be processed and released within a week," said Mabotha.

Working together

The department would continue to work closely with college principals to ensure data capturing challenges, which had contributed to many of the delays in the past, were immediately resolved, he said.

Mabotha said principals would be required to validate all preliminary examination data prior to submission.

"The department acknowledges the key role played by both the State Information Technology Agency [Sita] and the quality assurer, Umalusi, in ensuring the speedy finalisation of the results for the November 2016 examinations," he said.

Sita, which is responsible for issuing certificates, has previously blamed the backlog on outdated IT systems not aligned to diploma and exam rules introduced in 2010.

TVET successes

Meanwhile, during a question and answer session in Parliament on Thursday, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said TVET colleges were beginning to record "great successes balancing theory and practicals".

"We are seeing a great improvement in the take-up of artisan training among young people, particularly those who go to TVET colleges," he said.

Ramaphosa said the government was finalising an agreement with the private sector that would see as many as 1-million youths being offered paid internships in companies.

Source: Business Day

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Industrialisation of mining industry a crucial focus area for Africa

> Thandisizwe Mgudlwa

It seems industrialisation is what experts recommend for Africa's development.

This comes at the back of calls from various quarters in the African mining space for an industrial revolution of the sector.

According to economists, "The African mining industry needs to explore innovative ways to improve productivity, competitiveness, and profitability to propel the continent into industrialisation."

Dr Markus Thill, president of Bosch’s Africa region, says that by making the mining industry more profitable, economic growth can be furthered.

He notes, "Eventually, this would have positive effects also on education and skills development.

History has shown that the introduction of new, modern technologies creates opportunities for high-paying jobs as demand for skilled workers increases substantially. The depletion of coal resources in Europe led to the First Industrial Revolution and the use of steam power was to mechanise production. Such profound changes usually create concerns among people."

However, as the example of the First Industrial Revolution shows, transformation processes very often bear opportunities. Here, productivity increased which led to the creation of high-paying jobs and the generation of new industrial wealth,” he says.

Global research reveals, "The introduction of modern mining techniques and technologies in many instances, retrofitting old mines with new technologies boosts productivity, reduces costs, and leads to improvements in safety when mining for resources."

Economists also add, "While Africa has improved electricity supplies. cost-effective and reliable energy remains a key challenge for mining and industrial companies.

The mining industry has also made significant strides in reducing mining-related accidents and fatalities. This is thanks to regulators and industry stakeholders that have stepped in to address the challenge.

While industry stakeholders and experts commend the implementation of regulatory measures to tackle the challenge, there is also apprehension about overregulation, which increases the cost of mining in Africa.

“Harnessing that power will require investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure to ensure that electricity gets to as many customers, in particular industrial and commercial end-users, as possible,” concludes Dr Thill.