HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Education: which path should you take?

 BY: BORIS DZHINGAROV, ISSUED BY: MONETARY LIBRARY

When you think of education, you probably imagine stuffy classrooms and fusty lecturers with elbow patches on their tweed jackets. You sit in a classroom, flicking a pencil against your desk and staring at the clock on the wall with the intensity of a man waiting for a train that's been delayed by 17 hours.

© maridav – 123RF.com

But there's a lot more to learning than having a teacher dictate to you. And it's not only the preserve of the young. In the past decade, many more avenues have opened up for anyone to try and learn a new skill. 

Whether you want to become a supremo of leadership, a don of entrepreneurship or want to delve into the history of culture, there are plenty of educational roads for you to travel down. 

So what can you try? 

Distance learning

Back in the bad old days, when the world was in black and white and George Formby seemed as cutting-edge as electro-dubstep, distance learning was the homeless person to brick-and-mortar university's suited and booted millionaire. 

To gain the relevant course materials for your course, you'd have to shell out hundreds of quid on books, or else scour your local library for texts that might not even be there. Studying was an isolating experience, casting you adrift from lecturers and limiting you to what you could pick up from books and Open University shows broadcast at 2am on a Thursday morning. 

Now, however, the picture is far brighter where distance learning is concerned. Since the advent of the internet, education at a distance has become simpler than attending class. In many ways, it's become the preferred method of study for people with fulltime jobs. 

This demographic of working professionals means that most distance learning qualifications are vocational and business-focused. Anglia Ruskin University, for instance, has a variety of degreesto improve performance in the workplace, including a leadership and management degree ideal for those looking to work their way to the top. 

MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been making waves in the past few years, gathering an endless screed of media headlines. But what are they? 

Essentially, a MOOC is a free university course that will give you a foundational knowledge in a subject, although won't get you an official qualification. 

Although they won't officially help you in the workplace (no boss is going to be overly impressed with a MOOC), these free courses are perfect for deciding if you enjoy a subject before you fork out for it. Check this site for more info. 

Night courses

You don't want to hang about the internet - you want face-to-face contact with a tutor while you learn. And with a few tweaks to your budget, you could be able to afford just that. 

Various colleges and universities offer night-time courses, and you can join them for a reduced price with the help from bursaries or loans. The price of the course will depend on the subject you're studying, but you'll enjoy a new and improved set of skills by the end of your cramming sessions. 

Posted on 7 Dec 2015 13:47

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ABOUT BORIS DZHINGAROV

Boris Dzhingarov graduated UNWE with a major in marketing. He writes for several online sites such as Tech.co, Semrush.com, Tweakyourbiz.com, Socialnomics.net. Boris is the founder of MonetaryLibrary.com andBlogForWeb. You can connect with him at Google +,Twitter, Linkedin or contact him directly at b.dzhingarov@gmail.com for tips regarding your SEO campaign.

E-LEARNING NEWS

MTN signs up with Digital Skills Academy

 

MTN Group has become the third South African enterprise to sign an industry partner agreement with Dublin-based Digital Skills Academy to deliver broad-based training and on-site experience to the academy's BSc programme participants in South Africa.

From L - R: Mteto Nyati, CEO of MTN South Africa; Paul Dunne, founder and CEO of Digital Skills Academy and Liam Mac Gabhann, Ambassador of Ireland in South

Mteto Nyati, CEO of MTN South Africa, says the agreements will support the company's transformational projects, primarily around its customer services and digital strategies. 

"We want to transform the way we interact with our customers through our various channels and we will be using these new skills. The initiative will help to upskill key staff, which will help us to retain key talent in a market where we have huge shortages, as well serving as a form of recognition for our top performers.

"It will also be beneficial for us to have people coming from outside our company and looking at our challenges with fresh eyes, giving us feedback and helping us to come up with clear plans that we can execute."

Paul Dunne, CEO and founder of the Digital Skills Academy, adds, "As a corporate client, MTN will also uplift the digital capabilities of its own working professionals through the Academy's practice-based professional learning programme." 

Liam Mac Gabhann, Ambassador of Ireland in South Africa, who was at the signing, says, "Ireland is a strong global performer in skills development, education and eLearning. It is encouraging to see new doors opened for increased collaboration and knowledge sharing between Ireland and South Africa in this important sector."

Posted on 8 Dec 2015 14:51

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Wits crowned debating champs

 

Mighti Jamie, a third year law student and social activist, and Nonhlanhla Masanabo, a first year law student, one of three teams that represented Wits University at the recently held Pan-African Universities Debating Championships, topped the competition.

The championships seek to examine the solutions to African and global challenges and to promote the discipline of debate which is critical to creating correct discourse in policy-making and civic engagement. Teams from across Africa with diverse representations from Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Liberia, Cameroon and others fruitfully contributed to the debates.

Brokering a deal

The Wits team was the last South African team in the final against Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The Wits team argued that the African Union should attempt to broker a deal with the International Criminal Court (ICC) that requires the indictment of George W Bush by the ICC in exchange for the enforcement of the already existing indictment of Omar Al Bashir by African states. 

Jamie and Masanabo also scooped the top two individual speaker awards. Jamie was ranked the best debater in Africa for 2015 while Masanabo was ranked second overall. Jamie was also the runner-up in the public speaking division.

Bongani Masilela, also from Wits University, was ranked fifth overall speaker in the tournament.

Better than the status quo

"These achievements are also a reminder that there are young people who are preparing to lead the continent into a new era with competence and with excellence," said Jamie. "There is a community of young people stretching and reaching out to be better than the status quo. There are young people who still love to reason and to read and to challenge themselves."

Wits teams:

• Mighti Jamie and Nonhlanhla Masanabo 
• Naomi Lubinsky and Bongani Masilela 
• Rubin Valodia and Lebogang Moloko

The Pan-African Universities Debating Championships was held from the 8-17 December 2015 at the University of Ghana in Accra.

Posted on 21 Dec 2015 09:47

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SKILLS TRAINING NEWS

Six reasons why training pays off

 BY: SANDRA SWANEPOEL

Every business with a payroll in excess of R500,000 pays a Skills Development Levy to the government for each employee and can claim back a portion of that amount in the form of training grants. Why leave that money on the table when companies can use it to improve the performance of their workforce? Here are some of the ways that an investment in training can pay off.

1. Improve employee performance
   The most obvious reason to invest in training employees is that it will help them to become more efficient, productive, effective and informed. Depending on the training, they'll be: able to answer technical questions from customers without asking a colleague; more skilled and hence faster at doing their work; better equipped to make good business decisions; or able to add new tasks and duties to their job description. 
   
2. Retain talent and improve company morale
   Most employees want to feel valued by the company they work for. Giving them possibilities for self-improvement is one of the best ways you can help your people feel that you appreciate their talents and hard work. Offering the right training opportunities to your employees will help you to retain your best talent and improve morale throughout your organisation. 
   
3. Boost customer service
   One of the best reasons for investing in training and development is the halo effect it will have for customer service. Not only does training equip your people with skills and knowledge to enable them to do their jobs better, it also improves their job satisfaction. Happy employees usually mean happy customers. Whether you're training your people to use your systems more effectively, educating them in ethics or law, or helping them develop softer skills such as negotiation and sales techniques, your customers will benefit. 
   
4. Comply with regulations and laws
   There are two aspects to consider here. The first of these is that staff may need to be trained in the laws and industry regulations that govern your business so that they can comply. For example, the company's consumer-facing staff might need to understand what the Consumer Protection Act says about customer service, while the payroll team will need constant training to keep ahead of a changing tax environment. 
   
   The other point to consider is how training and development can help you comply with employment equity and black economic empowerment codes. A good training and development programme can help you to build a representative workforce that meets the needs of these laws and regulations. 
   
5. Create career paths and succession plans
   Your employees will want to feel as though there is a roadmap for their future with your business. By mapping out a training and development programme for them spanning a couple of years, you can help them to plan their career in your organisation. Taking this medium term view of career development for your staff will also help you to create succession plans for key roles in the organisation. Thus, you'll be in a good position to promote from inside the company when a key person leaves or moves up the ladder. 
   
6. Company-wide consistency
   Most employees have some gaps in their skills base, experience and knowledge. The more proactive ones will go out and finding training and mentoring to close these gaps. Others will rely on colleagues to help them complete certain tasks. Either way, the result is inconsistent performance. 
   
   A good training strategy will help harmonise your skills base so that employees can fill in for each other when necessary or work on their own without constant help and supervision from others. A structured programme will ensure that each employee has a consistent approach and set of skills to draw from.

Posted on 9 Dec 2015 11:54

SKILLS TRAINING NEWS

Graduates failing to get state jobs

 

Thousands of newly qualified social work graduates, who paid for their studies with state bursaries on the basis that they would work for the state after graduating, have been left high and dry across the country.

© Tom Mc Nemar – 123RF.com

There are a further 5000 state-scholarship funded social work students in South Africa who are poised to enter the university system on the same basis "that they will work for the state when they graduate".

Not a single social work graduate was employed by the state in the Eastern Cape this financial year.

Many of the state scholarship graduates who protested at the department's headquarters in King William's Town recently claimed that the provincial department was also not releasing them from their contracts to work for non-governmental organisations.

This was denied by the government.

National Department of Social Development spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant said the Eastern Cape was among the provinces which had large numbers of graduates who could not be recruited into state employment.

Oliphant said the department spent about R65,000 on each scholarship student a year.

Source: Herald

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING NEWS

Empowering the previously disadvantaged through upskilling

With a high unemployment rate, Africa is sitting on a largely untapped pool of resources that has the potential to drive economic growth.

© HONGQI ZHANG – 123RF.com

The problem, says Pitso Kekana, head of public afairs and corporate citizenship for Samsung Africa RHQ, lies in both the lack of relevant skills and the availability of existing jobs for an ever-growing working-age population.

The key is to find ways of upskilling what is largely the previously disadvantaged portion of the population to empower them to find employment.

Creating new avenues of employment

According to a report by the World Bank, in the last 20 years the working-age population in South Africa has grown by 11-million, making up 65% of the country's total population. However, since 2000 the total number of jobs created has fallen short of the growing labour supply, with only 2.8-million new jobs created. This is why it is so important to empower the population with the skills needed to create new avenues of employment through entrepreneurship.

If some 5.8-million jobs are created over the next 15 years to absorb the new working-age entrants, and if workers' productivity improves through better skills development, real GDP in South Africa could reach 5.4% per year. This would mean the doubling of per capita income by 2030 and a lowering of the unemployment rate.

Importance of entrepreneurs

So, where do we start to create these new jobs? The importance of entrepreneurs here can't be ignored. Across Africa, they make up 90% of private business and contribute to more than 50% of employment and GDP. Entrepreneurs are national assets that need to be cultivated, motivated and remunerated as much as possible. If successful, their businesses have the potential to generate wealth and create additional jobs. They also regularly support other entrepreneurial ventures by like-minded individuals to further grow the ecosystem.

The question is how to go about upskilling would-be entrepreneurs to ensure that they have the desired impact on economic growth. Given Africa's rapid increase in mobile phone users - 40-fold since 2000 - it is clear that technology will play a fundamental role.

Growing ICT sector

The government needs to ensure that there is a growing ICT sector to stimulate growth in job-rich sectors like manufacturing and services. The public sector must also lead by creating a favourable regulatory environment for investment in ICT and new technology. Just having access to the internet can change a previously disadvantaged individual's life through online learning resources and platforms with which to upskill, develop an idea or start a business.

Along with the public sector working on its ICT policies, private sector companies have the power to make use of ICT to provide career guidance and skills development. By using their areas of expertise, these companies can also help ensure that upskilling meets real market demands; that the working-age population is making the right decisions about which skills to pursue in order to find employment; that they equally have the soft skills required to land and hold down a job or run a business; and that this population is given the tools they need to create their own work as entrepreneurs.

Raising living standards

The development of relevant skills is an important instrument for improving productivity and unlocking new opportunities, which in turn opens doors to economic growth. To bring about rising living standards through improved employment rates, South Africa's working population must improve their educational and skills levels, especially their technical and vocational skills - but they can't do this without the help of both the public and private sector. If this is achieved, and the previously disadvantaged are given the same skills and opportunities as the rest of the working population, South Africa - and the rest of Africa - will be well-positioned for growth, not only now but into the future as skills and new working opportunities are carried forward to the next generation.