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Sita, which is responsible for issuing certificates, has previously blamed the backlog on outdated IT systems not aligned to diploma and exam rules introduced in 2010.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

Les Brown

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I even motivate you to live the life of your dreams.

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"You have greatness within you. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!"
- Les Brown

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.

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Journey To Wealth: Les Brown

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NORMBOND & Associates: App Promotes Black Trade, Commerce and Social Mobile Network

Hi So today I want to drop this on you… The African American community has a staggering national unemployment rate of 34%, and a parallel youth national unemployment rate of 57%. There are more than 2-million unemployed Black folks in America.These are epidemic level numbers. And a “jobless recovery” means that very little will be done to create change. ​It’s well known that poverty is an economic problem that devastates families, communities and entire societies. But what are we doing to address these systemic issues in bold new ways? BlackTradeLines is a company that uses digital technology to empower African American businesses. They have developed an app — that is much more than a Black business directory. The mobile application is designed to help users locate the nearest Black-owned businesses, deals, events and activities close to them. In addition, the mission behind the company is to help to get the Black dollar to circulate within your local community and globally. They have created a "referral program that pays you $5" when a business owner in your network downloads the app.  They also pay you a smaller amount (.05) when an individual you recommend downloads the app.  Read more on the blog at BlackEconomicDevelopment.com ​Norm Bond

NORMBOND MARKETS

3 Simple Ways to Reach Millions of Customers on Their Mobile Devices

Mobile devices from Samsung, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Google and others are experiencing explosive growth. You can't go far without seeing someone on an iPhone, Android, iPad or some other handheld gadget. Not only has technology changed -- the way we communicate as a society has changed.

In just a few short years we have seen people also change the way in which they prefer to access the Internet. Mobile devices have overtaken desktop and laptop computers as the primary vehicle for "going online".
 
For business owners, entrepreneurs and anyone seeking to reach a targeted audience this sea change has a huge impact. It is more important than ever that you adjust your online marketing plan to meet the needs of  today's mobile consumer.
Let me share with you three simple ways that you can reach millions of people via their mobile devices.

SMS Messaging

SMS (Short Message Service), or text messages is an incredibly easy tool for staying in touch with your customers. And it’s also one of the most effective. The SMS text message was first developed in 1984, and there are now 4 billion SMS users worldwide.
 
If you have your customers opt-in to receive text messages from you, it gives you the opportunity to send them promotions, new product announcements and various other pieces of information.

And these messages can be sent on extremely short notice, so you can use them strategically to increase revenue for your business. What if you owned a restaurant and you were having a slower-than-normal week? Using SMS you could send a promotional text to your customers on Thursday morning, announcing a free appetizer with any meal they purchase that evening.

The message would be delivered immediately, and would quite likely generate additional business and profits that you wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Email

Email is your best tool for building relationships with your target audience. Although consumers love social media it is not the best channel for connectivity. Consider your Facebook business page. You review your page likes, and see that thousands of users clicked "like" and want to connect with your brand. But alas, the Facebook algorithm limits and restricts the content that is displayed to each user. So the overwhelming majority of people who like your page, will never see your updates. The organic reach of Facebook content (that is not-paid) continues to plummet.

When you send your message to an email subscriber that has opted-in to your list, that message remains in their inbox. And if you decide to create a newsletter you can include multiple stories, promotions, images and other relevant content personalized to your subscribers.

Email tends not to get read as quickly so it’s not as effective for extremely time-sensitive information.

The big advantage is that email drives return on investment. If you send great content, and include relevant adverts, every time a person clicks on the ad you generate income. And email is relatively low cost. With most email services today, for a single monthly fee you can send unlimited messages to your subscribers. And you can personalize messages to your audience based on their click, browse and purchase behavior.

Social Media

Social media is the big dog in the house. Monster sites like Facebook with over 1.6 billion users, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Vine are incredibly popular with mobile internet users. These platforms are working to keep the audience on the site longer. They're constantly adding new features like purchase buttons, messaging, expanded publishing and video to make the sites even more addictive.

And it's working. In 2016, it is estimated that there will be around 2.13 billion social network users around the globe, up from 1.4 billion in 2012. Nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking sites, up from 7% when Pew Research Center began systematically tracking social media usage in 2005. And the majority of people accessing social media are doing it through mobile devices (over 71% according to Adobe).

By maintaining a presence on these sites for your business, you’ll have yet another way to stay in touch with your customers, and reach new ones as well. Local businesses can click here our free special report.
 
It makes business sense that the more opportunities you give your customers to interact with you, the better. In spite of the huge numbers you still have to scale it down and personalize it to your target audience. I loved how in radio we would say "be the demo". Know how your audience prefers to be contacted. There is a huge advantage to showing "personalization" even in mass marketing and communications.

Your goal should be to reach your audience, with their permission through their mobile devices. When you make this happen it will be personal and not just business. And that's what relationships are all about.
Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Norm Bond

President at NORMBOND & Associates

NORM BOND shows people how to use digital marketing tools to find customers, grow sales and increase profits. And if you're not using digital tools he shows you how to do that too. He currently splits his time between Bangkok, Thailand and the U.S. He is available for consulting and speaking.

• by Norm Bond