AgriSETA News

After the buzz of 2007, its back to the grindstone in the concrete jungle, holiday memories all faded away and back to the challenges and successes 2008 has in store. Seems like 2008 is on fast forward.

A STORY ON A POSITIVE NOTE

Paul Seemse joined our 2006 AgriSETA learnership parolee training programme at the ODI Correctional Facility where he was one of the top students. He had served 12 years at various correctional facilities. On completion of the course he has set up a nursery at his family home; all the products grown are from cuttings or seeds he has gathered, he uses bread plastic sleeves when dividing seedlings. Not only does Paul sell from the nursery, but on weekends he loads a wheelbarrow with stock and sells his products door to door. Paul is an entrepreneur and plans to make a living through a combination of the skills he has acquired and hard work. Paul had his first child, at the age of 41. He is very proud of him and he works hard to make his son proud of him too. We need to mention the efforts of the project manager, Paul Bruns from Hlumelelisa who drove this initiative. Thank you Paul and Paul!



Institutions of Sectoral or Occupational Excellence (ISOE)


The process of recognising ISOE’s is taking off fairly well. The ETQA department is proud to report that two institutions have been recognised as ISOE’s. They are Transvaal Suiker Beperk (TSB) in Malelane in Mpumalanga and Shukela Training Centre, Mount Edgecombe (STC) in KwaZulu Natal. There are two further institutions which will be visited in the near future, and will hopefully be recognized by end of April 2008. They are the Scientific Roets in Kokstad, Eastern Cape which specialises in Goat training and the Elsenburg Institute of Learning in the Western Cape which covers quite a large spectrum of agricultural training.


The approach to the process of recognition of an ISOE is, by far and large informed but, not limited to scarce and critical skills and the NSDS objective 5, Success indicator 5.1 which places a responsibility on each SETA to recognise and support at least five Institutes of Sectoral and Occupational Excellence (ISOE). For this first round,
thinking will be to identify the Institutions which
demonstrate capacity to:

- design, develop, deliver learning material and respond on training in specific occupational areas where skills have been identified as cutting edge or best practice.
- create workplace work practices that ensure that successful learners have opportunities that enable possible transition into jobs;
- offer technologically advanced equipment, research, assessments, moderation and RPL services.
- enable surrounding communities and industry to access best practice, relevance and quality, information in training, and other services related to the specific occupations.
- be acknowledged by employers or employer bodies or reputable at implementation level;
- to simulate workplace scenarios e.g. tractor mechanics (good maintenance practice, calibration etc.)

For further information on ISOE’s please contact Mr Fanny Phetla, the ETQA Manager on fanny@agriseta.co.za



ADULT BASIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING (ABET)

The letter is written to Philemon’s dad. The contents are standard. What is really special regarding this letter is that Philemon doesn’t have a dad anymore.

He had passed away a long time ago. Philemon is busy taking baby steps towards becoming more literate.


He was absolutely overwhelmed when his letter arrived via the post at his address on the farm. The other learners then send similar letters to their fathers who were still alive.

We all have Philemons in our lives. Look out for them. They encourage us.

Well done to the facilitator, Celia van Wyk, near Delmas.

 

 

 

 

SKILLS PLANNING WORKSHOPS

“Initiatives to eradicate skills gaps in the agricultural sector”

During the month of March the Skills Planning department held workshops in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Tzaneen. These were attended by SDF’s, Training Providers, agencies in agriculture and government officials.

Presentations were made by the Skills Planning Manager, Johann Engelbrecht and Skills Delivery Manger, Shaun Starr. Emphasis was once again on Scarce and Critical Skills within the agricultural sector.

Also note that the application forms for Learnership and Skills Programmes have been updated and will be replaced as from 1 April 2008. This can be accessed on our website under the Learnership menu, Process and Application Forms.

You may also contact the two Learnership Adminstrators:
Koos Sihlangu on koos@agriseta.co.za or Manuel de Bruin on manuel@agriseta.co.za

The various presentations made at the workshops can be accessed on our homepage on the website.

We will also be introducing a new space on our website where the latest information on the Quality Council for Trades and Occupation (QCTO) and the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) can be accessed.

CANADIAN DELEGATION VISIT

A Canadian delegation from the Industry Training Authority visited the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in February 2008. The team were interested in how the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) has been implemented, the roles of different role players, as well as how stakeholders have experienced the NQF development and implementation.

The team consisted of Jeff Nugent (Director of Policy and Research), Russel Robertson (Director of Product Development) and Nick Danford (Project Management Assistant).

The team visited the AgriSETA to discuss how Qualifications linked to NQF levels have been implemented in the agri sector and as to what has worked and what to avoid. They plan to develop a model and pilot plan for a robust skills assessment system and standards framework by utilising best practices and lessons learned in other jurisdictions. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a pilot implementation plan for a more responsive flexible method to improve capability in the area of Foreign Credential Recognition.

The meeting was attended by the AgriSETA ETQA Department as well as the CEO, Machiel van Niekerk.

Members of the Industry Training Authority from Canada,
L-R: Nick Danford, Russel Robertson & Jeff Nugent

CORRECTION IN OUR PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER:

On our list of Board Members, the following FAWU Board members were replaced:

Mr Katishi Masemola replaced Mr Zola Nkomo and Mr Atwel Nazo replaced Mr Mzomtsha Jonase.

ABET ENQUIRIES

All ABET enquiries can also be forwarded to Marissa Kok who now handles the duties previously dealt with by Alicia Buwa. Marissa can be contacted on marissa@agriseta.co.za

MANDATORY GRANTS

New forms for the 2008/2009 WSP’s will be placed on the website soon. Do however remember the submission date is Monday 30th June 2008. Please read the guidelines carefully as to what information has to be submitted with the application. The new Organisational Framework for Occupations (OFO) codes will be included in the Mandatory Grant Application and will also be available on our website. For further information, please contact either

Amandie Gerber on amandie@agriseta.co.za or
Racquel Bergman on racquel@agriseta.co.za or
Lulu Engelbrecht on lulu@agriseta.co.za

DATES TO DIARISE

DATES
Monday 30th June 2008	FINAL Submission of WSP’s & ATR’s
Wednesday 22nd October 2008	AgriSETA Annual General Meeting – Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre, Benoni Time: 14h00 until 16h00
Thursday 23 October 2008	AgriSETA Annual Conference – Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre Time: 09h00 until 14h00

BABY BLUES

Dineo Mlambo in our Finance Department had a surprise baby shower at the end of November 2007.Women at the AgriSETA secretively planned the baby shower for her, where she received tons of the gifts for the expected little baby girl. Dineo gave birth to a bouncing little girl on Thursday 7th February 2008. We wish the two well for the years to come. While on maternity leave, Dineo’s duties will be handled by Ms Shereen Wenzel until she resumes her duties in May 2008. She can be contacted on shereen@agriseta.co.za

 

 

 

CONTACT:

Tel:  (012) 325 1655
Fax: (012) 325 1677/24
Email: info@agriseta.co.za
Website: http://www.agriseta.co.za