Western Cape Business 2020 edition

OVERVIEW
Education and training
Creating a skilled workforce is a national priority.
UCT researchers’ work on epileptic seizures includes examining a mouse hippocampal brain slice prior to a
patch-clamp electrophysiological recording. Image: Dr Joseph Raimondo/UCT.
Skills training is a national priority and several institutions are
supporting this goal in the Western Cape, including three
academic universities, one comprehensive university, one
university of technology and six Technical and Vocational
Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Unisa, the country's biggest
distance learning institution, has a campus in Cape Town and a service
centre in George.
The National Skills Authority (NSA) works with Sector Education
and Training Authorities (SETAs) in carrying out the National Skills
Development Strategy (NSDS). The Human Resource Development
Council of South Africa (HRDCSA) is an over-arching body that gives
guidance to the many institutions working on skills development and
training. It is managed by the National Department of Higher Education
and Training (DHET). The strategic goal of the DHET is to create “a capable
and skilled workforce for inclusive growth”.
TVET colleges have been asked to concentrate on 13 trade areas,
including bricklayers, millwrights, boilermakers and riggers. R16.5-billion
has been allocated by national government to skills development and
infrastructure over the medium term. The Western Cape has further
honed the priority sectors down to five and is keeping track of the young
people who join its programmes.
The Western Cape Provincial Government’s Apprenticeship Game
Changer aimed to introduce 32 500 qualified apprentices into the labour
market by 2019. R1-billion was allocated over a three-year time frame.
A Centres of Specialisation Programme has been introduced by
Sector Insight
A R1-billion Biomedical
Research Institute is under
construction.
the DHET to tackle priority
skills. False Bay TVET College is
a Centre of Specialisation with
a focus on training riggers and
mechanical fitters. With the
oil and gas sector expected to
grow rapidly in the near future,
trained artisans can expect
to find employment quickly.
The College of Cape TVET is
concentrating on plumbing and
automotive motor mechanics.
False Bay TVET College
has campuses in Fish Hoek,
Muizenberg, Mitchells Plain,
Khayelitsha and Westlake. The
College of Cape Town (CCT) has
seven campuses from the city
centre to Guguletu and Wynberg.
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