As at 19th March 2014 By Adrienne Bird, DDG: Special Projects Unit, DHET

1. Work in Progress Skills Planning for SIPs: Methodology used & reflections on possible implications and issues for ‘a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning’ As at 19th March 2014 By Adrienne Bird, DDG: Special Projects Unit, DHET

2. Introduction

3. SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY

4. Occupations required All PICC projects have been grouped under a list of sectors and sub-sectors A typical size project has been selected for each sub-sector A skills prototype has been developed for each typical project

5. Occupations in demand Prototypes have been used to estimate the skills required for all real projects Technical experts have also been asked which positions are hard to fill List takes into account supply & nat. demand These estimations have been used to generate a 'occupations in demand' list

6. SIPs Skills Plan: Occupations in Demand Gap 1 – broad estimates Significantly scarce: (20 – 50%) Concreter 2500 Bricklayer 1700 Civil Engineer 1400 Electrician 1200 Electrical Engineer 1100 Construction supervisor /clerk of works 1100 Electrical Engineering Technician 950 Millwright (incl. electromechanician) 600 Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Practitioner 550 Boilermaker 500 Carpenter and Joiner 500 Mechanical Engineer 450 Ind. Machinery Mechanic 450 Construction Project Manager / Site Manager 450 Critically scarce: (50-100% scarcity) Surveyor 500 (incl land and eng. surveyors) Materials Engineer 450 Grader Operator 450 Programme/ Project Manager 350 Electronic Eng Technician 300 Plumber 400 Painter 400 Mech. Eng Technician 350 Draughtsperson 350 Excavator Operator 300 Environmental Eng 300 Chem Eng Technician 300 Pipe Fitter 300 Concrete Plant Worker 250 Earthmoving Plant Operator 250 Plasterer 250 Welder 220 Quantity Surveyor 200 Rigger 200 Crane or Hoist Operator 200 0 – 20% scarcity not shown

7. Inform DHET institutions The 'scarce skills' list was given to DHET institutions for bottom-up planning Institutions infuse into overall institutional priorities (e.g. SSPs for SETAs, univ/college plan) Data collected from other data sources First generation plan

8. Occupational Teams Intermediate Bodies (IBs) set up to establish Occupational Teams (OTs) DHET prepares standard reporting template OTs generate reports which include problem analysis & proposed solutions

9. Example Mechanical Engineer Occupational Team and Network Occupational Team Professional Body University Work Placed Training University of Technology

10. SharePoint and Reporting per Occupation Reports Occupations required over time per location Consolidated Occupation Information Occupational Teams SharePoint

11. Example of OT Report From Entry to Expertise – learning pathway

12. Engagement with SETAs DHET engages one-on-one with SETAs asking them to respond to OT reports; SETAs interrogate report in the light of their SSPs and make commitments SETAs locate workplace learning sites thru’ grant incentives to employers

13. Engage with institutions DHET engages one-on-one with institutions (or groups of institutions) asking them to respond to OT reports Institutions interrogate report in the light of their plans & make commitments - integrated into enrolment, PQM and earmarked funding plans Key issue: Planning cycles Centres of specialisation (Differentiation - occupations

14. Reports and M&E Reports prepared 'up' to PICC and 'down' to institutions Monitoring and evaluation of commitments built into mainline reporting system back into DHET INNOVATION ‘New Skills for New Jobs’ with EU NB. Role of ESSA

15. Reflections Central language: ‘Occupation’ • Enables planning to migrate from ‘single employer’ needs to skill sets which will give learner maximum labour market mobility • Address debates: • Occupations and tasks • Occupations and sectors • Occupations and discipline knowledge • Occupational Teams – interface between demand and supply, built on Advisory Committees of UOTs/Technikons, extend model to other clusters. Note: Networks with ‘theme 4’ intermediate agencies. • Pathways (NCAP) is another way to map OFO to CESM. NLRD has data. • DANGER: If occupations are used exclusively, there is the danger that they become ‘islands’ and that progression is undermined. This danger could be managed by introducing the notion of the National Occupational Pathway Framework (NOPF) structures where the experts that interface with the sectoral specialists are responsible for pathways of occupations and not ‘islands’.

16. O*NET http://www.onetonline.org • We are eager to tangibly demonstrate the benefits of detailed occupational information and to explore the ways it might inform human-resource development in South Africa. • As a way to kick-start our involvement and to give you an occupation-centric resource to point to, I am contemplating asking Alex to develop profiles of the occupations on South Africa’s critical skills list based on information in the O*NET database. We could combine these occupational profiles with existing research in our field on how best to train and develop the various knowledge, skills, and abilities that O*NET identifies as critical to these scarce occupations. All of this could be packaged into a report and presentation that we could deliver to DHET and/or the Human Science Research Council. Prof. Lori Foster Thompson <lfthompson.mail@gmail.com>

17. Reflections • Could ‘prototype’ model be used in other non-SIP contexts e.g. predictable service delivery contexts (government departments & entities own skill needs?) [Could be regularly reviewed] • If yes, this would be useful, inter alia, for workplace learning planning in public spaces. • Best results gained when prototype builders have specialist knowledge or at least some relevant technical expertise. This has implications for capacity of proposed Unit. (NOPF??) • Use standard tools e.g. ‘toolkit’ will make consolidation of data much easier. Will need standard ‘languages’ e.g. sector definitions

18. We look forward to collaborating going forward - Thank you