1. Birchwood Hotel, 04 August 2017
NSDS III EVALUATION BASELINE REPORT PRESENTATION TO THE National skills authority (NSA) capacity building Workshop on research, monitoring and evaluation
Birchwood Hotel, 04 August 2017

2. STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Baseline Study
Contextual Background
Synopsis of the NSDS
Policy and Legislative
Methodology
Limitation
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS: Descriptive and Summary
Descriptive Presentation
Aligned to NSDS III Goals, Outcomes and Outputs
Each outcome is preceded by a brief intro and concluded by summary
Summary: Reflects the totality of the findings, and structured according to specific thematic areas. It captures the essence of this presentation

3. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
To bring together all available data in relation to Strategic Goals, Outcomes and Outputs
To provide a descriptive account of the status quo as was before the introduction of the NSDS III
To enable the measurement of progress in relation to the Goals, Outcomes and Outputs of the Strategy
To assist in determining the shape and implementation framework for the envisaged strategy going forward.
NB: No baseline study was conducted at the beginning of NSDS III (i.e. setting out the baseline in 2010/2011)

4. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND
Skills shortages across key economic sectors.
Between 1985 and 2005, the number of artisans in development decreased from an annual high of 33 000 to as low as 4 500.
Limited skills research capacity, planning inadequacies, lack of standards for data capturing, weak information management and poor reporting within the system.
Poorly organized skills development trajectory and lack of labour force transformation.
NB: NSDS II was extended by a year ( ) so was the NSDS III ( and again to March 2020).

5. NSDS IIII POLICY AND LEGISLATION HRD-SA (2010-2030).
NSDS I: Heralded a new phase of ‘controlled’ structure for skills development practices and generally described as the strategy that launched and established the skills system.
NSDS II: Quantitatively accelerate the production of skills .
NSDS III : Promised to increase qualifications and skills to support national priorities and initiatives such as the NGP, iPAP, the HRDS and sector development plans.
NB: The system allocated a key role to SETAs, in partnership with employers and a range of public and private training providers to promote linkages between education and the industry.
HRD-SA ( ).
SDA (No. 97 of 1998).
SDLA (No.9 of 1999).
NQF Act.
QCTO.
NDP (after the NSDS III).

6. INTRODUCTION Limitations Methodology
The structure of the baseline report is shaped in accordance with:
Follows the design of the NSDS III.
Uses guided questions derived from the ‘problem statement’ for each of the 8 Strategic Goals, Outcomes and Outputs.
Key data sources: Public documents; legislation; DHET policy frameworks and reports; research and statistical reports; and selected number of SETA’s Sector Skills Plans and annual reports.
NB: In some cases, the Theory of Change endorsed by the National Skills Authority (NSA) was applied to enable the baseline study to build a ‘case’ and to construct an assumption where data appeared inconsistent and incoherent. In some cases, examples were used to construct scenarios.
The baseline study is being conducted few years after the NSDS III was developed and implementation has already occurred.
Inadequate and inconsistent data.
Data from various sources (SETAs) was not seamlessly recorded.
In some cases, data was not adequately narrated to clarify ‘how’ certain conclusions were arrived at.

7. FINDINGS Research and skills planning capacity.
Middle level and artisan skills.
Public FET colleges and skills.
Partnerships and Collaborations.
Youth.
Support to SMMEs, CBO, NPO and constituent partners.
The public service.
Career development.

8. Research and skills planning capacity
The DHET did not have skills-related research capacity within the Skills Branch (research capacity existed in the Planning Branch, but the focus was on education financial planning).
SETAs’ internal research capacity was not strong either. Some commissioned research did not yield quality output. (Only 4 out of 23 SSPs were favourably rated by a panel appointed by the HRDC).
Among others, weak WSPs was cited as one of the problem (mainly large firms submitted compared to medium and small firms).
Revisions resulted in improved sets of SSPs.
NB: Despite the low baseline, the four good quality SSPs were examples of good research that could be built on.

9. Middle level and artisan skills…
The development of middle level and artisan skills was a priority in NSDS III.
Significant progress had been made during NSDS II, almost doubling in 2010.
JIPSA had set a target of a year and by 2010 the target was close to being realized.

10. …Middle-level and artisanal skills
In 2010/11, SETAs enrolled 129,664 employed and unemployed learners in occupationally-directed programmes, exceeding their target of by
Estimated the numbers of people achieving full occupational qualifications each year at some Of these some were achieving artisan status.
The majority were learnerships and skills programmes.
NB: Whilst the targets were ambitious, they were clearly achievable and the baseline for this aspect of the strategy was at a reasonably high level.

11. Public FET colleges and skills
Public FET colleges’ contribution to skills development was primarily delivering N-courses.
The N-courses were considered important as they often provided an entry qualification to apprenticeships and learnerships.
Following the introduction of the NC(V), funding was diverted to the latter, a move that threatened the existence of the N-Course.
The plans set out in NSDS III for the delivery of skills through the colleges were very ambitious.

12. Public FET colleges and skills…
The capacity of FET colleges was weak; for example:
The lecturers were not appropriately qualified;
The extent of lecturer exposure to industry was low;
Partnerships with other key stakeholders were not well articulated;
The lack of funding negatively impacted on the quality of programmes; and
The number of artisans being produced by the colleges was declining.

13. …Public FET colleges and skills
The introduction of NC(V) programmes occurred at the same time as a collapse of the workplace experiential component associated previously with apprenticeships, resulting in over-concentration of theory learning.
In 2010, the total enrolment for NC(V) was 130 039 across all FET colleges.
NC(V) was not positively viewed by the employers.
The poor relationship between the colleges and employers affected access to SETAs grants for learners studying in the colleges.
The baseline was at a very low level in respect of the vision set out in NSDS III.  

14. Partnerships and Collaboration…
NSDS III strongly advocate for partnerships.
As of 2010 multi-stakeholder partnerships were not systematically conceptualized, structured, project managed and reported on.
The Department did not have a strategic framework for partnerships (SETAs, youth, universities, colleges, public service, NGOs, cooperatives and SMMEs).
NB: SETAs did not work closely with public FET colleges and most SETA funded programmes, about 95%, were delivered by private providers.

15. Partnerships and Collaborations
JIPSA ushered in a new dimension, including;
Identifying blockages and bringing stakeholders together to address them;
Brokering agreements where there were disputes and obstacles ;
JIPSA’s brought about awareness of the need for collaborative approach, and the important roles of funders, organized labour and employers;
However, the mechanisms for achieving this were not in place; and
Going forward, partnerships were going to be a big challenge over the period of NSDS III.
NB: Some SETAs and colleges had initiated some form of partnership.

16. Youth… Priority for NSDS I and II.
NSDS III was changing the focus - from youth as a proportion of those being trained to the skills system addressing, or contributing to addressing, the 3 million NEETS.
There was no clear responsibility within government for the NEETS challenge.
Lead responsibility (for government departments) was unclear.
Many departments saw it as their responsibility to contribute towards what was viewed as a national priority.

17. ….Youth
‘Lack of skills and employability’ as was often explained as the cause of young people not being employed, seemed to indicate a significant responsibility for the DHET.
The number of youth being training was only a small proportion of the NEETs.
NB: It is perhaps necessary to clarify further exactly what was intended in NSDS III before determining the baseline.

18. Support to SMMEs, CBO, NPO and constituent partners…
Activities were in place to identify SMMEs and their skills needs.
The majority of small enterprises did not submit WSPs, and generally were not well serviced .
There was little evidence of any impact assessments and evaluation.
Most of registered cooperatives were not active or had collapsed (from to 2 600).
Lack of skills was a factor among those that failed.

19. …Support to SMMEs, CBO, NPO and constituent partners
Lack of skills development to support cooperatives.
There is little evidence of meaningful programmes being delivered.
No tracking mechanism was in place.
There is some evidence that unemployed people were recruited to “entrepreneurial” or “New Venture” programmes.
NB: The difficulty in establishing a baseline is that there was (is) no centralized database of small enterprises and cooperatives.

20. The public service…
In 2010 the main SETA involved (PSETA) was placed under administration.
There were no mechanisms for ensuring that the skills needs of public service employees would be addressed.
No funding mechanisms to enable new entrants to engage in learnerships and other programmes in the public service.
PSETA did not receive the 10% of the 1% training allocation from its stakeholders (government departments).

21. …The public service
Skills development was taking place but the role of the skills system in that was difficult to define and quantify.
A ministerial team (DHET and DPSA) was examining funding arrangements for the public service SETAs.
NB: The baseline for this set of outputs was at a very low level.

22. Career Development
The process of establishing a career development service was at a very early stage in 2010.
Most SETAs were producing career guides, mainly linked to occupational qualifications within the primary focus of the SETA.
SETAs were engaged in fairs and other communication activities.
Systematic information, advice and guidance was not well developed.
NB: NSDS III was attempting to provide a boost to one part of the career development system.