South Africa Should Pay More Attention To Apprenticeships In Order To Reduce The High Levels Of Unemployment, Argues Melanie Mulholland
Apprenticeships in South Africa are growing concern. Not only is promoting them a problem, but the challenge becomes complicated when trying to reverse public perception that a tertiary education from university will provide for a stable financial future.
Then there’s the business complaint about a skills gap that threatens productivity and growth. This concern is not only limited to individual companies, but the economy as a whole is affected because of inability to recruit employees with the correct skills.
Apprenticeships are one initiative that can narrow the skills gap. In European countries like Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, apprenticeships are a critical part of an advanced education system. Most individuals opt to complete an apprenticeship qualification in addition to a university degree. It is not uncommon for Dutch, German or Swiss post-secondary institutions to require students to complete an apprenticeship before enrolling in a tertiary education programme. In this way, apprenticeships form an integral part of the education continuum, including engineering and a myriad of other professional vocations.
In South Africa, apprenticeships are yet to be recognized as the optimal career choice. This is despite the fact that we desperately need more highly-qualified apprentices to narrow the skills gap.
Contrary to popular belief, it is the brightest students that are needed. Apprenticeships are formal, on-the-job training mechanisms through which an apprentice learns a trade or vocation under the guidance of a Master Artisan in the workplace. Apprenticeships include part-theoretical classroom instruction for math, science, engineering drawing and trade theory, in addition to hands-on practical experience. Classroom instruction can take place at the work site or at public and private colleges.
Apprenticeships provide valuable skills and pathways for young people into the world of work, hence it’s important that they are accessible and are of the highest quality possible. They should not be considered as being less important as a training and development mechanism.
Similarly, it is seen as a mechanism for transferring skills from generation to generation. Apprentices participate in tangible industrious activities from day one. The alignment between theoretical and practical learning improves mastery and acquaints the apprentices with the challenges that arise in the workplace. This provides opportunities to cultivate critical thinking skills in ways that the contrived classroom environment does not. More importantly, in the workplace apprentices learn not just how to use a piece of equipment, but also how to maintain and repair it. This rarely occurs in the traditional classroom setting.
Quite practically, an apprentice’s learning is work and vice versa, which is why it works.
Get on the Artisan career path today
Improving access to quality apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning programs remains a challenge in South Africa. This is not just an issue of cost, but also one of focusing on underpinning transformation among those groups that are under-represented. Women are often over-looked because some trades are seen to be dominated by men. A person with disabilities also faces greater barriers since there is a stigma associated with accommodating them in the workplace and there is a concern about cost to make workplaces habitable to such individuals.
These days many international organizations such as the International Labour Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Monetary Fund encourage countries to expand apprenticeship training. The G20 has also attached a high priority to expanding apprenticeships for youth. Another good reason for focusing on apprenticeship training is that youth unemployment rates are lowest in countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, where the number of apprenticeships is high.
South Africa, too, can benefit. The country urgently needs to enhance the image of, and increase public investment in, apprenticeships. This is likely to reduce the enormous gaps in funding for the university/university of technology-bound students when compared to funding for young people who prefer work-based learning. For apprentices, it would widen opportunities for rewarding careers as well as increase the economic mobility and engagement of young people who drift aimlessly through formal education systems becoming NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training). It will give our youth pride in what they do, both in mastering an occupation and in their confidence that they have learnt to implement their skills and knowledge. We have passed the point where an academic-only strategy works. It’s overrated in our diverse population demographic, not to mention an already struggling labour market.
Finally, there is no doubt that apprenticeships can play a far more constructive role in efficiently enabling individuals. They support trade in a variant of fields across numerous sectors and industries.
Melanie Mulholland is the Human Capital and Skills Development Executive of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa
For any company indenturing apprentices, there are several advantages:
(skills, cost,recruits, reputation )
- Supply of labour with the necessary skills that were otherwise difficult to find;
- Lower recruitment and training costs, which are high when hiring external workers;
- Control over skills shortages
- An available pool of potential recruits at all levels of the company;
- Lower employee turnover and commitment to the company by apprentices;
- Enhance reputation of the company both within the industry and community.
