The Skills Initiative For Africa (SIFA) in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) hosted a workshop on 25 February 2021 to reflect on the role of SMME’s within the private sector in shaping skills development policy and facilitating partnerships for implementation. The workshop was attended by a notable number of representatives from AUDA-NEPAD, GIZ projects, BUSA member organisations, BBC members and most importantly the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Business Board representatives from all sectors of the economy.
Also in attendance at this workshop were representatives from the World Bank who provided an introductory presentation of their current research study titled, “Strengthening involvement of SMMEs in Work Based Learning in South Africa”. This research is being conducted by the World Bank in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education and Training. The workshop allowed attendees an opportunity to provide inputs to this study, drawing from their experiences on the ground and observations from the field to further guide the process. The findings of this study will be shared upon completion.
The presentation on the World Bank Study paved the way to an interactive discussion and assessment of the current participation of SMMEs in Work Based Learning, the barriers to participation as well as what policy reforms and incentives could be introduced in order to increase SMME participation. The key barriers highlighted during this session were linked to costs, regulatory barriers, lack of capacity to train and lack of an incentive structure. To combat these challenges, the participants and World Bank representatives emphasised the importance of funding, reforms in regulations, increasing awareness and increased support and guidance to implementation of apprenticeships in SMME’s.
SIFA and BUSA continues to engage with the SETA Business Board Representatives and Private Sector Representatives to maintain a unified platform for private sector engagement on policy and implementation practice.
For any questions, contact:
Cheryl James, SIFA- cheryl.james@giz.de
Sino Moabalobelo- BUSA- Sino.Moabalobelo@busa.org.za
