Minister on Human Resource Development Strategy implementation; PSC Assessment of HRD Practices in Public Service; Single Public Service: Update

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed all present and expressed the Committee’s interest in ensuring progress in the growth of the Human Resource and Development Strategy of the country as this was key to the growth of the country. The Chairperson invited the representatives of the various entities present to make their presentations.

Human Resource Development Strategy implementation by Minister of Higher Education & Training
The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mr Blade Nzimande, Head of the Human Resource Development Council (the Council) started the presentation with opening remarks on the state of human resource development strategy in the country. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy was applicable country wide and there was a need for all stakeholders to meet and consider human resource strategy within the public service in particular.

The presentation kick started with a brief outline on the governance structures, objectives and mandate of the council. The key mandate of the council was to identify skills blockages and recommend solutions in the HRD agenda of the country. The role of the council was not to implement the strategy, but to create a platform where social partners engaged in developing solutions to address bottlenecks in the development of human resources in South Africa. The five point work plan of the Council was to: strengthen and support FET colleges to expand access; production of intermediate skills (artisans in particular) and professionals; production of academics and stronger industry-educational institution partnerships in research and development; foundational learning; and worker education.

Achievements of the Council included: the launch of the HRD Council; adoption of the HRD Strategy by the Council; establishment of a technical working group and the Council secretariat; establishment of the Provincial HRD Coordinating Forum; adoption of the five point plan premised on the National HRD strategy’s eight commitments; development of a reporting template for HRD Provincial Coordinating Forum; establishment of HRD Provincial Councils in three Provinces; development of the draft National Integrated HRD Plan. The presentation further highlighted achievements made on each of the eight National HRD strategy commitments (see document).

The progress of the Technical Task Teams on the five point work plan was discussed in detail:
(1) The work plan with regard to artisan and technician development had been completed – a standard seven step process on the accreditation of artisans had been drawn up and the National Artisan Standardisation Body established.
(2) A task team was in the process of commissioning the study with regards to foundational learning: in this regard, the focus was on Early Childhood Development (ECD), Grade R and the first three years of schooling. Plans were underway for the training of foundation phase teachers and a need had been identified for more foundation programs to address the high failure rate of FET and matric students. Part of the problem could be traced to the schooling system itself as South Africa was one of the few countries in the world with a 12 year schooling system and three years to obtain a degree. The convention in other countries was either 13 years at school and then spending three years at the university for a degree or 12 years at school and four years for a university degree. However, there were no guarantees that a change to the system would correspondingly address all issues the educational system had been plagued with, it was however worthwhile to consider it.
(3) The study on FET Colleges had been commissioned and there was a commitment to continuous lecturer development in the colleges. It was of concern that there was no integrated college system within South Africa and this remained a challenge.
(4) Work had just commenced on the production of academic and industry partnerships - the terms of reference had been finalised and the work plan was yet to be finalised. A number of partnership exchange agreement had also been signed.
(5) A task team was in the process of commissioning the study on the skills system review. Issues being considered included whether skills system should be based on sector authority rather than on occupation. Sentiments currently leaned towards strengthening the Public Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) system as a means to address this. Although PSETA’s had been rolled out across the country, there was need for proper central coordination of PSETAs.
(6) Alignment of the National HRD strategy with the New Growth Plan (NGP) was in process.
(7) Completed draft proposals on plan to produce professionals to be tabled before Council early in 2013.
(8) The task team on education and entrepreneurship was in the process of completing its work, to be tabled before the Council early in 2013.
(9) The Worker Education study had just been commissioned and it was due for completion in April 2013.

In conclusion, the principles which the HRD plan considered crucial for effective execution were:
(1) The HRD plan was to be built on existing work;
(2) The NGP, National Development Plan & Industry Policy Action Plan will be considered in the HRD Plan;
(3) The plan must anticipate the country’s HRD needs, hence, the Council commissioned a Labour Market Intelligence Report to the tune of R100 million, the first of its kind worldwide, as an attempt to develop the skills set and system of the country;
(4) The plan must be aimed at unpacking and contributing to the development of critical skills across all sectors of the economy - areas of blockages and perceived ‘gate keeping’ in scarce skills professions had been identified and the council was engaged with  professional bodies responsible for this to ensure that these professions be made easily accessible to all;
(5) Monitoring and evaluation of the plan’s implementation will be carried out;
(6) The Council Secretariat will liaise with all partners to ensure submission of regular reports on the plan;
(7) Reports will serve as tools to review performance, evolve the plan and highlight successes / challenges.

Assessment of HR Development Practices in Public Service: Public Service Commission
Mr Richard Sizani, Commissioner at the Public Service Commission commenced the presentation with opening remarks on the need to integrate plans on HRD across stakeholder institutions as highlighted by the Minister Nzimande. He handed over to the Deputy Director General, to make the presentation.

Mr Dovhani Mamphiswana, Deputy Director General: Integrity and Anti-Corruption, started the presentation with a background on the study report before the Committee. The Public Service was a labour intensive employer, dependent on the quality, skills and performance of its employees. It was critical that the policy framework for Human Resource Development (HRD) in the Public Service be monitored to help ensure that it achieved its objectives. The Commission undertook a study in order to determine whether: training and development was directed at the core skills the departments needed to deliver on their strategic objectives; appropriate monitoring mechanisms were in place and; development plans were implemented accordingly and whether the impact of such training was assessed.  The presentation went further to discuss the legislative frame work upon which the study was based (see document).

The study was conducted within the National and Provincial Departments of Transport, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Treasury. A total of 30 departments participated in the study. These departments were selected on the basis of the role they played towards efforts to improve infrastructure, rural development and poverty alleviation, as well as financial management, which were identified as part of the key priority areas of government. The methodology followed in the gathering of data was as follows: A desktop study of previous reports produced by the Commission; A questionnaire was used during interviews with Managers responsible for the Human Resource Development Practices within the sampled departments; Strategic Plans, Human Resource Plans, Retention Policies, Human Resource Development Strategies and Policies of the sampled departments were obtained to ascertain whether sampled departments understood the link and assess their compliance with the Department’s Human Resource Development Strategy Vision 2015.

Main findings of the study were presented in detail:
▪ 97% of the departments had developed and implemented HR plans.
▪ 53% of the departments had HRD strategies in place.
▪97% of the departments had Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) in place.
▪ 56% had conducted skills audits, but only 13% of these departments had proof of skills audit being done.
▪ 43% of sampled depts had never conducted a skills audit, but expressed interest in using HR Connect.
▪ Departments utilized the Personnel Development Plans of individual employees to determine training needs. Even though training took place, enough care was not taken to ensure it was directed at the core skills departments needed to deliver on their mandates.
▪ All depts had Skills Development Facilitators in place and HR Development / Training Committees.
▪ 38% of sampled departments only had one SDF, while 29% had two, and 4% as many as nine SDFs.
▪ Most departments were of the view that the numbers of their SDFs were inadequate. For example, it was indicated that some departments with a staff establishment of 4000 had 4 or 2 SDFs in place.
▪ A common challenge across all the sampled departments were that meetings of committees were often postponed, with a lack of commitment, especially from management, being the cause.
▪ 60% of the sampled departments had Learnership policies and programmes in place, with majority not implemented due to a lack of funds.
▪ 90% had Internship policies and programmes in place and implementation of the Internship Programme within departments had been the most successful.
▪ 37% had mentorship policies and programmes in place. Reasons for non-compliance with mentorship policies included lack of understanding on how to establish programme, lack of participation by staff as mentors (especially senior managers), financial constraints, unavailability of time for coaching / mentoring.
▪ No department had a system in place to assess relevance / impact of training and development initiatives.
▪ Lack of capacity in HRD components left little time to do research on and initiate a system in this regard.
▪ Departments resorted to relying on the information contained in Personal Development Plans to assess relevance of training in relation to employee performance.
▪ With regard to the 1% skills levy, most departments received the 1% and more from the budget for skills training and development.
▪ Although budgets were allocated, the money was inadequate – outsourcing of most training and development courses placed a strain on the budget.
▪ HRD budget was first budget to be used to supplement other components in the event of shortages.
▪ A main challenge HRD practitioners had in implementing HRD initiatives was lack of management support.
▪ Many departments reported that due to the lack of support of line managers, HRD units found it difficult to implement the practices effectively.
▪ Departments were experiencing support challenges with PSETA templates which were not user-friendly.
▪ Only 10% of the sampled departments used the services of the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA) because courses offered by PALAMA were expensive.
▪ Delays experienced in receiving invoices from PALAMA, and sometimes duplicate invoices were received.
▪ Departments opted to utilise the services of tertiary institutions as they found them to be credible, courses were accredited and feedback from course attendees were provided.
▪ Some provinces had training academies that were regarded as efficient and effective.
▪ The training was affordable as these academies fell under the umbrella of the Offices of the Premiers and courses were presented by permanent training staff employed by the Offices of the Premier.
▪ Where these academies had to make use of the services of external service providers to conduct training in certain areas, the prices were negotiated for the Public Service.

Recommendations proffered included: Departments needed to develop the requisite capacity to comply with the legislative and policy frameworks necessary for HRD. Departments also needed to ensure that they had the necessary strategies and policies in place and there were consequences for non-compliance. Departments must implement their programmes as budgeted for and must be held accountable for the spending of the funds. All departments must comply with the HR Connect requirements to ensure that they are aware of their current skills as well as the skills gap that needed to be addressed by targeted recruitment and/or training interventions. Departments should ensure that an understanding of skills forms the basis of the WSP and not individual Performance Development Plans. Top management must provide the necessary support to HRD components, provide the resources and ensure that monitoring systems were in place to measure the returns on training investments. The Department needed to develop a tool for other departments to be more accountable for the 1% skills levy. Other departments needed to provide extensive expenditure reports to the Department on the training conducted within their departments for each financial year. Reasons for non-expenditure must also be provided. The PSETA needed to play a more developmental role within departments and should also monitor whether training as outlined in the WSP was actually conducted by departments. In conclusion, the presentation highlighted possible implementation strategies for the recommendations proffered (see document).

Single Public Service: Update and Way Forward by Department of Public Service & Administration
Mr Kenny Govender, DPSA Deputy Director General: Human Resource Management and Development, commenced with background on the Department’s HRD strategy. The DPSA did not have a single consolidated HRD strategy, but rather a range of HRD strategies had been put in place to help the DPSA across a broad range of issues. A range of the recommendations proffered by the Commission in its presentation were already being addressed by the DPSA, such as recommendations on the 1% skills levy and HR Connect issues. The DPSA and the Commission needed to strengthen collaboration to ensure implementation, compliance and enforcement. The effective management of human capital in the Public Service was the cornerstone of effective service delivery. The DPSA has developed a HRD Strategy and a Repositioning Human Resource Management Framework for the Public Service.

The current HRD Strategic Framework (HRDSF) emanated from a Review of the HRD strategy of 2002 – 2006. The development of the HRDSF was a culmination of an inclusive national process of consultation with HRD practitioners in national and provincial departments. The core objective of the HRDSF was to build an efficient and effective Public Service through the establishment of policies, structures and operational processes for developing capable and high performing employees. The HRDSF was approved by Cabinet in December 2007. Departments were for the first time required to develop HRD Implementation Plans and a baseline in the form of Organisational Readiness Reports. Core objectives of the HRDSF were: To set the HRDSF in its social, economic and legal context; to present and explain the context, structure and principles of the HRDSF; and to present a framework and process for the successful implementation of the strategic provisions and requirements. The four Pillars of the HRDSF were: The Capacity Development initiative, focused on building human capital for high performance and service delivery; The Organisational support initiatives which recognises the importance and integration of HRD systems through formal organisational support; Governance and Institutional Development initiatives and; Initiatives to support Government’s  economic growth and development.

With regard to implementation on the first pillar of the HRDSF, the Department had: Coordinated Integrated Strategies including Rural Youth Development Programme, reporting on the implementation of Internships, Learnerships and Artisans Development Programme; Resuscitated and coordinated the G-SETA Forum. This included the institutionalization of career Guidance Exhibitions with partners in and outside the Public Service; Implemented and monitored the Determination on Utilization of Training Budgets to ensure that departments used their training budgets efficiently to address the service delivery challenges; Revitalised HRD Sector Forums; Developed policies on RPL and e-Learning; Coordinated International Capacity Building Programmes and; Developed a strategy to improve the extent and depth of skills of public servants in targeted occupations. The presentation further discussed the compliance on implementation of the HRDSF pillars across Provinces nationwide (see document). Progress on the implementation were as follows: Monitoring  of the HRDSF  implementation  has improved reporting from simple compliance to quality reporting; Coordination of Integrated  Strategies to Rural Youth Development Programme has improved partnerships and improved seamless and integrated approach to skills development especially in rural areas; The implementation of Internships, Learnerships and Artisans Development Programme has assisted in the resuscitation of  the G-SETA Forum; More than 20 000 internships and learnerships were implemented by Government departments in 2011-12; Most departments were ring-fencing the minimum regulated training budget which was 1% of personnel expenditure. The presentation also discussed mechanisms for improvement on these challenges.

The Leadership Development Management Strategic (LDMS) Framework was introduced in order to address matters related to the Senior Managers (SMS) and considered the following areas to: promote, support and implement the National Skills Development Agenda and the HRD Strategy; ensure a steady supply of “home grown” leadership and management skills and their absorption and retention into the public service organisations; establish the leadership pipeline in the Public Service with targeted training programmes and assist in identifying leaders of tomorrow through a systematic process and;enable an adequate level of human capital performance in Public Service organisations that ensured effective service delivery in order to meet development imperatives. Competency Assessments were currently being conducted on all SMS members prior to appointment into a post to assess the managerial competencies as outlined in the SMS Competency Framework. Developmental gaps identified during assessment were expected to inform the Personal Development Plan of individuals in order for targeted training to be instituted. The draft Directive on compulsory capacity development and mandatory training days has been drafted and was currently being consulted upon. The broad intention of the Directive was to professionalize the SMS cadre. An Executive Protocol has also been drafted and presented to Cabinet on the Principles and Procedures on the employment of HODs and DDGs.

Cabinet approved the Re-positioning Framework for the functional model for departmental HR components. The underlying theme of the model was to position HR components to deliver a strategic HRM function. The implementation of the model has been supported through the development of a competency framework for HR Practitioners, 6 strategic frameworks, guidelines, templates, assessment toolkits and directives issued by the Minister pertaining to the different functional areas. In addition to the Re-positioning Framework, other strategic frameworks were developed supported by guidelines, toolkits, templates, manuals and assessment instruments: HR Planning Strategic Framework, Human Resource Development Strategic Framework: Vision 2015 for the Public Service, Leadership Development Management Strategic Framework, Employee Health &Wellness Strategic Framework, Strategic Framework for Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment, JobACCESS Strategic Framework for the recruitment, employment and retention of people with disabilities.

The Strategic Framework on Human Resource Planning (HRP) was developed with an aim to ensure that organisations have the right people, with the right skills, at the right place at the right time, all the time. The objectives of this Strategic Framework were to: Assist departments in understanding their roles and responsibilities with regard to the development and implementation of their HR plans; Assist departments in understanding the linkage between departmental strategic objectives and human resource planning; and Serve as a service delivery model for departments to adopt during their HR planning processes. With regard to progress made on the HRP Strategic Framework: Functional model for HR units and Competency Framework for HR Practitioners were issued, Directives on the HR Self Assessment to assess the ability of HR units were issued, Guide on Staff retention and Directives on conducting exit interviews have been developed, Directives on personnel suitability checks and the verification of qualifications have been developed, Secondment of staff  and utilisation of foreign nationals have been effected, Directive, Guidelines and Toolkit on HR Planning were issued, Methodology to assess HR Plans and Implementation reports have been developed, Strategies to improve recruitment and reduce the vacancy rate in the Public Service were developed, Compliant Plans were submitted to the Department prior to January 2012; Plans not aligned to templates could not be assessed while other plans have been assessed and reports issued. The presentation provided further statistics on departmental HR Self Assessments and HR plans per province (see document). A total of 24% of national departments submitted HR Self-Assessment Reports, while 78% submitted their HR Plans Report. In terms of PMDS compliance for SMS and directives from the Minister, all members of the SMS must conclude their performance agreements within the first two months of the financial year, i.e. by 31 May of each year. The Department requested departments to submit reports on the signing of Performance Agreements of SMS on 31 May 2012 – the due date for reports was 31 July 2012. As at mid October 2012, 98 out of the 154 departments had submitted reports on the signing of performance agreement. The presentation further provided details on compliance by departments on provincial and national levels (see document).

The Employee Health and Wellness programme was developed to promote and manage health and wellness in the public service and improve the occupational health and quality of work life. At the Department, this sub programme also coordinated Government’s mainstreamed response to HIV&AIDS and was the focal point at SADC on the same. Approved Employee Health and Wellness Policies Currently implemented include: HIV&AIDS and TB Management in the Public Service (HIV&AIDS and TB), Health and Productivity Management in the Public Service (HPM), Safety Health Environment Risk and Quality Management (SHERQ) and Wellness Management in the Public Service (WM). Other guidelines and tools for policy implementation were also developed. On progress made so far: 52% of governments departments implemented at least one of the policies at the end of March 2012, 25% of the Departments developed and approved Operational Plans to Mainstream HIV&AIDS into their core mandates, 100 000 employees accessed HCT services, 83 866 person were currently registered for HIV&AIDS treatment comprised of 63 790 employees and 20 076 dependants.

With regard to the Diversity Management (DM) Framework, in February 2012, consultations on the Policy on Reasonable Accommodation and Assistive Devices were carried out for both provincial and national departments. Departments with a representation of less than 30% for women and less than 1% for people with disabilities, both in provinces and nationally, were requested to submit remedial plans on improving the targets with definite timelines. Between May and June 2012, visits were conducted to establish whether departments complied with the timelines provided and if not, how much extension they needed and what measures were to be put in place to ensure that targets were met. A circular will be re-issued to departments to submit six monthly progress reports consistently from 01 April 2013.  On progress made so far: A reporting template had been developed; a Policy on Reasonable accommodation and Assistive Devices was finalised and submitted to Minister for approval; a verification process to establish the correct number of persons with disabilities in the public service was underway; the review of the Handbook on Reasonable Accommodation was in process; nine (9) national departments had representation of above 2% and 15 departments of above 1% representation; PALAMA developed a course on the framework in 2011 and by July 2012, 566 employees were trained, comprising of 280 males and 286 females, 460 Africans, 46 Coloured, 46 White, 14 Indians; the 2011 Gender Mainstreaming Survey report was to be released  soon; the total, awareness on DM Framework in the national departments stood at 70% and implementation at 29%, while the corresponding figures in provincial departments were 81% and 30% respectively; as at 30 June  2012, 13 Departments (both National & Provincial) were able to achieve the  50% equity target for women at SMS level, and 45 Departments achieved 40 - 49%  on equity target for women at SMS; Public Service Women Management Week was hosted by departments successfully from 2009 to date; the Annual Affirmative Action and Employment Equity report was en-route to Cabinet; the Draft Policy on Prevention and Management of Sexual Harassment, was still in consultation; 3 823 officials had been trained by PALAMA on Gender mainstreaming comprising 31% male and 69% females, 75% from level 1-12 and 25% at SMS levels.

A great amount of work had been done in establishing an enabling environment with regard to HRD and HRM in the public service, however, the responsibility for implementation was at the departmental level. Going forward the Department planned to focus on implementation support, improved coordination, monitoring and reporting on compliance. In relation to capacitation, the Department was approaching the issue from three perspectives: 1. Entry Level: training of staff at entry levels in conjunction with PSETAs and PALAMAs; 2. Promotion: compulsory training programs and qualifications as requirements for promotion to senior management levels; 3. In service Staff: the Department had received funding from the National Skills Fund to fund three specific qualifications on public administration for in service staff. This was being done in conjunction with PSETAs and PALAMAs.

Discussion with Minister of Higher Education and Training
Mr S Marais (DA) remarked that the Committee would have preferred the presentation by the Minister to specifically discuss the challenges within the Department rather than the broad frame work of the Civil Service.

Mr Blade Nzimande, Head of the Human Resource Development Council and Minister, responded that the mandate he had received from the Committee on the presentation was related to the broader framework of the Civil Service. The Department’s presentation would cover the streamlined view.

Mr Marais remarked that the civil service should ordinarily be a training ground and where even senior level officials in the civil service remained untrained, there was no capacity to train the rest of the staff. What was the Minister’s view on setting the environment of training within the public service?

Mr Nzimande responded that the Council was working on coming up with an integrated plan in conjunction with the Department on training and development within the public service. Prior meetings had been held with past Ministers in charge of the Department on this issue, but more work needed to be done.

Mr Marais noted that there seemed to be a conflict in the roles of the PSETA and PALAMA. He asked for clarification on this.

Mr Nzimande responded that the conflict on the roles of PSETA and PALAMA would be resolved with the context of further engagement with the Department. It was not possible to strictly allocate particular PSETA’s to Departments and separate them from the skills development program. The Department had to work closely and in conjunction with other departments to identify and prioritise the roles of PSETAs.

Mr C Msimang (IFP) asked whether the battle was being won with regard to the Council’s mandate on identifying areas of skills blockages and recommending solutions.
Mr Nzimande responded that some progress had been made with regard to identifying and removing the blockages. It was an on-going process as the blockages were system-wide from Grade R to the work place.

Mr Msimang asked what was being done to ensure there was adequate monitoring and evaluation of programs that had been put in place.

Mr Msimang remarked that he supported the suggestion that students spent an extra year in high school to prepare them better for the challenges of university education. It was also important that the standard be raised on pass marks to a proper pass and not left at the current 33%.

Mr Nzimande responded that the pass rate of 33% did not necessarily indicate that the students had passed but that they had acquired certain minimum competencies that could be built on.

The Chairperson remarked that the issues raised in the Minister’s presentation had been noted by the Committee and would be further deliberated upon and addressed.
Mr Nzimande responded that the executive would for a change like to see Parliament engage in, debate on and place emphasis on real issues rather than the usual politicking and point scoring.

Discussion with Public Service Commission
Mr Marais noted that the presentation by the Commission spoke to facts and challenges in the public service. There was however a need for an integrated plan to address issues that had been raised in the presentation. If the government did not take its largest asset, which was human resources, there would be no return on investments.

Ms M Mohale (ANC) remarked that the Council needed to address the issues that had been raised in the presentation by the Commission.

Mr Richard Sizani, Commissioner, responded that the Ministry’s presentation gave definite pointers on the way forward. The solution lay in the collectiveness of all suggestions from the different entities including improving Higher Education.

Ms Mohale asked what year the report of the Commission was compiled and remarked that the presentation by might not be a true reflection of the situation. She requested that the Department made its presentation before Members engaged the Commission in further discussion.

Mr Sizani responded that the report was compiled in June 2011 and dealt with the 2010 financial year; hence it may not have reflected the current situation.

Discussion with Department of Public Service and Administration
Ms Mohale remarked with concern that the department’s presentation indicated a dismal performance on the disability profile of interns and learners.  There were more disabled persons who needed jobs and departments need not be fixated on the 2% requirements. Mr Marais agreeing with Ms Mohale’s observations challenged the Department to consider the annual reports of other departments, where analysis indicated that disabled staffs were the most loyal and had the lowest turnover and absenteeism rates. This indicated a good trend which the Department needed to properly consider.

Mr Kenny Govender, Deputy Director General, replied that the Department acknowledged that not enough had been done with regard to employment of disabled persons. However, various programs were being put in place to address this, including the Job Access Strategy, to help disabled persons access work opportunities more easily.

Ms Mohale asked whether the Department conducted follow up checks to ensure other departments implemented the human resource strategies that had been put in place.

Ms Mohale asked if the Department monitored the work place skills plan in other departments.

Mr Marais commended the Department on its work and remarked that the problem lay with other departments’ refusal to implement the programs drawn up for them by the Department. Unfortunately, it seemed the directives from the Department carried no force or consequences, hence the flagrant disobedience of these directives by other departments. It was time the Department was empowered to ensure its directives had legal implications.

Mr Govender replied that contrary to popular opinion, the directives of the Minister were in fact enforceable in terms of the Public Service Act and the Minister had powers to call on any of the law enforcement agencies. The Department had recently ensured it built in a clause to this effect in its recent directives to other departments, to make other departments aware of this fact.

Mr Marais asked whether the Department had carried out investigations to ensure that the outcomes for learners and interns were as projected and not a time wasting exercise.

Mr Marais noted that in the presentation of the Commission it had been indicated that staff preferred tertiary institutions programs to those organised by PALAMA and PSETA. This was of concern particularly as the Department had not indicated any plans for collaboration with tertiary institutions, particularly to develop curriculums.

Mr Govender responded that the collaboration between PALAMA and the Department was still work in progress. Part of the problem lay in the funding mode of PALAMA. Collaboration with higher institutions was also work in progress and the Department was currently involved in developing partnerships with FET colleges.

Ms J Maluleke (ANC) asked whether the Department’s assessment of compliance with regard to training included assessment on the quality of the training.

Mr Govender replied that the current assessment did not cover assessment on quality; however, the Department recognised the need to also focus on quality of training futuristically.

The Chairperson thanked all present for their attendance and for fruitful deliberations. The meeting was adjourned.