20 March 2006

South Africans who learn skills through the country's Sector Education and Training Authorities are getting international recognition.

On Friday, South Africa signed an agreement with the European Union to foster global certification.

Services SETA chief executive, Ivor Blumenthal, said mapping of standards and the principle of a global certification model are among the key components of global partnerships on skills development.

'Equal footing'
"The initiative seeks to further equip beneficiaries to operate on an equal footing with global counterparts by encouraging them to pursue opportunities overseas to broaden their skills base and ultimately return home to impart their gained experience," he said.

He added that the Services SETA will benefit the labour market through these partnerships in areas such as call centre management, market research, project management and hairdressing.

However, he explained that this will not result in a mass exodus from the country, saying that, instead, more people will be coming into the country.

This he attributed to the "wide publicity given to lack of skills in the country."

Asked how this initiative will be carried out to ensure true equivalency and competitiveness, he told BuaNews that they will be sharing moderators and assessors with European countries.

'Mutually beneficial'
Blumenthal said that lobbying for global certification started three years ago.

According to him, this partnership is also focused on addressing misconceptions that local qualifications are inferior to international standards.

"South Africa is in fact on par, if not above, most of the global partners in terms of standards. This should be viewed mutually as a beneficial skills transfer process and nothing less," he said.

Services SETAS have been established to ensure that skills needed for every sector of the South African economy are identified and that training is available to provide for these needs.

Source: BuaNews

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