Economic Opportunities
(1) How many young people participated in the 2012 Work and Skills Programme (ICT and Artisan Programme);
(2) what opportunities did they receive through the Programme;
(3) five years later, have those participants completed the Programme, if so, where and what are they doing;
(4) of the R112 million investment by the Department, the Jobs Fund and SETA, how much of the funding went to learner-development costs and how much went to all other support and related costs to deliver the Programme;
(5) what were the failures of this Programme?
10.1 How many young people participated in the 2012 Work and Skills Programme [ICT and Artisan Programme]?
A total of 1011 learners benefited from the Work and Skills Programme in 2012/13 of which a total of 611 participated in the semi-skilled and 500 participated in the Artisan programmes.
10.2 What opportunities did they receive through the Programme?
Opportunities include elements of training and work placement or time bound internships. The table below shows that since the 2012/13, have provided 4 144 youth with training opportunities and placed 3 610 with host companies for periods ranging from 6 to 18 months. Attachment
10.3 Five years later, have those participants completed the Programme, if so, where and what are they doing?
Learner or beneficiary tracking does not extend for a 5 year period.
10.4 Of the R112 million investments by the Department, the Jobs Fund and SETA, how much of the funding went to learner-development costs and how much went to all other support and related costs to deliver the Programme?
In discounting internal staffing costs and given that the Programme is delivered in-house, it is estimated that approximately 92 per cent of the allocations were spent on the beneficiaries.
10.5 What were the failures of this Programme?
In some cases, learners have dropped out of the programme by choice. We have held interventions to attempt to return to the programme.
A further challenge is to secure work placements for learners. This is a crucial aspect which requests private sector collaboration. We have held outreach programmes to business to explain the benefits of hosting learners.
