Education, training and skills development in the Cape Town City region: Background paper >

This background report provides an overview of current conditions, capacity and performance on the education and training supply side in the Cape Town City Region, as distinct from and in relation to provincial and national trends. The Cape Town City...

High-level audit of administrative datasets (briefing) >

This research brief is based on a High-level Audit of Administrative Datasets. The study surveyed more than 20 national government departments and other entities with the aim to investigate the relevance of databases to skills planning, particularly...

Institutionalising tracer studies to assess the impact of workplace-based training: Reflections on feasibility >

The main objective of the project was to scope and consider the feasibility of institutionalising tracer studies relating to WPBL programmes. The report engages with this objective in the following ways: Firstly, it evaluates tracer-type research int...

LMIP dictionary on skills supply and demand >

The aim of the study was to compile and develop, in collaboration with the DHET, a dictionary to serve the following purposes: To enhance shared language use by labour market intelligence (LMI) users; To provide a trusted reference point for clarifyi...

merSETA report: Impact assessment of learnerships and apprenticeships >

This study was commissioned by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (MERSETA) with the aim of ascertaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the learnership and apprenticeship systems and to assess their impact on the demand for...

National database sets available for post-school sector (supply side) >

The main research question in this working paper is: What recommendations can be suggested to DHET in support of the production of labour market supply intelligence towards enhancing labour market supply data sources, networks and practises? The foll...

Skills supply and demand in South Africa >

This report provides a holistic understanding of the current supply and demand for skills in South Africa and represents one of the first attempts to analyse how the two interact to inform future skills policy to support an inclusive economic growth...

Student retention and graduate destination: Higher education and labour market access and success >

Student attrition has been a perennial theme in South African higher education throughout the past decade. In its National Plan for Higher Education (2001), the Department of Education attributed high dropout rates primarily to financial and/or acade...

Studying artisans in the manufacturing, engineering and related services sector >

Given extensive changes globally in the nature of training and employment of artisans over the last few decades, the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA) commissioned the Human Sciences Res...

Synthesis report: Assessing the impact of learnerships and apprenticeships under NSDSII >

Our study adopted a pathways conceptual approach (Raffe, 2003; Harris et al, 2006), focusing on the trajectories of (young) people in the transition from school to un/employment, various forms of further study, and into the labour market. Central to...

High-level audit of administrative datasets >

This High-level Audit of Administrative Datasets, as part of the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership programme, conducted research in more than 20 national government departments and other entities. The aim was to investigate the relevance of data...

Workplace learning experiences of TVET College candidates in learnership programmes: An exploration of the workplace learning environment >

In light of common assumptions about the value of workplace learning, this research was concerned with exploring whether, and how such learning is taking place. It sought to understand the methodologies, practices, and affordances available to learni...

Mapping links between occupations and classification of educational subject matter (CESM) >

This working paper was conceived to explore initiatives in mapping in South Africa, giving particular attention to the Classification of Educational Subject Matter (CESM) and to the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO), because these two classi...

Reflections on governance (System of exercising authority and control): Implementing the NQF Act >

This presentation reflects on the on Governance (System of exercising authority and control) in terms of implementing the NQF Act.

LMIP dictionary on skills supply and demand >

The aim of the study was to compile and develop, in collaboration with the DHET, a dictionary to serve the following purposes: To enhance shared language use by labour market intelligence (LMI) users; To provide a trusted reference point for clarifyi...

Employability and responsiveness in post-school education and training institutions: A comparative literature review >

The first paper (Working Paper no. 8 in the LMIP series) has two main foci: a critical overview of employability and a summary of debates pertinent to Further Education and Training (FET) colleges and universities. Where relevant, perspectives from d...

Reconfiguring the post-school sector: Project 2 Curriculum responsiveness and student employability >

This presentation is on the questions of curriculum responsiveness and student employability in terms of reconfiguring the post-school sector.

Making visible the invisible: Confronting South Africa's decent work deficit >

This report argues that national direct surveys of households, such as the biannual Labour Force Surveys issued by Statistics South Africa, are useful in measuring the numbers of those in employment, but that they are unable to measure the size and n...

Curriculum responsiveness and student employability in VET: Preliminary findings from three case studies >

This presentation outlines preliminary findings from three case studies in regard to curriculum responsiveness and student employability in VET. These are structured as follows: Employability and Responsiveness: Opening up the debate; Theme 4: Projec...

Employability and curriculum responsiveness in post-school education and training >

The relationship between educational processes and the employment of individuals is a significant policy concern and a widely debated social issue in South Africa. The apparent mismatch between industry needs and the educational outcomes of the South...

Employability and curriculum responsiveness in post-school education and training (LMIP Policy Roundtable) >

This LMIP policy roundtable briefing asks the following questions: How do we address skills gaps in South Africa to improve alignment between what the E and T system produces, and the needs of the public and private sectors? How can industry and educ...

Enhancing curriculum responsiveness to local skills needs: Towards a manual for DHET >

This presentation addresses the following key questions related to enhancing curriculum responsiveness to local skills needs: What is the problem? Tensions between central and local. International trends What is currently possible? Developing a progr...

Enhancing employability: What can be done to improve TVET students' chances of finding work? >

Unemployment of young people in South Africa is regarded as a crisis that needs urgent intervention. Disaffected and disillusioned youth are a potential threat to the long-term stability of the society as a whole. When graduates from institutions suc...

Reconfiguring the post-school sector: Project 2 Curriculum responsiveness and student employability >

This presentation is on the questions of curriculum responsiveness and student employability in terms of reconfiguring the post-school sector.

Reflections from studies >

This presentation details some reflections on case studies. Themes covered include trust and partnerships as a central component of a relational system; and what mechanisms can facilitate these processes.

Towards responsiveness and employability in the FET college sector >

This paper reviews the field of educational research in South Africa in terms of the allied concepts of responsiveness and employability. The paper discusses the definitions of the two concepts and outlines the debates around the definitions of the c...

Pathways through university and into the Labour Market Report on a graduate tracer study from the Eastern Cape >

In order to support the objectives set out in the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) 2013 White Paper for Post-school Education and Training (PSET), it is critical to engage with a strong evidence base of research. To this end, the...

Building labour market intelligence for skills planning: Recommendations from evidence >

This presentation supplies the following recommendations: Institutionalise longitudinal datasets on systemic pathways; Map innovation and skills development networks to promote systemic alignment; Enhance interactive capabilities across the system; A...

Creating a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning in South Africa (session 3) >

This briefing workshop to the Minister of Higher Education and Training focuses on the topic of Responsiveness to firm demand: enhancing interactive capabilities across the post-school system; and Planning for artisanal skills: the importance of unde...

Education, training and skills development in the Cape Town City region: Background paper >

This background report provides an overview of current conditions, capacity and performance on the education and training supply side in the Cape Town City Region, as distinct from and in relation to provincial and national trends. The Cape Town City...

History and the economy matters for artisanal skills planning >

The re-establishment of a good artisan training system was identified as a key research focus area and urgent priority, given that 'the apprenticeship system has been allowed to deteriorate since the mid-1980s, resulting in a shortage of mid-level sk...

How do we take the changing nature of artisanal work and occupations into account? >

This presentation illustrates how the researchers take the changing nature of artisanal work and occupations into account. The following topics are covered: History and economy matters, occupational domains matter, and the relation between work and t...

Institutionalising tracer studies to assess the impact of workplace-based training: Reflections on feasibility >

The main objective of the project was to scope and consider the feasibility of institutionalising tracer studies relating to WPBL programmes. The report engages with this objective in the following ways: Firstly, it evaluates tracer-type research int...

Institutionalising tracer studies to assess the outcomes of workplace based training: reflections on feasibility >

This presentation details a scoping project embarked to determine: The extent to which past data problems have been addressed; What work-based skills programmes will be feasible to include in a set of institutionalised tracer studies? What is the cur...

Learning session: Methodologies to identify skills needs >

The search for appropriate methodologies to identify 'skills needs' is high on the agenda of many countries around the world. In South Africa, a range of different approaches are currently being used to inform the identification of 'skills needs', re...

LMIP learning session 6: Review of the workspace skills plan and the annual training report >

The Ministerial Task Team on SETA Performance, as well as the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training (PSET) expressed concern about the quality of data received by SETAs from employers, and the limited potential for credible analysis of su...

Shifting occupational boundaries: Considering implications for artisanal skills planning >

The key research question of this project is: How does the boundary work between high-status and intermediate level employees help us to understand the nature and extent of occupational structural change?

Studying artisans in the manufacturing, engineering and related services sector >

Given extensive changes globally in the nature of training and employment of artisans over the last few decades, the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA) commissioned the Human Sciences Res...

Studying professions in shifting occupational contexts >

This presentation illustrates the following topics: South AFrica study using boundaries; a working conceptual frame; extending an analytical frame; a case of mechatronics in the automotive sector; and their relevance to current debates.

Studying the shifting boundaries of artisanal work and occupations: Research guide >

The research guide provides a conceptual frame and research instruments to assist skills and strategic planners in their task from a specific research method and design perspective. Specifically, the guide provides practical guidelines and tools to c...

Synthesis report: Assessing the impact of learnerships and apprenticeships under NSDSII >

Our study adopted a pathways conceptual approach (Raffe, 2003; Harris et al, 2006), focusing on the trajectories of (young) people in the transition from school to un/employment, various forms of further study, and into the labour market. Central to...

The boundaries of artisanal work and occupations, and its intersections with inequality >

This presentation provides an overview of the research question, before illustrating the following topics: An LMIP theme of research entitled 'Changing Artisanal Milieus and Identities'; the concept of boundaries: why and how? Empirical cases; sample...

The shifting boundaries of artisanal work and occupations >

This project report uses the concept of occupational boundaries as a lens to investigate change to artisanal work and its organisation, the focus question being: Has the work of artisans changed and, if so, how? Through qualitative investigation into...

Towards understanding the distinctive nature of artisan training: Implications for skills planning in South Africa >

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) initiated the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP) with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), leading a consortium to conduct research to support the development of an institutiona...

Understanding changing artisanal occupational milieus and identities: Conceptualising the study of artisans >

The paper starts off by drawing from recent empirical research on artisanal skills production in South Africa that has highlighted key systemic blockages to increased artisan development. This is an important starting point, as the decline in artisan...

Understanding the history of artisan training in a macroeconomic environment >

This presentation highlights the following key needs when considering an understanding of the history of artisan training in a macroeconomic environment: 1. Bring historical lens to the training systems and demand schedules (economic growth path/s) w...

Why changes to occupational domains matter for artisanal skills planning in South Africa >

This Policy Brief argues that we need a more nuanced understanding of the shifting boundaries of artisanal work and occupational domains. In particular, it presents two key findings emerging from research that evaluated changes to the nature of artis...

Work and qualifications futures for artisans and technicians: A research guide >

This study, seeks to understand how artisans and technicians of the future need to be prepared for the labour market, it makes no claims to direct causal relations with regards to either of the relationships described above. The design was informed m...

Developing a national skills forecasting tool for South Africa >

In 2003, the South African Department of Labour, supported by the European Union, commissioned research to investigate the feasibility of developing quantitative forecasting models to help identify future skills needs in South Africa. The aims of the...

Barriers and bottlenecks: Understanding youth transitions in the post-compulsory phase of school >

This presentation addresses the following topics: Throughput rate of learners to Grade 12 is of concern - Increasingly staggered progression as learners move through school; High and growing level of unemployment amongst youth population - 60% of une...

Smooth, staggered or stopped? Educational transitions in the South African Youth Panel Study >

This report uses the South African Youth Panel Study (SAYPS) - a longitudinal panel study - to follow Grade 9 learners who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in order to explore the educational transitio...

Smooth, staggered or stopped? Educational transitions in the South African Youth Panel Study >

The South African Youth Panel Study (SAYPS) followed Grade 9 learners who participated in TIMSS 2011 over four consecutive years, in order to explore the educational transitions of young people. The study found that: South African learners follow one...

Developing a national skills forecasting tool for South Africa >

In 2003, the South African Department of Labour, supported by the European Union, commissioned research to investigate the feasibility of developing quantitative forecasting models to help identify future skills needs in South Africa. The aims of the...

South African Labour Market Micro-data Scoping Study >

This policy brief is based on a South African Labour Market Micro-data Scoping Study. The purpose was to investigate sources of micro-data1 available for analysis of the South African labour market. The study provided an overview of the wide range of...

South African Labour Market Microdata Scoping Study >

This study investigates sources of data available for analysis of the South African labour market. It is a data discovery exercise to determine what data is available for policy research and to assist policy analysts to locate data sources relevant t...

Knowledge, curriculum and qualifications for South African further education >

All countries, and South Africa is no exception, face acute dilemmas in modernising their systems of upper secondary and further education and training. Faced with pressures from the fast-changing world of work, this education sector has become chara...

Temporary employment services in South Africa: Assessing the industry's economic contribution >

The focus of this paper, is to try to understand the nature of employment changes and their impact in one particular sector, namely the temporary employment services (TES) industry. The sector, colloquially known in South Africa as the 'labour broker...

Draft national maritime roadmap/oceans economy lab coordination strategy session >

This document provides the following overview of Draft national maritime roadmap/Oceans economy lab coordination strategy session: 1. Summary of the Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy Lab Process 2. Governance Structure 3. Overview of the Operation Ph...

Smooth, staggered or stopped? Educational transitions in the South African Youth Panel Study >

This report uses the South African Youth Panel Study (SAYPS) - a longitudinal panel study - to follow Grade 9 learners who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in order to explore the educational transitio...

Smooth, staggered or stopped? Educational transitions in the South African Youth Panel Study >

The South African Youth Panel Study (SAYPS) followed Grade 9 learners who participated in TIMSS 2011 over four consecutive years, in order to explore the educational transitions of young people. The study found that: South African learners follow one...