Development of a national skills forecasting model >

This working paper argues that the development of a National Skills forecasting model is necessitated by the need to improve transparency in South Africa's labour markets, the desire to increase the skill level of its population, and the need to unde...

Volume 1: An analysis of international practices on funding for post-school education and training >

This international review provides a snapshot of the different institutional and funding mechanisms in place to support the post-school education and training (PSET) system across a wide range of developed and developing countries. It also raises par...

Volume 2: An analysis of existing post-school education and training expenditure and revenue >

The Post-School Education and Training (PSET) system has a critical role to in providing the human capital, research and innovation that is needed to drive development and raise economic growth over the long term. In South Africa, the PSET system has...

International Labour Organisation: Future of Work Initiative. Theme 4: The governance of work >

The purpose of this final paper is to encourage participants in the national dialogue on the future of work to look ahead to the likely impact of the emerging forces in the world of work and to imagine a governance landscape for the future world of w...

Data considerations for education and labour market indicators >

Education and labour market planning cannot take place in a vacuum. As the Department of Higher Education's (DHET's) Green Paper for Post-school Education and Training (DHET, 2012: 81) puts it, 'The foundation of any planning process is the existence...

Differential pathways of South African students through higher education >

This paper reports on a six-year study (2005 2010) tracking a cohort of students from Grade 12 into and through the South African higher education (HE) system. The study sought to ascertain how the pathways of students from different socioeconomic ba...

Pathways through education and training and into the labour market >

Cross-sectional surveys of student trajectories through the education and training systems and into the labour market, like those mounted by Statistics South Africa, are useful in providing snapshots of the status quo at any given time. Because stude...

Pathways through the education and training system: Do we need a new model? >

This brief presentation uses the existing pathways model to illustrate blockages and bottlenecks in education-labour market articulation. In so doing it suggests a revised pathways model of education and training in South Africa.

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...

Skills shortages in South Africa: A literature review >

This paper conducts a review of the literature on skills shortages in South Africa. It is demonstrated that different Government departments have different views concerning the definition of skills shortages. This is largely due to the omission in an...

Policy Roundtable 6: Knowledge-based artisanal futures? >

This presentation highlights the following topics raised at the Policy Roundtable 6: Knowledge-based artisanal futures? Local Context: Artisan training; Global context: Technological progression leads to increasing economic reliance on knowledge-driv...

The changing nature of artisanal work and occupations: What knowledge and skill does a 21st century artisan need? >

This presentation addresses the following question: what knowledge and skills does a 21st century artisan needs; and what would a 'good artisan training system' look like?

Why does industry need artisans/technicians >

This presentation answers the research question by discussing the following topics: Typical tasks performed by artisans/technicians; servicing and maintenance; removal and refitting of parts and components; dismantling and re-assembling of parts and...

Final research report for MERSETA OEM chamber: Empowering people with disabilities project >

This report is a summary of the research conducted in the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) chamber of the merSETA. The purpose of the research was: 'To identify the best way to recruit, train and deploy people with disabilities (PwD) on MERSETA...

Mitigating service delivery protest through skills development and employment >

The specific aim of this research is to explore how to mitigate violence associated with service delivery protests through skills development programmes targeted at youth. If local government is to heal relations with young people, could skills devel...

The state of graduate teacher transition to the labour market >

Education has a critical role to play in the broader economic and social development of communities. Integral in any education projection are teachers that are skilled and are able to offer quality education. Various kinds of both national and intern...

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...

The changing role of public research institutes in South Africa: A report to the NRF >

The research reported on here will contribute one complementary component to a multifaceted research agenda focused on problematising the developmental role of universities and public research institutes in the national system of innovation in South...

The factors that constrain or enable black femal botany and zoology honours students in making the transition to masters studies in Eastern Cape universities >

This study's main aim was to find out why so few black female honours students' progress to masters studies in two biodiversity-related fields, Botany and Zoology and what constrains and enables black female honour students in these fields in progres...

Skills mismatch and informal sector participation among educated immigrants: Evidence from South Africa >

The presentation looks at employment outcomes for immigrants relative to natives in the SA labour market. Particularly, we show that: conditional on education, immigrants from different countries have different likelihoods of being employed in a skil...

Skills mismatch and informal sector participation among educated immigrants: Evidence from South Africa >

Using South African census data, we show that immigrants with tertiary education from different origin country groups differ in their likelihood of obtaining a skilled job. Immigrants from advanced country groups outperform native internal migrants,...

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...

Independent schooling: Assessing its size and shape >

This presentation at the Independent Schools Conference focuses on the subject of: 'Independent schooling: assessing its size and shape'.

International Labour Organisation: Future of Work Initiative. Theme 3: The organisation of work and production >

The paper starts with an overview of the context in which changes to the organisation of work and production are likely to take place over the next two decades. It then looks at some basic aspects of this process at a global level, including the need...

Skills development in the financial and accounting services sector >

This study was commissioned by the Financial and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Fasset), with the main aim of providing the SETA with a detailed profile of the sector that it serves, a description of education and traini...

Survey of the financial and accounting services sector May 2008 final report >

The overall aim of the sector study was to provide Fasset with an integrated profile of the Financial and Accounting Services Sector, the education and training provision to the sector, and the skills needs and requirements of the sector. The specifi...

Social Work as a scarce and critical profession >

The constraint of high-level skills within the South African labour market is considered by government to be a key obstacle to achieving its target of a six percent economic growth rate. In support of the challenges to address skills shortages, the v...

Tourism: Sector studies research project >

Within the context of the national importance assigned to the development of the South African tourism sector as a contributor to overall national economic and employment growth, this sector study attempts to answer one key question for its client, t...

Educators: Scarce and critical skills research project >

The Department of Labour commissioned a Research Consortium which included the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to undertake a range of research projects on aspects of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) (1 April 2005   31...

Skills shortages in South Africa: Case studies of key professions >

South Africa's skills shortages are widely regarded as a key factor preventing the achievement of targeted growth rates. There is some dispute as to the nature and extent of these shortages, given that the country also has a large pool of unemployed...