1. NATIONAL SKILLS CONFERENCE 2011
Investing in skills to secure a better future for all
Strengthening the Skills Development Implementation and Oversight/Advisory Structures
A BARK, A BITE OR A BUREAUCRACY?
Oct 2011
RONEL BLOM

2. Presentation Outline: As I see it…
The assumptions, (or ‘a bark, a bite or a bureaucracy’)
The symptoms, (or ‘the left and the right hand’)
The consequences, (or ‘cut off the feet of the patient to fit on the bed’)
The way forward (or ‘a camel or a horse?’)

3. Barkers, Biters and Bureaucracies
Starting from scratch, but of course we didn’t …
Proliferation of new bodies
The Barkers – extensive mandates, but without the means to enforce, e.g. SAQA
The Biters – quality assurance bodies, but without the will to coordinate, e.g. CHE and the SETA ETQAs
The Bureaucracies – the ‘real (old) power’? Funding and regulation.
Oh yes, and then there are the ‘newbies’, e.g. the QCTO, with an overlapping mandate
And, the voluntary bodies, e.g. APPETD; the advisory bodies, e.g. NBFET
And, the professional bodies (statutory and non-statutory)

4. The Left Hand and the Right Hand
‘…having all sectors of learning within one framework, subject to the same overall scheme of recognition, reflects the government’s policy that each sector relates to others and must be equally valued’ (DoE&DoL, 2002, p. 12)
Instead:
Silo’s – ETQAs, National Departments, Provincial Departments
Public system, Private system
Conceptually different approaches to qualifications
Conceptually different approaches to quality assurance
Different statuses in the system; power relationships, e.g.
‘the tension between ETQAs due to overlapping responsibilities is keenly felt and this seems to be compounded by the feeling that some ETQAs are more powerful than others’ (SAQA, 2005, p. 73)
Different trajectories

5. Cut off the feet of the patient to fit on the bed…
Function following form…
Recognition of prior learning
Credit accumulation and transfer
Parity of esteem
Progression pathways
Misalignment
Registration and accreditation
A public NQF and a private NQF
Different strokes for different okes
Introduction of more structures
QCTO; NEEDU
Fighting for turf
Duplication, duplication, duplication!

6. A Camel or a Horse What do we want to achieve?
Do we agree on what we want to achieve?
Do we have a common understanding of what it is that we want to achieve?
Have we considered everything?
Are we aware of the full context within which we work?
Are the beneficiaries top of mind?
Who are the beneficiaries?
What are the possible unintended consequences?
Have we considered how the skills system fits into the rest of the system? Do we want it to?
Are we making educationally sound decisions?
Do we want a camel or a horse?

7. Conclusion Form follows function Define a common vision (2030?)
Refine/align the policies
Ensure that policies are enabling, not inhibiting
Delineate the linkages
Do the deliberate work to establish the articulation pathways
Move away from the ‘valorization of policy and start to interrogate practice’ (Jansen, 2004)
No matter how good our policies
Go beyond the symbolism and the rhetoric
Decide who should do what…
Establish/reinforce/expand the necessary structures to ensure that our system makes educational sense for the good of the beneficiaries (and the economy and the country….!)