Isett Seta Scarce & Critical Skills Training to SDFs

2006 - 2007

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

1.DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR AND SETA PROCESSES IN THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PLANNING CYCLE

2.DEFINING SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS

3.THE ORGANISING FRAMEWORK FOR OCCUPATIONS (OFO)

3.1Principles, Structure and Layout of the OFO

3.2Using the OFO to Collect and Report Scarce and Critical Skills

3.3Completing the Scarce and Critical Skill Collection Template

4.IDENTIFYING AND COLLECTING INFORMATION ON SCARCE SKILLS

4.1Why focus on scarce skills?

4.2Identifying scarce skills against current occupations

APPENDIX 1: COMPARISON BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES IN THE WSP FORMAT (WSP) AND THE ORGANISING FRAMEWORK FOR OCCUPATIONS (OFO)

APPENDIX 2: OCCUPATIONAL DESCRIPTORS

APPENDIX 3: ICT ORGANISING FRAMEWORK FOR OCCUPATIONS (OFO)

INTRODUCTION

This document contains information from the Dept. of Labour’s Framework for Identifying and MonitoringScarce & Critical Skills. The purpose of this information and training document is to clarify expectations with regard to the collecting and reporting of scarce and critical skills in the Isett Sector.

Stakeholders are also reminded to download Isett Seta’s Sector Skills Plan from . It contains the scarce and critical skills that were identified previously but needs urgent updating with more recent and accurate data which can only be obtained from Levy Paying Companies.

1.DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR AND SETA PROCESSES IN THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PLANNING CYCLE

In accordance with the Skills Development Act (SDA) section 10 (1) (a) each Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) is required to develop a Sector Skills Plan (SSP) within the framework of the NSDS.

It is necessary for the SSP to be updated annually to reflect changes that might have occurred in the sector since the submission of the SSP or previous annual update.

From 2006 to 2009 SETAs will be required to submit annual updates against the five-year SSP by the 31 August of each year. Annual updates would require updating information on Chapter 4 “Scarce and Critical Skills Identification” as well as the information required in other chapters. In 2010 SETAs will be required to submit their next five–year SSP.

The template outlined in section 3.3 (figure 3) and attached as APPENDIX 4 of this document has to be used for submitting information on scarce and critical skills needs.

2.DEFINING SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS

While there are various national and sectoral discussions and debates about scarce and critical skills, there is no commonly agreed definition or understanding of what the term “scarce skills” means, nor how “scarce skill” differs from “critical skill”.

In South Africa these terms are used seemingly interchangeably in the current dialogues on skills and skills development. For example, the President has been quoted as telling Cabinet that economic growth is being blocked because of “critically scarce skills”. The NSDS (2005-2010) uses “critical” in Objective 1 in respect of providing information about skills shortages and “scarce” in Objectives 2 and 4 in respect of the delivery of training programmes to address skills shortages. The Government’s Programme of Action refers to scarce skills but does not provide a definition.

It is worth noting from the outset that all countries and research agencies in the labour market arena, labour market intervention specialists and economists, use different terminology to express the notion of scarce and critical skills.

Most often the term used relates to a level of “relative demand for skill” or “skill shortage”. Interestingly, Government Immigration Departments internationally are more inclined to a greater specificity where “skilled worker permits” are issued against identified current and future skills shortages which are impeding economic activity and growth either nationally or in a particular geographic region (Canada and Australia). These skills are then defined as occupations. Some countries go so far as to prohibit the issuing of work permits for occupations and/or occupational levels in which there is a known over-supply (for example, Ireland).

Skill associated with occupation is usually identified using an education proxy, i.e. a measure of qualification and sometimes experience. In the South African skills development context, as reflected in the 1997 Green Paper: Skills Development Strategy for Economic and Employment Growth in South Africa, skill is defined as “the necessary competencies that can be expertly applied in a particular context for a defined purpose” and “competence” has three elements:

a)Practical competence – the ability to perform a set of tasks.

b)Foundational competence – the ability to understand what we ourselves or others are doing and why.

c)Reflexive competence – the ability to integrate or connect our performance with an understanding of the performance of others, so that we can learn from our actions and are able to adapt to changes and unforeseen circumstances.

Within the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) that forms part of this Framework, ”skill” is defined as the ability to perform competently the roles and tasks associated with an occupation.

For the purpose of completing the Five Year Sector Skills Plan and Annual Updates, the following definitions are to be applied:

2.1SCARCE SKILLS refer to those occupations in which there is a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, currently or anticipated in the future, either (a) because such skilled people are not available or (b) they are available but do not meet employment criteria. This scarcity can arise from one or a combination of the following, grouped as relative or absolute:

a)Absolute scarcity: suitably skilled people are not available, for example:

  • A new or emerging occupation, i.e. there are few, if any, people in the country with the requisite skills (qualification and experience) and education and training providers have yet to develop learning programmes to meet the skills requirements.
  • Firms, sectors and even the country are unable to implement planned growth strategies and experiencing productivity, service delivery and quality problems directly attributable to a lack of skilled people.
  • Replacement demand would reflect an absolute scarcity where there are no people enrolled or engaged in the process of acquiring the skills that need to be replaced.

b)Relative scarcity: suitably skilled people available but do not meet other employment criteria, for example:

  • Geographical location, i.e. people are unwilling to work outside of urban areas.
  • Equity considerations, i.e. there are few if any candidates with the requisite skills (qualifications and experience) from specific groups available to meet the skills requirements of firms and enterprises.
  • Replacement demand would reflect a relative scarcity if there are people in education and training (formal and work-place) who are in the process of acquiring the necessary skills (qualification and experience) but where the lead time will mean that they are not available in the short term to meet replacement demand.

2.2CRITICAL SKILLS, on the other hand, in keeping with international trends refers to specific key or generic and “top up” skills within an occupation. In the South African context there are two groups of critical skills:

d)Key or generic skills, including (in SAQA-NQF terminology) critical cross-field outcomes. These would include cognitive skills (problem solving, learning to learn), language and literacy skills, mathematical skills, ICT skills and working in teams.

e)Particular occupationally specific “top-up” skills required for performance within that occupation to fill a “skills gap” that might have arisen as a result of changing technology or new forms of work organisation.

Both scarce and critical skills must be identified at the occupational level, with scarce skills being considered against the occupation itself and critical skills being reflected as specific skills within the occupation.

3.THE ORGANISING FRAMEWORK FOR OCCUPATIONS (OFO)

3.1Principles, Structure and Layout of the OFO

The OFO is a skill-based coded classification system, which encompasses all occupations in the South African context. The classification of occupations is based on a combination of skill level and skill specialisation which makes it easy to locate a specific occupation within the framework.

It is important to note that a ‘job’ and‘occupation’ are not the same. In line with ISCO and SASCO the following definitions are applied in the OFO:

a)“Job” is seen as a set of roles and tasks designed to be performed by one individual for an employer (including self-employment) in return for payment or profit.

b)“Occupation” is seen as a set of jobs or specialisations whose main tasks are characterised by such a high degree of similaritythat they can be grouped together for the purposes of the classification.

The occupations identified in the OFO therefore represent a category that could encompass a number of jobs or specialisations, e.g. the occupation “General Accountant” would also cover the specialisations “Financial Analyst” and “Insolvency Practitioner”.

Identified occupations are classified according to two main criteria: skill level and skill specialisation, where skill is used in the context of competency rather than a description of tasks or functions.

The skill level of an occupation is related to competent performance of tasks associated with an occupation. Skill level is an attribute of an occupation, not of individuals in the labour force and can operationally be measured by:

  • the level or amount of formal education and/or training;
  • the amount of previous experience in a related occupation; and
  • the amount of on-the job training

usually required to perform the set of tasks required for that occupation competently. It is therefore possible to make a comparison between the skill level of an occupation and the normally required educational level on the NQF as well as entry, intermediate and advanced levels referred to in the NSDS. This comparison is illustrated in Figure 1.

The skill specialisation of an occupation is a function of the field of knowledge required, tools and equipment used, materials worked on, and goods or services provided in relation to the tasks performed.

Based on skill level and skill specialisation, occupations are divided into Major (one digit), Sub-Major (two digits), Minor (three digits), and Unit (four digits) groupings. Occupations (five digits) are subdivisions of the unit groups and can further be broken down into specialisations or jobs which are however not specified in the OFO itself. Occupational descriptors are currently being developed and will provide a description of the associated tasks for every occupational grouping (up to the fifth digit level). An example of what this could look like is attached as APPENDIX 2.

Within the current OFO there are 8 Major Groups, 43 Sub major Groups, 108 Minor Groups, 408 Unit Groups and 1171 Occupations.

Schematically the structure of the OFO is illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 1 provides an estimated comparison of the skill level of the Major Groups in relation to the NQF levels as well as entry, intermediate and advanced level skills. It must be noted that the NQF levels especially are a rough estimation and could vary as they are an indication of qualification level and not necessarily the skill level associated with competent performance.

Figure 1: Comparison between skill levels covered by Major Groups in OFO and NQF and NSDS levels


3.2Using the OFO to Collect and Report Scarce and Critical Skills

Identification of both scarce and critical skills will be at the occupational level[1] with scarce skills being considered against the occupation itself and critical skills being reflected as specific skills within the occupation.

The OFO that will be used for the identification of scarce and critical skills in the SSP (Chapter 4) and annual updates has been translated into a template and is attached as APPENDIX 4. Guidelines on how to complete the template are provided in section 3.4 and a pro forma example of a completed template is included as Figure 3 at the end of section 3.4.

There are four areas that need to be measured and reflected in the template for SSPs and annual updates:

a)Critical skills needed in an existing occupation (i.e. missing or top up skills required for competent performance).

b)Current scarce skills in respect of a particular occupation (i.e. people not available, lack of suitably qualified and/or experienced people) and includes equity issues.

c)Replacement demand.

d)Future scarce skills in respect of a particular (known or emerging) occupation (i.e. suitably qualified and/or experienced people anticipated to be lacking in the future). Include issue of equity as well.

It is important to note that the OFO is still in a developmental state and will be updated to reflect changes and/or additions identified by SETAs and included in the SSPs or annual updates. Any changes to information submitted by SETAs will be shared and communicated to all SETAs as part of the DoL’s evaluation process so that SETAs are able to adapt their records accordingly.

SETAs intending to use the OFO to collect information from employers should alert them to the fact that the number of occupational categories is not the same as per the Department of Labour’s regulatory (summary) format for Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs). Guidelines on how the information collected through the use of the OFO can be adopted for summary and reflection in the WSPs is attached as APPENDIX 1.

The purpose for using the OFO across the SETAs and the Department is to ensure consistency in reporting and monitoring in order that trends can be identified and aggregated across economic sectors. The information so collected will enable the Department of Labour to develop the National Guide on occupational or employment trends as per success indicator 1.2 of the NSDS.

This also provides SETAs with the opportunity to develop strategies jointly across their sub-sectors and with other economic sectors facing similar skills shortages (scarce and/or critical).

3.3Completing the Scarce and Critical Skill Collection Template

3.3.1Column 1: Occupation

Purpose: this column reflects the occupational groupings within the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) up to digit level 5. This column is “read only”, and nothing may be changed or added.

General: The rows containing the first and second digit levels in the occupational classification are shaded and this information is only meant to assist SETAs to allocate the appropriate occupations against which to identify scarce and critical skills. In order to assist in the identification of occupations an alphabetical list has been prepared. This list also contains alternative titles and some already identified specialisations and is attached as APPENDIX 3. No information may be provided in these rows. After completion of the template all empty rows except the shaded rows relating to occupations against which scarce or critical skills have been identified may be hidden. For example if no occupation has been identified in Major group 2 then all rows with codes starting with a 2 may be hidden. If the occupation with the number 23411 has been identified as scarce, then Major group 2 and Sub-Major group 23 as well as the occupational group 23411 should not be hidden, but all other Sub-Major, Minor and Unit groups as well as the other occupations starting wit a 2 can be hidden. SETAs may also adapt the OFO (outlined in the scarce and critical skills template and attached as APPENDIX 4) before the collection of information for its specific sector by means of eliminating occupational categories definitely not appropriate to their Sectors. Numbers used in the coding may not be changed.

3.3.2Column 2: Scarce Skills (SS)

Purpose: to indicate whether there is a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, current or anticipated, for the specific occupation (see paragraph 2.3.2 for the definition of scarce skill). This column will inform the final scarce skills list to be compiled by the Department of Labour.

Information required: If there is a need for people for the specific occupation a tick can be used in this column next to the relevant occupation. All needs (even if this involves only 10 people) should be recorded.

Across all SETAs this could add up to a significant number of scarce skills or it could reveal a situation that is essential to economic growth. If there is not a scarcity of people for the occupation this column is to be left open.

General: SETAs should complete their scarce and critical skills lists against the relevant occupation (5th digit level). For 2005/06, SETAs will be allowed some flexibility for the alignment and re-submission of the Five Year SSP (2005 – 2010) that have to be aligned and submitted by 31 August 2005. An indication of scarcity at digit levels 3 and 4 will be acceptable where SETAs are not yet set up to report against level 5. However, reporting against occupation digit levels 1 and 2 does not provide meaningful information and will not be acceptable.

3.3.3Column 3: Critical Skills

Purpose: to identify particular or specific skills that are critical to the occupation to ensure competence and competitiveness. Critical skills refer to “top up” skills required within a specific occupation (see paragraph 2.3.2 for the definition of scarce skill). This column will inform the critical skills list to be compiled by the Department of Labour.

Information required: The critical skills that are required should be listed in this column in line with the most appropriate or related occupation.

General: Critical skills can refer to cognitive skills (problem solving, learning to learn), language and literacy skills, mathematical skills, ICT skills, working in teams etc. It can also refer to technical top up skills related to the specific occupation. The Department of Labour, in analysing the critical skills lists across SETAs, will begin establishing a list of general and cognitive as well as technical critical skills that are common across sectors.

3.3.4Column 4: Intervention

Purpose: to identify the most appropriate learning strategies to address the scarce or critical skills identified against the occupation.

Information required: The SETAs have to identify the learning strategies considered the most appropriate in respect of addressing the scarce or critical skills identified against that occupation. The list of learning interventions or learning programme types included should be used to provide the information in column 5. The appropriate abbreviation as shown below should be used as an indication.