Employability Spotlight: Turning Learnerships into Careers

Employability Spotlight: Turning Learnerships into Careers in the South African Educational Sector

In South Africa where youth unemployment is fast becoming one of the highest in the world, with 45,5% unemployment rate among young people who are aged 15-34 years. South Africa’s learnership programs have become a lifeline for thousands of young people looking to break into the employment sector. Designed as a bridge between education and employment, learnerships are now seen not just as training opportunities, but as powerful tools for long-term careers in the development and economic inclusion space.

What is a Learnership?

A learnership is a structured program that is work-based which can be over 12 to 24 months, whereby a learner undergoes theoretical work which would weigh 30% whilst the practical weighs about 70% of the learnership. The possibilities of employment are endless, for example at SDC we deal with soft skills learnerships focusing on courses such as marketing, cybersecurity and courses anybody can do such as truck-driving courses, that even a person with only Grade 10 can be eligible for.

At The Skills Development Corporation, we have always understood that with the rising unemployment crisis, any efforts to assist the youth in not only grasping the knowledge theory to complete the learnership, but also by creating the right experience opportunities. Learners are unable to secure employment after their studies due to no experience, whilst employers want candidates with practical skills while young people are rarely afforded the opportunities to do this.

Learnerships are beneficial, make business sense for the employer and the learner, here’s why:

Industry created learnerships – learnerships are created by for industry specific occupations, developed by industry experts to ensure the qualifications as well as the skills better align with the current market job requirements. Industry stakeholders are often consulted, and these programs then lead to nationally considered qualifications.
The placement partner gets to experience and participate in the cycle of higher returns from the Skills Levy, having first-hand experience of investment in training, due to transfer of learning to the job, and can account for this when the QCTO audits take place.
Setting the learnership to meet business objectives – all learnerships can be customized to the overall business strategy, for example it is possible to share stories and testimonies of leaders who have learned through challenge or change, as well as those who have moved up the ranks having started and recruited through learnerships. Using learnership in ESG reporting, under social capital and human capability development is indeed another way to show value creation.
Qualifications registered at NQF Level that will result in improved standards, productivity & better quality of work.
Tax Rebates and Employment Equity – For as long as the learnership is registered correctly under SETA and the Department of Labour, there is a SARS rebate that the learnership comes with, which is beneficial for business, as businesses earn the Tripple BEE points on the generic scorecard.
Work opportunities are available for learners as the learnership encompasses the workplace experience which serves as the 12-month interview at the employers’ office, this gives the possibility of permanent employment with that organization, provided they have performed well.
The assurance the employer has on the credibility of the learner, as the learnership not only demonstrates the theory learned part but the practical element as well.
Learners who participate with completing the logbook, work more independently, strive to add value to the business and have with them high problem solving skills.
Learners who happen to be recruited into an organization via the learnership are less likely to leave a company that took an interest into their professional and personal development.

We aim for every learner to move into permanent employment and become part of the workforce.

At our organization, we’ve always believed that the true value of a learnership not only lies in the 12-month training period, but in what happens afterwards interms of employment opportunities. Many of the 4500 learners we train yearly begin their learnership journeys without prior working experience or exposure to formal working environments. By the end of their learnerships, they’d have developed the confidence and competence to pursue full time employment, their own small business or even the right attitude or inspiration to study further.

Employers who work with SDC’s hosting partners benefit. How? You might ask. They get the opportunity to assess the learners’ firsthand. Many companies choose to absorb high-performing learners into permanent roles after completion due to the nature of the 12-month interview, the workplace set-up is like a built-in recruitment pipeline that reduces hiring risk and training costs for the businesses.

For example in sectors such as business admin, IT or Management qualifications, learnership graduates are in most cases employed as junior administrators, data capturers or the likes of trainee managers, these entry roles become stepping stones into their career growth, giving them the opportunity to gain the much needed experience, a chance to earn a salary and carry on forward to economic independence.

As an accredited training provider, The Skills Development Corporation plays a major transformative role in the lives of these students, bearing in mind that we take on learners between the ages 18-28 years, relatively young adults who are still early in self-development. Apart from the NQF accreditation that we provide as SDC, we also assist in career guidance, not only delivering theory and practical but training providers overall in every sector contribute to the development of young professionals, the CV writing , the interview preparation as well as the benefit of sponsor relationships which ensures that learners training aligns with real-world workplace needs.

What are the benefits for learners one might ask, well learners gain the learning element to learnerships, better networks, better employment opportunities also afterwards. Learnerships improve whilst they are on the job performance as well as they get to gain insight that might only be learnt on the job training. Young students earn stipends for the duration of the learnership and are most likely to gain better work opportunities afterwards, provided they are acting professional and create positive reviews for themselves as well as to the sponsor.

In conclusion, to be impactful and turn learnerships into actual careers all major stakeholders must play their part. This being the accredited training providers, the employers and SETAs. Training providers must focus on a holistic training development approach, where recruitment is done right, vetting is executed with intention and courses that are in demand in the employment sector are taught. Employers should begin seeing the learners as potential long-term assets instead of satisfying a point system scorecard and SETA’s should continue to refine policies and contribute to shaping a more inclusive system in order to produce a more employable youth.