African Fusion March 2017

WorldSkills SA and training

A new vehicle for artisan training As well as lending his personal support for WorldSkills, DeputyMinister Manana is championing an expanded role for the TVET colleges, which he sees as the best vehicle for artisan development and trade testing. “This vision is embedded in thework of theNational ArtisanModerationBody (NAMB) and the trade tests will now be changed to meet the requirements of the new Curriculum Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO),” Nell explains. For welding, the QCTO is a new cur- riculum that attempts to raise artisan welder skills to international levels. The curriculum has adopted the essence of the IIW training standards, largely be- cause of the influence of SAIW’s Etienne Nell. “I would say that the new QCTO welding curriculum overlaps with the IIW International Welder programme by about 70%,” he reveals. Taking International standards on board, “theQCTOcurriculumnowmeets the Bratislava International agreement, which urges all countries to adopt com- mon global standards when it comes to welding trades. About 50 countries

across the world have now adopted these standards for the qualification of welders,” Nell tells African Fusion . “So if a South African welder passes the new QCTO-based trade test, he or she can secure a job anywhere in the world. That is what is so excellent about this new curriculum. We have been working towards this for years and it is now being pushed at the highest levels for use in the TVET colleges,” he adds. TVET Colleges as ATBs SAIW and Nell are also in discussions to change the TVET colleges further. “We would like TVET colleges offering weld- ing courses to consider becoming SAIW AuthorisedTrainingBodies (ATBs) for the IIW International Welder Programme. IIW Welder training is equivalent to the QCTO curriculum, so colleges can kill two birds with one stone. When artisans leave a TVET ATB college having passed their trade test, they can also receive the IIW International Welder (IW) qualifica- tion,” he suggests. “I strongly believe that ATBs, to- gether with the TVET colleges, when accredited by SAIW to do IIW welder training and following the QCTO cur-

Lincoln Electric has been sponsoring WorldSkills International for the past four years and has come onboard to sponsor the local WorldSkills SA competition. riculum for the trade tests could be the answer toour skills problems inwelding. “With the DHET now driving this process, we may be able to stop im- porting welding skills. Instead, we will end up with South African welders with international qualifications and the skills to get work all over the world,” Nell concludes.

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March 2017

AFRICAN FUSION