Contents

Page

1. Introduction . 2 2. The History on developing artisans: The Apprenticeships.. 4 3. The Skills Development Act: The birth of Learnerships . 8 4. The context of Learnerships . 10 5. Learnerships in the construction industry to date 12 6. Constraints encountered within Learnerships .. 14 7. Attracting and recruiting the Youth in becoming Artisans .. 18 9. Conclusion 19 10. Bibliography ... 20

Introduction South Africa has received international acclaim and recognition for having successfully dismantled the previous apartheid system and replaced it with a democratic order, this was a monumental task, which our new government tackled with distinction (Kunene, 2006). But despite this progress, low levels of skills among the majority of the formerly disadvantaged population and high unemployment rates, especially among youths (age 15-24), still remain the countrys most pressing concerns and greatest problem towards a better future for all (Mummenthey, 2008). The learnership system, which was introduced by the Skills Development Act in 1998, was thought to be a creative vehicle (Davies et al, 2004) to tackle these problems in two significant ways: first, by enhancing skills levels in a workplace-oriented environment and second by providing learners with employment during the phase of acquiring recognised occupational training. A research study conducted by Mummenthey (2008) found that since its actual implementation in 2000, the system has not always been able to meet up to its expectations. Low enrolment rates and a slow employer take up characterize the system in most sectors. This is particularly true for the construction sector, which is perceived as an escalator industry for skills development by the government (Erasmus et al, 2009), as the industry requires fairly basic and intermediate skills. Moreover, the industry provides the necessary infrastructure for all other economic sectors and is therefore critical for the countrys future economic growth and international competitiveness. The low employer take-up in the sector seems to be persistent, despite the fact that the industry is currently experiencing huge constraints in terms of skills, most importantly in carrying out the infrastructural projects connected to the governments Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA). This included R372 billion spending plan for various kinds of general infrastructure for the preparation of the 2010 Soccer World Cup (cidb, 2007). Due to the low involvement in training the industry faces a severe shortage of adequately skilled staff, particularly artisans across all major trades. The shortage of artisans, which is considered to hamper infrastructure development both in the public and private sector, is projected to go beyond 2010.

The construction sector; which due to its labour intensive nature by using relatively elementary skills, is regarded as one of the key drivers for reducing unemployment and poverty (CETA, 2007; cidb, 2004). Providing employment to more than 700000 people and the largest contributor to the GDP growth (CETA, 2007), the construction sector is not only a direct means for promoting social inclusion and future development, but most importantly, a means to an end as it provides the necessary infrastructure to support economic growth and output in all other economic sectors (CETA, 2007). Despite its important role in creating the countrys future, its participation in developing skills in the sector is very low, with only 1443 enterprises out of 23979 levy paying enterprises submitting Workplace Skills Plans (CETA, 2007). This indicates that the level of participation in learnership training is low, even though the industry currently faces severe skill constraints. A 25-year period of significant decline ending in the year 2000, during which very little investment was made in training, has left this sector with a very low base of human capacity and a skilled workforce, which is mainly approaching retirement age (CIDB, 2007). Since the low-point in 1999 the industry, in the previous years, has seen a steady increase in infrastructure development and residential building, which has already severely strained the existing skills force and has challenged the industry to secure the required skills (CIDB, 2006, 2007).

There is strong consensus amongst employers and industry bodies that the rising demand for construction is fast out-pacing the supply of appropriately trained and qualified people at all levels (cidb, 2007), therefore the lack of skilled labour is considered the primary constraint for building operations, followed by shortages in the availability of building material. The primary skills needs identified in this context by the cidb (2007), are highest at artisan level. The cidb (2007) states that the skill demand for key management is less than two hundred in most categories, whilst for skilled and semi-skilled artisans it is in the range of two to three thousand over a five-year period with artisan shortages estimated to be at least in the range of 7 500 each year over the next four years and growth is expected to go beyond.

As the learnership system is regarded as one of the major means for developing artisan skills in the industry; it is imperative that an efficient and effective implementation of the system in the
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industry be addressed urgently, the general importance of a functioning learnership system in the construction industry for reducing unemployment and ensuring overall future growth in South Africa, can thus not be overstated (Mummenthey, 2008).

1. History on Developing Artisans: Apprenticeship

In her study on Learnerships in the Construction Industry, Mummenthey (2008) investigated the history of Apprenticeship training and its eventual failure. The subsequent text has been taken from her thesis: The origins of learnerships can be traced back to the apprenticeship system of the 1920s (Apprenticeship Act of 1922), which at the time was a racially defined training system reserved purely for the white segment of the South African population. Traditionally, the apprenticeship system was South Africas major pathway for intermediate skills development, and thus the qualification of white artisans for all major industry sectors, including the construction industry. Artisan apprentices were fully sponsored by an employer during their apprenticeship, which had an average duration of 3-5 years. Apprentices studied in part-time block release format at a technical college and were provided practical work experience under the supervision of a senior artisan at their workplace. The historically white system only became inclusive and accessible to the African population with the reforms recommended by three state commissions in the late 1970s the Wiehahn, Riekert and De Lange Commission (1977-1981). The commissions, which had been a reaction to the imminent skills shortage of this era, argued for a streamlining and rationalising of labour and training legislation as well as improved access for Africans to formal schooling, technical colleges and enterprise training.

Based on these recommendations, the statutory de-racialisation of the apprenticeship system became effective formally with the enactment of the Manpower Training Act in 1981 (Akoojee et al., 2005). As a result of this new legislation, the National Training Board (NTB) was established in the same year, and its primary function was to serve as a national consultant for the development of policy strategies in the vocational education and training sector. From the mid-80s the system began to experience a substantial and continuous decline, the first indication of which was a significant drop in the number of qualified artisans (from 13500 in 1985 to 5145 in 1999). In addition there was a significant decrease in the number of newly indentured
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apprentices (from 10758 in 1991 to a low of 3129 in 1999, signifying - 70.91%). For the building industry, the numbers dropped from 417 indentured apprentices in 1991 to 107 in 1999, a decline of 74.34% (Kraak, 2007, pp. 487-488). Secondly, the system achieved very low placement rates after training, which was estimated between an average of 15% by the DoL (2001c, p. 32) and 33.6% by FET college graduates in 2001 Kraak (2003a, pp. 680-681) reported that 69.7% of African and 24.2% of white qualified artisans remained unemployed. The low placement rates were due mainly to a social change in training conditions in the system over the years.

With the introduction of the Manpower Training Act in 1981 and the years following the official de-racialisation, the racial distribution in the system became more and more inverted. Ninety percent of the students in technical colleges were now black and studied full-time, mostly without being able to obtain any employer participation (Kraak, 2007). This clearly indicated that even though the legal barriers for inclusion had been withdrawn, the system still seemed premised on the continued exclusion of Africans to equal employment opportunities. Other reasons, apart from the de-racialisation process, which may have supported the decline, were (Akoojee et al., 2005) the economic recession during the final phase of apartheid; rising costs of training fees (up to 80% of a skilled labourers wage); reduction of subsidies and phasing out of tax concessions; poor image of FET colleges, due to a lack of responsiveness to labour market requirements

Whatever the reasons for the decline were, a report of the HSRC in 1984 ( Investigation into the Training of Artisans), leveled criticisms at and questioned the general quality of the training and the system of control for apprenticeships. The main concerns were related to the ability of the system to meet current technological skills requirements and the low quality of the practical workplace training. This was often unsupervised and unstructured on-the-job training, which did not always expose the apprentice to the full range of the trade. Moreover, the report stressed a lack of theoretical input and criticised the fact that the system attributed artisan status after 5 years irrespective of passing the trade test, i.e. only by effluxion of time. A general

dissatisfaction was further expressed with the time-based model, as it did not take into account the differing learning tempos of the apprentices. Other critics were concerned with the narrow confine of apprenticeships, which did not cater for all age categories, gender groups (highly male dominated), skills levels (only artisans) and industrial sectors (Akoojee et al., 2005).They thus argued for a more responsive, inclusive and flexible skills development system to meet the needs of all (age, race and gender dimensions as well as employment sectors).

Apprenticeships versus learnerships: Characteristic features and differences As the apprenticeship training programme under these conditions did not seem a realistic option for a national skills solution, the concept of learnerships was introduced. The new system sought to be more flexible, provide for the needs of all and to address the criticisms leveled at the declining apprenticeship system (DoL, 2001e). The component elements and key features of the two systems thus differed vastly. To illustrate these major differences the key characteristics of the apprenticeship and the learnership system are looked at in Table 1. The table has been based on the views of Mummenthey (2008) as set out in her research:

Table 1: Apprenticeships versus learnerships

Characteristics Offering principle

Apprenticeship Mainly supply-side driven: Offered by providers, independently of an articulated demand by the labour market, limited to some industries. Only blue collar trades at intermediate skills levels (N1N4) Mainly building construction workers of different designated trades at N2 level Industry Training Board (ITB) BITB (Building Industry Training Board) and Civil Engineering Industry Training Board (CEITB)
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Learnership Offered in response to an articulated social or economic need for all sectors.

Trained qualifications

All range of occupations in the NQF, in which a work-based learning route is viable.

Primary quality assurance institution

Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA)

Addressed learner group

Underlying training principle

Training providers (Theoretical; Practical)

Duration

Assessment

Primary legislation Funding

Indentured learners under the All types of learners age of 24 (employed, pre- and unemployed) with disparate levels of prior learning. No age restrictions. Time-based, Input-oriented Outcomes-based, Learner Time-based theoretical oriented Integration of education combined with theoretical education and practical, less structured onstructured workplace training the-job learning for ad of a specified nature and hoc occupational application. duration, including generic Focus on input rather skills with a clear future than an active participation of orientation. The learner stands the learner in the at the centre of the process and learning process. takes an active role in learning. Technical colleges; one Accredited provider(s); employer Employer/group of employers Building Industries Federation (large, medium, small of South Africa (BIFSA) training college; accredited institutions 3-5 years for qualifying On average 12-18 months artisans depending on the depending on the final specific trade. credit value of the NQF Part-time studies in block qualification. For artisan release format level several learnerships leading to NQF level 3-4. Format according to needs, not specified Final, central trade test Multiple, individual Conducted by BIFSA on assessments by accredited behalf of BITB assessors. Evidence provided in portfolio (i.e. Portfolio of Evidence). Manpower Training Act of Skills Development Act of 1981 1998 Voluntary levy collected and Mandatory and nationally determined by the responsible fixed levy collected by Industry Training Board. SARS and disbursed to the (Manpower Training SETA. Amendment Act of 1990) (Skills Development Levies 1.5% levy collected by BITB Act of 1999)

3. The Skills Development Act: The Birth of Learnerships

As mentioned in the preceding literature, one of the principal causes of the low level of skills in South Africa is the lack/low education across all the sectors in the country, which is influenced by an a working environment that is ever changing in terms of the methods and skills required to properly execute work tasks. According to Bellis (2001), the fact that there is very little evaluation of training done in our country has obscured the probability that much expenditure on training has done little to improve competence and performance. In his view, the problem lies in how training and development are undertaken than in how many training courses are run. The Skills Development Act (SDA), together with all the other related legislation (the South African Qualifications Authority Act No. 58 of 1995 encompassing the National Qualifications Framework concept), aims to address and lessen the above mentioned training and education deficit.

For an understanding of the nature of learnerships it is important to understand the purpose and function of the SDA and its integrated frameworks. The purpose of the skills development Act No 97 of 1998 is to: Develop the skills of the South African workforce - to improve the quality of life of workers, their prospects of work and labour mobility; - to improve productivity in the workplace and the competitiveness of employers; - to promote self-employment; and - to improve the delivery of social services To increase the levels of investment in education and training in the labour market and to improve the return on that investment: To encourage employers - to use the workplace as an active learning environment; - to provide employees with the opportunities to acquire new skills - to provide opportunities for new entrants to the labour market to gain work experience;
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- to employ persons who find it difficult to be employed; To improve the employment prospects-of persons previously disadvantaged by unfair discrimination and to redress those disadvantages through training and education; To ensure the quality of education and training in and for the workplace; To assist - work seekers to find work, retrenched workers tore-enter the labour market; employers to find qualified employees: and to provide and regulate employment services.

The above purposes are to be achieved through institutional and financial frameworks, made up of :

The National Skills Authority: whose function is to advice the minister of labour, liaise with the SETAs, conduct investigations and exercise any other of powers the Act. The National Skill Fund: This will be created from funds collected from skill development, levies, from parliament donations to the fund, interest from investments and money received from other sources.

Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Labour Centers: Whose main function are to provide employment services for workers, employers and training providers especially in rural areas, to register work seekers and to register vacancies and work opportunities

The Skills Development Planning Unit: This is a unit at the Department of Labour (DoL) head office to address the national issues on policy and strategy such as the National Skills Development Strategy I- IIII.

One of the major structures for the achievement of the purposes of the SDA is that of the SETAs (Bellis, 2001), as they are the functioning limbs of the SDA. They are also tasked with implementing, registering, promoting and collecting & distributing skills development levies within their respective sectors (SDA, 1998).
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4. The Context of Learnerships

Babb et al (2005) points out the learnership system are one of the cornerstones of the new skills development legislation. The learnership system is seen as an intervention to redress the old apprenticeship system and its problems and create a high quality dual system of learning (Mukora, 2008). Learnerships are defined and regulated by the Skills Development Act and according to chapter 4 of the SDA; learnerships require the following elements for their establishment through a Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA): consists of a structured learning component; includes practical work experience of a specified nature and duration; would lead to a qualification registered by the South African Qualifications Authority and related to an occupation; and is registered with the Director-General in the prescribed manner.

There are varying definitions of a Learnership, but based on what is outlined in the SDA, it can be described as a path to a nationally recognised qualification that relates to an occupation and consists of a structured learning component and practical work experience. The Construction Education and Training Authoritys (CETA, 2006) defines it as: A learnership is a route to acquiring a qualification in the National Qualification Framework (NQF) that offers both theoretical and workplace experience in any chosen career. . The learnership programme is a qualification that is outcomes-based. It allows learners to interact with the working environment while gaining an understanding of the workplace. Mummenthey (2008) in her research defines it as providing a planned and appropriate combination of learning outcomes with a defined purpose, providing learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning comprising three components i.e. fundamental, core and elective unit standards entailing specified exit level outcomes and generally achieving the required credits in a range of 30% to 70% of time spent at the workplace.

As stipulated by the SDA (RSA, 1998) the learnership agreement is a legally binding agreement that has to be concluded between the employer and the learner. For a learnership to be legal, there needs to a signing of a learnership agreement between the three involved parties to a learnership (the Employer, the Learner and the Training provider.) and the learnership needs to
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registered with a SETA. This agreement is in addition to a general contract of employment signed by the learner. The contract of employment and the learnership agreement place clear obligations and rights on all three parties to the learnership agreement. The basic responsibilities according to the learnership agreement are (Department of Labour, 2001a):

Employer duties: to employ the learner for the defined period to provide the learner with practical work experience to allow the learner to attend off-the-job education and training measures.

Learner duties: to work for the employer to attend any education/training programmes specified.

Provider duties: to provide the learner with the education and training as specified to support the learner in the learning process.

The contract of employment will stipulate the conditions of employment such as working hours, overtime and leave; it will also indicate how much and learner will be paid. The learner has to be paid an allowance. According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 75 of 1997 (RSA, 2001), this allowance is calculated as a percentage of the qualified wage based on the credits the learner has already achieved. The qualified wage is defined as the wage the employer would pay the learner on obtaining the qualification for which the learnership is registered. The exact remuneration as well as its calculation (and the minimum allowance) are regulated by the Act.

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Learnerships in the Construction Industry to date

CETA funds learnership, but with a total of 8 365 levy-paying construction companies in the sector, only 56 learnerships had been registered with the CETA by mid 2003 (cidb, 2004). Since then there has been an innovative approach by industry and CETA that has enabled an introduction of a system in which a number of companies can take on a shared commitment, thus providing some renewed impetus to skills development (cidb, 2004). Government support to this approach is reflected in amended regulations that cater for employer groups, by the form of a tax incentive. The tax incentive is applicable at the beginning of and upon completion of the learnership (DoL, 2001), at the beginning of the learnership (for learners already employed by the entity) once a Learnership agreement has been entered into and the agreement registered with a SETA, the employer is eligible for a deduction of 70% of the annual wages paid to that learner up to a maximum of R20 000 during the relevant year of assessment and upon completion for (unemployed learners) the employer is eligible for a deduction of 100% of the Learnership allowance paid to that learner up to a maximum of R30 000 during the relevant year of assessment. To date CETA has 84 registered learnerships; with 44 of them active, 21 of them replaced and 19 of them Active but to be extended in the future.

The following is a list of registered learnerships for the year 2010(CETA, 2010):

Registration Number

NQF Status

Learnership Title

Qualification Number

Status

05 Q 050048 18 120 1 05 Q 050047 16 120 1 05 Q 050049 20 120 1 05 Q 050034 41 120 1 05 Q 050036 40 120 1

1 1 1 1 1

Construction Floor coverer(carpentry) Construction Floor coverer(carpeting) Construction Floor coverer(vinyl) Construction road worker(construction) Construction road worker(maintenance)

24296 24296 24296 22977 22977

Active Active Active Replaced 24133 Replaced 24133 by by

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Registration Number

NQF Status

Learnership Title

Qualification Number

Status

05 Q 050073 21 123 2 05 Q 050074 22 139 2 05 Q 050080 32 129 2 05Q05103261202 05Q050110221403 05Q050110221403 05Q050110221403 05Q050110221403 05Q050101351604 05Q050064 241426 05Q050087871764 05Q050063252715 05Q050043312045 05Q050044342675 05Q050089341405

2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5

Construction materials tester (bituminous) Construction materials tester (concrete) Construction crane operator Construction foreman NC: Construction plasterer NC: Construction masonry NC: Construction painter NC: Construction formworks Plumber

49058 49058 48961 49410 65409 65409 65409 65409 58782

Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Replaced 49053 Active Active Active Active by

Surveyor(hydrographic) 20487 Construction supervisor 23682 Structural steel detailer 48636

Manager: Building 23675 Construction Manager: Civil 23675 Roadworks Geographical 23675 information science operator

The CEO of CETA, Mr. Petrus Maoko, reaffirmed their dedication to skills development by saying CETA is prepared and able to answer the call to accelerate skills development within the construction sector and is setting measures in place that will assist the organization worker faster, harder and smarter to meet the needs of the construction sector and accelerate the turn-around time of internal processes and that CETA is ready to make the construction sector more
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accessible to women, young people, people with disabilities and rural communities (Duma, 2010).

Constraints encountered within Learnerships

In the book on Perspective in Learnerships, Babb et al (2005) have highlighted the key elements for an effective learnership programme. The elements are the overall purpose, aims and objectives of the programme, the governance of the programme, the learning outcome expressed as a qualification, the selection of the learners, the quality of the learning provision, on the job training and work placement, the assessment process and ongoing evaluation of the programme and the administration of the system.

Overall purposes, aims and objective: It is clear that the purpose and objective of such a programme is to address the national, professional and organisational need for skilled artisan and to redress the gap of inequality amongst the South African citizens. The governance of the system: A learnership is a multi stakeholders (the DoL, DoE, SETAs, learners, training providers etc) entity and the more diverse the stakeholders; the more essential the governance structures and processes need to be. It is when all these stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities that an effective programme is created.

Qualifications: The learnership must lead to an accredited qualification, which may be broad based or occupation specific. The curriculum must include broader skills requirements such as interpersonal skills, life skills, problem solving skill and communication skills which are cited as being critical to enable the learner to perform to their full potential and be adaptable to any working environment.

Selection of learners: Although learnerships are open to any one, within the designated age limits, there needs to be a balance between the numbers of learners accepted into them with their best chances of succeeding. To ensure this an assessment of potential learners to ensure their basic ability to succeed is an essential component of selecting learners for the programme.
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Quality of learning provision: For a learnership to be work effectively, highly effective training provider institutions with well qualified and capable teaching staff, sound administration and cutting edge equipment and facilities are required.

On the job training and work placement: Successful learnerships incorporate on the job training, coaching and assessment, furthermore on the job training should be structured, outcome based and challenging. By structured, they should ensure that the necessary learning outcomes are covered, by outcome based they should ensure that the learning actually occurs and the progression from one phase to the next without worrying about the time and it should be challenging by ensuring that the learner is motivated to learn.

The assessment and evaluation process: The assessment process needs to be a multiple process involving problem solving, and the design of the process is critical, and the capacity of the assessors needs to be built and the appropriate tools developed. Learnerships should also evaluate their success, that is their outcome such as if their learners have been employed, if they are contributing to their sector and how successful their outcome is instead of the number of learners the programme has produced.

Administration of the programme: For a learnership to work the administrator who manages it should ensure that the data required should be well maintained, as it is needed for workplace skills planning and reporting, employment equity and sectoral charter reporting.

All these above mentioned elements, if properly implemented, prove to deliver an effective and successful learnership (Examples of such successes is the BAKSETA, from the banking sector, (Dunn, 2005)); so then the question arises why are most learnership not delivering what the Skills development act had set out to achieve? Based on various literature read the following are the key problems thought to be the hindering factors to the success of learnership programme for artisans in general and in the construction industry (MBA, 2008; Mukora, 2008; Mummenthey, 2008, cidb, 2004; CETA, 2008; Babb et al, 2005)

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When the Setas were established, the majority did not have appropriate systems and procedures in place to deal with their core functions. From a governance and oversight point of view, the situation was equally problematic as SETA boards were constituted and sought to define their areas of responsibility.

There was an underestimation of the scale of the task and the volume of the problems in terms of implementing the SDA. This then could have fed into a failure to sufficiently factor in the extent to which the new system might become bureaucratized and hence, its resource intensity.

There appeared to be a lack of understanding not only around the structure of the economy but also the nature of work processes (especially in relation to artisans and the role they played in the production process).

Those pushing for a new order did not have an appreciation for the artisan and there was a sense that intermediate (artisan) skills are not important. This was partly related to the fact that the apprenticeship system had become so fundamentally linked with the apartheid system (and hence had become discredited) and there was a real sense that artisan skills would no longer be required as part of the skills base of the new economy which was to emerge. Hence, the artisan became a devalued commodity.

Research has revealed that learnerships until fairly recently, have tended to be focused at very low skills levels. Where artisan-based learnerships have been introduced, cynicism emerged around quality. It has been argued that this is partly a result of the fact that learnerships were not ready to be implemented when they were but there was political pressure to do so as opposed to continuing with the apprenticeship system.

The people required to provide training do not possess the skills required for effective coaching and training and in addition the administration burden associated with learnerships and assessment results in trainers feeling that they are distracted from their core responsibilities.
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The pipeline for the development of skilled personnel is partly a responsibility of education and labour. So it is not within the sole domain of Setas to deliver skills into the economy. The effectiveness of the educational system is critical in achieving this objective. This not only raises the question of the linkage between education and labour and the lack of co-ordination between the two ministries but also highlights the fact that a number of blockages have occurred, some of which are systemic and have nothing to do with the functioning of the Setas.

Often the lack of an overall learning curriculum is indicative of poor workplace skills planning (which must be submitted to the SETA by employers).

In many learnerships there is a significant divide between what learners are taught and what occurs on the job. What the learner learns in the classroom is unable to practice in the work environment.

The construction environment with increasingly temporary and casual employment does not bode well for learnerships as these by definition have a long-term orientation (duration of a minimum of one year) and require formal contractual arrangements. The duration of the training may thus be a concern.

Another challenge is the labour-intensive nature of the work, which requires the employment of a large amount of relatively elementary skills, about 40 percent of the workforce is made up of general manual labour (who are unqualified or partly qualified). African employees fill almost 90 percent of the elementary occupations. The sector employs the fourth highest number of people having no formal education, which challenges the implementation of learnerships even further as this industry is particularly affected by the numeracy, literacy and language related problems.

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Attracting and Recruiting the Youth as Artisans

Over the years various discussions have taken place on how to build the image of the artisan (Mukora, 2008). The Artisan Development Coordinating Committee has proposed, during their committees meeting in June 2007, a new definition of an artisan as follows: Artisan will mean a person that has been certificated as competent by a relevant Education and Training Quality Assurance body for a qualification registered on the National Qualifications Framework for a Trade listed by the Minister of Labour in the Skills Development Act as amended, which trade has a designation at occupation level on the Organising Framework for Occupations and the person is registered with the Registrar for Artisans as an Artisan for such a Trade. It is obvious that in the past, the artisan was considered a valued skill within the workplace but as the years went by, the artisan became less appreciated and respected. It is also apparent that young people would rather work with computers than to for engineering and its associated professions, because young people are afraid to get their hands dirty (Mukora, 2008). If the country is to increase the supply of artisans; some measures will have to be implemented to encourage the youth to become artisans. Catt et al (1997) established mechanism or methods that can be employed in attracting and retaining younger people to what they perceive unsuitable or undesirable careers. Advertising: a well written, catchy advert placed in the newspaper, magazines and played on radio and TV, outlining the benefits of being an artisan and how acquiring such skills would empower the applicant; would go a long way in changing the perception of the artisan and attracting the youth.

Open events: the DoL, DoE, the SETAs and all the other contributing stakeholders could host a series of open days in schools and communities,

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