Challenges regarding TVET training programs in the SA automotive industry

Abstract

This paper reports on research undertaken to understand the contribution of formal Technical Vocational Education and Training (hereafter TVET) to company-level growth and transformation in the automotive sector in South Africa. The findings of this article are part of a larger research project conducted in South Africa and five other developing countries, namely, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Laos, and Vietnam, to explore the contribution of TVET programs to inclusive industrial transformation and growth in the manufacturing sectors. It argues that formal TVET training does not drive workplace changes in technology, work organisation, and product change in the automotive sector. This paper challenges the current formal TVET provision policy in South Africa to recognise other forms of training provision, such as non-formal, and informal on-the-job training, in addition to company-level factors critical in shaping the skills system if we are to understand the extent to which skills enhance growth and transformation. © 2024 Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL), University of the Witswatersrand. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Author Keywords

TVET transformation On-the-job training Skills training industrial strategy informal training non-formal training

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Centre for Researching Education and Labour, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Funding & Acknowledgements

National Research Foundation, NRF

This research work was supported by the South African National Research Foundation through the SARCHI Chair in Skills Development; and the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development, a joint initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The research was conducted as part of my doctoral thesis at Wits University in South Africa, which formed part of the Skills for Industry Project, https://phzh.ch/en/Research/skills-for-industry/, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation through the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development. Additional support was obtained from the SARCHI Research Chair in Skills Development, funded by the South African National Research Foundation.

Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit, DDC

This research work was supported by the South African National Research Foundation through the SARCHI Chair in Skills Development; and the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development, a joint initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The research was conducted as part of my doctoral thesis at Wits University in South Africa, which formed part of the Skills for Industry Project, https://phzh.ch/en/Research/skills-for-industry/, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation through the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development. Additional support was obtained from the SARCHI Research Chair in Skills Development, funded by the South African National Research Foundation.

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, FNS

This research work was supported by the South African National Research Foundation through the SARCHI Chair in Skills Development; and the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development, a joint initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The research was conducted as part of my doctoral thesis at Wits University in South Africa, which formed part of the Skills for Industry Project, https://phzh.ch/en/Research/skills-for-industry/, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation through the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development. Additional support was obtained from the SARCHI Research Chair in Skills Development, funded by the South African National Research Foundation.

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Challenges regarding TVET training programs in the SA automotive industry

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