SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ARTISANS CAN HELP THE ECONOMY GROW

One of the main responsibilities of the Department of Labour is to promote skills development among South African workers and the unemployed.

Young people are encouraged to get training in scarce and critical skills as this can help our economy to grow. For example, there is a shortage of trained artisans. An artisan is a skilled worker who practices a specialised trade. Artisans include people like electricians, welders, mechanics, toolmakers, fitters and turners and millwrights. Their skills are mainly used in fields like manufacturing, construction and engineering production.

The Department of Labour has identified four paths to speed up the development of artisans. These are learnerships, apprenticeships, internships and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

RPL is a way of recognising the experience and ability a person has in a specific skill as a result of having done work in that field over a period of time without having received formal training.