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WorldSkills SA and training
9
March 2017
AFRICAN FUSION
Lincoln Electric has been sponsoring WorldSkills
International for the past four years and has
come onboard to sponsor the local WorldSkills SA
competition.
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-
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.