It's the pre-Apprentice

The programme is a joint initiative between the NTI, the Toolmaking Association of South Africa (TASA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It has been launched at seven pilot sites around the country - Northlink FET College in Western Cape, Ekurhuleni East College and Missouri Secondary School in Gauteng, Nkangala FET College in Mpumalanga, uMgungundlovu FET College in KwaZulu-Natal, Lephalale FET College in Limpopo and Coega Skills Centre in Eastern Cape.

Classes opened for the first time in February 2010 and 175 candidates (25 per campus) have been selected to attend the programme, which harnesses global best practice to ensure the right candidates are trained and properly prepared to pursue careers in the industry and boost the declining sector.

Global attrition rate

NTI CEO, Dirk van Dyk

NTI CEO, Dirk van Dyk, says there is a high turnover rate of people who begin training for a career in the manufacturing industry and then throw in the towel before completing the process.

"Globally, the manufacturing industry battles to keep people in manufacturing related training programmes. SA-based research, which scanned ‘entry rate' versus ‘qualification rate' across three manufacturing related feeder subjects, showed a staying rate of less than 15%. In similar research conducted in Minnesota in the US, the staying rate was between 30% and 35%, prior to the introduction of any form of pre-apprenticeship intervention.

"A large part of the problem lies in getting the right people onto the programmes in the first place. We realised that only using mathematics and science as indicators of success was not enough. We needed to attract people with a real interest in manufacturing," says Van Dyk.

He says the pre-apprentice programme route has worked well in Minnesota, increasing qualification rates from between 30% and 35% up to 75% and more.

"After a thorough research, we are following the US model, which includes improved youth-based marketing and career guidance; using enhanced assessment tools to get a more detailed profile of people in order to identify key success drivers; and a one-year orientation programme to prepare them for a more formal study path in manufacturing."

Selecting for success

In choosing people to attend its first programme, NTI developed new techniques and tools to assess which candidates would be most suitable. "It was not only a matter of looking at their maths and science qualifications, but also assessing a number of other factors such as self-drive and resilience," adds Van Dyk.

In addition to brushing up on mathematics and science, the programme will incorporate remedial work in areas where weaknesses may have been picked up, for example, technical English. This process is designed to raise candidates' level of competency prior to them following a specific manufacturing path.

The programme has been adapted for South Africa, drawing on similarities between the two manufacturing environments, including multiple cultures; English not being the mother tongue (more than 26 languages in Minnesota); and weak rural schooling systems - especially relating to maths and science. "In South Africa these weaknesses are exacerbated, thus we've expanded the life skills part of the programme to include additional remedial work on maths, science and English," he says.

Once successfully completed, the programme will provide candidates with deep insight into the tooling and manufacturing industries and a comprehensive foundation for possible advancement to the TDM-Powered Competency-based Apprenticeship Programme, which is due to be launched by NTI in 2011.