What we do in PSP?

The Provincial Skills & Partnerships unit is responsible for rolling out the national and provincial imperatives that aim to increase access to high quality and relevant education and training and skills development opportunities.

This includes workplace learning and experience, to enable effective participation in the economy and society by all South Africans and reduce inequalities through creating synergies with our formal education system.

Academic institutions and industries are performing on their own terms without little or no coordination and collaboration. As a consequence of this, academia ends up producing graduates or a workforce that industry cannot absorb into their organisation. Industry on the other hand cannot produce or manufacture more because they lack the needed workforce to accommodate expansion. Some of the principal factors creating the ever-widening gap between academia and industry includes the following: Lack of interactions between the two entities, lecturers or faculty lacking industrial exposure, the examination or evaluation process used in assessing students’ performance, industry not getting involved in curriculum review and development and students lacking employability skills amongst other factors.

Due to these complexities, coupled with the lack of coordination across the various partners; particularly the interface between business and the skills supply providers including the national, provincial and local government partners, a coordinated structure is required that ensures multiple stakeholder’s inputs are considered when formulating solutions to these skills challenges.

Due to these complexities, coupled with the lack of coordination across the various partners; particularly the interface between business and the skills supply providers including the national, provincial and local government partners, a coordinated structure is required that ensures multiple stakeholder’s inputs are considered when formulating solutions to these skills challenges.

PSP is to coordinate, lobby and influence the various role players such as Basic Education, post-school training providers, three (3) spheres of government and industry to work closer together to refine existing and develop new academic programmes responsive to industry skills needs. 

This will improve the quality, relevance, and access of skills offerings to best address industry skills requirements that will lead to more employment opportunities.