PGM miner engages Triple E Training for top-grade AET
Every year, many companies are alarmed to find out that the time and money that they have invested into adult education and training (AET) amounted to nothing. This is because their AET training providers are not accredited by the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education or “Umalusi Council”. As a result, learners are not allowed to write their examinations at the end of the programme.
A mid-tier platinum-group metals producer with state-of-the-art mines in the South African Bushveld Complex recently found itself in this serious predicament. The mining house had to act swiftly and decisively considering its commitment to providing quality AET to unemployed members of communities located within its operational footprint. This obligation is outlined in the social labour plans (SLPs) that all legal mines submit to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to be granted mining rights. Failure to meet any of these responsibilities can result in the withdrawal of mining permits. Transgressions, especially with regards to the Human Resources Development requirement of SLPs, are not taken lightly by mining authorities.
Unaccredited training compromises business, transformation and community upliftment
Only companies that are accredited by Umalusi Council are allowed to offer AET. This is in line with the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance and the National Qualifications Framework Acts. It is also a requirement of the Policy for the Quality Assurance of Private Colleges for Continuing Education and Training registered on the General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-framework and the Accreditation of Private Assessment Bodies.
Despite these conditions, companies still find themselves on the wrong side of the law by unknowingly engaging the services of unaccredited AET providers. When this occurs, it is more than just an inconvenience. It compromises companies’ workplace skills plans, bearing in mind the importance of quality AET, the foundations upon which employees develop further proficiencies. In addition, it undermines companies’ transformation commitments as the provision of quality AET to employees or members of communities makes a substantial contribution towards the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment scorecard.
However, learners also suffer in these situations. They diligently attended classes and completed assignments with the hope of improving their circumstances just to find out that this was all in vain.
Worse still, entire communities are deprived an important upliftment initiative. If it were not for mining companies many communities in outlying areas of the country where functional illiteracy is rife would not have access to quality adult education.
Accredited training provider gets AET back on track
The mining company immediately contacted Triple E Training to assist it in getting its AET programmes in two communities back on track. By reacting quickly, we ensured that the learners were able to complete the programme within the initial timeframe. Within only four weeks, the many gaps in the existing training were identified and addressed to ensure that the learners were ready for assessment. As one of the first AET providers to be accredited by
Umalusi Council and one of only a handful of such companies to have our accreditation renewed in full last year, we were able to provide our new client with all necessary documentation for verification purposes.
Learn more about Triple E Training, the mining industry’s first point of contact for workplace and community AET. www.eee.co.za
