Industry training body the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) has launched a blended learning coded welding skills programme that comprises face-to-face, online, welding simulation and practical learning in welding workshops as its four key components.

“The programme’s comprehensive curriculum was developed with participation by several stakeholders, is registered with the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations and was supported by the Department of Higher Education and Training,” says CHIETA CEO Yershen Pillay.

CHIETA explored a range of approaches in the digitalisation of skills development, which included in-depth research into the status of e-learning and e-assessments that recommended a pilot project.

CHIETA completed the blended learning pilot project involving 115 students at six technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in four provinces in 2022.

The blended learning programme is part of CHIETA’s ongoing drive to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution and is also a direct response to an instruction from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation for sectoral education and training authorities to revise skills development initiatives in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pillay notes.

“This pilot project benefitted the participating TVET colleges, as well as the wider skills development sector within our sphere of operation,” he adds.

The average training period on the coded welding programme is about six months. Coded welders are those who have completed a welder approval test in a specific welding configuration, meaning they have the skills needed to work in highly regulated environments and sectors and stand a better chance of finding employment than non-coded welders, adds Pillay.

“From the lessons learnt by the TVET colleges through the blended learning approach, we will be in a stronger position to establish best practices that advance job creation and boost the country’s economic prospects,” says Higher Education, Science and Innovation Deputy Minister Buti Manamela.

The challenges presented by the pandemic created opportunities for training service providers to accelerate digital-based skills development strategies. These strategies were envisioned to re-skill, cross-skill and up-skill large numbers of workers to take up opportunities within existing enterprises or start new businesses and cooperatives, he notes.

“Where possible, online delivery of training programmes must be promoted as the new normal, and obstacles to this methodology must be removed, as 4IR necessitates faster digital transformation and automation of work processes, which comes with new skills requirements,” he emphasises.

The pilot project also provided the TVET colleges with the opportunity to improve the quality of their training, while also ensuring that recommendations on the implementation of a blended learning approach can be developed within the sector going forward, he adds.