Many, many years ago:

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Many, many years ago

• Leaders of the Forestry Industry had a vision.

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To be world leaders in commercial forestry!

• They sought the advice of many local and
  international experts that advised them that

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Success of business rests on two pillars

• An excellent workforce.
• An excellent RD unit.

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They did as they were advised to do

• Employed an excellent work force and RD team.

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But it did not work

• Both the work force and RD team were doing their
  utmost best.

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So the leaders did a bit of research

• There was no communication between the work force
  and the RD team.
• If there was, nobody understood it!

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So the leaders sought more advice

• Employ forestry technically minded people with
  excellent communication and
• people skills to do the communication on
  everyone's behalf

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So they did that

• And that is how training (Sorry Skills
  development) was born!

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Forest Engineering -Investing in Human Capital

• Improving Skills in the South African Context

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Deon Brits

• Saasveld Forestry Diploma.
• Certificate in Work Study.

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Hard on standards

• Soft on people

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Personal motto

• IF A PERSON KNOWS OR ACHIEVE
• 50
• THAT PERSON HAS A 50
• CHANCE OF FAILURE

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Personal motto

• IF A PERSON KNOWS OR ACHIEVES
• 100
• THAT PERSON HAS A
• 0 CHANCE OF FAILURE

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What should our drive be?

• IF IT IS 50
• IT IS DEEMED TO BE COST EFFECTIVE
• IF IT IS 100
• TRAINING IS TOO EXPENSIVE

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Forestry skills developmentCosts in perspective

• Average daily cost per Trainer (Cost of R 1,
  409.60 per Trainer day at the closing of HLH,
  Commondale Training Centre during 1996 used as
  comparison)

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Average annual increase

• 4.6

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Major drives in Forestry

• SAFETY

RISK MANAGEMENT
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Safety

• S ee
• A ll
• F aults / atalities
• E liminated
• T hrough
• Y ourself

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Risk

• R educe
• I ncidents
• by / with / through
• S ufficient
• K nowledge

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Safety risk management

• Safe Work Procedures are updated after incidents
  / fatalities.
• WHAT ABOUT TRAINING ASSESSMENT MATERIALS?

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Definitions

• Outcomes based
• When learners are judged on what they know and
  can do instead of by what courses they have
  attended.
• Quality assurance
• Testing that the quality is good and finding ways
  to improve quality when there are problems.

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Definitions

• Recognition of prior learning
• Giving a person credit for what they know and can
  do, even if they did not learn it through a
  formal learning programme.
• Standard
• A detailed description of what a person must know
  or do (Drafted by knowledgeable employers).

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Vision ofskills development in South Africa

• After providing training, measure and judge
  (Assess) the learners performance against
  standards (Outcomes) to ensure that the learner
  has the ability to do something / a job properly
  (Competence).
• A follow-up is to ascertain the ability of a
  person to use what they have learned
  appropriately in the correct place, at the
  correct time, in the correct way (Applied
  competence).

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Profile of forestry learners

• Low level of literacy.
• Mainly manual / physical work with many hazards.
• Spoon feeding / Verbal instruction and repetition
  as well as verbal assessments.

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Challenges Employer skills development

• Bottom-line for any business is to make a profit.
• Every day a Learner is away from work results in
  less production / income.
• Long term results after training.

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Forestry training achievements

• reduction in costs / incidents / fatalities.
• First SETA to develop Unit Standards.
• FIETA awarded as one of the best SETAS.

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Challenges Training personnel

• Only four Qualified Foresters in the whole of the
  South African Forestry Training Industry.
• One has retired this year. Others to follow in
  the next ten years.

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Challenges Training personnel

• There are no more broad-based forestry trained
  Trainers available infield.
• The unemployed all have a history.

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Reasons for non-availability ofTrainers

• Providers are the ideal recruitment grounds for
  Companies, Municipalities and Contractors for
  competent personnel
• Mkhondo Municipality
• Willie Mthupha Director Social Services.
• Aaron Nkosi Forester.
• Mondi
• Abraham Nkosi Safety Officer.
• Contractors
• Abednego Shongwe Safety Officer.

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Reasons for non-availability ofTrainers

• The closing of TIMS / FTS left a massive gap in
  training of silviculture harvesting experts
  (Ideal candidates for Trainer positions after
  infield experience).
• Contractor specialisation reduce broad-based
  forestry experience of personnel.

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Reasons for non-availability ofTrainers

• Lack of income security discourage potential
  trainer candidates to join.
• No career paths / promotional opportunities
  within private forestry skills development
  provider organisations.

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Challenges Sustainability

• Forestry skills development and income seasonal
  in nature
• December to January Year-end beginning.
• February to May Weed control / Fire-fighting.
• June to September Fire season.
• October to November Weed control.

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Challenges Sustainability

• Markets, fire, drought and other natural
  disasters impacts dramatically
• The serious fires of the past season reduced
  skills development requirements and therefore
  income for Providers to the absolute minimum.

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Challenges Sustainability

• The Training Matrix was developed as a skills
  development planning and costing tool.
• Still not able to plan training, potential income
  and number of Trainers.
• Revised version could help.

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Challenges Course materials

• Standardisation of course assessment materials
• Variances
• Course content.
• Course duration.
• Maximum number of delegates.
• Assessment standards.
• Costs.

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Challenges Course materials

• Skills development content compares well, equals
  or are better than
• Australia.
• New Zealand.

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Challenges HIV / AIDS

• Statistics will be provided by Jaap Steenkamp.
• As Skills Development Providers we increasingly
  note
• Slower learning.
• Slower reaction times with Operators and Drivers.
• Reduced energy levels during fire-fighting
  training.
• Resistance to assessments / RPL due to fear of
  loosing certification and employment.

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Challenges Skills Development Providers

• Established
• Broad Forestry qualified.
• Sustainable (Disappearing fast).
• Quality driven.
• Data record management.
• Able to update skills development materials.
• Able to develop new skills development materials.

• Individual
• Subject experienced.
• Short-lasted (Does a lot of damage).
• Survival driven.
• Seldom have access to PCs, database printing.
• Use outdated copied programmes.
• Illegally copy other Training Provider materials.

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Challenges Skills Development Providers

• Train-the-Trainer with Contractors.
• Assessment of random 5 of delegates trained
  in-house by Training Provider.
• Results
• Poor administration in general.
• Skipping of modules in training materials due to
  production pressures.
• Falsification of competence.
• Bullying / Buying of certification.

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Conclusion

• Skills Development personnel are special people
  due to their hard-to-come-by qualities.
• They are not money-making experts.
• They are people lovers, sowing seeds, watering
  and nurturing them and as a result ensure success
  in many forestry employees lives.
• Please start appreciating them!

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A Skills Development Success - Winners of the
Strike Force Trophy