The current operating license for the twenty-three Sector Education Training Authorities (Setas) will expire on the 31st March 2010.

As part of the re-establishment process, they were required to submit their Seta re-establishment documentation to the Department of Labour (DoL) by the end of March 2009.

“Fasset’s Management Board made the decision more than a year ago, that it believed it would be in the sector’s best interest if Fasset remained independent. Respondents in Fasset’s Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey substantiated this view,” Fasset CEO, Cheryl James explained.

At a recent Fasset lifelong learning intervention in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town recently, members were informed that Fasset had submitted its re-establishment documentation.

“We asked stakeholders whether we could count on their support in the event of public hearings. A long-standing member asked us which car park he should “toyi toy in”.

"Our stakeholders do not want Fasset to remain as it is for the sake of retaining the status quo. They have told us that Fasset meets their skill needs and that they are prepared to fight tooth and nail for Fasset,” James said.

The Bankseta, Inseta and Fasset’s Management Boards believe it is in the interests of the larger financial sector if Fasset, the Bankseta and Inseta remained independent.

“The further you get away from your stakeholders on the ground, the more you lose direct contact with what their skills planning needs are,” James cautions.

She said it would be dangerous to change organisations that are working: “If you merge good with bad, you end up bringing the average down and in the process, lose ‘centres of excellence’.

In any merger, or acquisition process, you would lose a year to eighteen months of delivery. We cannot afford to lose delivery time. We have such a high skills need in the country that we would support the Department of Labour leaving the Setas as they are, and working with those that are struggling to raise the bar, rather than implementing a system which would slow delivery down in the long-term.”

The National Skills Authority (NSA) has drawn up guidelines for evaluating Seta submissions. Seta public hearings will be held in May.

“The final announcement on the future Seta landscape will be made at the National Skills Conference in October. Setas are, however, expected to receive some feedback before the October conference so as to allow smooth transitions from one five-year period into the next five-year period of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS),” James concluded.