Learnerships In South Africa

Learnerships in South Africa

The importance of learnership programs in South Africa cannot be understated. Learnership provides students with the necessary experience before they enter the job market. Learnerships are occupational and vocational training programmes that were implemented to aid the unemployed youth with a fast way of equipping them with knowledge, skills, and most importantly experience. It is a process whereby the student can learn and gain experience at the same time. Having completed the learnership programme the learner will earn a national certificate from the SETA sector education and training authority.

Students participating in the learnership programme must attend lectures at a college or any learning institution gazetted by the proper authorities and after completion of in-class education, they must also an on-the-job training programme in any relevant workplace. Learnership is a term mainly used in South Africa, in other countries, a different term may be used. The learnership programme was gazetted in the early 2000s to curb the youth unemployment rate. The programme was also implemented to offer learners an opportunity to gain workplace learning for the development of their skills and competencies.

Why do learnerships
Employment opportunities
Learnership participation increases the general employability of students after having finished the programme. Learnerships increases the readiness of students to enter the labour market. An observation made is that the learnership programme shortened the duration of time between graduation and getting a job. In the end, learnership programs prepare students for work, which is very much beneficial to both parties the employers and the students.

2. Explore a career path
Learnership programmes give students a chance to explore and assess their career paths. Learnships give students the capacity to get acquainted with the career or field they are interested in. some students do not have any idea what they want to be, or are plagued with doubt on what career path they want to choose. Leadership programmes will afford those students time to really know the work industry and also to know more about what they assume they enjoy or what they will enjoy.

Providing employers with an opportunity to “trial-run” potential employees
Another benefit gained from learnership programmes is the ability of employees to trial run or test potential employees without suffering any significant losses. Learnership has been termed by other firms as a risk-free evaluation of potential hires. In this sense, companies can train their employees with little training costs which is a major win for them.

Give yourself an edge in the job market

Learnerships gives you an edge in the job market after completion. Learnship programmes provide students which much-needed experience in the job market. Experience is hard to come by for recent graduates or those newly entering the job market. Experience increases your chance of employment and also those with experience receive a higher starting salary than those who do not have experience. Basically, learnership programmes make a student more marketable in the job industry thus increasing the chances of being employed in the process.

Develop and refine skills
Learnership programmes allow students to learn and develop new skills. You can learn a lot of things from your supervisors at work. From communication skills, organization, and work efficacy, learnership is filled with new things to learn and grasp. Also, during learnership, you can afford to make mistakes with no damaging consequences which will give you the ability to learn more during those mistakes. That unique learning experience is hard to find again in your career thereby it is essential and important.

Networking and Establishing Mentors and References
Learnerships also gives you the ability to meet new people and widen your social network. a widened social network will help you in the future when looking for other employment opportunities. Also, students will be able to gain mentors that will help them in deciding crucial steps in their lives.
Mentorship is invaluable

Receive financial compensation
some learnership programmes pay their employees. This will allow students to earn more whilst also learning giving students a chance to pay for their tuition in the future.
Confidence in your abilities.

Learnership programmes help students in gaining confidence in what they can do and what they have planned for the future. The ability to learn from mistakes and gaining mentorship brings confidence in oneself which can be valuable to building a student`s career

Learnership programmes are key in the development of a person from a student to an actual employee and contributor to society. Learnership is that gap between student and worker which is a much-needed transition tool for students. Most students struggle to transition to working life and they also find themselves lost not knowing what to do after they have finished their studies. When you get your learnership place take it seriously, connect with people learn a few things as this will help you build a foundation for your career or your next step in life.