FASSET ANNUAL REPORT

Chief Executive O ffi cer’s Overview

the overarching theme of this AIR.

In recent years, our slow progress towards launching programmes that are responsive to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been a cause for concern. Recognising this, the year saw real progress in our endeavour to close the technological and financial services skills gap due to the shift from manual systems to digital platforms. This transition was made not only at the operational level, but across the skills pipeline as envisioned in the National Skills Development Plan (NSDP) 2020. As one international training provider put it: “The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of learning, increased our talent challenges and revealed the need to provide personalised, digitally aided programmes designed to help deliver high-value transformational projects.” 1 While education, training and skills development have been moving towards online learning processes, the lockdowns in response to the pandemic ensured our fast transition and adaptation to digital operating systems and online work. We thus faced our own long-term challenge as to how we innovate to make quality education and training accessible to our stakeholders We are charged with re-imagining the future of the Finance and Accounting Services sector. In the foreseeable future, FASSET will focus on the following areas in improving skills development: • Digital transformation; • New ways of learning and teaching; • Online education delivery; • Transforming the FASSET sector; • Imparting financial skill to small and medium business contributing to economic reconstruction and recovery; and • Enterprise development.

Ayanda Mafuleka CA(SA) Chief Executive Officer

The global COVID-19 pandemic was detected in South Africa just days ahead of the start of the financial year under review - 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, in unprecedented challenges and uncertain times. The central challenge of the year has been about overcoming the multifaceted obstacles fuelled by the pandemic and navigating the various levels of lockdown. Despite this unprecedented situation, the impacts of the pandemic and lockdown in South Africa forced a reckoning and transformation at every level. The Finance and Accounting Services SETA (FASSET) was no exception, and from the outset, we soon realised the importance of setting our sights on future impact through our skills development training investments today. Thus, on reflection of the year that was, we came to a profound Rethinking of skills development and training for the future which is

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Source: Desire2Learn digital learning platform for business

FASSET Annual Integrated Report 2020/21

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