FASSET ANNUAL REPORT

Professional Body programmes

Academic Support The Academic Support programme has been designed to assist predominantly unemployed learners to complete academic qualifications to fully access work opportunities in the FASSET sector. Additional classes for technical modules, examination support courses, transport allowances and soft skills interventions were part of the funding. In the year under review, FASSET partnered with universities to provide funded students with online learning facilities due to the Covid-19 disruptions.

The Professional Body programmes funded by FASSET are aimed at providing learners with support to complete their professional body qualifications or their designation requirements. FASSET has partnered with various Professional Bodies and Service Providers accredited by these Professional Bodies who offer interventions that assist learners to achieve this.

FASSET interventions for the employed

What we do for employers FASSET shares with the employers in its sector the belief that high value should be placed on skills development. Firstly, skills are among the most important enablers of economic growth for the country, and of productivity and profitability for individual companies. In essence, the SETAs exist to invest significant funds into training and development towards the future wellbeing of the country and its companies. With unemployment averaging around 32.6%, there is a huge pool of unemployed graduates who could fill the skills needs that have been identified, and finance and accounting services is no exception. Although the FASSET suite of initiatives includes those aimed at upskilling employed individuals, the greatest emphasis is on the unemployed – equipping them with both skills and workplace experience, a combination that makes for a well-rounded potential team member. Employer incentives are varied and include the following: • Learner Employment Grant (LEG), which places learners with a minimum of a NQF 6 qualification in a scarce skill on a learnership. • Non-PIVOTAL Learner Employment Grant (NLEG), which places unemployed learners with an NQF 6 or

higher qualification on internships or in permanent employment; and • NSFAS Loan Repayment Grant (NLRG) for learners who have completed a three-year qualification aligned to a scarce skill and contributes to the repayment of the learner’s outstanding NSFAS study loan. Employer grants This grant is a vehicle that assists in facilitating the achievement of FASSET’s mission; and it has been popular over the years. We have witnessed the contribution of employers to our sector in assisting skills development in our country. Our grants mechanism incentivises employers in the sector to implement skills development initiatives and allows large and medium levy-paying members to claim back a portion of their SDL contributions. Small levy- paying and non-levy paying members also have access to grants with no limitation imposed according to SDL contributions. The policy introduced in the previous year to extend funding from Black African learners primarily to ‘Coloured’ learners, and learners with disabilities furthered our strategic objective of transformation. Another important focus is ongoing funding of scarce skills development.

FASSET Annual Integrated Report 2020/21

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