FASSET ANNUAL REPORT

Table 3: Approved Employer Discretionary Grants Grant Funds allocated 2020/2021 2019/2020 LEG R71 547 000 R73 667 500 NLEG R18 934 000 R13 670 000 Bursary Grant R21 000 000 R23 447 934 NSFAS Loan Repayment Grant R25 000 000 R9 398 256 Learnerships The uptake of learnerships has fluctuated during the past three years, possibly due to the grant criteria being changed at times and ineligibility of certain employers to apply, denting interest in registering learners. However, there has been an increase in the number of employers taking on learners for non-FASSET learnerships such as business management and IT learnerships. We have a yearly target of learners entered on learnerships and learners completing learnerships. Our targets were reduced due to FASSET anticipating fewer registrations and completions. We believe the reduced registrations were due to some employers not being ready with online training, leading to extensions of learnerships. This affected some learners who were supposed to complete in 2020 and will be completing in 2021. Some learners, who are registered on other SETA learnerships were also affected by delays in setting dates for external moderation with the different training providers. Lifelong Learning refers broadly to the free training offered by the SETAwhich assists its members in remaining upskilled in a range of subject areas and does not claim or intend to meet the professional body Continuous Professional Development (CPD)/Continuous Professional Education (CPE) requirements. Over the years, LL was delivered across cities and towns in all nine provinces by different Lifelong Learning (LL) programme and Training Incentive Grant (TIG)

appointed service providers. However, in recent years LL did not yield the same results that it had in previous years. This necessitated an adjustment in the approach and delivery of LL. To this end, the TIG was introduced as an additional delivery method to foster Lifelong Learning. Training Incentive Grant TIG is a reimbursement grant to employers on training provided to its employees in line with established criteria. Differently put, TIG is a LL-Subsidised programme that allows employers to train employees and claim back training costs incurred from FASSET. In the midst of a tight economy and the Covid-19 pandemic, employers experienced budget cuts to their training. The FASSET TIG is an innovative solution ensuring that employees are continuously trained to maintain the sector’s high standards, skills levels and professionalism. In the year under review, over 10 000 individuals benefitted from the TIG. NSFAS Loan Repayment Grant (NLRG) The main purpose of this grant is to assist learners embarking on learnerships in our sector to pay off their current NSFAS loan, where up to R100 000 can be paid on behalf of the learner to settle their NSFAS loan. We are happy to report that the grant has been met with overwhelming appreciation from learners. Most of these learners come from challenging backgrounds and must often take care of their own families while paying off their study loans. Learner Employment Grant (LEG) This popular grant has strengthened FASSET’s mission in recent years and we have witnessed employers in our sector contribute to skills development in our country. The target of 1 216 could not be met unfortunately, due to the fact that most learners were registered on a learnership outside the reporting period that will make them eligible to apply for the grant.

FASSET Annual Integrated Report 2020/21

40