POLOKWANE – A group of learners who were beneficiaries of the Kulani learnership by the Department of Roads and Transport in the 2009/10 financial year, say they are struggling to find employment as they have not yet received their certification.
One member of the group, who approached Polokwane Observer, says despite having completed the three-year internship programme almost 10 years ago, he still struggles to get proper employment because he has no proof of having completed the learnership programme.
“When I first got the learnership I was excited, not only at the prospect of learning but at the doors my experience in the construction field would open for me. The learnership was supposed to be an opportunity for us to better our lives but years later there isn’t any progress. When we try to find out what the delay is from the department, we are being sent to pillar to post and it sometimes seems as if no one even knows about that learnership.”
Departmental spokesperson Joel Seabi says the learners who were contracted under the Kulani Learnership that fell under the then Department of Roads and Transport have, however, not completed their programme.
He says this was because the national department and the provincial department were running two similar learnerships and a decision was taken to merge them.
“The national Department of Public Works and the Limpopo Department of Public Works Roads and Infrastructure entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on September 23, 2014, to train 35 learner contractors and 20 supervisors in a supervision of construction processes course.”
He says some of the learners who completed the course have received their certification but a handover was not officially done due to Covid-19.
“The learner contractors are currently completing their projects. This programme consisted of two distinct training components which include the theoretical training (in class) and practical training (allocated projects on site). In 2019, the department decided to complete this programme using the 17 household road maintenance projects awarded in the department. This is a 36-month programme. It is expected that all the Kulani learner contractors will exit the programme after 36 months, since the beginning of the household roads projects referred to above. There are 10 learner contractors on the Kulani programme and each is working under the main contractors for the household project.”
Seabi says since it is an old programme, inherited from the then department of Roads and Transport, for certification the department will need to appoint a training service provider accredited by Construction Education Training Authority (Ceta) to conduct Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
They will then request Ceta on their behalf to issue appropriate certifications and this should be done during the next financial year.
