Implementation of skills development programmes in the education training and development sector

Abstract

This qualitative research study investigated implementation of the skills development programmes in the education, training and development sector using the ETDPSETA as a case study. Our investigation focused on implementation of the youth development programme outlined in the ETDPSETA five-year strategic plan for fiscal years 2011/12 to 2015/16. We chose this programme as our focus because it consumes more than sixty per cent of discretionary grant funding of the SETA. Through in-depth one on one and group interviews, we sought to understand what the programme was intended to achieve, what was delivered in reality, were there gaps between programme planning and actual implementation, and what were the challenges experienced by implementers in their implementation of this programme. To triangulate our findings from the interviews, we conducted an in-depth document analysis looking at various planning documents, implementation and reporting evidence. We further used the Programme theory model, the Quality Implementation Framework (QIF) and the Ecological Framework for understanding implementation to interpret and discuss our research findings. We found that there were major gabs in the manner the ETDPSETA implements its youth development programme, which could negatively affect realisation of programme outcomes and impacts. This is in spite of the fact that the ETDPSETA consistently met its programme implementation targets.