Sector education and training authorities–growing pains or still birth?

Abstract

This research project seeks to understand why the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) performances are perceived to be inconsistent and sometimes poor. As a critical delivery agency for the government’s National Skills Development Strategy, the inability of these organisations to be perceived as effective has significant implications for the implementation of the development of South Africa’s human resources and, hence, its potential competitive economic position. Performance and Organisational Developmental theories were used to inform the research. The research first established the context in which the Setas operate and the performance criteria that are used in the measurement of their performance. The Setas were then classified into bands of performance and the organisational developmental stage of each band investigated.The research showed that the organisational developmental stage of the Seta provides a strong explanation for the inconsistent and sometimes poor performance of the Seta. As the Organisational Developmental model chosen is a prescriptive model, it offers the potential to not only understand Seta performance, but also to use the model to enhance this performance.