Learning Support Facilitator

Almost a third of the country’s population is currently unemployed.

Of the 7.2 million unemployed persons in the first quarter of 2021, more than half (52.4%) had education levels below matric, followed by those with matric at 37.7%.Only 2.1% of unemployed persons were graduates, while 7.5% had other tertiary qualifications as their highest level of education (Source: http://www.statssa.gov.za/)

Education is a relevant and determining factor to employment, and thence to self-sustained livelihoods. It is not so much that there is a lack of education, but rather that the learners lose interest or fail to learn because they have never been taught how to learn. This is a missing bridge between the learner and education itself.

Further, it has been reported that there has been an increase of teacher’s assistants/aids who are unskilled in education methods and learning support skills. Many rural, urban and township schools utilize unskilled or low skilled teacher’s assistants, resulting in poor learning achievements. Thus, there is an urgent need to upskill facilitators and educators with education methods in this sector.

The main focus of this skills programme is to teach the learner advanced study skills and techniques, to apply in any subject studied and to help others with their studies. This training could be combined with other skills programmes.

Currently no other approved Skills Programme is similar to this.

The skills programmes shall benefit the educational sector by providing skills, knowledge and attitude to improve learning experience of learners, thus improve their performance. It shall increase throughput rate in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

It shall improve the growth and development of society and address the social ills caused by lack of education and illiteracy.

The more the economy has skilled participants and role players, out of learning support skills contributed by the skills programme, the better the rate of economic growth.

The Learning Support Facilitator’s focus is on educators in the schools and post school education and training sectors.

Learners will be from:

Early Childhood Development

Schools

TVET Colleges

Community Education

Training Colleges

Comprehensive Colleges

Universities and Universities of Technology

This skills programme relates to:

Teaching

Lecturing

Tutoring

Training