Blaming Setas unfair
SIR — The article “Setas under fire for not providing certificates” (July 25) raises an important matter, given that learners who legitimately should be accorded certificates but are not are compromised as they may miss out on job opportunities.
The weakness of the article is that it does not, beyond fingering Setas, explore key reasons behind learners not being provided with certificates. Admittedly there are some lapses — including information systems — on the part of some Setas in relation to the printing and provision of certificates, but the truth is that training providers have to shoulder some of the blame. Quite often certificate requests are made without training providers having supplied all the information required, and learners are then lulled into thinking that the fault lies with the Setas.
There are also instances where the training is undertaken without some of the relevant processes followed. Come certification time and learners are under the impression that all is well and that Setas are remiss in carrying out their certification duties when the reality is that the training provider is partly culpable.
The worst instances are when learners are trained without the relevant Setas being apprised thereof. This means the training is neither monitored nor externally moderated and, in terms of regulations, is non-certifiable.
Setas get to learn about it only when learners approach them and complain about not receiving certificates.
These are but some of the highly nuanced reasons behind the challenge and the only solution is to ensure total integrity in the provision and the monitoring of training. The provision of certificates takes a matter of minutes when all valid data are in place. Setas can do it quite easily — which attests to the fact that the problem is more complex and multifaceted.
Unfortunately, it is the learners who suffer continued underemployment or unemployment while parties involved do not work together to resolve the problem. This matter must therefore receive our total attention.