GEORGE NEWS - Firefighting is a demanding job, but this does not stop the Working on Fire (WoF) participants from pursuing other dreams and further improving themselves through education.
Currently, more than 140 WoF participants across the country are writing their Adult Education and Training (AET) examinations, previously known as Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet).
Facilitated by Siyaphambili Training Solutions, 142 participants who have been juggling work and studies since July last year have started their examinations. The AET project forms part of Working on Fire's skills development programme aimed at upskilling and increasing participants' chances of permanent employment as part of the exit strategy.
According to WoF's training and development manager, Chusa Matsha, AET aims to improve fundamental learning areas to enable participants to further their studies.
Some of the participants did not complete their formal schooling, but enrolled at the Training Academy where they do veld and forest firefighting training along with other environment-related qualifications training.
However, as it is higher National Qualifications Framework level work, and some can't cope, the AET pilot project was started.
"We took 20 participants from each province from bases which are closer to the provincial offices, for easy access to resources and for monitoring," said Matsha. "The aim is to sharpen them, especially those with the intention to study further, to stimulate skills development and encourage lifelong learning among our participants."
A Siyaphambili Training Solutions AET practitioner, David Dulwana, said they started with a screening process where the participants wrote an assessment test to determine which NQF level they would be placed into.
"We have learners in level 1 to 4. Level 1 to 3 learners write internal examinations while those in level 4 write external examinations produced by the Independent Examination Board (IEB), which works in cooperation with Umalusi, a government agency that oversees Grade 12 examinations. IEB sets up the examination which goes through the Umalusi quality assurance process.
"Level 4 learners get certificates from Umalusi after finishing level 4 maths and English," said Dulwana. "These are recognised nationally and learners can register at any technical school for a course of their choice. The Department of Education has recently announced that those with level 4 certificates can register to write their grade 12 examination, even if they didn't do grade 11."
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
