The Life Skills programme in the National Certificate Vocational (NCV) and 'employability' – a human capital development
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Date
2015
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Scholars argue within a human capital perspective that generic employability skills such as critical thinking, computer literacy, independent thinking, problem solving, communication skills must be included in human capital development. Employers are demanding that education and training institutions enable students to develop generic employability skills so that they can be 'work ready' for employment in the 'new knowledge economy'. As a consequence, the implementation of generic employability skills programmes can be found in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges worldwide. Framed within a human capital perspective, this research paper focuses on an investigation into the extent to which the National Certificate (Vocational) Life Skills course, offered at a TVET college in the Western Cape, enables students to develop the required generic employability skills of communication, problem solving, teamwork, leadership and critical thinking. Findings reveal that the NCV Life Skills course was both successful and unsuccessful in enabling participants to develop generic skills which make them 'ready for work'.
Description
Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL)
Keywords
Leadership, Human capital, Communication, Critical thinking, Problem solving, Life skills, Work readiness, Soft skills