28 AUGUST 2018 PRESENTED BY ABIAH MELODI WHAT IS THE OFO The OFO - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ORGANISING FRAMEWORK FOR OCCUPATIONS DHET PRESENTATION TO SSP MANAGERS/OFO COORDINATORS 28 AUGUST 2018 PRESENTED BY ABIAH MELODI

WHAT IS THE OFO • The OFO is a skills-based coded classification system that captures all jobs in the form of occupations and provides a framework for the identification, articulation, reporting and monitoring of skills demand and supply in the South African labour market; • provides a common language when talking about occupations; • captures jobs in the form of occupations; and • groups occupations into successively broader categories and hierarchical levels based on similarity of tasks, skills and knowledge.

THE PURPOSE OF THE OFO • Provide information for development of Sector Skills Plans-SETAs use the OFO in the submission of their 5 Year Sector Skills Plans and Annual Updates. • Assist with the identification of critical and scarce skills-different Sectors conduct research on critical and scarce skills • Identification of common skills development needs- skills- Information at occupational level assist SETAs to identify common skills development needs and interventions • Use of information by the employers-assists employers to communicate with each other in a common language.

WHY DO WE USE OFO • To enable the identification of scarce, critical and PIVOTAL ( professional, vocational, technical and academic learning programmes) skills in the labour market. • SETAs and Employers can use it to broaden the indicators and drivers of scarce skills that they take into account when developing the annual WSPs and SSPs • To track the scarcity of skills on the basis of Labour Market demands. How the scarcity is manifested in a sub-sector, sectors and across sectors essential to inform strategies to reduce the scarcity to attain equilibrium in the labour market between demand and supply. • For employers to provide information at occupation level so that the SETAs are able to roll this up the right level to enable identification of common skills development needs and interventions

DEFINITIONS • A job is a set of tasks and duties carried out or meant to be carried out, by one person for a particular employer, including self-employment, e.g Clerical Job. • An occupation is a set of jobs whose main tasks and duties are characterised by a high degree of similarity , e.g Senior Government Manager. • Scarce Skill refers to an absolute or relative demand for skilled people to fill a particular profession, trade or occupation, e.g Automotive Electricians and Mechanics; Power Generation Engineer. • Critical Skill refers to the demand for an element of practical or fundamental competence which allows for Specialization, in essence it refers to “ top-up ” skills, e.g Mobile Plant Operator might be required to have top-up skills of being able to work with specific computer applications. • Specialisation can be regarded as the process of focusing an occupational concentration on a specific area of expertise, e.g Eye Surgeon.

LEGISTLATIVE REQUIREMENTS The OFO is embedded in: • SETA Grant Regulations: (Annexure 2)template and the SSP framework (PIVOTAL List). • Also in the OQSF (Occupational Qualification sub- framework)of the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations= occupational qualification development process

DEVELOPING TOOL • The starting point was looking at the SASCO (South African Standard Classification of Occupations)and ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard of Classification of Occupations)models. • SASCO did not provide the level of detail required= limited to four digits. • Also looked at the International Standard for Classification of Occupations (ISCO) • In agreement with the SETAs it was decided to use ISCO as the basis for the tool • The end product became known as the OFO and was piloted and aligned to ISCO. • The structure of the OFO is predetermined by ISCO

HOW IS THE OFO STRUCTURED Structure of the OFO Codes Using an Example

CONTINUATION- STRUCTURE • The first digit of the OFO code reflects the major group of the occupation=8 Major Groups • The second digit in the OFO code reflects the sub-major group of the occupation=39 Sub Major Groups • The third digit in the OFO code reflects the minor group of the occupation=125 Minor Groups • The fourth digit in the OFO codes reflects the Unit Group=440 Unit Groups • The last two digits in the OFO code reflects the occupation =1507 Occupations

CONTINUATION- STRUCTURE The broadest level of the classification 1. Major Group 1 Digit 2 PROFESSIONALS Differ based on skill level and the broadest concept of skill specialisation Sub-divisions of Major Groups 24 BUSINESS AND 2. Sub Major Group 2 Digits Distinguished based on broadly stated ADMINISTRATION skill specialisation PROFESSIONALS Sub-divisions of Sub Major Groups 241 Finance 3. Minor Group 3 Digits Distinguished based on less broadly Professionals stated skill specialisation Sub-divisions of the Minor Groups 4. Unit Group 4 Digits Distinguished based on a finer degree 2411 Accountants of skill specialisation Relates to a cluster of jobs which 241101 General 6 Digits involve the performance of a common 5. Occupations Accountant set of tasks. Skill specialisation is considered in terms of four conceptual concepts: • the field of knowledge required; 241101 Bank Accountant 6. Specialisations 6 Digits • the tools and machinery used; 241102 Cost Accountant • the materials worked on or with; and • the kinds of goods and services produced .

WHO USES OFO • SETAs use the OFO codes to report on the scarce and critical skills in their SSPs. All grant categories, such as learnerships, internships and the rest should be mapped to the occupation for which they prepare learners. • Employers should plan and report using the (OFO) 6 digit codes in order to capture jobs in the South African labour market in the form of occupations and to create a common language for talking about occupations and to enable labour market dialogue for talking about skills demand and supply. • QCTO as a basis for occupational qualification development processes and certification • NAMB for implementation of listed trades • University and VCET branch for planning

WHO USES OFO • Career Development Services uses the OFO for developing learning Pathways • SETA Learnership applications for registration must include related occupations that are reflected on the OFO • Compilation of the 100 occupations in demand and the PIVOTAL skills list by SETAs • NGO ’ S • Researchers

ALIGNMENT OF OFO TO NQF AND SKILLS LEVEL NQF Skill NSDS OFO Major Groups Level Level 10 HIGH 4 2 Professionals 7 1 Managers 3 6 3 Technicians and Associate INTERMEDIATE Professionals 6 5 7 5 Skilled 4 Plant and 2 Service Agricultural, Clerical 4 Machine Forestry, Fishery, and Sales Support Operators and Workers Craft & Related Workers 3 Assemblers Trades Workers ENTRY 2 1 8 Elementary Occupations 1

UNDERSTANDING SKILL LEVELS The Skill Levels are defined in terms of formal education and training , previous experience and on- the-job training . Skill Level 1 Occupations at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill consisting of one of the following: • NQF Level 1 and 2 qualification, • Compulsory secondary education up to Grade 10, and • For some Occupations a short period of on-the-job training may be required in addition to or instead of the formal qualification. In some instances, no formal qualification or on-the-job training may be required.

UNDERSTANDING SKILL LEVELS Skill Level 2 • NQF Level 3, 4 and 5 qualification or At least one year of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification, and • In some instances relevant experience may be required in addition to the formal qualification. Skill Level 3 • NQF Level 6 qualification • At least three years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualifications listed above. • In some instances relevant experience and/or on- the-job-training may be required in addition to the formal qualification.

UNDERSTANDING SKILL LEVELS Skill Level 4 • NQF level 7 to 10 qualification; or • At least 3-5 years of relevant experience; or • Relevant experience and/or on-the-job- training may be required in addition to the formal qualification.

OFO REGISTER SYSTEM • DHET has developed the OFO register system which also gives access to SETAs. • SETAS will now submit their requests via online portal system instead of submitting excel spreadsheet through email. • OFO Portal is ready for implementation

PREVIOUS FINDINGS: SETAS AND EMPLOYERS • Employers are not capacitated by SETAs on the OFO • Poor SETA stakeholder engagement on the OFO • Employers do not know how to search the OFO for similar occupations • Confuse the occupations, alternative and specializations • Confuse job titles or posts with occupations • Mapping of job titles to occupations using the OFO • Employers and SETAs use the wrong version and wrong codes when reporting • Identification and reporting of critical/PIVOTAL skills using the OFO by SETAs

OFO TASK TEAM MEMBERS • SETA Support • SETA Performance • Planning Branch • University Branch • VCET branch • NAMB • QCTO • Career Development Services