SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND HWSETA EMPOWER COMMUNITY CARE GIVERS WITH SKILLS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

By Sello Tang.

• South African community caregivers are receiving professional support through a recognition of prior learning training support.
• The programme is a joint project between the Department of Social Development and the Health and Welfare Services Sector and Education Training Authority (HWSETA).
• Currently 1 280 community caregivers from Gauteng, Limpopo and the North West are completing their training.

After completing her matric, Portia Hlaudi Makanyane thought her days of studying had come to an end.

“I threw in the towel, thinking that it was the end of my educational life because I was raised in a poor family that struggled to pay for my further studies.”

She focused on looking for piecework to support herself and her family.

Makanyane, who now works as a community caregiver at the Sekhukhune Makhuduthamaga Mamone Drop-in Centre, is one of the 106 Limpopo community caregivers who enrolled for the recognition of prior learning training programme.

The recognition of prior learning training programme is a partnership between the Department of Social Development and the Health and Welfare Services Sector and Education Training Authority (HWSETA).

The two-week programme, focusing on mathematical literacy, is currently taking place at the Tiveka Game Lodge near Polokwane.

The training is the final phase of the higher education and training programme meant to bridge the gap between the experiential learning and knowledge of the participants and the higher education requirements for improving the skills of the caregivers.

“Having gone through this challenging training course makes me realise what I nearly lost in life if I had given up on myself,” Makanyane said.

“Today I shed tears of gratitude, because I remember how hopeless I felt then, and what I have gained because of this training course,” she said, adding her appreciation for the Department of Social Development and her mentor and training facilitator, Tebogo Lydia Moatshe from HWSETA.

The mother of a 21-year-old young man was confident that completing the NQF level 4 course would open opportunities for a better job.

Despite her son’s grant ceasing when he turned 18, he managed to complete his matric last year because of the stipend she received from the Drop-in Centre.

“It is still tough, because we only receive our stipends every three months, because the roll-over payment to the centre is made every three months.”

The training programme recognises the experience and prior learning of the community caregivers who work at non-profit organisations funded by the Department of Social Development, ensuring the caregivers attain an NQF 4 in child and youth care work.

Post 1994, South Africa adopted a principle that recognition be given to prior learning of all individuals in the country who may have acquired some form of informal experience, explained the director for the HIV and Aids unit in the department, Dr Luzile Nziyane.

The White Paper on Education and Training (1995) states that learning and skills acquired through experience, on-site training or self-education could be formally assessed and credited towards a formal NQF level.

Recognition of prior learning is a process that acknowledges and assesses an individual’s previous learning and experience for the purpose of gaining credits or qualifications in an educational programme.

Progress to date

For the 2025/26 financial year, the Department of Social Development enrolled 1 280 community caregivers from three provinces: Gauteng (1 085), Limpopo (106), and North West (89). Two hundred and twenty-six community caregivers are males, and 1 054 are females.

“The department initially planned to enrol 1 000 community caregivers for the programme, but due to the high interest from the community caregivers, we ended up enrolling 1 280,” explained Dr Nziyane.

On completion of the programme, the caregivers will be able to further their studies at higher education and training institutions and seize better job opportunities, she added.

During September 2025, the department is embarking on providing a two-week top-up course for the Learners to bridge the gap on the unit standards. Unit standards include statistical compilation and mathematical literacy, which are a prerequisites for attaining the child and youth care work qualification.

The Department of Social Development spends billions of rands funding NPOs across the country to fight social ills, such as the scourge of HIV and Aids, child abuse, gender-based violence and femicide, substance abuse, and the effects of poverty.

“This recognition for prior learning project will not only see these community caregivers attaining a formal qualification but will also assist the department to ensure that the work of these child and youth care workers is professionalised with the requisite skills to deal with the social ills and child protection,” she said.

The target for the partnership between the Department of Social Development and HWSETA is to train and skill 7912 community caregivers across all the provinces by 30 June 2027.