MIT 840 ICT Skills Shortage_Supply and Demand Mini Dissertation v1.0

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The Provision of Skilled ICT Graduates and Professionals:
The Achilles Heel of Educational Institutions
Mini-dissertation by
Duduetsang Kgosi Mogase
(u04311299)
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Magister Information Technology
(by course work)
in the
Faculty of Engineering, Built environment and Information Technology
University of Pretoria
Pretoria
South Africa
Supervisor: Prof. Carina de Villiers 29 November 2013

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Declaration
I declare that this mini-dissertation, submitted by me, is my own work, that I have referenced
all the sources that I have used and that no part was previously submitted at any tertiary
institution.
Duduetsang Kgosi Mogase

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ABSTRACT
Skills shortage is one of the many social ills and challenges faced by the South African
economy due to the limited supply of skills into the respective sectors, which inadvertently
brings rise to another social ill being that of unemployment. From an ICT sector perspective,
the issue related to the demand and supply of ICT skills to the ICT sector and associated
industries has been an on-going battle for several years. The supply side of the equation has
been more negative than positive, which has subsequently impacted the country’s ability to
compete within the global ICT landscape. South African educational institutions are viewed
as the transformational hubs which can assist in addressing the ill related to the limited
supply of ICT skills to the ICT sector, through the continual and mass provision of skilled ICT
graduates. However, South African educational institutions are finding this challenge set
before them difficult to overcome. Thus, this paper through an explanatory study examines
the contributing factors which prohibit educational institutions from adequately producing
skilled ICT graduates from within their ICT related programmes in order to increase the
supply of ICT skills and in turn, reducing the gap between the demand and supply of ICT
skills.
A qualitative and explanatory case study was conducted with knowledgeable Heads of
Departments within IT faculties and departments across educational institutions in South
Africa, varying in type between universities and colleges, regarding the factors prohibiting
educational institutions from producing qualified ICT graduates. The outcomes of the case
study are utilised to inform the ICT sector, Government and Education, as the key ICT
stakeholders in this regard, in terms of where to channel their corrective mechanisms with
the objective of curing the ill pertaining to ICT sector skills shortage.
Keywords: ICT sector, Skills shortage, ICT skills shortage, Accreditation, Enrolment,
Educational Institutions

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Acknowledgements
Research is an exploratory, reflective and humbling journey embarked upon by appreciators
of research. It requires a substantial amount of passion, focus, discipline, determination and
perseverance; hence the reason why I would like to give the deserved praise, glory and
honour to God, as this journey would not have been possible without Him.
My sincerest gratitude, love and appreciation go out to my family, friends and colleagues for
their continuous support, belief and encouragement during the compilation of this mini-
dissertation and for being a source of strength along this journey.
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” - John C. Maxwell.
Thus, I would like to specially thank Professor Carina de Villiers for her time, insightful and
thought leadership in her role as my research supervisor and the level of meticulous and
quality feedback provided during the compilation of this mini-dissertation. Further to that I
would also like to thank the University of Pretoria for affording me the opportunity to be a
part of those researchers who contribute to the body of knowledge, through this research
endeavour.
Finally, I would like to thank you as the reader for taking the time to read this mini-
dissertation and trust that you will be enlightened by the research conducted.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background Information.......................................................................................... 3
1.2 Problem statement.................................................................................................. 7
1.3 Research questions ................................................................................................ 8
1.3.1 Main research question.................................................................................... 8
1.3.2 Sub research questions ................................................................................... 8
1.4 Research objectives................................................................................................ 9
1.5 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 10
1.6 Underlying assumptions........................................................................................ 10
1.7 Significance of the study ....................................................................................... 11
1.8 Chapter overview.................................................................................................. 12
1.9 Conclusion............................................................................................................ 13
Chapter 2: Literature review............................................................................................. 15
2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 15
2.2 South African Skills and ICT Skills Shortage......................................................... 16
2.2.1 Unemployment............................................................................................... 16
2.2.2 Scarce and Critical Skills ............................................................................... 18
2.2.3 Addressing Skills Shortage: Government Initiatives ....................................... 21
2.3 South African ICT Industry & Workforce................................................................ 23
2.3.1 ICT Professionals .......................................................................................... 23
2.3.2 Demand and Supply of ICT Professionals...................................................... 26
2.4 Accuracy of ICT Skills Shortage Data........................................................................ 32
2.5 South African ICT Charter ......................................................................................... 33
2.6 Accreditation & Independent Advisory Boards (IABs) ................................................ 34
2.7 Quality of Schooling, Further Education and Training and Higher Education ............. 41
2.8 Career Choice....................................................................................................... 45
2.9 Enrolments ........................................................................................................... 50
2.10 Sector Industry Perception.................................................................................... 56
2.11 Conclusion............................................................................................................ 62
Chapter 3: Research method ........................................................................................... 64
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 64
3.2 Research design................................................................................................... 64
3.2.1 Case Study Type Selection............................................................................ 64
3.2.2 Case Study to Theory Relationship Type Selection........................................ 65
3.2.3 Case Study Approach to Time ....................................................................... 66

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3.3 Research Philosophical Paradigms....................................................................... 67
3.4. Research instruments........................................................................................... 67
3.4.1 Interviews ...................................................................................................... 67
3.4.2 Questionnaires............................................................................................... 68
3.4.3 Documents .................................................................................................... 69
3.5. Data collection ...................................................................................................... 69
3.6. Data analysis ........................................................................................................ 70
3.7. Ethics.................................................................................................................... 72
3.8. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 73
Chapter 4: Research findings .......................................................................................... 74
4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 74
4.2 Results from data analysis.................................................................................... 76
4.2.1 Demographic analysis.................................................................................... 76
4.2.1.1. Case Study 1 .................................................................................................. 76
4.2.1.1.1. Sub-case 1 – Department of Informatics ...................................................... 76
4.2.1.1.1.1. Undergraduate Degree Overview .............................................................. 76
4.2.1.1.1.2. Undergraduate Degree Objectives ............................................................ 77
4.2.1.1.1.3. Undergraduate Degree Modules ............................................................... 77
4.2.1.1.1.4. Undergraduate Admission Criteria............................................................. 79
4.2.1.1.1.5. Department Partnerships........................................................................... 79
4.2.1.1.2. Sub-case 2 – Department of Computer Science........................................... 80
4.2.1.1.3. Sub-case 3 – Department of Information Science ........................................ 84
4.2.1.2. Case Study 2 .................................................................................................. 86
4.2.1.2.1. Sub-case 1 – Department of Information Technology & Engineering............ 87
4.2.1.2.1.1. Undergraduate Diploma Overview............................................................. 87
4.2.1.2.1.2. Undergraduate Diploma Objectives........................................................... 87

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4.2.1.2.1.3. Undergraduate Diploma Modules .............................................................. 87
4.2.1.3. Case Study 3 .................................................................................................. 88
4.2.1.3.1. Undergraduate Admission Criteria................................................................ 89
4.3. Interview analysis.................................................................................................. 90
4.4. Findings.............................................................................................................. 114
4.4.1. ICT Skills Shortage & Unemployment .............................................................. 114
4.4.2. ICT Sector Skills: Demand & Supply ................................................................ 116
4.5 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 119
Chapter 5: Conclusion.................................................................................................... 124
5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 124
5.2 Summary of findings ........................................................................................... 125
5.3 Summary of contribution ..................................................................................... 131
5.4 Possible future research ..................................................................................... 131
5.5 Concluding remarks............................................................................................ 131
6.0. References................................................................................................................ 133
6.1. Appendix A – Interview Questionnaire ................................................................... 145
6.2. Appendix B – Faculty Committee For Research Ethics and Integrity Case Study
Research Approval ......................................................................................................... 151
List of Figures
Figure 1: April 2011 – March 2014: Electronics Subsector: Existing Supply vs. Required
Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:7) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4
Figure 2: April 2011 – March 2014: Information Technology Subsector: Existing Supply vs.
Required Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:7) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Figure 3: April 2011 – March 2014: Telecommunication Subsector: Existing Supply vs.
Required Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:8) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Figure 4: ICT Stakeholders ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Figure 5: Title Chapter Overview--------------------------------------------------------------------------14
Figure 6: Total Unemployment, Quarter 1:2008 to Quarter 4:2012 (Statistics South Africa,
2012:15);---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16
Figure 7: Segmentation of Unemployed South African Population by Education--------------17
Figure 8: Target audience of private ICT training institutions (Akoojee et al., 2007:37)------25

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Figure 9: 2000-2005: CPAP Allocation per Sector (Private and Public) (Roodt & Paterson,
2009:185)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25
Figure 10: Pathways into ICT skilling (Paterson, 2007:6) -------------------------------------------26
Figure 11: ICT and other employment in September 2003 versus vacancies in ICT and other
jobs in September 2004 (Akoojee et al., 2007:26)-----------------------------------------------------28
Figure 12: Percentage of persons aged 5–24 years attending an educational institution:
Censuses 1996, 2001 (Statistics South Africa, 2012:31)---------------------------------------------51
Figure 13: Highest level of education attained amongst those aged 20 years and older in
five-year age (Statistics South Africa, 2012: 36) -------------------------------------------------------53
Figure 14: Main field of study among those with tertiary qualifications (Statistics South
Africa, 2005:90) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------54
Figure 15: Flexible Course Structures (von Konsky, 2008:19). ------------------------------------59
Figure 16: Case Study Research Questionnaire Types ---------------------------------------------74
Figure 17: Case Study Research Questionnaire Types ---------------------------------------------75
Figure 18: South African ICT Sector: Skills Shortage & Unemployment----------------------- 115
Figure 19: Analysis - Contributory & Challenging Factors for Producing ICT Graduates-- 123
Figure 20: Distribution of Prohibiting Factors.-------------------------------------------------------- 130
List of Tables
Table 1: ICT 2011 – 2014 Budget Allocations (MICT SETA, 2012b:81).............................. 23
Table 2: MICT Sector Skills Plan, 2013 - 2018, November 2012 (MICT Sector Skills Plan,
2012:38).............................................................................................................................. 24
Table 3: ICT Skills Levels across Industry Occupations (Akoojee et al., 2007:25) .............. 27
Table 4: Qualification levels of the ICT workforce according to race, 2003 (Akoojee et al.,
2007:22).............................................................................................................................. 29
Table 5: Comparison between the total number of positions that need to be filled to address
the demand for ICT workers and output of new graduates, 2005 -2015 (Roodt and Patterson,
2009:197)............................................................................................................................ 30
Table 6: The level of demand for the top twelve scare skills (potential vacancies –
occupations) in the Information Technology subsector (MICT SETA, 2012b:9)................... 31
occupations) in the Telecommunications subsector (MICT SETA, 2012b:9) ....................... 31
Table 8: 2004: South Africa Senior Certificate ICT Subjects (Paterson, 2007:7)................. 43
Table 9: 2005: Distribution of computers in schools (Paterson, 2007:8).............................. 47
Table 10: Importance of source of career advice: CM (Computer Major) versus NCM (Non-
Computer Major) (% of students selecting each category) (Alexander et al., 2010:306)...... 49

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Table 11: Information and Communication Technology Subsector (MICT SETA, 2012b: 50)
Skills Gaps Industry View Analysis...................................................................................... 57
Table 12: Key Competency Skills Required For ICT Program at Masters Level (Toral et al.,
2010:24).............................................................................................................................. 59
Table 13: Analysis - Contributory & Challenging Factors for Producing ICT Graduates.... 121
Table 14: Research Sub-Questions & Answers as per Literature & Data Findings and
Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 125

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Chapter 1: Introduction
The fundamental and strategic objective of companies globally is to increase the value of the
firm through the fast tracking process of gaining a competitive advantage (Banker, Pavlou &
Luftman, 2011 as cited in Sellitto, 2012; Chun & Mooney, 2009; Hodgson & Lane, 2010;
Medcof, 2008; Peppard, 2010) over its competitors through the efficient and effective
deployment and usage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) (Hunter,
2010). ICT plays a vital role towards driving internal employee (human capital) productivity
(Gilpin, 2000 as cited in Gallivan, Truex III & Kvasny, 2002) and subsequently, towards
gaining market share.
With ICT being a means to an end and not an end in itself in terms of its contribution towards
the growth, profitability and competitive advantage of an organisation, results in the tangible
benefit realised from ICT being one that is dependent on the quality of human capital
sourced and on-boarded into an organisation, “Firms that are best able to recruit and retain
the best IT professionals will have a decided edge over their competition” (Agarwal & Ferratt,
2000 as cited in Gallivan et al., 2002:1).
Investing in human capital in the form of skilled employees as knowledge workers is one of
the key beneficial drivers of ICT within an organisation (Breytenbach & De Villiers, 2012) and
serves as a key asset to any organisation (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010:4) looking to capitalise on
intellectual capacity. Furthermore, investing in human capital is one of the most integral
investments a country can carry out (National Planning Commission, 2011). Thus, since
human capital in the form of skilled employees (as knowledge workers) is such a key driver
of ICT within an organisation, it brings forth an enquiry of whether the degree of ICT skill
competencies within the South African ICT sector have really been “unpacked” and
thoroughly understood by all interested and impacted ICT stakeholders?
South African universities are looked upon as the instrumental and influential partners
(National Planning Commission, 2011) in terms of driving skills development and research
(Czerniewicz, Ravjee & Mlitwa, 2006), subsequently with the vision and mission of
addressing the e-skills (ICT skills shortage) gap between the sector demand and the
complementary supply thereof (Declaration, 2008). Universities have a great deal of
influence on the volumes of ICT graduates and professionals within the ICT sector in terms
of (i) the type of accredited programmes offered at the respective educational institutions,
whilst simultaneously preparing the enrolled students for industry practice; (ii) the degree of
in-depth and insightful research performed by the respective university and college

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departments through their academic lecturers and appointed researchers; (iii) their
involvement and consultation with industry professionals and professional bodies from
similar and related industries; and finally, (iv) from the on-going challenge of producing
qualified ICT graduates as a result of the severe decrease in the volume of student
enrolments for ICT related programmes, with the latter being one of the key contributing
factors to the issue of enrolments (von Konsky, 2008; Chin, Chang & Atkinson, 2008;
National Planning Commission, 2011).
Universities are mandated and expected to produce quality graduates who are capable of
meeting industry qualification standards and are able to practically apply their technical skills
within industry, however, the perceived view of universities by the ICT sector is that
universities are unable to fulfil the respective industry demands and subsequently, are
unable to bridge the current ICT skills gaps. This is primarily due to what the ICT sector
classifies as a lack of qualified ICT personnel (staff) within South African educational
institutions, as well as the absence of relevant and aligned curricula to several ICT industry
trends (Merkofer & Murphy, 2009; Calitz, Greyling & Cullen, 2011a). Gallivan et al. (2002)
echoes Merkofer & Murphy’s (2009) viewpoint by indicating that Higher Education (HE)
institutions are delivering curriculums which are out of sync with the continuously changing
trends within the ICT industry (Granger, Dick, Jacobson & Van Slyke, 2007; Toral, Martinez-
Torres & Barrero, 2010;Calitz et al.,2011a) resulting in graduates possessing qualifications
which are obsolete and not in line with the industry demand.
Further to that, the inflexibility of rigid ICT programmes (offered by the HE institutions) to
respond, adapt and to align to industry changes makes meeting the industry demand that
more challenging to fulfil (von Konsky, 2008). Toral et al. (2010) go on further to indicate that
the lack of educational institutions to incorporate the needs and requirements of the ICT
sector within their curricula will result in the very same institutions not fulfilling the respective
industry demands, of which the industry in turn is expecting to recruit graduates from the
very same educational institutions that appear to be failing them.
“The value of the provision of ICT skills to the economic, social and political trajectory of
South Africa in a globalised context cannot be overestimated – it is crucial to development.”
(Akoojee, Arends & Roodt, 2007:9). It is evident that the sufficient provision of ICT skills
towards addressing the industry demand is vital and subsequently, the industry nexus with
Higher Education (universities and colleges), as a key role player to producing qualified ICT
graduates, is imperative. Thus, the author is of view that by thoroughly asking,
understanding and answering the question of what are the contributing factors prohibiting
educational institutions (e.g. universities and colleges, private and public in nature) from

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adequately meeting the demand for ICT specialist skills within the ICT sector, through the
provision of ICT graduates, is an endeavour worthwhile exploring.
1.1 Background Information
The debacle surrounding the supply and demand of scarce and critical skills within the South
African economy has been an on-going concern for the government. The lack of provision
regarding the supply of these scarce and critical skills hampers the country’s ability to
contribute to the economy (the GDP) of the country and more importantly (within the context
of this paper) to compete globally within the global ICT landscape. However, there are
several ways towards understanding and addressing the provision of scarce and critical
skills within the ICT sector. By understanding the demand and the required type thereof, will
enable ICT role-players to be better informed and positioned to help address the required
demand.
In 2012, MICT SETA (2012a) indicated that the South African Advertising, Electronic Media
and Film, Electronics, Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors were
comprised of approximately 3300 companies, of which a substantial 85% of these
companies were Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with a complementary staff of 182 400.
Further to that, the Electronics, Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications
subsectors (MICT SETA, 2012a) are regarded as the key sectors focused upon with regards
to ICT, including other sectors who are also strong adopters and users of ICT, primarily the
Insurance, Banking and Financial Services sectors (Paterson, 2007). Thus, the author opted
to focus primarily on the Electronics, IT and Telecommunications subsectors, with more
emphasis being placed on the latter two (IT and Telecommunications).
Within each of these subsectors there are various types of occupations which require
specific types of skills to comprehensively fulfil the expected role within industry and further
to that, as much as there are skilled ICT professionals who currently occupy these roles,
MICT SETA (2012a) indicates that there is an additional complement and volume of skills
required from April 2011 to March 2014 to further address the skills gap and demand within
ICT (Electronics, IT & Telecommunications):
 Electronics: Figure 1 below provides an overview of the required supply between
April 2011 and March 2014 within the Electronics subsector for the scarce and critical
skills which are regarded as key according to the subsector’s degree of demand. It is
evident to see that although there is a large presence of Electronics Engineers within
the subsector across the existing companies mentioned above, there is an 18%

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increase against the existing base of skilled personnel required for this occupation
within the Electronics subsector:
Figure 1: April 2011 – March 2014: Electronics Subsector: Existing Supply vs.
Required Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:7)
 Information Technology: Figure 2 below provides an overview of the required
supply between April 2011 and March 2014 within the Information Technology
subsector for the scarce and critical skills required as per the subsector’s degree of
demand. It is evident to see that although there is a large presence of Developer
Programmers within the subsector across the existing companies mentioned above,
there is a substantial 46% increase against the existing base of skilled personnel
required for this occupation within the Information Technology subsector:

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Figure 2: April 2011 – March 2014: Information Technology Subsector: Existing
Supply vs. Required Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:7)
 Telecommunications: Figure 3 below provides an overview of the required supply
between April 2011 and March 2014 within the Telecommunications subsector for the
scarce and critical skills required as per the subsector’s degree of demand. It is
evident to see that although there is a large existing presence of ICT Business
Analysts within the subsector across the existing companies mentioned above, there
is a substantial volume of skilled personnel for Electronic Instrument Trades Workers
occupation required within the Telecommunications subsector:

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Figure 3: April 2011 – March 2014: Telecommunication Subsector: Existing Supply vs.
Required Supply (MICT SETA, 2012a:8)
There is a required need for skilled personnel across all of the three subsectors, differing in
the volumes required per subsector. The author is of the view that the dilemma pertaining to
scarce and critical skills is similar to that of a two sided coin. The “head” relates to the skills
required for these occupations while the “tail” is related to understanding the type of
education, training, learning or experience required to fulfil the occupational requirements.
Whichever way you spin it these are two separate but equally important sides to factor when
discussing ICT skills demand and supply.
There are several approaches towards acquiring the required skills within the ICT sector in
terms of the short courses, learnerships and internships made available to students,
however, each sector has its own set of educational requirements of which the Electronics,
Information Technology and Telecommunications subsectors all indicate that the
occupations in demand (as reflected in the graphs above) and the occupations which could
be fulfilled within their sectors, would require the potential candidates to be in the possession
of a Diploma, a Certificate or a Degree aligned to the respective subsector’s technical criteria
(MICT SETA, 2012a:5).
Thus, with a view of the current and future volumes of the sectors’ demand and supply of
ICT skills and the type of skill required to address the shortfall between the demand and the
supply is based on the type of educational qualification required. Thus, the author focuses

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on educational institutions as a key role-player towards addressing the required supply
through the provision of qualified ICT graduates from their institutions.
1.2 Problem statement
There is a short supply of skilled ICT professionals within the South African ICT sector and
the shortage thereof has resulted in the continuous increase in the demand for skilled ICT
graduates and professionals. As a solution to the provision of ICT skills to the sector, ICT
industry role-players are looking towards educational institutions such as universities and
colleges to provide qualified graduates from within their respective ICT disciplines in order to
primarily reduce the shortfall between the demand and supply dilemma for ICT skills. The
concern lies in the fact that educational institutions in all aspects are unable to satisfy, let
alone meet the demand required by the ICT sector and this is proving to be more of a
challenge for South African educational institutions.
The ICT sector is at the mercy of the educational institutions and ICT training service
providers to produce qualified and skilled ICT professionals fit for industry delivery. However,
over a period of time, industry role-players have lost their faith in the ability of these
educational institutions and service providers, subsequently driving them to attribute the
shortfall and supply of skilled ICT graduates and professionals entering the industry being as
a result of weak curricula in conjunction with weak methods of teaching (Merkofer & Murphy,
2009) at these institutions.
The severity of ICT skills shortage to the South African ICT sector is likened to that of famine
of malnourished families within Africa in need of food by the author, in that the lack of
provisioned nutritional foods to these families will result in a reduced life expectancy. The
same holds true regarding the lack of skilled and provisioned ICT graduates and
professionals to the South African ICT sector, in that the ICT sector will be unable to
contribute substantially to the country’s economy and more concerning, will be unable to
compete competitively on the global ICT landscape.
Thus, with the understanding that there continues to be a shortage in the delivery of skilled
ICT graduates from universities and colleges alike, to meet the industry demand for skilled
ICT graduates and professionals, what in essence then is limiting South African universities
and colleges from producing quality and skilled ICT graduates from their respective ICT
disciplines?

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1.3 Research questions
1.3.1 Main research question
The main research question, upon which this case study research is based and is aimed at
answering, pertains to:
What are the contributing factors prohibiting educational institutions (e.g. universities and
colleges, private and public in nature) from adequately meeting the demand for ICT
specialist skills within the ICT sector, through the provision of ICT graduates?
1.3.2 Sub research questions
The following set of sub research questions are an extrapolation from the main research
question and assist with providing a deeper understanding into the underlying concerns
raised in the main research question above:
 Sub question 1: Is there an actual demand for ICT skills within the South African
ICT sector?
 Sub question 2: What is the actual and real demand for ICT skills within the South
African ICT sector?
 Sub question 3: What are the key occupations that are in demand within the South
African ICT sector?
 Sub question 4: What competencies and skills are the South African ICT sector
looking for within graduates from universities and colleges?
 Sub question 5: What factors influence whether a secondary school student enrols
for an ICT related discipline or not?
 Sub question 6: To what extent does subject choice within secondary schooling
impact the degree of enrolment into ICT related disciplines at universities and
colleges?
 Sub question 7: To what extent does the exposure of computing (ICT) whilst
growing up, within a personal and schooling capacity, influence the choice of
enrolling for an ICT related discipline?
 Sub question 8: To what extent do the sources of advice regarding career choice
influence the choice of programme enrolment at a university or college level, for
secondary school students?

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 Sub question 9: Are students enrolling into universities and colleges aware and
knowledgeable about the respective ICT related disciplines offered and the career
prospects thereof?
 Sub question 10: Are university and college curricula for ICT related disciplines
aligned to the trends within and requirements of the South African ICT sector?
 Sub question 11: What significance does the establishment of an Industry Advisory
Board (IAB) have regarding the alignment between educational institutions and the
South African ICT sector?
 Sub question 12: How does institutional and specialised accreditation of educational
institutions influence the degree of graduate employment by the South African ICT
sector?
1.4 Research objectives
According to Oates (2006), research is the process of defining new knowledge in a manner
that is based on the collection of accurate and sufficient data, accurate documentation of the
collected data in a transparent manner, with minimal hidden agendas or assumptions and
knowledge that is created and is of great assistance and benefit to users of the research.
Thus, the author’s objectives and subsequently those of the research are to thoroughly
unpack, understand and make known, to their most granular degree of detail, the issues and
barriers limiting the educational institutions in South Africa from adequately producing skilled
and qualified graduates from their ICT disciplines in order to meet the sector and industry
demand.
Further to that, the author is of the view that the key ICT stakeholders such as the
government, the private and the public sector role-players within the ICT industry and more
importantly, the educational institutions across South Africa, will be in more informed
positions to tactically and strategically address the findings and outcomes of this research,
potentially via planned updates to the already existing policies and frameworks such as the
2030 National Development Plan and/or e-Skills initiatives as examples. Each of these
stakeholders are the primary drivers and cogs of change and have a contributing role and
responsibility to play towards the betterment of the South African ICT sector in terms of the
provision of ICT skills to the respective ICT industries.

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Figure 4: ICT Stakeholders
1.5 Limitations
The author is of the understanding that of the 3 cases and 5 sub-cases researched
respectively, one of the sub-cases researched resulted in the case study research informant
providing feedback on the day of the interview indicating that they would not be in a position
to provide feedback to the questions within the case study research questionnaire and as a
result, ‘Case 1: Sub-Case 2’ within the ‘Interview Analysis’ section of Chapter 4, only
provided the author with 3 responses out of the 27 questions posed. Thus, only input
provided for the 3 questions, for this specific sub-case answered, were taken into account
over and above the input provided from the other cases and sub-cases respectively for
analysis. The lack of complete information provided by the case study research informant
from ‘Case 1: Sub-Case 2’ makes the % of complete cases and sub-cases performed at
100% and 80% respectively as compared to the desired 100% for the latter.
1.6 Underlying assumptions
The author is of the following views regarding the underlying assumptions specifically in
terms of this case study research paper and the subsequent case study research interviews
carried out:
 Assumption 1: the author is of the assumption that all educational institutions
referred to, referenced and interviewed are South African institutions;
Educational
Instituions &
Training Service
Providers
Public &
Private
Sector (ICT
Sector)
Government

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 Assumption 2: the author is of the assumption that the case study research
informants from the respective educational institutions interviewed were
representative of and knowledgeable about their respective departments.
informants interviewed were the actual Heads of Department from their respective
departments within their respective schools of IT/Technology/Computing/IS.
informants are knowledgeable about their ICT related programmes offered and that
that they have an understanding of the ICT sector and the associated industries.
 Assumption 5: the author is of the assumption that all responses provided by the
case study research informants are true and accurate to the best of their experience
and knowledge.
1.7 Significance of the study
Over and above discussing the barriers and limitations the South African educational
institutions experience in producing the quality and skilled ICT graduates required, the
author is of the view that the identification of these barriers and limitations experienced will
enable the respective and responsible role-players across government, industry and
education to take the necessary targeted and remedial action required by starting at the
early stages of the educational lifecycle of an individual’s life.
The outcomes of the research will assist the impacted role-players in identifying the ground
work required across the respective schooling phases in terms of pre-primary schooling,
primary schooling, secondary schooling, and higher and further education schooling. The
majority of the limitations pertain to poverty, the digital divide, the lack of adequate ICT
infrastructure, insufficient bandwidth, language barriers, cultural diversity, low literacy levels,
depleted financial aids and more importantly the lack of basic survival needs being met in
terms of the provision of water, sanitation, food, shelter and health, are all significant
contributing factors which have an impact on the degree of education enrollment by those
impacted by these hindering factors.
The absence of the survival needs from an individual’s existence puts education further
down the list of priorities when compared to survival, which will have a subsequent impact on
the number of individuals ultimately enrolling into primary and secondary schools,
universities and colleges. This in turn will affect the number of graduates released into

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industry, resulting in an increasing skills shortage within the sector and industries (discussed
further in Chapter 2 - South African Skills and ICT Skills Shortage).
The other factors (e.g. the digital divide) also contribute to the list of root causes related to
the symptoms experienced later on in life by the impacted individuals which too influence the
education, perception, exposure and selection of certain career paths, especially with
regards to students originating from disadvantage and rural South Africa. Cullen (2001:6)
goes on further to indicate that “factors such as: cost, restricting access to equipment; low
educational achievement; and cultural, age or gender based exclusion from literacy and
computing skills counteracts against the dissemination of such skills in disadvantaged
communities.”
Thus, the author is of the view that the combination of other conducted ICT field research,
primarily focused on and related to ICT for rural development and education, in conjunction
with this case study research, will enrich the role-players with the root causes and symptoms
contributing to the lack of adequate ICT skills, graduates and professionals provision within
South Africa. The outcomes of this research case study cannot be viewed in isolation to
other complementary research, especially when looking to analyse the potential reasons
which led to the prohibiting factors, as mentioned in the research question, as this would
result in a narrowed view and approach when striving to implement the necessary remedial
actions with the objective of mitigating the prohibiting factors identified from realising.
For example, the remedial action regarding above-the-line marketing and advertising of ICT
related disciplines within universities and colleges to secondary school students, with the
objective of encouraging high enrolments within their first year of university or college study,
will yield minimal returns if the secondary school does not even have access to computers
for teaching. The subsequent consequences of the latter, results in in the limitation of their
exposure to different forms of ICT and subsequently, their likelihood to enrol for an ICT
related discipline in their first year of university or college.
1.8 Chapter overview
The paper provides a holistic view of the dynamics involved within ICT across multiple
contributory and explanatory subjects, ranging from the realities of unemployment to the
varying perceptions embedded within the industry about ICT and educational institutions.
Chapter 2 is an in-depth analysis of literature in terms of the multiple facets of ICT whereby
the realities of unemployment, scarce and critical skills and skills shortage are discussed and
unpacked further under the subsection of South African Skills and ICT Skills Shortage.

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This is followed by a detailed view of the ICT sector in terms of the current ICT workforce
and the demand and supply thereof under the subsection of South African ICT Sector &
Workforce. Further to that, understanding the real ICT demand and supply plays a key role
in ensuring accurate deployment of corrective action and as a result, the accuracy pertaining
to the communicated demand and supply of ICT skills is discussed further in Accuracy of
ICT Skills Shortage.
In South African ICT Charter a view of government’s stance on ICT in terms of their vision
and mission for the sector within the country is explained, followed by a closer look at the
schooling system at all levels in terms of the quality of education provided (in Quality of
Schooling, Further Education and Training and Higher Education). From a programme and
quality offering and value proposition perspective, the accreditation of educational
institutions and their respective ICT related disciplines is discussed, as well as the influential
role of industry role-players through Industry Advisory Boards (IABs) (in Accreditation and
Industry Advisory Boards). From a student perspective, the rationale pertaining to the
selection of subjects within secondary schooling is elaborated upon within Career Choice.
The in-depth analysis is wrapped up with understanding the volumes and factors impacting
the enrolment of students into educational institutions from pre-primary up until university or
college. As a final point of closure, the view and perceptions which industry role-players
have of South African educational institutions in terms of the quality of education, methods of
curricula and content delivery, and the industry expectations of ICT graduates is discussed
in Industry Perceptions.
1.9 Conclusion
There are several interlinked and interdependent factors which need to be taken into
account when it comes to ICT in Education due to the number of variable inputs which
cumulatively contribute to the issue of sector skills shortage, specifically, ICT sector skills
shortage. Thus, the author is of the view that Figure 5 below depicts the interlinked and
interdependent factors across the ICT sector, the government and across education which
will be further discussed in detail within the subsequent chapters to follow. The primary
objective pertains to better understanding how these factors cumulatively contribute towards
a regressive delivery of ICT skills into the sector and respective industries.

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Figure 5: Title Chapter Overview
1.0. South
African
Skills and
ICT Skills
Shortage
2.0. Sotuh African
ICT Industry &
Workforce
3.0. Accuracy
of ICT Skills
Shortage Data
4.0. South
African
ICT
Charter5.0.
Accreditation &
Industry
Advisory
Boards
6.0.
Quality of
Schooling,
Further
Education
& Training
and
Higher
Education
7.0.
Career
Choice
8.0.
Enrolments
9.0.
Industry
Perception
The Provision of Skilled
ICT Graduates and
Professionals: The Achilles
Heel of Educational
Institutions

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Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction
Throughout the years ICT has been one of the key fundamental drivers and enablers of
employment throughout various industries (i.e. Financial Services Industry) (Moleke,
Paterson & Roodt, 2003). However, over the past several years in South Africa there has
been a shortage of skills pertaining to ICT, ranging from basic level 1 ICT skills shortage in
terms of e-literacy, to advanced level 3 ICT skills in terms of ICT specialists (Merkofer &
Murphy, 2009). Merkofer & Murphy (2009) go on further to discuss the concerns related to
the demand for ICT skills based on a survey conducted by ISETT SETA (Sector Education
and Training Authority) on 65% of the largest ICT companies in South Africa, whereby in
2007, 4 671 available ICT vacancies were advertised and vacant, of which a majority 58%
were related to ICT professionals, where 30% and 9% were related to ICT technicians and
ICT Managers, respectively. The concern lies in the fact that there is a large demand from
industry for ICT skills (Longo, 2006 cited in Granger, Dick, Jacobson & Van Slyke, 2007),
especially for ICT professionals, of which the need for ICT skills was further echoed by the
previous cabinet Minister of Communication, Mr. Roy Padayachie in his 2011 key note
address regarding South Africa’s future e-skills roadmap and plan of action, by indicating
that,
“ICT skills and the capacity to use new technologies remain a pre-requisite for effective
participation of citizens in the Information Society and knowledge-based economy. This will
create opportunities for employment and wealth creation by using new electronic
communications services…we remain challenged by an alarming skills deficit across society.
To address the e-skills deficit, the department is currently incubating the e-Skills Institute
which will act as a clearing house for e-skills initiatives in the country, in partnership with
other stakeholders, including universities.” (MICT SETA, 2012b:83).
The author is of the view that in order to enable South Africa’s population to become
participants in and meaningful contributors to the digital world of Information and
Communications Technology, one first has to understand the dynamics of ICT in relation to
its capability to reduce unemployment and poverty through e-Skills up-skilling, its capability
in driving the country’s economy, the degree of ICT infrastructure and accessibility and more
so, understanding the challenges encountered by the South African ICT landscape in
making ICT a reality for all. However, in light of the desired participation and contribution by
the South African population, one first has to enable the population through ICT up-skilling,

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”…ICT skills gap impacts upon both the global competitiveness of South Africa, and the
country’s internal ability to support the aspirations of its citizens, but is solvable in the short
to medium term by suitable systemic interventions and institutional strategies” (Declaration,
2008:1)
2.2 South African Skills and ICT Skills Shortage
2.2.1 Unemployment
Unemployment and the increasing rate thereof within South Africa has substantially limited
the economic GDP growth for the country, which further impacts the country’s goals in terms
of the 2030 National Development Plan, which aims to reduce poverty, the high rate of
unemployment to 6% and subsequently, it aims to increase the country’s economic GDP at
an average rate of 5.4% leading to 2030 (National Planning Commission, 2011). The rate of
unemployment is evident from the seasonal patterns as indicated by the Quarterly Labour
Force Survey (Statistics South Africa, 2012) whereby in the fourth quarter of 2008 there, was
an approximated 3.9 million unemployed individuals and in the fourth quarter of 2012, there
was an approximated 4.5 million unemployed individuals (Statistics South Africa, 2012:15); a
change of 600 000 unemployed individuals over a 5 year period as is depicted in Figure 6
below:
Figure 6: Total Unemployment, Quarter 1:2008 to Quarter 4:2012 (Statistics South
Africa, 2012:15);
As a point of departure towards bridging and addressing the ICT digital divide, e-literacy, ICT
skills shortage, ICT up-skilling and ultimately the ever-growing decrease in the supply of ICT
graduates to the ever-increasing demand thereof within the sector, must first be understood
from a viewpoint of an employable versus an unemployable South African population.
Figure 7 below is a realistic yet alarming depiction of the respective educational levels of
South Africa’s unemployed population by the extent of education, whereby a substantial

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64.1% of the unemployed population in Q1 2008 had qualifications or a grading of education
below that of a Matric qualification, followed by a marginal decrease of 2.7%, to 61.3% Q4 in
2012. Although their percentages being of a low nature, 5.2% of the population had HE
qualifications in Q1 of 2008 followed by a marginal increase of 1% over a four year period
(2012) to 6.2% Q4 in 2012; of which, in the author’s view, would be the potential and eligible
candidates to obtain employment within the market place and in particular, with the right
complement of skills set, within the ICT sector. Further to that, the notion of graduates being
unemployed, taking into account the current skill shortages being experienced across
several industries, is evident to the issue that universities are not producing graduates who
are aligned and meet industry demand and needs (National Planning Commission, 2011).
Figure 7: Segmentation of Unemployed South African Population by Education
The drive towards improving a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is based within its
ability to acquire and retain skilled professionals across and within different industry sectors,
which in turn will enable and maintain the sustainable economic growth and development of
the country (Breier, 2009). From a South African perspective, the challenges towards
achieving the strategic GDP growth objectives, as desired by the government, is as a result
of a vast skills shortage across and within several industry sectors that contribute to the rate
of GDP change. This is due to the trending barriers over the years pertaining to:
 the poor quality of the South African educational system, impacted by past
discrepancies which have not been corrected and have subsequently impacted on
skills shortage, especially for previously disadvantaged individuals and communities
(Breier,2009);
 qualified but inexperienced graduates, and experienced professionals agreeing to
employment abroad due to the highly in demand skills they possess, the lucrative
remuneration packages, the ideal working conditions and the degree of better career

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prospects (Breier, 2009; Akoojee et al., 2007), resulting in a lack of transfer of skills
to new industry entrants or in some occurrences, making it difficult for organisations
to employee graduates, to mention a few examples.
“Thus, international recruitment alleviates shortages (from the perspective of the recipient
country) but exacerbates shortages in the donor countries, often leading to further
disaffection and emigration.” (Breier, 2009:2).
With unemployment contributing to the skills shortage in South Africa, Breier (2009) goes on
to indicate that students graduating from previously disadvantaged educational institutions
are less likely to be employed by industry as compared to students graduating from
advantaged educational institutions. This is primarily based on the stereotypical perceptions
industry employers have of previously disadvantaged institutions, in that the calibre of
education is of a low nature and insufficient to provide value to the industry (Oosthuizen,
2006). The South African population that is most impacted by the plague of unemployment is
that of the South African youth as they form the majority of the unemployed population due
to the insufficiency of available job opportunities, further exacerbated by their difficulty in
finding employment as a result of not possessing the qualifications demanded by the ICT
sector and industries (Akoojee et al., 2007).
2.2.2 Scarce and Critical Skills
The holistic comprehension of the skills shortage lies within the distinction and
communication of skills which are scarce and critical in nature, as is done by the South
African Department of Labour and the respective Sector Education and Training Authorities
(SETAs) through the aid of the National Skills Development and Strategy. Skills that are
classified as ‘scarce’ pertain to occupations with a limited number of industry professionals
who are both qualified and experienced “‘currently or in the future’” (Breier, 2009:4), due to
the non-existence or insufficiency of the required skilled professionals (absolute scarcity),
skills that are desired by the industry but are limited in volumes due to a limitation in
competency (Novotný & Doucek, 2007), due to there being sufficient skilled professionals,
however who are not aligned to and do not meet the required criteria for the occupation
(relative scarcity) and skills that are available but result in a mismatch to what is particularly
required (Novotný & Doucek, 2007).
The challenge with relative scarcity lies within the fact that there is such a supply of the
profession to the industry, and at times skilled professionals are spoilt for choice in terms of
their preferred choice of employer or preferred geographical location of work, resulting in
organisations finding it challenging to recruit and retain skilled professionals, especially when
taking into account some shortages and fill rates for certain occupations, as for example

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does New Zealand’s labour force through the “Survey of Employers Recently Advertised
(SERA)” annual report (NZ DoL, 2006:1).
Critical skills refer to skills that are key and ad-hoc in nature whereby key skills refer to skills
that are required to execute a particular type of occupation, “cognitive skills (problem solving,
learning-to-learn), language and literacy skills, mathematical skills, ICT skills, ICT Skills and
skill at working in teams” (Breier,2009:4). Ad-hoc (‘top-up’) skills are skills that are required
to keep abreast with changes in the occupation, be it technology, legislation, authorised
bodies or a change in the occupation’s way of work.
Erasmus (2009) advises of the following three phased approach and triggering indicators in
the identification of scarce and critical skills shortage from a South African perspective:
 Phase 1: Identification of possible skills shortages
o Counting and Monitoring Occupation Vacancies: pertains to identifying
the number of vacancies advertised via media print for a specific industry
sector.
o Identifying Vacancy Fill Rates: pertains to enquiring and determining
whether the vacancies identified have been filled. This information may be
sourced by the Department of Labour officials.
o Assessing and Monitoring Wage Fluctuations: pertains to the change in
wage package offerings by organisations based on the demand and supply of
the required scarce or critical skill. This information may be sourced by the
Department of Labour officials.
 Phase 2: Verification of identified skills shortages
o Occupation Exposure To Product and Labour Market Competition:
According to Erasmus (2009:27), this pertains to the degree of controlled
protection placed on the occupation through the use of legislation and in
certain cases, regulatory, the extent to which limitations are placed on
enrolments for disciplines related to the occupation and as mentioned earlier
in the paper, the level of licensing required to practice the profession. These
factors inadvertently exclude a certain population from acquiring the required
skills and from entering the labour market.
o Sustainability of Skill Demand: pertains to obtaining data from sources
such as the Labour Force Survey and Statistics South Africa in order to
understand the projected demand patterns of a skill.
o Duration to Address and Remedy Skills Shortages by The Education
System: pertains to obtaining data from sources such as the Department of

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Education and the Higher Education Management Information System
databases to determine the plan and length required to address the skills
shortage.
 Phase 3: Compilation of the skills shortages list
o Degree of Specialisation: occupation specialisation is another contributor to
skills shortage whereby the duration and the financial costs required for the
educational training and programmes are long and high, respectively. The
cost of affiliations to the occupation’s professional bodies in order to practice
the trade are high and the adherence to the inflexible requirements thereof
potentially impact the current and future supply of the skill.
In terms of human capital for ICT, skills development plays a vital role in reducing skills
shortage, however, from a South African perspective, the Human Development Index (HDI)
in 2002 decreased from being rated 94th to 107th, over and above the rigorous drive of skills
development and the policies thereof “…only 29 percent of the African (that is, excluding
“Indian” and “Coloured”) school-leavers are able to secure jobs despite a shortage of skills.”
(ICT Empowerment Charter Working Group, 2004:34).
From an ICT perspective, Merkofer & Murphy (2009) classify ICT skills shortage drivers as,
(i) the difficulty in acquiring highly skilled ICT professionals and the lack of ICT skills within
the industry; (ii) high expectations of remuneration by skilled individuals; (iii) the lack of
knowledge transfers (“brain drain” (Akoojee et al., 2007:9)); (iv) the lack of experience by HE
graduates; (v) the “digital divide” in terms of the lack of access to technology (computers and
the internet) and (vi) the emigration of highly-skilled ICT professionals. Akoojee et al. (2007),
based on a study of Career Junction, go on further to indicate that a substantial portion of
available vacancies within the ICT sector require potential applicants to have a minimum of
two years working experience to such an extent that 84.5% of the vacancies had this a
prerequisite, followed by a substantially lower 14.8% which indicated no working experience
was required and a negligible 0.7% which considered students from HE institutions
completing their academic studies, for employment within the respective industry.
It is evident that more opportunities to gain practical experience are required for qualified HE
ICT graduates in order to put them in a position whereby they are industry fit for employment
(Akoojee et al, 2007). With the skills (scare and critical in nature) shortage having such a
substantial impact on the provision of skilled individuals to industry, the author enquires
whether the South African government is playing an influential role in addressing these
concerns regarding skills shortage?

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2.2.3 Addressing Skills Shortage: Government Initiatives
In 2010 the Department of Economic Development established a strategy, with the
involvement of key labour stakeholders such as COSATU, FEDUSA, NACTU and Business
Unity SA, in order to address South Africa’s skills shortage dilemma in the form of the “South
African National Skills Accord” (MICT SETA, 2012b:64). The National Skills accord aimed
and continues to aim at creating a substantial number of 5 million jobs by the year 2020
through the establishment of policies which will primarily focus on (i) encouraging the
increase in the demand for skilled labour through the growth of the country’s economy, (ii)
match the increase in the demand for skilled labour through the increase in the supply of
skilled labour through skills training and satisfactory education, and finally, (iii) to improve
and strengthen the engagement model between employers and those seeking employment
(MICT SETA, 2012b).
Further to that MICT SETA (2012b) indicated that Government’s and the Department of
Higher Education’s Key Performance Areas (KPAs), as their drive to addressing skills
shortage within the country, consisted of the following:
 FET Colleges: improving the provision of FET colleges and the quality of the programme
curriculums thereof in relation to the sector and the industry needs. This will be achieved
through sufficient funding and establishing strong relationships between FET colleges
and industry role-players in order to ensure alignment of curricula and the degree of
experience required (MICT SETA, 2012b; National Planning Commission,2011).
 Bursaries: increasing the number of financial aids awarded to eligible South African
candidates at universities and FET colleges with regards to the critical and scarce skills
required within the industry (MICT SETA, 2012b; Declaration, 2008).
 Industry Experience: providing students with industry experience through the
established relations between SETA and the companies across industry, especially for
students in public FET colleges and universities (MICT SETA, 2012b).
 Lecturer Exposure: Providing and increasing the exposure of lecturers in FET Colleges
to the different ICT industry environments (MICT SETA, 2012b).
 Maths & Science: Establishing support aids and programs to assist in increasing the
pass rates for Mathematics and Science at a higher grade (in terms of satisfactory
Admission Point Scoring (APS) score) level within secondary schooling, as these
subjects at a higher grade level are required for universities running degree programmes

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related to Computer Science and Engineering (MICT SETA, 2012b; Akoojee et al.,
2007). Further to that, the National Planning Commission (2011) has indicated that on
the subject of Mathematics and Science, the objective over a period of 18 years will be
focused on driving and improving the outcomes of the eligibility and enrolment
opportunities for university programmes, with a target of 450 000 students by 2030 who
will be eligible for enrolment (National Planning Commission, 2011).
From an ICT perspective, government has acknowledged the major contributing role ICT
plays in job creation and this is further seen in the following presidential committees and
institutions established as well as the partnerships formed with Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) (Mdlongwa, 2012) with regards to addressing the digital divide and
focusing on ICT within South Africa:
 the “e-Skills Institute” (MICT SETA 2012b:84);
 the “Presidential International Advisory Committee on Information Society and
Development (established in 2001 as the Presidential Task Force on Information
Society and Development)” (Alexander et al., 2009:17; Isaacs, 2007; Mdlongwa,
2012). It is a committee comprised of CEOs, MDs and industry experts from
international corporations and industry, responsible for advising the optimal
deployment and usage of ICT within South Africa in order to address the digital divide
and drive South Africa towards global competitiveness (Isaacs, 2007);
 the “Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)” (Alexander
et al., 2009:17; Isaacs, 2007) is responsible for driving the development and growth
of skills and the economy, respectively;
 the “Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa established in 2006 in the
office of the deputy president)” (Alexander et al., 2009:17); and
 the “INTEL ‘Teach to the Future’” (Mdlongwa, 2012:3) program which provides
school teachers with the knowledge and guidance of how ICT can be embedded in
their teachings and the curriculum. SchoolNet SA has also been involved in similar
programs in collaboration with SAIDE (South African Institute for Distance Education)
(Mdlongwa, 2012).
Government’s further commitment to ICT and the development thereof towards ICT up-
skilling, bridging the e-skills gap and the digital divide, over and above the initiatives and
committees already established, can also be seen in Table 1 in terms of the financial
allocation government has provisioned towards ICT programmes from 2011 to 2014:

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Government’s commitment will assist in alleviating the current challenges faced by the ICT
sector being that of ensuring the adequate provision of highly skilled technical ICT skills
(level 3 ICT skills) in order to assist in the creation and support of an information, knowledge
and digitally driven society, of which will need to be achieved through ICT up-skilling (MICT
SETA, 2012b). Government’s contribution through their established initiatives towards
addressing industry skills shortage and their partnering with HE institutions and FET
colleges, as the identified strategic and influential partners, is as important as also
understanding what the actual sector ICT skills shortage in South Africa is.
Further to understanding ICT skills shortage, Akoojee et al. (2007) indicates that there are
several reasons which contribute to the skills shortage within South Africa, primarily:
 Geographical Skills Distribution & Alignment – ICT professionals with the required
skills not being geographically located where the skill is demanded.
 Employment Equality – achieving the combination of skilled individuals who also meet
certain legislative “skills development” (Akoojee et al., 2007:20) and employment criteria.
 Emigration – skilled ICT professionals who have opted to migrate due to the lucrative
employment opportunities abroad.
Thus, in order to have a sound understanding of the adequate provision of skills required for
industry in relation to the skills demand, an understanding of the current ICT workforce,
sector and industry requirements is fundamentally important.
2.3 South African ICT Industry & Workforce
2.3.1 ICT Professionals
According to Roodt and Paterson (2009) the complexity and difficulty in understanding the
size and the skills shortage within the ICT sector lies within the challenge of defining and
differentiating the various occupations which fall under the ICT umbrella in terms of the ICT
disciplines of “Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications
Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, and
Table 1: ICT 2011 – 2014 Budget Allocations (MICT SETA, 2012b:81)

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Information Systems” (Koppi, Naghdy, Chicharo, Sheard, Edwards & Wilson, 2008:505; Chin
et al., 2008) versus the use and application of ICT in their daily operational work.
Thus, Roodt and Paterson (2009) deployed the term ‘ICT worker’ to cater for the highly
skilled and strategic level functions of ICT as “Computer Professionals”, and intermediate
skilled and levelled activities of ICT as “Computer Associate Professionals” (Roodt &
Paterson, 2009:179), as per the South African Standard Classification of Occupations
(SASCO). Computer Professionals are related to occupations such as “computer
programmers, system analysts/software engineers and computer science professionals”
(Roodt & Paterson, 2009:179) and Computer Associate Professionals are related to
occupations such as “assistant system analysts, computer peripheral equipment operators
and robot controllers” (Roodt & Paterson, 2009:179), to mention a few.
According to Statistics South Africa’s OHS (1996 – 1999) and LFS (2000-2005) data (Roodt
& Paterson, 2009:183-184), the top three economic sectors where Computer Professionals
and Computer Associate Professionals operated primarily in were Finance, Manufacturing
and Services, whereby the majority of the 61 987 Computer Professionals and Computer
Associate Professionals employed between 2000 and 2005 worked in Gauteng (55.2%),
Western Cape (23%) and Kwa-Zulu Natal (10.7%), due to the respective provinces’ high
GDPs, pool of ICT professionals and the high footprint of ICT service providers (88 new
service providers established between 2000-2004) within these respective provinces
(Akoojee et al., 2007:34) as per Table 2 below. The majority of these private ICT service
providers indicated that they cater for corporates and school-leavers, majority being
corporate, “…we note from a recent large scale survey in South Africa…companies prefer
professional training above all other methods of staff retention” (Breytenbach and De Villiers,
2012:13), as depicted in Figure 8:
Table 2: MICT Sector Skills Plan, 2013 - 2018, November 2012 (MICT Sector Skills Plan,
2012:38)

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Figure 8: Target audience of private ICT training institutions (Akoojee et al., 2007:37)
The high concentration of ICT professionals is primarily within the urban populations and
well established settlements and as a result, rural dwellings and environments will have
further difficulty in accessing ICT professionals (Roodt & Paterson, 2009) and in the author’s
view skewing the distribution of ICT professionals across the country’s provinces as can be
seen in Table 2 above. Majority of Computer Professionals and Associated Professionals
(CPAPs) are employed within the private sector (85.5%) and the remaining CPAPs within
the public sector (14.4%), of which state owned enterprises (e.g. Eskom, Transnet) employ
the majority of CPAPs (33.6%) within the public sector:
Figure 9: 2000-2005: CPAP Allocation per Sector (Private and Public) (Roodt &
Paterson, 2009:185)
Roodt and Paterson (2009) indicate that it must be understood that the channels to being an
ICT worker are broad and can be realised through the ICT training providers and/or HE and
FET institutions. This is further substantiated by Paterson (2007) who depicts the various

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routes to not only becoming an ICT worker, however, as well as to acquiring ICT skills as
depicted in Figure 10 below. Paterson (2007) indicates that FET colleges and universities
provide students with the required qualifications to enter into the market place through the
channels of learnerships and internships respectively. Once employed within an
organisation, is the organisation able to up-skill its employees through the provision of ICT
skills making use of private vendors who offer varying levels of program training, depending
on the level of up-skilling required, ranging from the basic entry level end-user training to the
more technically advanced ICT professional training. The added benefit of private ICT
service providers is their ability to tailor the required up-skilling training according to the
desired need and this has become a critical need when employees move into an ICT role
within the company, whilst at the same time not being in the possession of any prior ICT
qualifications.
Figure 10: Pathways into ICT skilling (Paterson, 2007:6)
2.3.2 Demand and Supply of ICT Professionals
The differentiation between high level 3 ICT skills and low level 1 ICT skills provides an
industry overview as to the type of ICT skills required within industry and subsequently what
is expected of the universities and colleges towards meeting the industry demand because
various levels of qualifications and training is required for ICT skills to be considered as core

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skills (e.g. ‘manufacturing and systems development’ (Akoojee et al., 2007:34)) and end-
user (e.g. ‘Business support processes’ (Akoojee et al., 2007:34)), respectively. Table 3
below provides a detailed view of the type of occupations which fall under the various
degrees of ICT skills ranging from ‘High Skills’ to ‘Low Skills’. It is key to understand that the
differentiation between the ‘High’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Low’ ICT skills required is primarily driven
by the degree to which ICT is required to successfully fulfil the role (occupation) and its
associated responsibilities at a task level (Akoojee et al., 2007).
Table 3: ICT Skills Levels across Industry Occupations (Akoojee et al., 2007:25)
High Skills Medium Skills Low Skills
Computer Support
Specialists
Data Entry Capturers Billing and Posting Clerks
and Machine Operators
Computer Software
Engineers
Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Assemblers
Switchboard Operators
(including answering
services)
Computer Systems Analysts Telecommunication Line
Installers and Repairers
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine
Operators (except postal
services)
Computer Programmers Computer, ATM and Office
Machine Repairers
Computer Operators
Computer Software
Engineers, System Software
Electrical Power line
Installers and Repairers
Office Machine Operators
(excluding computers)
Computer and Information
System Managers
Telecommunication
Equipment Installers and
Repairers, except line
installers
Telephone Operators
Network and Computer
Systems Administrators
Electrical and Electronics
Repairers (Commercial &
Industrial)
Engineering Managers Semiconductor Processors
Electrical and Electronic
Engineering Technicians
Electromechanical
Equipment Assemblers
Network Systems and Data

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High Skills Medium Skills Low Skills
Communication Analysts
Database Administrators
Electrical Engineers
Computer Hardware
Engineers
By understanding the differentiation between ‘High’ to ‘Low’ ICT skills per occupation, better
assists in categorising a particular occupation with the degree of ICT skill required to fulfil the
role as well as being more accurate when universities and colleges strive towards meeting
the industry demand in terms of ICT skills for core workers versus ICT skills for end-user
workers (Akoojee et al., 2007). Further to that the ICT sector is highly populated with ICT
end-user workers (Medium to Low ICT skills) with qualifications falling within the FET
National Qualifications Framework (NFQ) category, however, the percentage of vacancies
requested for skilled ICT professionals was geared at the core ICT skills (High ICT skills)
level as can be seen in Figure 11 and Table 4 respectively:
Figure 11: ICT and other employment in September 2003 versus vacancies in ICT and
other jobs in September 2004 (Akoojee et al., 2007:26)

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Table 4: Qualification levels of the ICT workforce according to race, 2003 (Akoojee et
al., 2007:22)
Roodt and Paterson’s (2009) analysis of ICT skills shortage is driven by factors such as (i)
the need for ICT Managers, (ii) the increase in demand for ICT workers, (ii) the demand
driven by death and retirement and (iii) the degree of available vacancies pertaining to ICT
related positions. It is evident from the figures depicted in Table 5 below that the dilemma for
ICT industry skills demand and the rate of graduates produced by HE institutions and FET
colleges continues to be a challenge and a setback for the sector. Furthermore, the
challenge faced by FET colleges is that of the students who graduate, a limited number of
the graduates are employed, subsequently impacting the reputation of colleges (National
Planning Commission, 2011). To further substantiate the need for ICT skills, the Department
of Labour (DOL) indicated the following ICT skills through their 2007 “South African National
Master Scarce Skills List” (SA DOL, 2007:7-28):
 “6 675 ICT managers;
 3 025 contact centre managers;
 710 ICT trainers;
 4 320 ICT sales professionals;
 5 555 ICT business and systems analysts;
 35 multimedia specialists and Web developers;
 6 185 software and applications programmers;
 95 database and systems administrators and ICT security specialists;
 6050 ICT network and support professionals;
 3 790 ICT and telecommunications technicians; and
 1 125 ICT sales assistants”

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Merkofer & Murphy (2009) support the request for ICT skills through their discussion of
the 2007 ISETT SETA and BANK-SETA surveys respectively; whereby the ISETT SETA
survey indicated a volume of 4 671 ICT occupations which were required to be filled and
also indicated a stronger need for ICT Managers and Professionals:
Table 5: Comparison between the total number of positions that need to be filled to
address the demand for ICT workers and output of new graduates, 2005 -2015 (Roodt
and Patterson, 2009:197)
From the above it is evident that the need for ICT Managers contributes vastly to the
dilemma of ICT skills shortage and so too does the reality of skilled ICT Professionals
emigrating abroad, resulting in an industry “brain-drain” (Akoojee et al., 2007). However,
the vast shortfall in the number of qualified ICT graduates produced continues to be the
Achilles heel for universities and FET colleges when looking to address and meet
industry demand. Earlier on, a view of the various ICT occupations and their respective
levels of ICT skills (from high to low) required to comprehensively fulfil their roles at a
task level, were provided and Table 5 above provides a collective view of the “ICT
workers” required in relation to the number of graduates provided; however, Table 6 and

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Table 7 depict the current scarce skills at an occupation level across the Information
Technology and Telecommunications subsectors within ICT, respectively:
occupations) in the Information Technology subsector (MICT SETA, 2012b:9)
occupations) in the Telecommunications subsector (MICT SETA, 2012b:9)
The analysis and statistical numbers depicted of the South African ICT sector and workforce
paints an alarming picture of the past, current and future state of the ICT sector and
workforce in terms of ICT skills shortage and its ability to on-board qualified ICT
professionals (provided by Universities and FET Colleges). However Lotriet, Matthee, and
Alexander (2010) advised that in the analysis of the ICT sector and the skills shortage
thereof, caution should not be thrown to the wind regarding the statistical figures depicted
and that in order to gain an accurate and true reflection of the skills shortage, understanding
the variables factored within the calculations is key.

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2.4 Accuracy of ICT Skills Shortage Data
The projected numbers in Demand and Supply of ICT Professionals above do advocate for
the supply of ICT skilled graduates and professionals, however, it is key to understand
whether the projected numbers are a true and accurate reflection of the industry demand
within the ICT sector. Contrary to the data indicating a demand for ICT skills, Lotriet et al.
(2010), supported by Alexander et al. (2009), indicate the pitfalls and limitations to the non-
holistic and inaccurate methodologies used in obtaining the ICT skills shortage data,
attributing the shortcomings of accurate data collection to:
 methodologies being driven by and based on surveys with minimal scientific
evidence of methods used, resulting in the scientific interpretation of the evaluation
being of a less accurate nature. Alexander et al. (2009) refer to this pitfall as
“Methodological challenge 1: The worrying absence of various critical research
elements” (Alexander et al., 2009:18);
 sources of the data gathered not being explicitly documented and/or being vague in
nature. Alexander et al. (2009) refer to this pitfall as “Methodological challenge 2:
Extent of data gathered” (Alexander et al., 2009:18);
 key information providers being excluded in the gathering of the data (e.g. small
companies and the informal sector). Alexander et al. (2009) refer to this pitfall as
“Methodological challenge 3: The impact of the political structure of the ICT
landscape on methods” (Alexander et al., 2009:19);
 biased reporting of ICT skills shortages without ensuring the validity of claims made
by companies sourcing the data. Alexander et al. (2009) also refer to this pitfall as
“Methodological challenge 3: The impact of the political structure of the ICT
landscape on methods” (Alexander et al., 2009:19);
 use of secondary sources of data without having sight of the original data. Thus,
basing evaluations and results on already interpreted data;
 different interpretations and classifications of ICT as a skill across various industries
and occupation types. Alexander et al. (2009) refer to this pitfall as “Methodological
challenge 4: Skills classification difficulties” (Alexander et al., 2009:19); and finally,
 data provided by HE institutions lacking in the provision of detailed data on levels of
attrition from ICT related programmes, published data not being instantaneous but

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rather lagging in delivery and the change in curriculums, subjects and the evaluation
and pass criteria thereof; thus, impacting the data pertaining to the degree to which
HE institutions are addressing the ICT industry skills shortage. Alexander et al.
(2009) refer to this pitfall as “Methodological challenge 5: Higher Education MIS data”
(Alexander et al., 2009:18).
2.5 South African ICT Charter
The South African ICT Charter, in relation to the purpose of this study, serves as a long-
standing code of practice geared at addressing the barriers of inequality, lack of economic
contribution, unemployment, skills shortage and insufficient skills development in relation to
the South African ICT sector by striving towards achieving the following goals:
 the provision of and access to ICTs (ICT enabled infrastructure) in order to ensure
the bridging of the “digital divide” which is ever so prevalent in society and the ICT
sector (MICT SETA, 2012b; ICT Working Group, 2004 );
 the reduction in the increasing volumes of the unemployed South African population
and subsequently, the minimisation of poverty;
 balancing employment equity and creating a conducive environment to drive
economic activity (MICT SETA, 2012b);
 enabling and increasing the participation and engagement of Black South Africans
(women, youth, physically challenged and local communities) within the ICT sector
and subsequently, contributing towards the country’s economy (ICT Working Group,
2004);
 to stimulate, promote and support ICT up-skilling and ICT related training
programmes. These can be further understood through the government established
ICT committees and the respective projects and initiatives currently underway as
well as future initiatives (MICT SETA, 2012b; ICT Working Group, 2004);
 the promotion of “economic and social transformation” (MICT SETA, 2012b:85;
Isaacs, 2007) within the ICT sector.
However, of the core components which make up the ICT charter, the author is primarily
focused on unpacking some of the challenges identified by the ICT Working Group (2004:34)
under “Skills Development” which make the realisation of the ICT charter goals mentioned
above that more challenging in terms of:

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 “Co-ordination” (ICT Working Group, 2004:35) – the lack of skills development
requirements between industry and South Africa’s Higher Education (HE) institutions,
of which the author further relates this lack to the absence of Industry Advisory
Boards (IABs) (Calitz, Greyling & Cullen, 2011a). This level of co-ordination between
industry and HE institutions will ensure that the skills required within industry are
already catered for and grown as part of a skills development program of which these
required skills should be catered for through the curriculums of the respective ICT
related programmes;
 “’Fly-by-Night’ Training Institutions” (ICT Working Group, 2004:35) – ICT service
providers providing courses which are not aligned to international, professional body
and industry standards and practice, subsequently resulting in industry entrants
being misled that the skills obtained are related to industry, when in reality they are
not. Further to that, this relates to these supposed ICT service providers and their
programs not having “institutional accreditation” (Calitz et al., 2011a:53) and
“specialised accreditation” (Calitz et al., 2011a:53) respectively, which is further
discussed in Accreditation & Independent Advisory Boards (IABs);
 “Accreditation of training providers” (ICT Working Group, 2004:35) – delayed
provision of accreditation by SETA;
 “Management Skills” (ICT Working Group, 2004:35) – the lack of sufficient black
ICT Managers within industry and further to that, from a gender perspective, women.
“…companies are looking for black candidates and women in their search for ICT
core workers, which makes the already-limited pool of resources even smaller…”
(Akoojee et al., 2007:27); and
 “Mathematics and Science” (ICT Working Group, 2004:35; Lotriet et al., 2010;
Calitz et al.,2011a) – the lack of secondary school leavers possessing Mathematics
at the required level to enrol for ICT related programmes at HE institutions.
2.6 Accreditation & Independent Advisory Boards (IABs)
In its quest to reduce the skills shortage and the demand for ICT Professionals, the ICT
industry strives to ensure that the graduates that are recruited into industry are in the
possession of reputable qualifications, which in turn provides the industry employers with the
level of comfort that the graduate has been aligned, familiarised and to an extent, has been
engaged in practical experiential learning in line with international, professional body and
industry standards and practice (Eaton, 2009). Thus, enabling them to operate and compete
within the ICT industry, locally and globally (Calitz et al., 2011) primarily due to one of the
reasons being the qualification’s accreditation, “specialised accreditation” (Calitz et al.,
2011a:53).

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Calitz et al. (2011a:53) go on further to indicate that there are two types of accreditations,
“Institutional” (Calitz et al., 2011a:53; Eaton, 2009) and “Specialised” (sometime referred to
as programmatic, program and course accreditation) (Calitz et al., 2011a:53; Simpson Jr.,
2004; Eaton, 2009). Institutional accreditation refers to the accreditation provided based on
the overall educational quality of an educational institution as a whole, whereas specialised
accreditation refers to the accreditation provided for a particular programme offered and
delivered by an educational institution. Accreditation provides educational institutions with a
means of having a formalised and structured approach in evaluating and continuously
improving the quality of their respective product offerings in terms of the degree programmes
offered (Calitz et al., 2011a). The degree of accreditation provided at an institutional and
specialised level have a fairly high degree of influence towards the manner in which the ICT
industry role-players perceive certain ICT qualifications obtained from particular HE
institutions. It provides industry role-players with the level of comfort that the graduate is
industry fit and ready to apply their skills (Calitz et al., 2011a) and also serves as a good
measure to predict the degree to which students will enrol for ICT related programmes
(Galotti, 1999; Walstrom et al., 2008: Challa et al., 2005).
Qualification (specialised) accreditation is the quality verification and assurance process
towards ensuring that the academic programmes which universities and colleges compile
and rollout as part of the degree syllabi, are aligned to the quality standards defined by the
identified and recognised industry professional bodies as well as the industry itself (Calitz et
al., 2011a; Eaton, 2009). Qualified ICT Professionals are provided with a magnitude of
opportunities to apply their trade globally and as a result, this further re-enforces the need for
experienced candidates and new to industry graduates to be in the possession of an
accredited ICT programme qualification (Reif and Mathieu, 2009).
Earlier within the discussion of the South African Industry and Workforce, it was indicated
that ICT disciplines were primarily related to “Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering,
Telecommunications Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Information
Technology and Information Systems” (Koppi et al., 2008:505), of which there has been a
vast increase in the number of programmes offered within these respective disciplines as
well as the accreditation thereof by international and reputable bodies (Calitz et al., 2011a;
Challa, Kasper & Redmond, 2005) such as the ACS – “Australian Computer Society” (von
Konsky, 2008:16), “Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)” and the “Association for
Information Systems (AIS)” (Calitz et al., 2011a:50). From a South African perspective, ICT
related programmes offered by ICT training service providers are certified by the MICT
SETA (previously the ISETT SETA), the Computing Technology Industry Association

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(CompTIA), the Information Technology Association and Microsoft (Akoojee et al., 2007:48)
to mention a few.
For ICT related programmes accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineers and
Technology (ABET), who are primarily the reason for more than 600 educational institutions
(universities and colleges) globally and their respective programmes having been accredited,
places the graduate holders of those programme qualifications in a more superior and
employable position by the ICT sector, as academics and the industry role-players value and
understand the credibility and value of the accredited qualification (Calitz et al., 2011a).
Further to that what makes the ABET accreditation valuable at a qualification level is that
when differentiating between institutional and specialised accreditation, ABET’s accreditation
at a qualification level is primarily focused on the programme’s curriculum content as well as
the delivery process thereof, making the granularity of accreditation that more unique and
worthwhile for the owner of the qualification (Challa et al., 2005).
Several accreditation factors and standards are taken into account by accrediting bodies
when assessing the potential of accrediting ICT related programmes, for an example as
indicated by Challa et al. (2005:210), the AIS and CSAB developed criteria against which
ABET accreditation for IS programmes would be evaluated, in terms of:
 Programme Objectives, Goals and Assessment: purpose of this accreditation
criterion is related to ensuring that the programme’s objectives are documented,
aligned to the educational institution’s vision and mission (Beno, 2004), that
assessment criterion and processes are in place to track, measure and monitor the
programme objectives and that where there are deviations from the programme’s
objectives, that these are recorded and that the corrective action is taken to align to
the programme objectives and where need be, modify the objectives too.
 Programme Students: the purpose of this accreditation criterion is related to
ensuring that the students are provided with the sufficient time to complete the
programme, that the students have access to the lecturers at all reasonable times,
that the students are informed and advised of the programme’s end goal from a
career path perspective and more importantly, that the students graduate from the
programme complying with all of the programme’s requirements for completion and
are awarded the qualification.
 Program Department/Faculty & Delivery: the purpose of this accreditation criterion
is related to ensuring that the lecturers and members of the faculty are sufficient and

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extensively qualified, informed, equipped and up to date with trends and progress
within the field of the discipline so as to ensure that they can deliver the programme
of this nature at a high quality level.
 Programme Curriculum: the purpose of this accreditation criterion is related to
ensuring that the content of the curriculum is holistic in that it contains the necessary
technical content required for the discipline (including complementary and cross
faculty subjects), the content is based on best practice and standards specific to the
discipline and that it is aligned to industry requirements in order to prepare and assist
the student (graduate) transition easily into the industry; of which the author feels is
the key accreditation criterion, Programme Curriculum.
 Programme Infrastructure & Facilities: the purpose of this accreditation criterion is
related to ensuring that the programme is complemented by an array of facilities and
IT resources in terms of libraries, computers and computer labs, intranet repositories,
appropriate hardware and software, which would enable and equip the student and
the department with completing, delivering and supporting the programme’s
objectives and goals.
 Programme Resourcing (Support & Financial): the purpose of this accreditation
criterion is related to ensuring that the programme is supported by the institution so
as to assist it in realising its objectives and that the financial funding provided to run
and ensure accreditation for the programme is available.
Further to the above mentioned criterion for accrediting programs, Challa et al. (2005) depict
the costs associated with accrediting programmes, ranging from costs which are tangible
and nontangible in nature. Tangible programme accreditation costs incurred by an
educational institution in conjunction with the above mentioned criterion would pertain to
costs such as: the cost to apply for accreditation, approximately estimated at a minimum of
$5000 (R51 300.001
) with the accrediting association or body; the costs associated with
hosting the accrediting personnel onsite, approximately $1000 (R10 260.00); costs related to
an increase in the required staff head count, especially when taking into account the
Programme Department/Faculty & Delivery criterion; and costs related to facility upgrades
where required (Challa et al., 2005:211).
1
Rand Dollar exchange rate as at 01 September 2013: R10.26 to the dollar.

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