The South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) has successfully concluded a pilot of a hybrid training model designed to make apprentice training more accessibleto employers and learners across South Africa.

The pilot, conducted in partnership with one of the RMI’s private training service providers involved nine body shops and 16 panel beating and spray-painting apprentices. Following the success of the pilot, SAMBRA is now planning to rollout the model nationally.

The initiative responds directly to one of the key challenges facing skills development in the automotive aftermarket: ensuring that apprentices and employers have practical access to appropriate training, particularly where traditionaltraining provision is limited geographically. In the past there were a total of 30 training providers. “Today there are just 18 merSETA approved providers country wide,” says Juan Hanekom, National Director of SAMBRA.  He notes particularly the shortage ofproviders for automobile spray painters. “The situation is so dire,” notes Hanekom, “that in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga there are no training providers at all and this places undue stress on employers who would need to send employees to a differentprovince in order to qualify.”

Hanekom says access to training remains one of the biggest barriers to developing the skilled artisans our industry needs.  “The purpose of this pilot was to see whether a more flexible training model could help bridge that gap withoutcompromising the quality of learning or the importance of practical workplace experience.”

The hybrid model combines different methods of learning, including face-to-face instruction, distance education and technology-supported learning. “Web-supplemented programmes give learners access to additional curriculum information betweencontact sessions, while print-based distance education provides another avenue for accessing learning material.

Importantly, the model does not seek to replace practical workplace training or the role of an experienced mentor. Technology can extend the reach of training, but it can never replace the importance of a skilled mentor in the workplace. Motor body repair is a practical industry,” says Hanekom.

He says apprentices need to develop their technical skills in a real body shop, under the guidance of people who understand the work and can transfer that knowledge and experience.

The hybrid approach therefore supports the apprentice's broader training journey, while enabling learning to take place through a combination of structured contact, distance and information and communication technology (ICT)-supported activities.

SAMBRA believes the successful pilot demonstrates the potential for more flexible training models to complement existing training pathways and increase access to skills development.

Hanekom concludes, “South Africa needs more skilled artisans, not fewer, and we need training models that recognise the realities faced by employers and learners in different parts of the country. The pilot has given us valuable evidencethat a hybrid approach can work, and our next step is to build on that experience and make the model available nationally.”