The dissertation describes a project to employ two young African trainees in the Centre for Adult Education at the University of Natal in Durban. The intention was to develop them as possible community adult educators, and a list of objectives relevant to such a role was developed. The trainees worked for ten months part-time, employed mainly on administrative and clerical tasks, as opportunities for directly educational work in fact proved to be limited. The project did not achieve the objectives for the most part, at least to the desired extent, and the trainees progressed not to further community involvement but to tertiary education. It nonetheless assisted the trainees in clarifying their career goals and acting on them with considerable success. The particular frustrations and difficulties of trainees from a radically different social environment are recorded, as well as their growing confidence and changed perspectives as they began to form their own understandings of a tertiary context, and to reevaluate their own role as employees and later students. The nature of the learning that did take place is described in some detail, and the reasons are explored for the partial success and noteworthy failures of the project. The study points to the need for understanding clearly the distinction between learning in formal education and informal and incidental learning in the workplace. It explores the differences between the two kinds of learning, and points to the need for further work to describe and analyse adequately learning that takes place outside formal education. The project demonstrated the specific difficulties of the university as a site of workplace learning. It exposed the issue of content in adult education as an area which demands far greater consideration, especially in the training of adult educators, and the study underlines the need for learning of content to parallel learning of teaching method. The major adult education needs of South Africa call for flexibility in developing adult educators, and the study aims to inform ways in which internship can be used to help meet those needs. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

This qualitative study aimed at exploring the policy-making process of the Internship Policy (2004) within the Msunduzi Municipality. The context of this policy is in the domain of education, with emphasis on skills development. This study applied the functional policy stages model to the Msunduzi Municipality Internship Policy (2004), using the policy cycle as a model for analysis, with the purpose of describing and understanding it better. This study will contribute in the public policy field and assist service providers and policy-makers in government with a better understanding of the dynamic realities of the policy-making process. A qualitative research method was used. In-depth interviews and key informant interviews were conducted with Human Resources Development Management Committee members, Human Resources Support Managers, Sound Governance and Human Resources Management Committee members and former training officer (Policy Champion) - to collect data, together with an analysis of secondary data of policy literature and publications on national policy frameworks of internships and skills development. The analysis used the models of policy processes to frame the discussion of the research findings. Content analysis was used to analyse data, with research findings categorized into themes. Those themes were: definitions of the internship programme within the Msunduzi Municipality, policy agenda setting, policy formulation, policy decision-making, policy implementation and policy evaluation. It emerged from this study that the internship programme is not a new phenomenon in the Msunduzi Municipality; it has been in existence since 1998, operating informally without a codified policy. The Skills Development Act No. 97 of 1998 and its implementation frameworks – the National Skills Development Strategy for South Africa (1997), the Human Resources Development Strategy for South Africa (2002); the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) (2000); the Public Service Act (1994); Public Service Regulations (2001); Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) and the relevant white papers informed and supported the establishment and implementation of internship programmes in the Msunduzi Municipality. The problems of the previous internship programmes and political motives from Councillors and staff acknowledging the need for having a formal codified policy to govern the functioning of the internship programme in the Msunduzi Municipality merged and created a new policy agenda. Developing the Msunduzi Municipality Internship Policy (2004) was an alternative and it was approved as a final policy after several discussions and consultations. It is implemented by strategic business units and utilizes the bottom-up approach. The weakness that the Msunduzi Municipality Internship Policy (2004) has in its policy document is that it lacked an evaluation strategy, which is problematic because there are no set objectives that have to be followed during the evaluation process. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

The advent of democracy in South Africa has opened up a window of opportunity for issues or social ills to be brought forward to the attention of policy makers. South Africa is faced with a high number of unemployed graduates and one factor attributable to this is their lack of experiential training which is a requisite for entering the highly competitive labour market making it difficult for them to access employment. The government, in one attempt to address this policy issue, adopted internships as a remedial initiative in 2002. The youth make up a very high percentage of the South African population and therefore it is detrimental to the country if this high percentage of the population remains unlinked to the economy. It is now imperative also to understand that the assembling of what seems a good corrective measure of an issue does not guarantee success. The reality in South Africa indicates that there is a major problem around the implementation of policies and programmes by government. The implementation phase of the internship programme plays a very crucial part in ensuring an effective delivery of programme benefits, thus the importance of continuously evaluating implementation processes in implementing departments like the Department of Public Service and Administration. The findings of the study reveal that there are flaws in the implementation of the Internship Programme in the DPSA, relating to access strategy, the target population and the relevance of on the job training provided to interns. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This study investigated whether skills development learning programmes specifically internship programme in the public service sector are effective in improving interns’ emotional intelligence competences. A convenience sample of 66 interns was obtained. The interns, two peers and a mentor assessed the intern’s emotional intelligence competencies twice, at the beginning and towards the end of the internship programme with the aid the 360° Emotional and Social Intelligence Inventory (ESCI). A total of 264 participants completed the inventory. Mean competency ratings were compared to determine if there were differences between the first and the second assessments. There were statistically significant differences for Organisational Awareness, Adaptability, Influence, Teamwork, Empathy, Emotional Self Awareness, Conflict Management and Inspirational Leadership. No statistically significant differences were found in the overall development of emotional intelligence based on gender. However, female interns improved more in Emotional Self-Awareness while males improved more in Inspirational Leadership and Coaching. Skills development internship learning programme in the public service appear to be effective in furthering interns’ emotional intelligence competencies at work. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology with Specialisation in Research Consultation)

This study investigated whether skills development learning programmes specifically internship programme in the public service sector are effective in improving interns’ emotional intelligence competences. A convenience sample of 66 interns was obtained. The interns, two peers and a mentor assessed the intern’s emotional intelligence competencies twice, at the beginning and towards the end of the internship programme with the aid the 360° Emotional and Social Intelligence Inventory (ESCI). A total of 264 participants completed the inventory. Mean competency ratings were compared to determine if there were differences between the first and the second assessments. There were statistically significant differences for Organisational Awareness, Adaptability, Influence, Teamwork, Empathy, Emotional Self Awareness, Conflict Management and Inspirational Leadership. No statistically significant differences were found in the overall development of emotional intelligence based on gender. However, female interns improved more in Emotional Self-Awareness while males improved more in Inspirational Leadership and Coaching. Skills development internship learning programme in the public service appear to be effective in furthering interns’ emotional intelligence competencies at work. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology with Specialisation in Research Consultation)