The University of Pretoria (UP) recently partnered with the National School of Government (NSG) through Enterprises University of Pretoria (Enterprises UP) to present a variety of education, training and development programmes to delegates in the public sector.

This will contribute to accelerated efforts by government to build an ethical, capable and developmental state to improve its operations and service delivery.

This can only be done with ready access to experienced professionals and specialists who can provide specialised advisory services and training to boost skills and professional development for a future-proof workforce.

Prior to the formalisation of this current partnership, the University of Pretoria boasted a track record spanning more than 15 years of serving the NSG (and its precursors in the South African Management Development Institute and the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy). Over this time, UP’s School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and Enterprises UP engaged in the design and development of an integrated management development model, which later led to the delivery of the Emerging Management Development Programme (EMDP) and the Advanced Management Development Programme (AMDP).

Representatives from various higher education institutions and National School of Government representatives during the partnership signing ceremony in Pretoria.

As a result of this product offering to the public sector, 8 000 delegates successfully enrolled in the EMDP (aimed specifically at supervisors and junior managers) and 6 500 delegates enrolled in the AMDP (aimed at middle managers to prepare them for the challenges of becoming senior managers in the public sector). These programmes, which were delivered at both the national and provincial levels of government, also provided a pathway to the coursework Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) programme for candidates in possession of a bachelor’s degree. In fact, from the 2020 MPA cohort, 13 of the 50 admitted students were products of the programmes presented through Enterprises UP in collaboration with the NSG.

The current collaboration between UP and the NSG is a response to a call from the NSG for partnerships with higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide various education, training and development functions to individuals in all the country’s national government departments through the NSG. UP was successful in its bid submission and has been appointed as a preferred training partner on the NSG’s list of pre-approved HEIs to perform various services related to these functions.

During the signing ceremony of the NSG's partnership agreement with the appointed HEIs held on 3 June 2021, Busani Ngcaweni, Principal of the NSG, stated: “As the National School of Government, we are going through a very delicate imagination process that seeks to place us at the centre of efforts to rebuild state capacity by not only giving hard technical skills, but also dealing with issues of values in the public sector as a whole. Our task is to lead a skills revolution that will change the performance of the public sector as a whole.”

Busani Ngcaweni, Principal of the NSG, and Professor Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, Director and Head of the School of Public Management and Administration of UP.

Speaking on behalf of UP, Prof Norman Duncan, Vice-Principal: Academic, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to collaborate with the NSG. “We are extremely grateful for this opportunity to be in service of the country and that UP can contribute to capacitation in the public service.”

Prof Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, Director and Head of the SPMA, said: “We are excited to be part of this partnership with the NSG. UP and the SPMA, through Enterprises UP, have been serving the NSG for many years, so this is just a further endorsement of how well this relationship is working.”

Through this partnership, Enterprises UP will be able to increase its service delivery to the NSG, both in terms of programmes offered and the number of delegates. By supporting the NSG to build public sector capacity to implement government’s developmental agenda, UP is making important contributions to skills development in the country.