| Summary: | Training as a part of non-formal education can fill great needs in the provision of trained manpower.
During the last decade various organisations have realised the importance of training and have
supplied their employees with training within the organisations.
The traffic occupations have a lack of specialised training and for this reason the traffic officer
experiences difficulty performing his task in a professional manner. This is also one of the reasons
why this occupation enjoys less social esteem in the community.
The aim of this study is to plan in a strategic manner the provision of training for traffic officers,
according to the strategic planning framework proposed by Steyn (1994:8), in order to improve the
professionalism of the traffic officer.
After a thorough study of the relevant literature, the various components of the mini-training system,
for example the training system administration, policy, structure of training programmes and
supporting systems, were described against the background of non-formal and adult education.
Attention was subsequently given to the National Qualification Framework (NQF), and particularly to
the structure and functions forming part of the framework. The empirical research was done
nationally at the different training colleges and departments. The required information was collected
by means of the qualitative research method, particularly by means of the case study, where semi-structured
interviews and observations were utilised. Interviews were conducted with as many as
possible of the staff and interest groups involved in the training of traffic officers. During this phase
various document analyses were carried out regarding official documents, relevant to the training of
traffic officers, to which access had been granted.
This phase made it possible to determine which internal and external determinants were to be
taken into account regarding the training of traffic officers.
After this phase attempts were made to plan the future provision of training for traffic officers by
using the strategic planning framework, in such a way as to ensure that the planning would meet
requirements as they occurred in practice in South Africa.
Some of the most important findings and suggestions regarding the strategic plan are as follows:
• A national curriculum must be developed, which must be accredited and acknowledged by the
NQF.
• A National Training Board must be established.
• A professional body for traffic officers must be established.
• The training expertise and subject knowledge of training staff must be improved and developed.
• Attention must be given to the staff structure of the various training institutions so that all
activities will contribute to professional training of high standard and quality.
• An effective system of recruitment and selection of trainers and students must be developed.
With regard to the research instrument it was found that the planning framework as proposed by
Steyn could be applied, with small adjustments, to plan the training of traffic officers.
It was furthermore found that each of the four components fulfils an indispensable function in the
provision of effective training, and that the nature and content of each component are so
intertwined and so closely related that components can neither exist nor be planned in isolation. === Thesis (PhD)--PU for CHE, 1998
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