Abstract:

The South African government is faced with various challenges that requires innovative strategies for training and development. High rates of poverty and unemployment create a need for a development-oriented public service that responds to the needs of the citizens. It therefore becomes imperative for universities and other institutions of higher learning to develop inventive ways and find new approaches to respond to the call by the public service for employable graduates. Public sector training and education programmes specifically focused on the functioning of government therefore need to be at the forefront of new approaches to supply skilled graduates to the public service. Empirical research and literature review indicated the problem of a heavy reliance on theory in the composition of training and development programmes. The paper presents a case for the creation of an avenue of bridging the gap between practice and theory. The purpose of this paper is to build a case for the inclusion of practice into university offerings thus creating a closer working relationship between the public service and universities in order to ensure synergy in what the public service requires from graduates and what universities provide. which will benefit firstly, the public service through the availability of skilled, knowledgeable and competent graduates who have a thorough understanding of the public service and secondly universities who will produce employable graduates with the skills required by the public service, lastly, this incorporation allows for a productive and skilled workforce better able to meet the requirements of a developmental state. It is imperative to ensure that public servants after having attended training programmes are employable and are able to contribute to the organisational goals. This paper follows a qualitative research approach through a single case study design. The results of the research indicate that the South African public service promotes and rewards lifelong learning. The White Paper on Human Resource Management, 1997, clearly states that those who have devoted themselves to a career in the public service will be rewarded and developed. Opportunities to build skills and abilities will be created. The cooperation between government and institutions of higher learning is therefore vital to promote lifelong learning and career development

Keywords:

Training and development, teaching, learning, South Africa.