In pursuit of its objectives, SSACI has a four-legged strategy of:

• Linking public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to industry
• Initiating and implementing proof-of-concept projects in skills development
• Catalysing government initiatives and supporting their implementation
• Feeding lessons from these interventions into government policy and programmes

The following principles guide our work:

• SSACI seeks to work collaboratively with other agencies in both the public and the private sectors, seeking a multiplier effect by bringing together resources and capacity from both sides
• SSACI seeks to provide practical answers, based on evidence and experience drawn from best practice, to policy and systemic problems. In our view, good policy arises from good practice, and vice versa.
• Since only government has both the mandate and resources to develop the skills of the nation at large, SSACI seeks to work through public agencies in taking our innovations to scale
• As a public-private partnership in development, SSACI seeks to harness its private-sector linkages to public-sector structures, systems and programmes. In doing this, SSACI nevertheless maintains its own independence from both state and private interests  

Drawing on local and international research, and our own experience, SSACI believes that TVET is most successful when it:

• Focuses on training to demand and opportunity in sectors of the economy that:    

           – Are growing, and are therefore likely to offer future opportunities    

           – Are creating new jobs and work opportunities, as opposed to the “jobless growth” found in some industries   

           – Require intermediate entry-levels of skill and therefore offer the sort of jobs that young people can immediately fill

• Selects trainees with an aptitude for the work envisaged
• Training curricula that comprise:          

          – A balance between theory and practice, including authentic workplace-based experience         

          – Workplace behavioural skills, including preparation for the selection process            

          – On-the-job mentoring for a period after placement