Five core values guide and inform SSACI’s work. These are:
Effectiveness
SSACI is an outcomes-driven organisation that aims to make a positive impact on South Africa’s national, public skills development system. In pursuit of this, we initiate and implement projects that:
- Are clustered around the two main elements of the system – namely, the TVET colleges and apprenticeships
- Have a common conceptual theme, i.e. work-integrated learning
- Align with government priorities as outlined in the National Skills Development Strategy, the National Skills Accord and the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training, 2012-2030
- Are co-implemented with and co-funded by government departments or agencies
- Therefore, have high potential for systemic impact (i.e. for improving the national skills-development system) and sustainability beyond the period of SSACI funding
SSACI regularly monitors and evaluate its projects in terms of their pre-determined objectives, but with an eye, too, for unintended outcomes.
Efficiency
SSACI is a cost-conscious organisation that seeks to increase the value of its support to development initiatives by discharging its responsibilities promptly and efficiently. This means that we:
- Keep our own operating costs low
- Seek projects and partners that are cost-effective, with efficient management structures, low overhead costs, high levels of technical expertise and effective means of service delivery
- Respond quickly to correspondence and other contacts
Flexibility
Recognising that development is subject to many variables; SSACI seeks to be aware of the uncertainties involved in project implementation and the unexpected demands that may be placed upon implementing partners. This means that we:
- Are open to innovative ideas and willing to undertake promising experiment
- Do not have a cumbersome internal bureaucracy
- Honour agreed plans and procedures but are ready to revise them to meet new exigencies
Transparency
SSACI believes that the success of a project depends upon each of the partners' knowing what the others are about. To this end, we:
- Make our own objectives, expectations and possible contributions clear to potential partners from the start of negotiations on the implementation of a project
- Share evaluative information with partners and keep them informed of our views regarding the implementation of a project
- Report back regularly on our activities to our own funders and other interested parties
Learning
Since success is to a considerable degree dependent upon a thorough understanding of the field in which we operate and the realities, opportunities and problems that it presents, SSACI seeks to be a learning organisation. This means that we:
- Constantly seek to update and extend our grasp of development issues
- Pay constant attention to lessons learned from our own experience and that of other organisations, as recorded in the research literature
- Share our experiences with other interested parties
- Develop the professional competence of our own staff