Give Your Workers The Best Literacy Training

How to select a reputable literacy training provider and avoid dodgy ones.

When it comes to selecting a training provider to deliver numeracy and literacy training for your workers, it’s important to take the necessary steps to distinguish a high quality provider from the fly-by-night operators.

There are many companies that, to the undiscerning eye and ear, will make a convincing case, but a trained eye and ear will know what to watch for and listen out for. Based on our years of experience as a literacy training provider, here are some of the points that will help you separate the good from the bad.

Ask, “How long …?”

Two key questions to ask start with “How long …?” The first is about how long a provider has been in business, and the second is about how long their clients have been with them. While the first simply gives you an indication of the years of experience they’ve acquired, the second, “How long …” question is more revealing.

Ask them how long their current clients have been with them. If a provider has been in business for a number of years and they have longstanding relationships with a number of their clients, that tells you something – they’re probably good at what they do and are delivering an excellent service. But, if their clients haven’t been with them for very long, that begs the question as to why clients from last year aren’t using them this year. See that as a flashing red light warning you that their clients haven’t been happy with the quality of their training and have therefore sought another provider. In that case, buyer beware!

A company that delivers excellent training will have longstanding clients because they will have demonstrated certain knowledge, experience and expertise, while a company that doesn’t deliver good training won’t.

Ask if they have a joint venture

Another telling point concerns whether the provider is involved in a joint venture. If that’s the case, chances are they don’t have the necessary resources to deliver the training themselves and are outsourcing the training to another provider who is just that little bit removed from you. When things start to slip through the cracks, you battle to get one of the parties to take responsibility. One party will blame the other and vice versa. That doesn’t get you anywhere and issues remain unresolved – very frustrating and very unproductive. When you appoint a company that is solely responsible for delivering the training, everyone knows exactly who is responsible for what and things run a lot more smoothly.

Sometimes, the company managing the training is not even in the training industry and they do not have an understanding of or appreciation for the nuances of what’s needed to make the training effective and successful. When things go wrong, they contact another company to bail them out, but all the contractual matters have been decided, like the process and the content. Then, when things don’t work out, the contracting company points fingers at the company they subcontracted to bail them out.

Do your checks

It’s unwise to fail to check a provider’s history or do a background check. If you pick a provider for the sake of having a provider, don’t do a quality check, then enter into a three year agreement, when things go wrong, you’re stuck with that provider for three years. That quite clearly doesn’t benefit the learners. In fact, it’s quite demotivating for them.

In doing your checks, questions to ask include: Does the provider actually have their own training material? Do they have their own trainers? Do they know what assessment processes to follow? Do they follow them, in terms of moderation and summative assessments? Do they have a relationship with the SETAs (Sector Education and Training Authorities)? If a service provider does not communicate with the relevant SETA, things fall through the cracks.

Another check to do is to verify that they have an accreditation number from Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training in South Africa.