Largest insurance learnership tackles SA's education challenges

Good progress has been made with Metropolitan Lifes learnership programme with all students on National Qualification Framework (NQF) 5 level rated as competent following the first two summative assessments (exams). This is the largest insurance learnership initiative in South Africa to date- a full theory and practical learnership programme for almost 700 brokers leading to a nationally-recognised full qualification in Financial Services Wealth Management on NQF4 and NQF5 levels.

"The response from the first group of learners doing NQF5 has been very positive, despite them initially feeling quite overwhelmed by the work load as they are mentors for the NQF4 learners and still responsible for developing their own new business," says Gawie Benade, the primary Metropolitan General Intermediary Channel (GIC) Senior Learning Consultant responsible for the training of the whole channel including the learnership.

On the NQF4 level- primarily brokers from Metropolitan GIC selling funeral, savings policies and life cover products- the pilot learnership has highlighted gaps in previous educational foundations which need to be addressed for the learnership to succeed.

"With the NQF4 learners, the pilot has raised challenges including the lack of a solid educational foundation- particularly in the area of Maths and the challenge of balancing studying and work."

As the training provider for the learnership, INTEC School of Insurance has tailored the programme to address these gaps.

"We are working closely with Metropolitan to address the needs of the learners without compromising our academic integrity," says Petro Taljaard, business development manager of ICG Learning Solutions, the division of Educor working with INTEC School of Insurance to offer flexible and customised learning solutions in response to government initiatives to upgrade national skills.

"To ensure that the NQF4 learners earn their 122 credits in order to receive a full qualification training has been modified and broken down into more digestible segments. There has also been a particular focus on Maths, with low levels of basic competency being an obstacle in this key requirement for success in the financial services industry. Gaps in the SA education system are being bridged and Maths modules are also being broken into manageable portions."

Where training in the past would have been very focused on the learners specific work area and on sourcing new business, the learnership focuses on the livelihood of the client, the company and the industry as a whole.

"Learners are not only learning how their client interactions will improve due to the new-found knowledge that enables them to communicate with their clients at a much higher level, they are also seeing the bigger picture of how learnerships will have a larger positive impact on the South African economy through a suitably trained and qualified workforce," explains Benade.

"The knowledge I have gained has boosted my confidence immensely- I now feel confident enough to give Thabo Mbeki financial advice! The training has given me a much broader and holistic understanding of financial advice. It is no longer about selling a life policy but about looking at an individual needs and their environment and giving them the relevant advice," says Billy Phiri, a Metropolitan Preferred Intemediary from Pretoria.

INTEC School of Insurance's full learnership service is key to addressing the changes of the pilot project. This service including orientation and tailor-made achievement plans, top quality study material, dedicated trainers, assessments, workplace mentor coaching, reporting and administration, learner management and graduation.

The next phase for the Metropolitan learnership is in December when futher students will write NQF4 level summatives, which will indicate whether the programme changes have been successful.