The national list of occupations in high demand (OIHD) identify the skills needs across the economy and assists to align skills planning with economic planning to ensure that skills are not a constraint on economic growth; and to promote the use of labour market intelligence for skills provisioning. The lists continue to inform the NSF’s funding, such as bursaries and scholarships funded through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), National Research Foundation (NRF) and DHET International Scholarships. Other NSF-funded programmes directed to beneficiaries and interventions to address OIHD include short- to medium-term interventions for apprenticeship, digital technology, rural development and interventions geared towards marginalised groups. 

This includes public TVET colleges which continue to receive funding support through the NSF Public TVET Colleges’ Capacity Building and Occupational Programmes. The funding is towards occupationally directed programmes and spans apprenticeships, learnership, skills programmes, work-integrated learning, capacity building, as well as specialised equipment.