RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS AND EDUCATOR PERFORMANCE IN THE EASTERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, SOUTH AFRICA

. Human Resource Development integrates and aligns training and development with organisational goals and strategy to improve performance. However, ingrained suboptimal skills and training opportunities in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) negatively impacts learning achievement outcomes. The purpose and objective of the study is to establish the relationship between training effectiveness and educator performance in the ECDoE.The study adopts a quantitative research strategy with 270 respondents. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The survey questionnaire’s internal consistency and reliability were measured using Pearson's coefficient and Cronbach's alpha, respectively . Results show that most respondents did not view the trainings provided by the ECDoE as relevant to job performance, and the attainment of the Department’s strategic goals. The study concludes that ECDoE’s training should be closely aligned with educators’


Introduction
In 1994, the new democratic South African government abolished the nineteen education departments that were racially biased and completely overhauled the education system.The South African school curriculum has since then undergone several changes aimed at creating new and improved policies to address shortcomings of the apartheid education system [1] and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. Training and development are human capital capacity building main priorities of the new government, as it sought to improve teacher and learner performance [2].Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.It views education as an equity-oriented lifelong process [3].Specifically, Sustainable Development Goal, Target 4 recognises educators as critically important cogs for guaranteeing quality education.However, as noted by [4] many South African schools' pedagogical practices still grapple with legacies of apartheid, which persistently linger in the education system, to the detriment of optimum learner achievement.
Policy initiatives such as teacher appraisal, Whole-School Evaluation policy, Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) and Quality Teaching and Learning Campaign (QLTC), and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) introduced in 2012, have mostly not yielded the desired effects [5].For example, in mathematics, South African learners lag behind their peers in international benchmarking [3,5].Educators have been criticised for lack of content knowledge, and poor overall professionalism [6].Similarly, [5] note that the South African, education system is plagued by unsatisfactory achievement of students' academic performance, as evidenced by poor national and international comparative assessments results.Thus, for [7] enhancing teacher pedagogical and subject matter expertise should be the focus of good professional teacher development.For [8] pedagogy is defined as "the observable act of teaching together with its attendant discourse of educational theories, values, evidence, and justifications".The framework for action for SDG 4, implementation provides that "educators should be empowered, motivated, professionally qualified, and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effective governing systems" [9].
Notwithstanding, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, remains elusive, as many schools are not only ill equipped to provide quality education, but educators also lack continuous professional development to give expression to the ideals of SDG 4 [9].A 2021 survey undertaken in the ECDoE, shows that seventy percent of the educators did not receive in-service training on Mathematics and Science subjects and that only fifteen percent of the educators received training on English literacy [10].In the Eastern Cape province, the matric pass rate has over the years consistently been the lowest with lower marks scored in mathematics and science subjects [11].In terms of student achievement in the Matriculation pass rate performance in 2018, the Department was the worst performer with a figure of only 65% [6].However, the 2022 academic year Eastern Cape Matric pass rate results released in January 2023, were an exception with the province ranked six out of the nine South African provinces at 77.3%.Lack of capacity and skills, impedes educator and learner performance.To improve learner performance, it is necessary that educator competencies are continuously

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October, 2023, Vol.6 improved, to reinforce educator content knowledge, pedagogical competencies and skills [10,12,13].Of concern is however that, despite efforts to improve teacher performance and school effectiveness in the ECDoE, only a few educators were afforded human capital development opportunities [10,14,15].The purpose of this paper is thus to: • Determine how training aligns with educator performance in the ECDoE in South Africa • Establish the relationship between training effectiveness and educator performance in the ECDoE, South Africa.• Recommend how the ECDoE can improve training programmes to improve educator performance for the achievement of goals of the strategic plan.

Literature Review -Overview of skills shortages South Africa's education sector
Available extant literature generally indicates lack of adequate and requisite training and human capital skills development among educators, which negatively affect educator performance [3,5,6,10,16].In the South African context, many educators appear to have limited knowledge and experience in using assessment effectively for improving teaching and learning [15,17].The skills and experience dearth among South African educators, emanate from training and development shortcomings and lack of resources for implementing training programmes [18].For example, a survey undertaken in the Northern Cape province in South Africa, suggests that seventy-eight percent (78%) of educators surveyed, did not understand what it took to be a successful educator and what should be done to improve school effectiveness and performance.The report further revealed that about fifty percent (50%) of educators lacked capacity to deliver effective lessons to learners, which often resulted in under-performance of learners in schools [18].In the KwaZulu Natal province, a survey conducted by [19] similarly indicated that in the education sector more than sixty-five percent (65%) of the employees were lowly skilled and only eight (8%) were highly and adequately skilled.The report further indicated that twenty percent (20%) of the employees were general workers who did not have requisite qualifications.Similarly, skills and training opportunities were lacking in the provinces of Limpopo and the Western Cape, where only a few educators had undergone professional development training.Therefore, despite the vital importance of linking training to the strategic plan at the provincial department of education, district, and school levels, commitment levels and investment in teacher professional development are still low [20].
As in other South African provinces, little attention has also been paid to improving human capital in the education sector, in the Eastern Cape Department of Education.As such, there have been persistent outcries and lamentations regarding lack of skills, capacity and knowledge required to achieve goals and key policy imperatives of the Strategic Plan 2020-2025.However, [1] indicates that educators with inadequate essential and requisite skill capabilities are the main reason for the poor academic performance in schools.The ECDoE has been providing training programmes including the Primary School Reading Intervention Programme (PSRIP) and curriculum development.These programmes are however limited in their ability to accommodate teachers and they still fall far short of addressing the ECDoE's capacity and competence gaps.As indicated in the [21] only 94 teachers from eight (8) districts received PSRIP training, with a focus on routines/time allocation, basic methodology, and early grade reading assessment.A survey conducted by [22] found out that in the ECDoE, more than fifty-five percent (55%) of educators lacked e-learning expertise.
To achieve its goals as outlined in the strategic plan, the ECDoE must therefore increase the technological proficiency of its educators.[23].Without the requisite skills, the province finds it difficult to prioritise the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), which lays the groundwork for growth and development, as well as high-quality basic education [10,24].In South Africa, the National Development Plan (NDP) (Vision 2030) places a strong priority on ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality education and training that leads to noticeably better learning outcomes.Thus, crucial priorities unique to the province of the Eastern Cape create the Provincial Development Plan (PDP), which is based on the NDP.As such, the 2019-2023 Education System Transformation Plan (ESTP) specifically targets the PDP goals and three key issues: institutional capabilities, economic opportunity, and human development [25].Similarly, Action Plan to 2024, towards the realisation of schooling 2030, seeks to improve professionalism, teaching skills, subject knowledge and computer literacy of teachers throughout their entire careers [26].To close the skills gap, it is prudent that the Eastern Cape Department of Education redouble its efforts in human capital development, aligning such skills development to its strategic plan.This in essence require human capital development to be aligned with the departmental strategic goals.Within the context of building a capable, developmental state, the South African public sector performance is underpinned by priorities of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).Facilitating this vision into action, as envisioned by the National Development Plan (Vision 2030), require a more functional and integrated government, with capacitated, professional, responsive and meritocratic public servants, with requisite skills and competencies to strengthen public service efficiency [27].

Concept of Training and Development
Training and development are a strategic move for improving employee competencies for current and future work demands.Training is "an intervention employed to bridge employees' skill gap between current performance and what is expected" [16].As indicated by [28] training and development, job analysis and design affect organisational performance.Hence, training and development help human capital enhance skills and substantially impact on employee performance and productivity [16].Training can be described as a set of intentional interventions meant to enhance workers' knowledge, skills, and attitudes so they can do their jobs successfully [29].Training is described by [22] as a short-term, planned strategy for modifying one's competencies, attitudes, and beliefs as well as one's knowledge, skills, or behavior through learning and skill-building programs.Training refers to the process of acquiring skills and knowledge to enhance employee performance at work.In a similar vein, [29] believe that the purpose of training is to master the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are stressed in training programmes and apply them to daily activities.Training programmes give employees the necessary information and skills to do their jobs.According to [1] organisations must support employee training to enhance their capacities or expertise for sourcing human resources.The ECDoE can accomplish its organisational goals stated in the strategic plan, mission, and vision by putting training and human capital development programmes into practice.Consequently, it is necessary that the ECDoE conduct a skills and abilities audit/evaluation based on an analysis of the goals of the strategic plan.
Since they must be in line with the Key Performance Areas (KPAs) of the educators, overall school improvement, and school effectiveness objectives, the human capital skills development and training programmes should be developed in accordance with the ECDoE's strategic plan and performance management system.This makes it possible to fulfil the ECDoE's mission, vision, and goals.The main causes of the deficient skills profile are the low relevance of much publicly funded training and the low investment by organisations in training [16].Due to the detrimental impact this bad profile has on employee performance, educators' pedagogical abilities must be improved.New skills, capacities, and knowledge are indispensable drivers of educator performance.To achieve institutional goals and gauge staff performance using the Key Performance Areas and Key Performance Indicators envisioned in the Strategic Plan, human capital development through continuing professional development training programmes becomes essential.

Concept of Employee Performance
Employee performance, according to [19] is defined as how well employees carry out their responsibilities and complete their assigned tasks.The effectiveness of an employee's performance is evaluated based on a set of standards, and this data is then shared with the individual.Based on a set of standards, the effectiveness of an employee's performance is assessed, and the results are then communicated to the person.Employee performance is frequently evaluated in terms of quality, quantity, time, cost, and accomplishment over a defined period [13].Individual employee performance affects organizational performance, which in turn influences how valuable an employee is to the company.Employees need to comprehend an organization's mission, vision, and goals as well as how their work fits into the organization and how they contribute to that organization's goals, mission, and vision [30].Effective performance management is essential to an organisation, it helps organisations align its employees, resources, and systems to meet strategic goals.
A good performance management system helps employees understand the goals of an organisation and what they are expected to do to achieve such goals [31].Thus, employee performance positively affects organisational performance, when employees better understand how their contributions affect the overall strategic goals, vision and mission of the organisation.Employee performance aligns Human Resources Management (HRM) practices in ways that maximise current, as well as future employee performance.Likewise, Strategic Human Resource Development (SHRD) accentuates optimum, utilisation of human capital, knowledge, skills and abilities to meet organisational goals [32].It thus, integrates organisational goals and mission, leverages supportive human resource management (HRM) practices, ensures accountability and creates a learning culture [32].This approach to public sector human resource management is rooted in New Public Management's (NPM) paradigm shifts from a classic bureaucratic approach of HRM to a performance-based culture of HRM.New Public Management (NPM) [33,34] advocates consistently managing employee performance through set goals and entails multiple related practices: planning, monitoring, evaluation, and recognition of employees' performance [35,36].

Guiding theory -Human Capital Theory
Human Capital Theory has constituted a fecund research analytical lens, since its genesis in the early 1960s [37].Its fundamental principle is the conviction that human learning potential is on par with other resources used in the creation of goods and services.It contends that education and training are the best ways for a person to gain knowledge, competence, and expertise [38].Strong communication, information acquisition, knowledge development, and knowledge transmission skills are thus highlighted by the concept of

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October, 2023, Vol.6 human capital.It aims to elucidate the benefits of investing in human resources through education and training.Its core thesis is that people are a type of development capital [37].However, this idea has been criticized by academics who structure their thinking on social issues around a conviction that capital exploits labor.For instance, the positional competition and status that are highlighted in [39] work on social reproduction in education are concepts that human capital theory is unable to account for.He contends that rather than being optional extras, family cultural capital and social capital networks are essential to explaining the benefits of education and training.Other scholars have argued that socially differentiated educational outcomes are a function of prior inequalities and institutional stratification in education, rather than individual choices about self-investment in education and are reproductive [38,40].Thus, the emergent weakness of human capital theory is lack of realism [39].
Given that education/work and educator professional development relations entail complex and multiple phenomena, and no theorization can contain all phenomena, while retaining a bounded coherence, Human Capital Theory provide useful insights to this study.Educators in the ECDoE are expected to upgrade their skills, in tandem with the strategic plan and vision of the Department.When the ECDoE views its employees as human capital, it becomes imperative that it shows that, it values human capital development by devoting resources towards the training of educators and other employees.By equipping educators with relevant skills and knowledge, the ECDoE builds much needed human capital and capacity for the realisation and achievement of its strategic plan, and its 2019-2023 Education System Transformation Plan (ESTP) [23].This resonates with the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) [40,41].Based on this theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory factors which influence individuals' career decisions and sense-making process; include financial decisions, career goals, personal development and academic achievements.Individual educators can thus be motivated to attend various professional development activities to improve their pedagogical and classroom practices [30].Hence, Human Capital Theory offers a strong theoretical lens for understanding social economic structures and human capital investment and development, which promotes school effectiveness and creates public value [9,42].

Materials and Methods
The study's goal was to investigate the relationship between employee (educator) performance and training effectiveness in the Eastern Cape Department of Education, South Africa.The study employed a positivist, quantitative research strategy and explanatory research design.Two hundred and seventy (n=270) educators (teachers) who work in the Buffalo City Education District and who teach Grades 10, 11, and 12 were sampled and a survey questionnaire was used to collect empirical data from the participants.The sample size was determined using the Slovin formula, which resulted in a rounded figure of 270 educators.A Likert scale with a range of one (strongly agree) to five (strongly disagree) was used for the survey questions.The survey questionnaire's internal consistency and reliability were measured using Pearson's coefficient and Cronbach's alpha, respectively.If an item's coefficient alpha value was 70 or higher, it was considered to have acceptable internal consistency.To establish the association between employee (educator) performance and training effectiveness in the Eastern Cape Department of Education hypothesis was developed and tested.With the aid of the SmartPLS programme, data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).To establish the relationship between employee (educator) performance and training effectiveness, simple linear regression analysis was

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October, 2023, Vol.6 used.The researchers sought participants' written consent after obtaining informed consent.Ethical clearance was obtained from the University Research and Ethics Committee (UREC) and ethical clearance certificate number SIB011SZIN01 was issued.Permission to conduct the study was also obtained from the gatekeeper institution, the province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

Results and Discussion
Training and development programmes in the ECDoE were assessed by evaluating various factors, such as the impact of training on educator performance, student outcomes, and the overall improvement in the educational system.

Relevance of training to educators' career and profession
To establish whether the training was relevant to educators' career and profession, response patterns from Items 1 and 7 in  [3] individual needs analysis allow organisations to explore the performance, skills, and knowledge gaps that diminish employee productivity.In a similar vein, according to [13] an analysis of individual needs can help companies determine which employees in a company need training and what kind of training they need.Needs analysis enables organizations to proactively address prospective employee performance issues before they materialize [19].As a result, requirements analysis enables HRD professionals to identify employee knowledge and skill gaps before they start to cause actual problems that may have an impact on output and performance [22].

Organisation and purpose of training
An investigation into the organisation and purpose of the training was based on the responses on items 8 and 9 from Table 1.Results show that the purpose of the training was not clearly communicated to the trainees.Table 1 shows that 64.35 percent of participants disagreed with the statement "The goals of the training were clearly communicated to trainees", (36.52% Strongly Disagreed and 27.83% Disagreed).In terms of organisation of the training (Item 9), 68.26% of respondents disagreed with the statement which suggests, "The training was well organised, informative and understandable", (37.39%Strongly Disagreed and 30.87%Disagreed).These results are in line with a study conducted by [1] which concluded that many skills development programmes fail, due to lack of communication to participants on why they need to participate in skills development training.This implies that communication is critically important in informing participants about the purpose of a training programme.In some instances, [30] believe that participants frequently do not fully understand the importance of training to the point that some just do it out of obligation or view it as a chance to partake in extracurricular activities like stipends and rewards for attending training sessions.Hence, according to [29] low investment in training portfolios by organisations who offer training facilities result in poor organising and irrelevant information for the participants.

Relevance of training to job performance
The study further sought to establish the effectiveness of training by analysing the relevance of training provided by the ECDoE's for employee (educator) work performance.The study analysed response patterns of Items 2 and 6 in Table 1

Impact of training to the teaching and learning process
Programmes for training and development can increase performance and boost academic outcomes.Only by focusing teacher education on improving the teaching and learning process will this be possible.Data analysis sought to analyse and establish the distribution pattern of respondents to Items 4 and 5 (Table 1) which are deemed descriptors of the teaching and learning process.Results show that most respondents did not ratify the training provided by the ECDoE as adding value to the teaching and learning process.As shown in Table 1, 62.17% (38.26% strongly Disagreed, and 33.91 Disagreed) of the respondents disagreed with the proposition that "The training made me to venture into new methods of teaching to improve learners' performance".Similarly, 61.30% Disagreed (40% Strongly Disagreed, and 21.3% Disagreed) with the statement; "The training makes me more productive and efficient in the teaching and learning process".It can thus be argued that training programmes should aim at improving efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of educators to improve learner achievement in matriculation results.Training and development enhances teacher and student performance [2].Due to a poor management system implementation and insufficient levels of educator participation, Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) is a concern in South Africa.This problem is exacerbated by inadequate professional development provisioning, CPTD system being viewed as a South African Council for Educators (SACE) thing, an unreliable and invalid needs identification system and lack of capacity or will and low levels of reporting.The root causes of these problems, amongst others include; Professional Development Plans (PDPs) not being compiled, School Management Teams (SMTs) not clear on their roles and responsibilities, inadequate monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and lack of consequences for non-participation [9].The consequences of the weak CPTD amongst others, are low quality professional development activities, reduced lifelong learning culture, competence in professional practice adversely affected, decreased educator professionalism, teaching and learning not improving accordingly, weak educator performance culture and attendant decreased learner attainment and achievement in National Examinations and international benchmarking assessments [13].
Hence, to improve implementation of the new curriculum, and achieve better learner outcomes, there is need to increase learners' performance and teacher practice.In addition, [14] pointed out that educators should pursue Continuous Professional Teacher Development to hone their subject-matter expertise, pedagogical content understanding, and teaching techniques.More importantly, the Department's Strategic Plan and Performance Management System must be closely aligned with educators' KPAs, KPIs, whole school improvement, and school effectiveness goals and targets.By so doing it becomes feasible for the aims and outcomes of public sector organisations such as the province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education's Strategic Plan to be achieved [30,43].

4.5
Change of attitude of educators after receiving training Effective training should change the perspective of educators in terms of how they behave, relate, and respond to the dynamics of shifting teaching and learning environments.Hence, it was imperative to establish whether the training provided by the ECDoE transformed the attitude of educators.Items 3 and 4 as shown in Table 1 were analysed to establish perceptions of respondents regarding the influence of training on attitude change to effective teaching.As shown in Table 1, results showed that 63.48% (40% Strongly Disagreed and 23.48% Disagreed) of the participants disagreed with the statement; "The training has made me more tolerant to learners during the learning and teaching process".For Item 5, 62.17% (38.26 Strongly Disagreed and 23.91% Disagreed) of the participants disagreed with the statement which states that "The training made me to venture into new methods of teaching to improve learners' performance".This finding could suggest that the training provided by the ECDoE lacked relevance in transforming the attitude of educators regarding their work performance.It is critically important that training programmes change and mould the behaviour of educators after training.As pointed out by [28] training programmes should be supporting activities that cement and improve the capacity of employees to achieve optimum performance.Thus, Continuing Professional Teachers' Development training programmes must in essence engage educators in lifelong learning to improve their knowledge, skills and ensure that educators stay current and better equipped to positively impact on learner performance and achievement [9,16,18].

The educator performance changed positively due to training received
Training of educators can increase performance and boost academic outcomes.This is only possible if teacher education programmes are designed to enhance participants' abilities, knowledge, and capabilities in the teaching and learning process.As shown in Table 1, 61.30% of the participants disagreed (40% Strongly Disagreed and 21.30% Disagreed,) with the statement which reads, "The training makes me more productive and efficient in the teaching and learning process".These findings might imply that teachers lacked the necessary competencies to help the Department fulfil the goals of the Strategic Plan.This may also be indicative of weak levels of Continuing Professional Teachers' Development functionality and usability in achieving the goals of the Eastern Cape Department of Education.As indicated by [10] unreliable and invalid needs identification, could lead educators to viewing Continuing Professional Teachers' Development as a SACE thing, and seeing it as an unnecessary add on and leading them to question, it as "what is it in it for me?"

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Improvement of learners' results after receiving training
The Eastern Cape province has over the years been persistently recording the lowest Matriculation examination pass rates, except for the 2022 academic year in which the province ranked six out of the nine South African provinces at 77.3% pass rate.Hence, the dire need for Continuing Professional Teachers' Development training programmes that capacitate educators with relevant skills and knowledge to improve learner achievement.Table 1 results indicate that 64.35% (38.70% Strongly Disagree and 25.65% Disagree) of the respondents Disagreed with the statement; "The learners' results have improved after I have received training on media of instruction and curriculum development".These findings imply that most educators did not have access to training programmes on curriculum creation and media of instruction, which could improve learner achievement.In [44] view, organisations should give priority to training programmes that leverage and maximize goal achievement and employee (educator) performance.Therefore, it is crucial for organizations in the public sector to invest in human capital resources and to make sure that workers develop the skills, knowledge, and competences needed in a variety of constantly changing learning situations.More importantly, [43] mention that using instructional media is essential for bridging the knowledge gap between students' existing knowledge and the curriculum's learning objectives.Methods of instruction help students retain knowledge, stimulate interest in the subject, and understand concepts much better and clearer.Continuous professional development in the use of instructional media is thus critically significant in the teaching-learning process [36].

Simple linear regression and hypothesis testing
Notwithstanding that training and development are beneficial to trainees regardless of the level of strategic planning involved and the type of the training, the value addition depends in part on the Strategic Human Resource Development plan used to guide the human capital development programmes.It was thus critically significant that the study establishes statistical validation rather than simply basing findings on assumptions and theoretical literature.To test this correlation, the study used simple linear regression to evaluate the relationship between employee (educator) performance in the Eastern Cape Department of Education and training effectiveness.To determine the relationship between these variables, three distinct simple regression statistical tests were performed.This study only presents the first simple linear regression model.
Hypothesis 1: • H1 0: There is no relationship between employee performance and effectiveness of training alignment with the ECDoE's strategic plan.• H11: There is relationship between employee performance and effectiveness of training alignment with the ECDoE's strategic plan.We use effectiveness of training as an independent variable (x) to evaluate whether it has a positive influence or not on employee (educator) performance as response variable (y).
The results presented in Table 2 indicated that in model one "1", both R 2 =0.818 and the adjusted R square "0.817" are significantly higher (above 50%).This suggest that our independent variable "Effectiveness of Training" explain over 81% of the variability of our dependent variable "Educator Performance".In addition, the Durbin-Watson is 1.550, suggestive of the nonexistence of multicollinearity.As a result, it is safe to conclude that the model was appropriate for hypothesis testing.Although the model fits the data, it is necessary to also test whether the regression model statistically and significantly predicts the outcome variable employee performance.Therefore, the ANOVA table presented in Table 3  The results presented in Table 3 shows that the regression model used in this analysis predicts the dependent variable (Educator Performance) significantly well.In the "Regression" row under the "Sig."column, the p-value is less than 0.05.Therefore, we can conclude that "model one 1" F (1026.481) with a mean square of "291.532", and a p=0.000; the sig or P-value less than 0.05 is a significant fit to predict the dependant variable employee performance.To conclude the existence and significance of the relationship, the coefficients are presented in Table 4. Considering the readings from the Table 4, under the "Effectiveness of Training" row and "Sig."column of Table 4, the readings indicate that the relationship between "Effectiveness of Training" and "Employee (educator) Performance" is statistically significant at prediction (probability) p<0.05, or (B=0.908,P=0.001).According to the positive beta value of "0.908" for "Effectiveness of Training," a 1-unit proportional increase in "Effectiveness of Training" results in an increase in "Employee (educator) Performance" of 90.8%.As a result, we may draw the conclusion that "Effectiveness of Training" significantly and favourably affects "Employee (educator) Performance."The visual display of the relationship is presented in Figure 1.

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October, 2023, Vol.6 These findings are in line with research done by [19], which showed that training programmes assist employees to improve their attitude towards work, which is also an important factor necessary for improved performance.This means that skills development programmes help employees gain the right set of skills and abilities to perform better and thus improve their performance.Additionally, Helmbold et al. affirm that effective training outcomes have a favorable impact on better educator and learner performance, the development of job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organisation, an uptick in employee morale, and helps staff members achieve organisational goals [6].The mission of the organization, the goals it is pursuing, and the physical, social, and economic environments in which the organization is operating can all positively affect employee (educator) performance [22].The benefits of training and Continuing Professional Teacher Development for educators' knowledge, abilities, competences, and behaviour are numerous [45].The result of this survey indicates that training improves performance through developing skills and competences.Training programmes shorten the learning curve for people starting new jobs after being hired, transferred, or promoted, and training bridges the performance gap between what should and is occurring [10,28].Resultantly, we can conclude that there is a relationship between Employee (educator) performance and effectiveness of training aligned with the Eastern Cape Department of Education's strategic plan goals; therefore, we reject the null hypothesis: • H2 0: There is no relationship between employee (educator) performance and effectiveness of training aligned with the Eastern Cape Department of Education's strategic plan goals.

Limitations of the study
One major limitation is that the study's results may not be representative or applicable to a broader context.Due to the study's use of a quantitative research methodology, the conclusions and ensuing inferences are based on the participants' unbiased opinions as well as the extant literature reviewed.As a result, the conclusions in this study may be generalisable with caution to the entire population or the particular setting of this study.Given the aforementioned constraints, it is recommended that future studies may also focus on evaluating opportunities and obstacles connected with adopting Continuing Professional Teacher Development programmes for improved learner performance and achievement.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Strategic Human Resource Development integrates and aligns training and development with organisational missions, goals and strategy to improve performance.As such, it is significant that the province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education develops and implements skill development programmes which enhance the performance of educators as envisaged in its strategic plan.Effectiveness of training measures the impact of training on the trainee's knowledge, skills, performance and the organisation's productivity.Hence, training goals, objectives and skills needs analysis should be determined before training occurs, and training goals must be clearly and accurately measured.Measuring the impact and effectiveness of training ensures that training in the organisation is relevant, effective and efficient.Measurement allows public sector organisations to match the costs outlaid in the training's design and implementation with the associated benefits its employees and as well as the organisation receive.Effectiveness of training can be achieved through identifying employee training needs, designing learning programmes, and collecting feedback from trainers and educators.Communication is key to informing educators about the purpose of the training and the expected outcomes of training during training programmes.Trainees need to be fully informed about the importance and purpose of the training and the products of training, so that they can cascade the training to others who were not able to attend.Training programmes should not be seen as a chance to enjoy the extracurricular activities that comes with the training, such as stipends and rewards provided for attending training sessions; rather it should be viewed as a way of acquiring new knowledge, competencies and skills to improve educator performance and ultimately learner achievement.
The study recommends that the province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education should collaborate with locally based Universities and other capacity building institutions in South Africa and utilise Funza Lushaka bursaries to capacitate and continuously upgrade the pedagogical skills and competencies of educators.The Department should utilise different forms of training, including but not limited to; coaching, mentoring, community of practice, action research, school clusters and the cascading model.School-based Continuing Professional Teacher Development continuously enhances the quality of teaching and learning.Educators need to be continuously and professionally capacitated to adapt to new curriculum changes within subjects' content areas.More importantly, skills development programmes must closely align with employees' Key Performance Areas, Key Performance Indicators, Performance Development Plans and individual needs analysis.Individual needs analysis allows organisations to explore the performance, skills, and knowledge gaps which negatively affects employee (educator) performance.As such, training and Continuing Professional Teacher Development must essentially align with the training needs of employees, if they are to significantly contribute toward skills acquisition, productive employee work performance and ultimately strategic plan goal achievement.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Scatterplot effectiveness of training and employee performance.Source: Developed by Authors.

Table 1 Effectiveness of training in the Eastern Cape Department of Education Itemised statements
Note: St Dev-Standard Deviation.Source: Developed by Authors.
Table 1 were analysed.From the results presented in Table 1, 61.30% of the respondents disagree with Item 1 statement; "I am readily equipped the appropriate skills and knowledge needed to perform my job" (39.13%,Strongly Disagree and 22.17% Disagree).For Item 7 statement; "The training was relevant to my career and profession", 64.35% Disagreed, (40% Strongly disagreed and 24.35% Disagreed).These results are a cause for concern, given that they may be suggestive or indicative of the view that the training provided by the ECDoE could be lacking relevance in terms of enhancing skills and capacity and career professional development of educators.Considering these results, it is of paramount importance that skills development programmes be closely aligned with participants' Key Performance Areas (KRAs) and individual needs analysis and skills audits.As such, these results point to the critical need for establishing training needs and value propositions of professional development training for educators, which for all intends and purposes must not merely be a prescribed box ticking top-down approach to human capital development.Rather, it is salient that the ECDoE's training and development be informed by individual needs analysis of educators, if training programmes are to effectively address skills and capacity gaps.As insightfully pointed out by with [1]]sults showed that most respondents did not endorse the training provided by the ECDoE as relevant to job performance.Data analysis indicated that 61.31% (39.57%StronglyDisagreed and 21.74% Disagreed) of respondents disagreed with the proposition that; "The training makes me confident to perform my job effectively".Additionally, 63.92% (38.70% Strongly Disagreed, and 25.22% Disagreed) of the respondents disagreed with the proposition that; "The training has provided me with valuable workplace skills".Results presented in Table1tend to suggest that training sessions organised by the Eastern Cape Department of Education might be falling short of adding much value towards educators` task performance.As postulated by[2]the main purpose of training is to improve job performance.If there is no improvement after training, then it is rendered ineffective; and corrective measures will need to be taken for future training to be effective.Training is crucial to enhancing employees' abilities to perform their jobs effectively[29].As a result, the main objective of training is for participants to master the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are emphasised in the training programs and apply them to their daily work activities.It therefore goes without saying that training programmes must closely align with the training needs of employees and must significantly contribute to skills acquisition, enhancement and job performance.It is crucial for organisations to implement skill development efforts that improve the capabilities and knowledge of their human capital resources in this setting[1].Organisations like the Province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education can effectively work towards attaining the objectives, mission, and vision envisioned in their strategic plan by putting such programmes into practice.

Table 4 H 2: Regression model coefficients for Effectiveness of Training Model Unstandardised Coefficients
Note: Std.Error-Standard error; t-t-statistics; Sig-Significance.Source: Developed by Authors.