As an organisation, JET continues to attract highly qualified individuals with excellent skills. We ensure that our staff and board fit well within the organisational culture, contributing their diverse and unique approaches. The skills and expertise of our strengthened Board will help us increase the impact and optimise collaboration towards greater educational outcomes. The expertise that Dr Needham and Dr Jivan bring will contribute to advancing JET’s mission to positively impact education policy and implementation in South Africa and Africa through rethinking current education systems and engaging in evidence-based research.
Dr Seamus Needham is the Director of the Institute for Post-School Studies at the University of the Western Cape. He has over three decades of experience in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), education policy, academic leadership, and research. He holds a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a Master’s in Education from UWC, and a BA (Honours) in History from the University of Cape Town. Dr Needham has led key national and regional research initiatives, including South Africa’s largest TVET graduate destination study, and has published widely on employability, articulation, and vocational education pathways. His policy contributions include serving on ministerial committees and advisory teams for the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Council on Higher Education, and SAQA. With a strong commitment to education system transformation and social justice, Dr Needham brings deep insight into post-school education and labour market.
Dr Ajay Jivan is the Head of Research and Assurance at the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), where he leads the thought leadership, strategic alliances, and quality assurance of the HR professional body. He played a pivotal role in co-facilitating and co-authoring the revised National HRM Standards, launched as the National People Practices and Governance Standards in 2023. With extensive experience in board, policy, and strategy-level roles, he has served on the Ministerial Task Team on the Professionalisation of the Public Service, as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Board of Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA), and as a Director of the Board of the Assessment Centre Study Group (ACSG). Dr Jivan holds a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, a Masters in Management, and a Doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand. A published academic, he has contributed to peer-reviewed journals, HRM academic textbooks, and serves as the author of the HR professional body's Fact Sheets where he draws on his wealth of expertise and senior management experience in human capital management, governance, and strategic leadership.
Dr Seamus Needham and Dr Ajay Jivan join the JET board of directors in May 2025. A warm welcome to the JET family.
