CONTRIBUTORS
THE AGE OF QCTO IS COMING - IS YOUR ORGANISATION PREPARED TO MAKE THE SWITCH ?
By Daniel Orelowitz , managing director at Training Force
By June 2023 , it will be the primary responsibility of the QCTO for the oversight of the design , accreditation , implementation , assessment and certification of occupational qualifications , part-qualifications and skills programmes in South Africa .
The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations ( QCTO ) is a quality council established in 2010 in terms of the Skills Development Act ( Act 97 of 1998 ) as amended in 2008 . Its role is to oversee several aspects of training and qualifications , including trades , on the Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework ( OQSF ).
Its role is critical in ensuring that South Africa has a qualified workforce to contribute to job creation through better opportunities . The QCTO signals major changes in the skills development space , and a significant number of organisations remain unclear as to how these new standards will affect them and their workforce .
Continuous delays in rolling out these changes have resulted in mass confusion . It ’ s time to set the record straight so that we can move forward with training sector priorities : quality skills development that facilitates South African economic growth and recovery .
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It ’ s essential for all organisations involved with skills development to ensure that they are positioned and ready for this change if they ’ re to survive the transition .
WHAT THE QCTO IS AND WHERE IT FITS IN The QCTO is one of the three Quality Councils legislatively responsible for the educational paradigm in line with its constitution . Umalusi is the Quality Council concerned with the development and management of the quality of a sub-framework of qualifications for general and further education and training . The Council on Higher Education ( CHE ) is concerned with the promotion of a system of quality assurance for all higher education institutions , such as universities and colleges .
The QCTO is charged with the establishment and management of an occupational qualification sub-framework , as well as providing guidance to skills development providers ( both private and public ) and assessment centres who must be accredited by the QCTO to implement occupational qualifications .
CHANGE CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED OR AVOIDED It ’ s been more than a decade in the making , but change is finally coming . Working behind the scenes , the QCTO has gradually been building capacity as a stand-alone institution to take over its mandated functions from SAQA . “ According to the QCTO , the registration end date for all ‘ historical ’ qualifications is 30 June 2023 , with a phase-out period of one year for learners to still enrol up to and including 30 June 2024 ”, after which it will be necessary to move over to occupationally directed qualifications .
Training , assessments , moderations , and achievements on these qualifications will only continue with learners registered before 30 June 2024 . A teach out period will facilitate learners enrolled before 30 June 2024 until 30 June 2027 , but statements of results and certificates will no longer be issued post 30 June 2027 .
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