The history of carer development services in the country is characterised by fragmentation, poor and inconsistent career information and lack of properly trained and qualified Career Development Practitioners (CDPs) especially for the public service and civil society sectors. This problem leads to poor and/or uninformed career decisions.
The Career Development Coordination Function of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) seeks to build an integrated career development system for the country. This is done by identifying gaps and duplications in the system and bringing stakeholders together to collaborate on rendering services.
The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) working with the Education Training and Development Services Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA), the South African Qualification and Authority (SAQA), the DHET and other stakeholders developed the 1 year Occupational Certificate for developing CDPs titled: The Career Development Information Officer Qualification (NQF Level 5; ID 96372). The qualification was registered on 1 July 2018. Development of this qualification is part of implementing the ‘Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners in South Africa’ published in 2016. The Framework sets minimum competency standards for CDPs in South Africa.
The pilot training on the qualification for 25 participants was funded by ETDP SETA. The participants were selected from the Student Support Services of the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and Community Education and Training (CET) colleges in Gauteng. Additional participants are from Khetha (Career Development Services). The intention of piloting the training with TVET and CET colleges was to enhance provision of career development services in colleges because staff employed for the function often do not have previous training on career development.
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) was the training provider. The training successfully commenced on 3 February 2020 at the Ekurhuleni West TVET College, Kempton Park. A blended learning approach was used as participants are all full-time employees of DHET. On the morning of the first day, ETDP SETA, the DHET and CPUT had the privilege of welcoming the participants and encouraging them in their career journey
The pilot training was impacted by the national lockdown and covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the mode of learning had to be changed to online which came with several challenges (i.e. network connectivity, loadshedding, etc.). These challenges further prolonged the duration of the qualification.
Despite the above-mentioned challenges, the candidates/CDPs of the pilot training project completed their internal assessment with CPUT on November 2021 and wrote their External Integrated Summative Assessment (EISA) on 2 September 2022. The candidates/CDPs are awaiting EISA results then will be issued Occupational Certificates.
See our contact details below:
Telephone: 086 999 0123
Please call me / sms: 072 204 5056
Fax: 012 323 1138
Email: careerhelp@dhet.gov.za
Website: www.careerhelp.org.za
National Career Advice Portal (NCAP): http://ncap.careerhelp.org.za/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/careerhelp
Compiled by Thandi Mothotsi