Investec has commissioned the Sustainability Institute to conduct a study in the capacity needs of community-based organisations working in the field of HIV/AIDS at community level, to draft a set of competency standards at NQF level 4 and to take this work further.
The Sustainability Institute has undertaken to:
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Further develop the standards through deep consultation with leading development practitioners and educators in the field.
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Draft standards as appropriate at level 2 and 3 and possibly also level 5.
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Explore the registration of the standards with SAQA and the registration of the SI as a lead provider of training in this field able to provide quality assurance and certification services to a range of other providers. As an interim measure, to explore the independent certification of learners by a consortium of respected educational and development institutions. This would involve developing a credible joint certification ‘brand’ – possibly even involving mainstream institutions like the University of Stellenbosch – backed up by strict quality assurance.
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Enter into real learning relationships with selected capacity building organisations to pilot the standards by looking at ways in which the providers can begin to align their existing training interventions to appropriate standards so that they can build and assess the competencies as described in the standards.
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Find reliable ways of measuring and certifying learner competence as a way of assessing whether or not the training programmes are building the capacity theat they set out to build. .
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Design a system that enables recognition/validation of prior learning and competence, however this was acquired, in order to support diverse forms of capacity-building and eliminate unnecessary repetition and redundancy in an individual’s professional development.
The Sustainability Institute will coordinate and administer the project.