For all QCTO stakeholders, quality assurance partners, accredited assessment centres / trade test centres and legacy trade SDPs the Quality Council for Trade & Occupations has released the following notice.
Training centres need to apply for renewal of their accreditation and extensions have been granted due to the current lockdown protocals. Image credit: Ekurhuleni Artisans and Skills
The COVID-19 crisis has caused enormous disruption to the lives of all South Africans, and this is true also in the Skills Development sector. A challenge that currently faces the sector in this time of social distancing is the need for centres to apply for renewal of their accreditation.
This challenge also applies to applicants who have already submitted their accreditation renewal applications. As no travel can take place during this lockdown period this has serious implications for the accreditation site visits/audits.
It is with this background that the following decisions have been taken to ensure continuation of Assessment Centres, Trade Test Centres and Skills Development Providers (SDPs):
- All Assessment Centres, Trade Test Centres and SDPs whose accreditation expires during 2020 are hereby granted extension of accreditation until 31 March 2021.
- This Memorandum can be used as an official accreditation confirmation of the Assessment Centre, Trade Test Centre and/or SDP together with the lapsed accreditation letter dated 2020.
- New applications cannot be accommodated at this stage. Please refer to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) website for constant updates in this regard.
- Please note that this communique only addresses the accreditation status of Assessment Centres / Trade Test Centres and Skills Development Providers and does not constitute an approval to commence with trade testing immediately.
- The commencement of trade testing will depend on the reopening of NAMB and any specific regulations/guidelines that will be issued then.
In this time of crisis, the QCTO, NAMB and the SETAs stand by all assessment centres, skills development providers and learners in the trade and occupational space, and are committed to finding flexible solutions to ensure that education and training continues within all applicable lockdown regulations.
