The Department of Labour is currently in the process of launching a new approach to Skills Development and training called the Occupational Learning System.

This new learning programme will focus on job-specific learning to meet the needs of organisations and workplaces.

The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) is being established in terms of a revised implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The QCTO will specifically focus on those aspects of learning that are required for occupational competence.

This means that employees will be trained on the theoretical and practical components relevant to their specific job function.

While the Department of Labour is in the final stages of establishing the QCTO framework, Milpark Business School (MBS), in partnership with the IOB, has been appointed by the BANKSETA to pilot the first official QCTO qualification in the Banking Sector.

Over the past 6 months MBS has been developing QCTO curriculums in co-operation with Sector participants (CEPs – Community of Experts), to form three individual Skills Certificates which will eventually lead to an overall QCTO Award. This QCTO award will be equivalent to a qualification and aligned to the NQF.

Based on Sector input and a need for training identified in the Banking Sector, three Skills Certificates have been developed, namely:
o Skills Certificate: Tellers
o Skills Certificate: Bank Customer Services Clerk (Enquiries Clerk)
o Skills Certificate: Personal Banking Consultant

Developing the curriculum covering these three Occupations will enable new and existing employees to progress through these occupations and prepare themselves for a career in the banking and financial services sector.

The pilot for the delivering of the Teller and Bank Customer Services Clerk Skills Certificate has been scheduled to launch in mid November 2009 and will run until July 2010.

Thereafter employees will apply to the IOB to write their final summative assessment. Several Banks have been requested to nominate staff to participate in the pilot project. The pilot project will be offered at MBS’s campuses in Melville and Claremont.

The target audience for the pilot project includes new entrants into the Sector as well as employees with 1 - 3 years experience in the specific job functions. For the practical component of the curriculum, employees will be coached in the workplace by nominated coaches; the theoretical component will take place at MBS in the form of classes.

Once the pilot group has completed the theoretical and workplace training, they will apply to write a final summative assessment (final examination) through the IOB, who is the assessment partner in this pilot project.

If a learner successfully completes all the internal assessments conducted during the training blocks with MBS as well as the final summative assessment with the IOB, they will qualify for the relevant Skills Certificate that they participated in.

This new initiative is seeking to constructively deal with the current disconnect between qualifications and occupations. The main purpose of delivering QCTO-based learning is to equip learners with the specific skills they require to perform their day-to-day jobs.

Visit Milpark Business School for more information on the banking qualifications on offer, or alternatively, visit the Skills Portal Training Directory.