Once the artisan learner has
successfully completed the occupational knowledge, practical and
workplace learning, the Skills Development Act requires a learner to
undergo an
external final summative assessment also known as a Trade Test
before he or she can be certified as a qualified artisan, irrespective
of the route or pathway of learning the learner utilized.
All Trade Testing in South Africa will
in the near future be regulated by national Trade Test Regulations
issued under Section 26D(5) of the Skills Development Act that are
applicable
to all Trade Test Centres whether they are operated by private,
government or state owned companies. These national, decentralized trade
test centres must be accredited by the
Quality Council for Trades and Occupations before they will be
allowed to conduct national trade tests. The national trade test
includes practical tasks that a learner must
complete within a specified periods of time as determined by the National Artisan Moderation Body or NAMB.
In addition all trade testing processes
will be monitored and moderated by the National Artisan Moderation Body
(NAMB) as required by Section 26A(2) of the Skills Development Act.
The national trade testing system is also being built to include a
customized artisan development aligned Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) system that will offer persons who have assimilated
knowledge and skills related to an artisan trade through
workplace activities to also enter a well-supported process that will
result in access to a national trade test.
To ensure that trade testing is always
relevant to the needs of the industry and to ensure that learners
achieve competent artisan status, all artisan trade testing or
assessment practitioners
including assessors, assessment tool designers and moderators
will be registered by the NAMB and be subject to continuous and regular
capacity building through re-skilling processes.
All accredited trade test centres will
report to the NAMB as per pre-determined requirements to enable the NAMB
to monitor their performance. In this sense the NAMB will act as an
"ombudsman"
for artisan development and any concern with regards to the quality of artisan development may be reported to the NAMB.