I often come across job advertisements requiring “accredited facilitators” and this got me wondering as to exactly what they mean. As with my previous posts, do pardon my ignorance, I’m only a year and a few months old in this industry. My understanding has been that, you get accredited by SETAS as an Assessor and or/Moderator and that anyone with the necessary skills and experience can become a facilitator. Can anyone give clarity on this please? Does being an accredited facilitator mean that you have to send your qualifications to different SETAS? Does it mean you have to have a facilitation qualification? Or does it mean both?
Kind regards
Nduduzo, let us get clarity.
Also, I must mention the following (I might get some negative retaliation here …..), it does not mean that if you are a registered Assessor/Moderator with a SETA that you can actually stand in front of a class of individuals and facilitate learning!
I sometimes behold a vision in my mind, of Muhammad Ali approaching the SETA (for sport) to obtain a boxing certificate (accreditation) to prove he can box.
I think many people advertise in ignorance as the “SAQA-speak” can be very confusing and yet is at the same time very precise. Neither facilitators, assessors nor moderators are accredited. A training (service) provider organisation can be accredited by a quality assurance body (previously known as ETQA and usually situated within a SETA). In order to become accredited there is normally a requirement to have an employment or other relationship with at least one “registered” assessor and moderator. (Often this registration is referred to as “constituent”.) Facilitators on the other hand are often required to be Subject Matter Experts, and in some cases SETAs require a facilitator to have achieved the qualification being facilitated – but these are options which individual SETAs may or may not apply (and they very often change their minds anyway). There is no broad industry-use, or legal requirement, of “accreditation” in relation to facilitators.
Mr. Makhanya I have the same view as yourself on accreditation and facilitation therefore there is no need to refer to “accredited facilitator” because it is confusing. Thanks. Molefe