SABPP programme alignments

The SABPP’s role is to professionalise this function to ensure that HR becomes an increasingly recognized and respected profession. The Board is an accredited ETQA (Education and Training Quality Assurance body) under the SAQA Act and thus a statutory body.

The SABPP was established in 1982, when the Board of the Institute of Personnel Management (as it was then) recognised that the IPM could not both train HR professionals and set the standards – it could not be the referee and the player. So the SABPP was set up as an autonomous body to be the standards and professional registration body for the HR profession. Over the 30 years, the SABPP has registered over 8 000 HR professionals at the various registration levels.

In 2002, the SABPP was granted the status of being the Education and Training Quality Assurance body for HR qualifications. In October 2012, this status has changed to that of Learning and Quality Assurance body (LQA). The SABPP is unique in this, as all the other ETQA/LQA’s are housed within the various Sector Education and Training Authorities.

With the adoption in 2011 of the HR Voice strategy, and the recognition in 2012 by the South African Qualifications Authority of the SABPP as a professional body in terms of the NQF Act, the SABPP has entered its 4th decade with new vigour and purpose. Its scope of work has expanded considerably and a new generation of HR professionals is taking up registration with the Board.

The SABPP engage with various Higher education institutions to align the qualifications with SABPP.As of January 2015, SABPP has actively begun creating awareness and launching student chapters at universities and colleges around South Africa. The SABPP Student Chapter is an exclusive SABPP H.R Student society, comprising of HR students who are actively registered as Student Members with the SABPP.

This exclusive society will become recognized and deemed a SABPP Student Chapter from the specific institution have registered with SABPP. As part of developing the future talent pool SABPP recognises the important role it can play to ensure that tertiary students are fully prepared for a working environment in the HR field.

Once officially recognized, SABPP will correspond with students from the University Student Chapter and offer and provide as much support as possible to ensure that awareness is created about the importance of HR and good ethics and practice in the field of HR. Any events to promote the HR Field will be supported by SABPP and funded by SABPP. SABPP aims at practically preparing students to become familiar with the HR profession.

The Human Resources Management Department such as CPUT has received full accreditation from the South African Board for Peoples Practices (SABPP) for all of its academic programmes from diploma to doctoral degree levels.

The SABPP is the professional body for HR practitioners in South Africa and also accredits HR academic programmes of universities.

Universities undergo an accreditation process to ensure alignment of programmes offered with the competency model and standards of good practices. An accreditation status for any institution offering HR programmes ensures prospective employers and the broader HR Community of the quality standards from that particular institution.

The SABPP accreditation of higher education HR programmes is based on the CHE Programme Accreditation 19-criteria and alignment to the National HR Competency Model and National HR Professional Practice Standards.

The SABPP evaluation panel consists of HR academics from other universities and HR industry professionals who compile an evaluation report and recommend areas of improvement.

I am just a HRA professional member of the SABPP this is what I can tell about the SABPP. Others may have a more in dept knowledge about SABPP.

WF MATTHYS