Further Education and Training Certificate: Project Management – IKHWEZI Management and Training Institute

ID: 50080
NQF Level: NQF Level 04
Field: Field 003 – Business, Commerce and Management Studies
Min Credits: 136

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION
Purpose:

The primary purpose of the qualification is to provide learners with:
A foundation of basic project management knowledge and skills which can be used to build further project management related competencies.
Competence to be an effective project team member.
Competence to provide administrative support to a project manager and team members.
Competence to provide assistance to a project manager of medium to large projects.

As electives specialisation in:

Competence to plan, execute and control small, simple projects.

Competence in specialised technical areas to support project management processes.

This qualification is directed at learners working:

As contributing team members on a moderately complex to complex project when not a leader or;
As a leader in the context of a simple project/sub-project.

A simple project/sub-project is seen to be one that involves few resources and has a limited impact on stakeholders and the environment.

This qualification is intended for those with prior work experience or an NQF Level 3 qualification in project management or business administration or equivalent. The learners accessing this qualification will be working in or with project management teams or using a project approach to their business. These projects may be technical projects, business projects, government projects or community development projects and will cut across a range of economic sectors. This qualification is also of value to learners running their own business, as project management is an integral component of any business system.

Qualifying learners working on a project will have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to function more effectively and in a professional manner, add value to their job performance and enhance their ability to follow and implement policies and procedures.

On achieving the applied competencies of the Qualification, learners may advance their career opportunities further into project administration, support services or management within an organisation, in all sectors.

Rationale:

The (Further Education and Training Certificate) FETC: Generic Project Management, NQF level 4 Qualification replaces the National Certificate: Generic Project Management. It caters for the current and future needs of those working on projects, in a general skills-set that is not sector-specific. The Project industry is integral in the global business environment and skilled practitioners are required to meet the demands of the industry, providing significant benefits to individuals, global corporations and the country.

Projects are diverse in their nature, so a wide range of competencies is required to manage them and other similar systems and programmes. This qualification aims to provide the foundation or the initial skills required for an individual in an organisation to conduct projects successfully; be an effective project team member; undertake a range of project management administration or support tasks and contribute to the planning and execution of projects or sub-projects. It is designed for people working in a project environment as a team member, project administrator or leader of a small project/sub-project.

The Qualification gives accessibility and flexibility to the unemployed and employed. The level of flexibility reflects the multiple job roles, organisational requirements and changing technological nature of the industry and also allows the individual to work towards a nationally recognised Qualification.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING
Learners accessing this Qualification will have demonstrated competence as follows:

Communication at NQF Level 3 or equivalent.
Mathematical Literacy at NQF Level 3 or equivalent.
Computer Literacy at NQF Level 3 or equivalent.

A basic understanding of the workplace, project processes and operations and competence in National Certificate at Level 3 in Business Administration or Project Support Services or equivalent is preferable.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Learners may access this Qualification in terms of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), which is subject to quality assurance by the relevant accredited ETQA and is conducted by a registered workplace assessor, subject to the terms of the model decided upon by the relevant ETQA.

Acess to the qualification:

No restrictions, other than the learning assumed to be in place are prescribed.

Candidates for this qualification may be working part-time or full-time in the workplace, on community or volunteer projects and have limited formal project management training / experience. They may be a team member, a team leader, in specialised support roles including Project Secretary, Project Administrator, procurement or cost support, or planner-estimator support. Learners who have completed a Bachelors degree and who wish to enter the field of project management may also access the qualification.

Familiarity with the English language such as speaking, reading and writing skills is needed since some of the learning material is not available in any other language.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?
Y

QUALIFICATION RULES
The Qualification consists of a Fundamental, a Core and an Elective Component.

To be awarded the Qualification, learners are required to obtain a minimum of 136 credits as detailed below.

Fundamental Component:

The Fundamental Component consists of Unit Standards in:

Mathematical Literacy at Level 4 to the value of 16 credits.
Communication at Level 4 in a First South African Language to the value of 20 credits.
Communication in a Second South African Language at Level 3 to the value of 20 credits.

It is compulsory therefore for learners to do Communication in two different South African languages, one at Level 4 and the other at Level 3.

All Unit Standards in the Fundamental Component are compulsory.

Core Component:

The Core Component consists of Unit Standards to the value of 66 credits all of which are compulsory.

Elective Component:

The Elective Component consists of Unit Standards to the value of 56 credits. Learners are to choose Unit Standards to the minimum of 14 credits.

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES
On achieving this Qualification, the learner will be able to:

1. Work with others to undertake or support the project management activities.
2. Assist the project manager and/or project team by contributing and participating in planning, execution and control activities.
3. Provide support to the administration of a project.

For electives one of:

4. Supervise a project team of a small project to deliver project objectives.
OR
5. Support the project environment and management activities to deliver project objectives.
OR
6. Describe and apply specialised technical methods, tools and techniques to a project to deliver project objectives.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1.

Own and team member interactions and contributions to the project are described with examples.
Own workload and time are effectively managed in conjunction with the requirements of others in the project.
Successful support that is provided to others for project management activities is described with examples.

Contributions are made to the planning, scoping, scheduling, budgeting and risk management of the project in accordance with agreed procedures, tools and techniques.
Assistance is provided to the project manager and team in the execution of project management activities in accordance with project requirements and agreed procedures.
The control of scope, time, cost, risk and quality is described in accordance with project requirements and agreed procedures.
Contributions are made to the ‘close-out’ recommendations and/or lessons learned during the project in accordance with experiences and agreed procedures.

Project data is gathered, processed and recorded in accordance with project requirements and procedures.
Project meetings and/or workshops are organised in accordance with project requirements.
Different methods of communication are used and described with reasons for their use in the project.

Project management processes and techniques are applied to manage a small project from start to end and to supervise the team working on the project.
Progress is reported and status, including problems, communicated to project stakeholders

Support is provided to project managers / project teams in developing strategies, tactics, structures, methods and processes for project operations.
Project environments are checked for compliance with agreed procedures.
Lessons learned are consolidated and used to improve project procedures.

Processes, methods and techniques for the chosen technical field are described and evaluated within the project context.
The appropriate project tools and techniques are applied in accordance with agreed policies and procedures.

Integrated Assessment:

Development of the competencies may be through a combination of informal and formal learning, self-learning, training programmes and work-based application. Providers should conduct diagnostic and formative assessment. Formative, continuous and diagnostic assessments should also take place in the work place. The learner should be able to assess him or herself and determine readiness for a summative assessment against this Qualification.

Learning, teaching and assessment are inextricably linked. Whenever possible, the assessment of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values shown in the unit standards should be integrated.

Assessment of Communication and Mathematical Literacy should be conducted in conjunction with other aspects and should use authentic Project Operational contexts wherever possible.

A variety of methods must be used in assessment and tools and activities must be appropriate to the context in which the learner is working. Where it is not possible to assess the learner in the workplace or on-the-job, simulations, case studies, role-plays and other similar techniques should be used to provide a context appropriate to the assessment.

The term ‘Integrated Assessment’ implies that theoretical and practical components should be assessed together. Groups of standards may also be assessed together.

Assessment should ensure that all specific outcomes, embedded knowledge and critical cross-field outcomes are evaluated. The assessment of the critical cross-field outcomes should be integrated with the assessment of specific outcomes and embedded knowledge.

The final summative assessment for the qualification should be undertaken under the direction of the relevant Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) body.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY
Project Management is a discipline that crosses all sectors. During the last 15 years there has been increasing advocacy for treating project management as a profession with associated self-regulation. Collaboration between professional bodies, academia, some governments (e.g. UK, Japan and China), qualification authorities and a wide range of interested parties is resulting in a growth of globally recognised best practices, standards and qualifications. The application of project management is seen to be within the management and administration/support roles in organisations. The majority of the training and qualifications offered are at NQF level 5 or above. Whilst most training is still mainly of the short course nature there is an increasing number of leading global universities offer Masters in Project Management.

Internationally, few qualifications exist that are equivalent to the NQF Level 4. There is nothing available in the SADC or NEPAD regions. Currently those regions primarily use training at an NQF level higher than 4 and rarely use qualifications as such. If a qualification is used it is most likely to be from the UK, from the Project Management Institute or as part of a programme from a university or Donor.

In the developing countries individuals wishing to develop project management related skills are linking with global initiatives from Donors, or to PRINCE2 from the UK government and/or to professional bodies such as Project Management Institute (PMI), Association for Project Management (APM) and International Project Management Association (IPMA). A common trend is for global companies to utilise qualifications such as from PMI, APM or the PRINCE2 set (UK) in conjunction with their own qualifications and career path. This then introduces those qualifications to a country that has no or limited local training in project management.

In Africa development of project management capacity is, primarily, being driven by individuals and some of the large global corporates. Individuals frequently join an international professional body and then use the qualifications of that body. For example, there are 55 Chapters of PMI across the world including in the following African countries – Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria and South Africa.

When developing this qualification in 2001 the currently available standards were referenced as well as our knowledge of developments in the project management sector. Since then a global project has been established which has support from most of the key institutions across the world including SAQA, the Services SETA and PMSA. Members of the Project Management SGB have been participating in the project, which is developing global performance standards for project management personnel. The intent is to produce models that can be used anywhere in the world to map qualifications. Currently the standards being developed by the project are at a level higher than this qualification. An output from the global project is a detailed analysis of a range of standards. This analysis has been used when developing this qualification. It is too detailed to report here but information from the project can be accessed on the website www.globalPMstandards.org.

Several of the subject experts who contributed to this qualification are contributors to international research, literature, standards and qualifications and several also deliver training in many countries. South Africa is recognised by other countries as one of the leaders in project management standards and training.

This NQF4 FETC qualification and set of unit standards utilises international and locally recognised best practice and standards in project management. This qualification will provide an entry point to further learning for NQF level 5 and above qualifications or for international qualifications in Project or General Management.

Qualifications and standards that have been referenced include the following qualifications:

Project Management Institute (Global).
> Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).

Business Services Training Australia (now part of Innovation & Business Skills Australia).
> Business Services Training Package – Project Management Competency Standards AQF Level 4. These are detailed below.

Identifier, Australian Unit Standar Title (Innovation and Business Skills), SAQA Unit Standard Title (Core)

BSBPM401A; Apply scope management techniques; Contribute to project initiation, scope definition and scopechange control
BSBPM402A; Apply time management techniques; Develop a simple schedule to facilitate effective project execution Monitor, evaluate and communicate simple project schedules
BSBPM403A; Apply cost management techniques; Participate in the estimation and preparation of cost budget for a project or sub-project and monitor and control actual cost against budget
BSBPM404A; Apply quality management techniques; Provide assistance in implementing and assuring project work meets quality requirements
BSBPM405A; Apply human resources management approaches; Work as a project team member
BSBPM406A; Apply communication management techniques
BSBPM407A; Apply risk management techniques; Contribute to the management of project risk within own field of expertise
BSBPM408A; Apply contract and procurement techniques; Elective: Provide procurement administration support to a project
United Kingdom
> The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (G4L3 25) – National occupational standards for project management (2004).
> Information Systems Examination Board – Foundation Certificate in Information Systems project management.

Project Management is developing as a profession and there are several bodies around the world that provide research, standards and qualifications. This set of standards and qualification have been benchmarked against a wide range of standards and qualifications. In turn this qualification and related standards is being provided to several international bodies for their comparison purposes.

In addition, references were made to the following professional bodies, which provide qualifications or advice on learning in this area:

Association for Project Management (UK).
International Project Management Association (Europe).
Australian Institute for Project Management (Australia).
Project Management Institute (PMI®).
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (Global).
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (UK).

and the following International standards have been referenced;

Emerging global performance standards for project management personnel (GPSPMP – Global).
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK Guide), 2000 and 2004 versions, from Project Management Institute (PMI®).
Extensions to PMBoK® Guide for Government from PMI®.
Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management, 1996 and 2003.
Body of Knowledge from Association for Project Management, UK.
ISO 10006.
British Standard 6079.
IPMA Competence Baseline from International Project Management Association.
Project Management role delineation studies from PMI® for CAPM and PMP.
Project Management Competency Development Framework from PMI® 2002.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS
Horizontal articulation is possible with:

National Certificate: Management – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 23656.
National Certificate: Business Administration Services – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 35928.
National Certificate: New Venture Creation – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 23953.
Further Education and Training Certificate: Small Business Advising (Information Support) – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 48883.
National Certificate: IT Systems Development – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 24294.
National Certificate: IT Technical Support – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 24293.
National Certificate: Public Administration – NQF Level 4.
National Certificate: Risk Management – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 24396.
Further Education and Training Certificate: Arts and Culture Administration – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 48818.
Further Education and Training Certificate: Management and Administration – NQF Level 4 – NLRD 49129.

Vertical articulation is possible with:

National Certificate: Management – NQF Level 5 – NLRD 24493.
National Certificate: Management and Administration- NQF Level 5 – NLRD 49126.
National Certificate: Business Advising – NQF Level 5 – NLRD 48886.
National Certificate: Business Consulting Practice – NQF Level 5.
National Certificate: Public Finance Management and Administration – NQF Level 5.
National Certificate: Project Management – NQF Level 5.

MODERATION OPTIONS

Anyone assessing a learner or moderating the assessment of a learner against this Qualification must register as an assessor with the relevant accredited Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) Body or an ETQA that has a Memorandum of Understanding with the relevant accredited ETQA.
Assessment and moderation of assessment will be overseen by the relevant accredited ETQA or an ETQA that has a Memorandum of Understanding with the relevant accredited ETQA, according to the ETQA’s policies and guidelines for assessment and moderation; in terms of agreements reached around assessment and moderation between ETQAs (including professional bodies).
Moderation must include both internal and external moderation of assessments at exit points of the Qualification, unless ETQA policies specify otherwise. Moderation should encompass achievement of the competence described in the Qualification.
Any institution offering learning that will enable the achievement of this Qualification must be accredited as a provider with the relevant accredited ETQA.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

For an applicant to register as an assessor, the applicant should:
Be declared competent in all the outcomes of the National Assessor Unit Standard as stipulated by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
Be registered as an assessor with the relevant accredited ETQA or an ETQA that has a Memorandum of Understanding with the relevant accredited ETQA.
Hold the National Certificate or Further Education and Training Certificate in Generic Project Management at NQF4 (NLRD 21160) or equivalent project management qualification
Hold a Project Management Qualification at NQF level 5 or above, or equivalent management qualification.
Have at least three (3) years experience working on projects, applying project processes and techniques.

NOTES
As per the SAQA decision, after consultation with the Quality Councils, to re-register all qualifications and part qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework that meet the criteria for re-registration, this qualification has been re-registered from 1 July 2012.
This qualification replaces qualification 21160, “National Certificate: Generic Project Management”, Level 4, 146 credits.

Exit point for learners who do not complete the Qualification:

Learners will be credited with Unit Standards in which they have proved competence.
Learners who complete individual Unit Standards but do not complete this Qualification retain their credits. However, should the substance of the Unit Standard change, the validity of the credits towards the Qualification may be reviewed.
Learners who change their provider or learning site before completing the Qualification may transfer their credits to the new learning site.

UNIT STANDARDS:

	ID	UNIT STANDARD TITLE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	CREDITS
Core	120383	Provide assistance in implementing and assuring project work meets quality requirements	Level 3	NQF Level 03	6
Core	120376	Conduct project documentation management to support project processes	Level 4	NQF Level 04	6
Core	120373	Contribute to project initiation, scope definition and scope change control	Level 4	NQF Level 04	9
Core	120374	Contribute to the management of project risk within own field of expertise	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Core	120384	Develop a simple schedule to facilitate effective project execution	Level 4	NQF Level 04	8
Core	120372	Explain fundamentals of project management	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Core	120381	Implement project administration processes according to requirements	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Core	120387	Monitor, evaluate and communicate simple project schedules	Level 4	NQF Level 04	4
Core	120375	Participate in the estimation and preparation of cost budget for a project or sub project and monitor and control actual cost against budget	Level 4	NQF Level 04	6
Core	120382	Plan, organise and support project meetings and workshops	Level 4	NQF Level 04	4
Core	120379	Work as a project team member	Level 4	NQF Level 04	8
Fundamental	8968	Accommodate audience and context needs in oral communication	Level 3	NQF Level 03	5
Fundamental	8969	Interpret and use information from texts	Level 3	NQF Level 03	5
Fundamental	8973	Use language and communication in occupational learning programmes	Level 3	NQF Level 03	5
Fundamental	8970	Write texts for a range of communicative contexts	Level 3	NQF Level 03	5
Fundamental	9015	Apply knowledge of statistics and probability to critically interrogate and effectively communicate findings on life related problems	Level 4	NQF Level 04	6
Fundamental	8974	Engage in sustained oral communication and evaluate spoken texts	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Fundamental	8975	Read analyse and respond to a variety of texts	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Fundamental	9016	Represent analyse and calculate shape and motion in 2-and 3-dimensional space in different contexts	Level 4	NQF Level 04	4
Fundamental	7468	Use mathematics to investigate and monitor the financial aspects of personal, business, national and international issues	Level 4	NQF Level 04	6
Fundamental	12153	Use the writing process to compose texts required in the business environment	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Fundamental	8976	Write for a wide range of contexts	Level 4	NQF Level 04	5
Elective	13912	Apply knowledge of self and team in order to develop a plan to enhance team performance	Level 3	NQF Level 03	5
Elective	13915	Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS in a workplace, and its effects on a business sub-sector, own organisation and a specific workplace	Level 3	NQF Level 03	4
Elective	120385	Apply a range of project management tools and techniques	Level 4	NQF Level 04	7
Elective	243298	Apply administrative skills and knowledge in a sport organisation	Level 4	NQF Level 04	11
Elective	243296	Apply values and ethics to a sport organisation	Level 4	NQF Level 04	3
Elective	243303	Create, improvise and organize sport activities	Level 4	NQF Level 04	6
Elective	120377	Identify, suggest and implement corrective actions to improve quality of project work	Level 4	NQF Level 04	7
Elective	243300	Lead a community sport activity	Level 4	NQF Level 04	12
Elective	242819	Motivate and Build a Team	Level 4	NQF Level 04	10
Elective	243293	Promote sport activity in a community	Level 4	NQF Level 04	4
Elective	120386	Provide procurement administration support to a project	Level 4	NQF Level 04	7
Elective	120380	Evaluate and improve the project team’s performance	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	7
Elective	120388	Supervise a project team of a small project to deliver project objectives	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	14
Elective	120378	Support the project environment and activities to deliver project objectives	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	14

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:
When qualifications are replaced, some (but not all) of their learning programmes are moved to the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replaced qualification.
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