SAQA 64069: FET Certificate: Archives and Records Management Presentation to SARMAF Louisa Venter

Background 11 January 2007 SAQA contact NARS for contact details of previous SGB members 22 February 2007 Archives and Records Management Task Team meeting at SAQA – To generate a qualification o NQF 4 – We disagreed – asked for scoping study – Agreed that we will generate a qualification for registry clerks at NQF level 4 – Scoped the work of the Registry clerks – Agreed to provide contact details for wide peer review.

Background cont 20 August 2007 discussed the draft qualification – Offered to finalize and submit for peer review 10 December 2007 JIP meeting at SAQA – Decision to scope the records management and archival services professions to determine the different areas of specialization job specific competencies correct exit levels

Background cont. 7 April 2008 FETC qualification for archives and records management on 6-8 May 2008 October Further Education and Training Certificate: Archives and Records Management were published for comment – No wide peer review as promised – and NARS commented 13 November 2008 SAQA informed NARS that no qualifications will be generated for this field February 2009 SAQA published the qualification.

A few issues with SAQA No positioning of archives and records management in the broader information and knowledge management environment – Is it not good to know the basics about the bigger picture?

A few issues with SAQA cont. One size fits all approach – Is a records creator and user, a registry clerk, a records manager and an archivist one and the same? – Does the public sector and private sector function the same? Management qualifications are different for these two sectors, why can’t archives and records management qualifications not be different? – Too generic? Extensive on the job training required Archives services in such dire straits that they require people with already acquired skills.

A few issues with SAQA cont. International comparability study – What about archives and records management qualifications in Africa and SADC? – Realities of a developing country? Innovative records and archives management with limited resources.

A few issues with SAQA cont. Overlapping unit standards – vs , vs vs and vs Is =12 or ( is actually) = 9? – Limiting the subject matter content Irrelevant outcomes – US 11009: Manage Administration Records Specific Outcome 2 and Specific Outcome 3. worth 4 credits, but 2 outcomes problematic?

A few issues with SAQA cont. What about Registry clerks? – What happened to the NQF level 4 qualification that the original task team worked on? Detailed scoping was done 14 areas identified for which unit standards should have been generated to form a qualification. – can we expect them to practice specialized preservation techniques? (US )

What is expected of you? Think about your own career – What is your career path options? – How would you like to see your career develop into an acknowledge profession? – What are the training gaps? Critically evaluate the qualification and unit standards Give feedback to SAQA – Qualification only valid for 3 years Assist with request for a proper scoping study