Assessor Training Course

ASSESSOR TRAINING COURSE
Based on the Registered Unit Standard:
'Plan and Conduct an Assessment'
(15 SAQA credits)

The changes brought about in the education, training and development arena over the last number of years have introduced a new and refreshing way of looking at education and training.

The focus has shifted to quality in training and development, structured approaches and achievement of tangible and relevant workplace skills. One of the key success ingredients to this new recipe for people development is the internal capacity which organisations will need to be able to measure the success of training and development interventions.

To ensure that such national criteria are adhered to and to assist individuals to take advantage of previously and recently acquired skills in order to obtain nationally recognised qualifications, assessors will play a pivotal role in all future training and development interventions. They will be the certifiers of skills and competencies achieved and will assist in the guidance and evaluation of all persons participating in skill building programmes and Learnerships.

The Role of the Assessor

The assessor is an individual who is firstly a functional expert in his/her own sphere of excellence and who has undergone further training in the skills and procedures of assessment. The assessor is responsible to ensure that any person who wishes to achieve or receive credit for specific skills undergo a proper, fair, just and reliable evaluation (assessment) to determine the validity of such claims. The assessor uses the appropriate unit standards as the basis for evaluation and applies acceptable and accepted assessment techniques and methodologies to substantiate the achievement of candidates being assessed.

The assessor will consider all evidence relevant to a particular training intervention and institute all appropriate methodologies and checks and balances to ensure that the standards set through unit standards are met, that fair and reliable evaluations are conducted and that a fair verdict as to the skills and competencies of individuals are made, recorded and communicated.
Assessors are required to undergo formal recognised training as assessors to be able to fulfil this critical function.

In future, organisations will rely heavily on their own and external assessors to monitor and control the success of their workplace skills plans.

Why should organisations have employees trained as assessors?

Organisations wishing to effectively manage the outcomes of their workplace skills plans in order to claim refunds from the skills levies paid, will need assessors to attest to the fact that training and development has achieved the desired results.

Organisations will need to establish the current skills levels of existing and new employees and assessors will be used to conduct such assessments.