1. The WCED is currently developing course material for the Certificate in School Business Management (CSBM) at NQF Level 4 for administrative staff at schools. It is envisaged that a pilot course for CSBM will commence in February or March 2008 with an enrolment of 150 candidates. The pilot course will be presented by the FET colleges in the metropole area. The course will be funded by the WCED.
2. This course is in support of the Human Capital Development Strategy of the Western Cape. It is aimed at up-skilling the administrative staff to provide opportunity for progression in the school, Head Office, the District Offices (EMDCs), other departments and the private sector. The purpose of the CSBM qualification is to equip candidates with the skills, knowledge and expertise necessary to efficiently and effectively administer and manage the school operations and resources, thereby contributing to a safe learning environment while removing the burden of administrative tasks that have fallen to principals and senior staff members. There is also a need to up-skill administrative staff to negate the possibility of mismanagement of school funds and resources due to the lack of necessary skills.
3. The certificate course has an entry level of Grade 12 (Senior Certificate) and will only be delivered in English (both in the facilitation sessions and in the learning materials). Current employees will be assessed according to their existing qualifications and prior learning experience. The course will up-skill and/or re-skill the target candidates. This is a yearlong course, which aims to build generic competency in leadership, management and administration, while at the same time developing functional competency in the following areas:
 3.1Financial Management
 3.2Human Resource Management
 3.3Risk Management
 3.4Facilities Management
 3.5Office Systems Administration and Management
 3.6Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Management

4. The mode of delivery of the training will consist of ±2 weeks face-to-face at the college with an interval of ±3 weeks of self-paced learning per module. The pilot course will be delivered at the three FET Colleges below,
 4.1College of Cape Town, Crawford Campus
 4.2False Bay College, Good Hope Campus, Khayelitsha
 4.3Northlink College, Parow Campus

5. Applications to take part in this pilot course are invited from candidates who have passed Grade 12 (Senior Certificate), have sound skills in office and financial management, are computer literate and are conversant in English. It would be expected of the candidates to travel to the colleges on a daily basis when facilitation sessions (face-to-face contact) are in progress. The WCED will not provide accommodation to candidates attending the pilot course. For this reason, the candidates for the pilot course will be selected from the metropole districts and those from the rural districts who will be able to travel to the venues on a daily basis when the facilitation sessions take place.
6. There are only 150 places available for the pilot course. Administrative staff who fit the profile described in paragraph 5 are requested to apply as soon as possible by faxing the attached application form to the School-based Management section of their District Office. Applications close at 12:00 on 4 December 2007. The District Office will be responsible for the selection process. An applicant who has not received a reply by 18 January 2008 may assume that his/her application was not successful. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered and that no correspondence in respect of late and/or outstanding information will be entered into.
7. For further information contact your School-based Management section of your District Office. Principals are requested to bring the content of this minute to the attention of all parties concerned.


SIGNED:TS SHAYI
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2007:11:19

Application: CSBM pilot course  (size: 17 KB)