SayPro Online Advanced Certificate: Education: School Management and Leadership 73529 Level 06

SAQA ID: 73529 Operate a Windows System NQF Level 06 Credits 00

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION
The ACE (School Management and Leadership) does not qualify candidates as professional educators in schooling.

Its target audience is qualified educators who:
Are already members of the management team in schools, or ECD / ABET centers (as principal/deputy principal in chools or head of department or subject / learning area / phase leaders) but are either not qualified as managers or are qualified inappropriately; OR
Are heads of department or subject / learning area / phase specialists and would like to be principals/deputy principals; OR
Are heads of deparment or subject / learning area / phase leaders and would like to follow the education specialist career path.

Departmental officials who wish to learn more about leadership and management of schools are not excluded from this qualifications but it is not directed at the needs of office-based educators specifically.

Its purpose is to develop in these educators the fundamental knowledge, skills, and values/attitudes/attributes so that they can lead and manage schools effectively and contribute to improving the delivery of education across the school system. The programmes leading to the qualification should have an impact not only on individuals, but on the school as well as the system as a whole.

Within this broad purpose, the more specific purposes are:
For principals/deputy principals and managers of ECD / ABET centres:
To provide the leadership and management which enables the school to give every learner high quality education and which promotes the highest possible standards of achievement.
For HODs:
To provide professional leadership and management for subject areas/learning areas/phase coordination to secure high quality teaching and effective use of resources and ensure improved standards of achievement for all learners.

The ACE (School Management and Leadership) is conceived of as a form of continuing professional education which has the purpose of equipping educators for the positions they currently occupy, or enabling educators to move into an education management career path.

The ACE (School Management and Leadership) can be used for upgrading from NQF level 5 to NQF level 6. However, it can also be used by educators with qualifications at NQF level 6 or above who wish to learn the fundamentals of school management and leadership.

Rationale for the qualification

The ACE is a level 6 qualification aimed at developing leadership and management competence for those in leadership positions in schools or ECD / ABET centres or those aspiring to such leadership positions.

Current school management qualifications tend to concentrate predominantly on foundational knowledge about education management, rather than practical and reflexive management competence. In addition, many existing qualifications are not aligned either with individual or with national needs. Finally, the delivery and assessment of learners on most of the existing qualifications takes place removed from the site of practice and is often not informed by the practical realities on the ground.

A new qualification is needed to develop both applied school leadership and management competence for the target learners and to set standards for practice-based assessment of this competence.