PAMSA to develop paper industry qualifications

The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) has taken up the role of the Development Quality Partner (DQP) for the development of four qualifications in the pulp and paper sector under the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

The project goal is to produce the QCTO occupational qualifications and part qualifications for the industry. The qualifications to be developed are tissue converter, pulp process controller, paper process controller and the paper packaging recycler, which have all been funded by the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) SETA.

“The pulp and paper sector is considered vital to the South African economy,” explains Jane Molony, executive director of PAMSA. “Our qualifications are valuable in terms of career development potential as they are often a springboard for other avenues.”

Development through community and consultation

“The development process is a complex one but is deemed to be beneficial to the industries who require their current qualifications to be recognised and accredited,” notes Molony.

The process requires a number of important stakeholders to ensure the project is a success, and such stakeholders must include industry and union representatives. To this end, PAMSA is gathering a Community of Expert Practitioners (CEP) for each qualification to be developed. “The involvement of experts who live and breathe the subject at hand ensures that the qualifications are acceptable in theory and practice,” says Molony.

Led by a quality development facilitator, the CEP develops the curriculum by compiling the occupational profile, knowledge modules, practical modules, work experience modules and the assessment specification.

Over the next ten months, PAMSA will host five two-day workshops to compile the occupational profiles as well as the knowledge, practical and work experience modules that will make up the respective qualifications.

In October last year, a series of pre-scoping and scoping meetings enabled consultation with the pulp and paper industry and identified PAMSA the most suitable DQP to manage the entire process, the development phase of which is set to commence in March provided that all identified stakeholders are available to participate in the process.

PAMSA has circulated an invitation to all members to submit nominations of experts for the listed qualifications. Queries can be directed to Tania Rhode via qctoqualifications[@]pamsa dot co dot za or 073 186 7085.

Deadline for nominations: 29 February 2016