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A learner can complete the qualification specialising in Embalming and Restoration, Marketing and Merchandising or Disaster Management. The core unit standards are common to all three areas of specialisation. Portability across these areas of specialisation is therefore ensured.

Learners working towards this qualification will find that the acquisition of competence in the unit standards, which make up the qualification, will add value to learner`s job. This qualification is intended to enhance the provision of a higher level service within the Funeral Service Industry.

Learners will be able to present information to clients in difficult circumstances and ensure that the funeral provisions meet the client`s needs. They will also improve their supervisory capacity and be able to conduct funeral ceremonies in a professional manner.
The learner will be able to apply the necessary knowledge and skills to ensure human remains are dealt with ethically, using competencies in this area.

It will provide the broad knowledge, skills and values needed in the Funeral Services Industry and will facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within, education, training and to progress along a learning path for learners who:

• Were previously disadvantaged or who were unable to complete their schooling and were therefore denied access to Further Education and Training.
• Have worked in Contact Centres for many years, but have no formal qualification in Contact Centre Support.
• Wish to extend their range of skills and knowledge of the industry so that they can become competent workers in Contact Centres.

  The qualification has building blocks that can be developed further and will lead to a more defined Funeral Services learning path at various NQF levels. It also focuses on the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes required to progress further. The intention is:

• To promote the development of knowledge, skills and values that are required in Contact Centres.
• To release the potential of people.
• To provide opportunities for people to move up the value chain.

  Rationale for the qualification:

  The National Certificate in Funeral Services Practice: Level 4 is designed to meet the needs of those learners who are already involved in the field of Funeral Services and now wish to progress in a career in the Funeral Service Industry. The Funeral Service Industry is an essential industry and by its very nature a constant supply of customers is ensured. This means there is a need to develop career paths in this field, and it is an industry constantly in need of skilled people.

  The Funeral Services Practice National Certificate at NQF Level 4 supports the objectives of the NQF in that it gives the learner access to a National Qualifications Framework register. It will therefore ensure that the quality of education and training is enhanced and be of a world class standard.

  The National Certificate in Funeral Services Practice: NQF Level 4 allows the learner to work towards a nationally recognised qualification. The qualification will allow both those in formal education and those already employed in organisations in the funeral business access to a qualification that can be used as a benchmark to gauge their competence against local and international standards. 

• Learners accessing this qualification, will have demonstrated competency against standards in the qualification Funeral Services Practices at NQF Level 3 or equivalent.

  Recognition of prior learning:

  The structure of this Unit Standard based Qualification makes the Recognition of Prior Learning possible, if the learner is able to demonstrate competence in the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes implicit in this Funeral Services Practice Qualification. Recognition of Prior Learning will be done by means of an Integrated Assessment (see Assessment Criteria).

  This Recognition of Prior Learning may allow:

• For accelerated access to further learning
• Gaining of credits towards a unit standard

  All recognition of Prior Learning is subject to quality assurance by the relevant accredited Education, Training, Quality, Assurance Body and is conducted by a registered workplace assessor. 

Fundamental Credits:

SAQA stipulates that a minimum of 20 compulsory credits are allocated to Communication Studies and Languages and 16 compulsory credits are allocated to Physical, Computer Mathematical and Life Sciences.
36 credits have been allocated to each of these two fundamental competences.

Core:

Seventy credits have been allocated to the Core Unit Standards. This is to ensure that the qualification has a strong Funeral Services focus.

The Core Unit Standards offer a broad contextual understanding and will enable the learners to gain an all round picture of the Funeral Service Industry.

Electives:

Between 15 and 21 credits have been allocated to the selected Elective Unit Standards. There are 15 credits for the Elective area of Embalming and Restoration, 21 credits for the Elective area of Marketing and Merchandising and 15 credits for the Elective area of Disaster Management. They also allow for progression to the next level of learning. 

• Prepare and present more complex funeral services and products to clients and groups.
• Supervise the preparation and presentation of human remains.
• Conduct funeral ceremonies.
• Supervise the preparation of funeral sites.
• Supervise the transportation of human remains, the bereaved and funeral equipment.
• Manage funeral logistics and administration processes.
• Implement the training of funeral service personnel.
• Embalm human remains without trauma or complications.
• Manage merchandising within a funeral business.
• Implement actions associated with a disaster scene. 

• The techniques used to prepare and present funeral services and products to individuals and groups.
• The quality of work performed on human remains during their cleaning and presentation.
• The methods and techniques used in conducting funeral ceremonies.
• The transportation, logistics and administration procedures and processes used in a funeral business.
• The principles, methods and techniques used for the training and development of funeral service personnel.
• The procedures and processes to be used in the embalming of human remains without trauma and complications.
• The methods, techniques and organisational procedures used in the merchandising of funeral services and products.
• The requirements for the setting up of a disaster scene.

  Integrated Assessment:

  Because assessment practices must be open, transparent, fair, valid, and reliable and ensure that no learner is disadvantaged in any way whatsoever, an integrated assessment approach is incorporated into the qualification.

  Learning, teaching and assessment are inextricably lined. Whenever possible, the assessment of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values shown in the unit standards should be integrated.

  Assessment of the communication, language, literacy and numeracy should be conducted in conjunction with other aspects and should use authentic Funeral Services contexts wherever possible.

  A variety of methods must be used in assessment and tools and activities must be appropriate to the context in which the learner is working. Where it is not possible to assess the learner in the workplace or on-the-job, simulations, case studies, role-plays and other similar techniques should be used to provide a context appropriate to the assessment.

  The term `Integrated Assessment` implies that theoretical and practical components should be assessed together. During integrated assessments the assessor should make use of formative and summative assessment methods and assess combinations of practical, applied, foundational and reflective competencies.

  Assessors and moderators should make use of a range of formative and summative assessment methods. Assessors should assess and give credit for the evidence of learning that has already been acquired through formal, informal and non-formal learning and work experience.

  Assessment should ensure that all specific outcomes, embedded knowledge and critical cross-field outcomes are evaluated. The assessment of the critical cross-field outcomes should be integrated with the assessment of specific outcomes and embedded knowledge. 

• The New Zealand qualifications – National Certificate in Embalming, National Certificate in Funeral Directing and the National Diploma in Funeral Directing, with a total credit value of 302 credits. The SGB also compared the unit standards in this qualification to the 21 New Zealand unit standards at levels 3, 4 and 5.
• NVQ Qualifications from Britain. The NVQ`s in funeral Service – Levels 2 and 3.

  A direct comparison of the title, specific outcomes, assessment criteria and embedded knowledge was undertaken with each and the best practice points were highlighted and incorporated into each unit standard. However the points incorporated were written in a South African context.

  Because of the difference in levels across the different countries, difficulty was found in making actual direct comparisons, level to level. 

• Anyone assessing a learner or moderating the assessment of a learner against this Qualification must be registered as an assessor with the relevant Education, Training, Quality, and Assurance (ETQA) Body.
• Any institution offering learning that will enable the achievement of this Qualification must be accredited as a provider with the relevant ETQA.
• Assessment and moderation of assessment will be overseen by the relevant ETQA according to the ETQA`s policies and guidelines for assessment and moderation; in terms of agreements reached around assessment and moderation between ETQA`s (including professional bodies); and in terms of the moderation guideline detailed immediately below.
• Moderation must include both internal and external moderation of assessments at exit points of the qualification, unless ETQA policies specify otherwise. Moderation should also encompass achievement of the competence described both in individual unit standards as well as the integrated competence described in the qualification.

  Anyone wishing to be assessed against this Qualification may apply to be assessed by any assessment agency, assessor or provider institution that is accredited by the relevant ETQA.