The motor body repair sector is evolving rapidly as modern vehicles incorporate advanced materials, electronics and structural designs.
However, elements of the existing panel beater training curriculum have not fully kept pace with these developments.
SAMBRA has therefore initiated a formal review of the panel beater curriculum and the associated External Assessment Standard (EAS).
The SAMBRA Eastern Cape committee has played a leading role in reviewing the documentation and identifying outdated modules as well as critical new competencies that should be included.
“Our goal is to ensure that qualified panel beaters enter the workplace with the skills required by today’s repair environment,” says Hanekom.
By integrating emerging technologies and repair techniques directly into the formal qualification, the industry can create a stronger and more consistent national training standard.
This past month we had a positive meeting with merSETA and QCTO piloting a CBMT approach to QCTO training. It is not practical for apprentices to spend 30% of their time out of the workshop and there is also a shortage of skills providers to manage this face to face approach.
The Pilot involves about 30 apprentices. Frik Botha is involved in training senior staff as mentors and then assessments are carried out via online learning. It appears this is working well so now the model needs to be slightly restructured and rolled out to other areas and with other service providers.
