SAQA

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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED UNIT STANDARD THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Develop and maintain community relations to communicate government information

SAQA US ID	UNIT STANDARD TITLE
114477	Develop and maintain community relations to communicate government information
ORIGINATOR
SGB Government Communication and Information Stms
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY
-
FIELD			SUBFIELD
Field 04 - Communication Studies and Language			Communication Studies
ABET BAND	UNIT STANDARD TYPE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	CREDITS
Undefined	Regular	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	6
REGISTRATION STATUS		REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE	SAQA DECISION NUMBER
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		2018-07-01	2023-06-30	SAQA 06120/18
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2024-06-30		2027-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This unit standard does not replace any other unit standard and is not replaced by any other unit standard.

PURPOSE OF THE UNIT STANDARD

This unit standard is for people who have or seek responsibility for government communications programmes and need to develop and maintain working relationships with communities in order to facilitate government communication.

Persons credited with this unit standard are able to:

Profile communities

Develop and maintain community relationships

Monitor community-government relationships

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

The credit calculation is based on the assumption that learners are already competent in the following areas of learning when starting to learn towards this unit standard:

Communications and language at a minimum of NQF Level 4

Experience in dealing with communities.

Knowledge and understanding of government policies and processes.

UNIT STANDARD RANGE

Candidates should have understanding across a variety of different kinds of communities, and be able to maintain relationships with communities appropriate to their field of operation. Communities may differ according to the following categories:
1. Geographic

Urban

Semi-urban

Rural
2. Socio-economic
3. Political
4. Cultural
5. Literacy

Specific Outcomes and Assessment Criteria:

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 1

Profile communities.

OUTCOME RANGE

At least 3 distinct types of communities.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. Communities are defined in terms of priority needs, socio-economic condition, cultural mores and sensitivities, political awareness and perceptions of government.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. Communities are defined in terms of leadership and communication structures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. Community resources are identified and classified in terms of their potential to promote government information.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

People, buildings, leaders, functions, schools, community centres.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. Individuals within communities are identified in terms of their willingness and ability to assist in developing and maintaining good relationships between government communicators and the community.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 5

5. Priority relationships are identified.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 2

Develop and maintain community relationships.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. Relationships with communities and individuals are open and regular and consistent contact is established easily.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. Interactions with communities are sensitive to cultural nuances and observe community protocols.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. Cooperation levels with the community and community leaders provide for an environment that facilitates government communication.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. Community queries are responded to timeously and in a way that promotes a positive image of government.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 5

5. Communities and government are kept informed about relevant issues and developments.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 6

6. Relationships are developed in a manner that establishes trust and promotes a productive working relationship between government and communities.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 3

Monitor community-government relationships.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. Monitoring activities are regular and consistent.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. Monitoring activities are sufficient to provide information on the nature and quality of community-government relations, including successes, failures, challenges and difficulties.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. Records of the nature and quality of the relationships are accurate, understandable, reveal trends and allow for further analysis.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. Monitoring activities and records facilitate the maintenance of community-government relationship profiles and help provide recommendations for future engagements with the communities.

UNIT STANDARD ACCREDITATION AND MODERATION OPTIONS

Providers of learning towards this unit standard will need to meet the accreditation requirements of the appropriate ETQA.

Moderation Option:
The moderation requirements of the appropriate ETQA must be met in order to award credit to learners for this unit standard.

UNIT STANDARD ESSENTIAL EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE

Governance, democracy.

Government communication strategies, policies and regulations.

Local government issues, community structures and dynamics.

Features and sensitivities of different kinds of communities.

UNIT STANDARD DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME

N/A

UNIT STANDARD LINKAGES

N/A

Critical Cross-field Outcomes (CCFO):

UNIT STANDARD CCFO IDENTIFYING

Identify and solve problems: this will happen primarily when determining the nature and quality of community relationships, including the identification of problem relationships.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO WORKING

Work effectively with others and in team: Interacting with communities; maintaining good relations with communities.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO ORGANISING

Organise and manage oneself and one`s activities responsibly and effectively: Ensuring contact lists are updated; planning to interact with communities; responding on time to messages.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO COLLECTING

Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information: Identifying and monitoring nature of relationships.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO COMMUNICATING

Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills: Interacting with the communities; reporting on nature and quality of relationships.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO CONTRIBUTING

Understand the world as a set of inter-related parts of a system: Understanding the impact of communications on a variety of audiences; understanding the relationship dynamics between communities, government and public sector.

UNIT STANDARD ASSESSOR CRITERIA

Focus the assessment activities on gathering evidence in terms of the main outcome expressed in the title to ensure assessment is integrated rather than fragmented. Remember we want to declare the person competent in terms of the title. Where assessment at title level is unmanageable, then focus assessment around each specific outcome, or groups of specific outcomes.

Make sure evidence is gathered across the entire range, wherever it applies. Assessment activities should be as close to the real performance as possible, and where simulations or role-plays are used, there should be supporting evidence to show the candidate is able to perform in the real situation.

Do not focus the assessment activities on each assessment criterion. Rather make sure the assessment activities focus on outcomes and are sufficient to enable evidence to be gathered around all the assessment criteria.

The assessment criteria provide the specifications against which assessment judgements should be made. In most cases, knowledge can be inferred from the quality of the performances, but in other cases, knowledge and understanding will have to be tested through questioning techniques. Where this is required, there will be assessment criteria to specify the standard required.

The task of the assessor is to gather sufficient evidence, of the prescribed type and quality, as specified in this unit standard, that the candidate can achieve the outcomes again and again and again. This means assessors will have to judge how many repeat performances are required before they believe the performance is reproducible.

All assessments should be conducted in line with the following well documented principles of assessment: appropriateness, fairness, manageability, integration into work or learning, validity, direct, authentic, sufficient, systematic, open and consistent.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this unit standard was Reregistered in 2012; 2015.

UNIT STANDARD NOTES

N/A

QUALIFICATIONS UTILISING THIS UNIT STANDARD:

	ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	STATUS	END DATE	PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QA FUNCTIONARY
Core	50583	National Certificate: Public Service Communication	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"	2023-06-30	PSETA
Core	50585	National Certificate: Public Service Communication	Level 6	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L6	Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"	2023-06-30	PSETA

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS UNIT STANDARD:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

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