Requirements and Guidelines for School Administrators and Principals
6
COMPETENCY BASED
EDUCATION TRAINING AND
ASSESSMENT (CBETA)
Competency Based Education Training and Assessment (CBETA) is built on the
philosophy that “almost all learners can learn equally well if they receive the kind of
instructions they need”. CBETA calls for changes in the development and administration
of the modularised/unit-based Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
programmes. TVET has over the years focused on the practical demonstration of the
skill whereas CBETA now places the emphasis on this underpinning philosophy.
The CBETA Approach
In this approach, the development and implementation of training programmes is
guided by five essential elements:
1.
Tasks are identified by the occupational and industry experts.
2.
Each student has the opportunity to develop and to be evaluated on the
competencies achieved.
3.
Assessment of competency is based on knowledge, demonstration of the
competency and attitude.
4.
Students are aware of the Occupational Standards used as the basis for assessing
achievement and determining competency.
5.
Students’ progress by demonstrating the attainment of competencies.
It is at the start of the training programme that students are made aware of the key
elements of CBETA. Emphasis is placed on how the programme operates, the role
of the teacher, the responsibility of the student, the qualification and units within the
programme, the standards that are to be attained and how and when competencies will
be assessed.
Role of the Teacher
CBETA also dictates a change in the role of the teacher from the conventional
information-giver to that of a resource person who motivates, facilitates, coaches,
monitors and provides feedback. Hence, the students will have more responsibility for
their own learning and progress. Student involvement is critical to CBETA.
This may raise questions about the structure of the delivery, the nature of learning
activities, the location and content of learning and the role of teachers where different
disciplines may combine under the umbrella of competence.
