National Certificate: Public Administration

The sustainability of South Africa's democratic process and developmental governance is strongly linked to capacity building within the three spheres of government, i.e. the national, provincial and local spheres of government. In order to effectively achieve this, public officials need to have awareness and understanding of the changing needs of today's public service delivery systems and to identify the highly relevant expertise which these officials bring to their roles in the public sector.

The Exit Level Outcomes highlight many of the public administration skills required within public sector. Such skills and knowledge are geared towards enabling public officials in all spheres of government to operate effectively and successfully in a demanding environment.

The National Certificate in Public Administration consists of exit level outcomes covering service delivery, knowledge management, formulation of public sector policies, risk management, applying the public sector legislative framework, managing people, leadership, financial administration, project management and information technology for the public sector.

The competencies covered in the proposed unit standards encompass competencies required by public officials working at the operational level. The qualification will therefore enhance the ability of the qualifying learner as a public official to perform the necessary administration tasks expected as well as improve management abilities. In this way, the qualification enhances transferability of skills within different spheres of the public sector.

The Certificate in Public Administration should produce knowledgeable, multi-skilled workers who are able to contribute to improved productivity and efficiency within the public sector. It should provide the means for current workers to receive recognition of prior learning, to improve their skills and achieve a nationally recognised qualification.

With regard to the implementation of public administration and management reforms, the qualification serves as the basis of an effective implementation process by defining and identifying competencies required by technical public officials. The qualification contributes to the upliftment of South African economy in line with the aims of existing skills development legislations through the enhancement of skill levels of public sector employees.

Qualifying learners could follow a career within the Public Sector's:

• Financial Services
• Administration
• Management
• Accounting
• Project/Public Entity Management.