This article is a discussion around the letter posted by Intra about learning material, but more so, about the new QCTO first aid curriculums. It also touches on a research article by them talking about the anticipation of the QCTO first aid curriculums (which have now arrived). The crux of it though, is that anyone can simply put the GSR 3 info into the manual at the section about legislation (which the curriculum absolutely does have). Trying to re-write the whole curriculum is making a mountain out of, well, not even a mole hill.
This letter posted by Intra sparked some discussion as follows:
Firstly, its always good to see where we agree.
Is there a lot of plagiarised material on the market? Yes! I absolutely agree that the majority of off the shelf material sold at low cost on the market is very badly copied, and hacked together. We have all seen it!
Lime Green has very little material in stock because it takes so long to write it properly. I released about 10 SETA-aligned manuals in 7 years. I now only have 3 QCTO first aid manuals in my 8th year. It took 6 – 12 months to write the set. They are co-written and endorsed by Neil Kelham, vice chair, Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa. I am an accredited course writer, before that I was a technical writer at an international engineering firm…This is how real material is developed.
Lime Green’s slogans are “Creators of fine material” and “For people who know the difference”. My clients really do know the difference. You can buy material from other vendors on the market at R500 for 350 credits. That is hundreds of times cheaper than I sell material for. Given the price difference, why do my clients buy it? Because they are the ones who know the difference. Download samples at the online shop
Does the QCTO first aid material we sell meet the requirements of GSR section 3?
GSR touches on regulation for first aid in the workplace in section 3, but is not a curriculum, and is not a document focusing on first aid. What they (Intra) are trying to say here, is that the QCTO curriculum is not compliant with GSR 3.
Key to this point though, is that everyone was invited to attend the sessions where the curriculum was developed. You had your say if you wanted it. The process ran for about a year in total where I sent out regular updates to my mailing list, posted on my website and collaborated with others telling them to notify any stakeholder they knew. HWSETA did their own canvassing too. A lot of people replied, referred, and got involved. We had a large group, and then a smaller focus group that was an absolute dream team: A medical doctor, RCSA Exco member, front line paramedics, industry representatives, SAIOSH people, a curriculum developer, a course writer, and more; the right people.
Can we make changes to the QCTO curriculums SP230801, 230802, 230803 (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced First Aid)?
The time to get involved in the development of the QCTO first aid curriculums is now over. The curriculum has gone through all the QCTO and HWSETA checks and balances, DEL and others were also involved. Although DEL still has some work to do here, and it is not perfect but it is in place and is being adopted by government departments in time as the go-to for compliance, and increasingly so.
In 2023 Lime Green was actively working on the first aid curriculum and the material at the same time. This is my core business: Fine learning material for first aid, OHS, and fire training companies. I do nothing else but write material and assist clients with their QMS and accreditation. Lime Green invested hundreds of hours and over a year of time to ensure my SETA-accredited clients could be QCTO first accredited and training before the unit standards fully expire. I achieved that at great cost, and with great effort and the help of stakeholders.
The road is open for QCTO first aid and has been since spring 2023.
I did not adopt a wait and see approach. I took the direction government was going in, and helped them achieve what they set out to do. Regardless of whether they should or not, government was never going to agree to endorse non-credit bearing training or extend unit standards. They still say no to that, so to date I guessed right.
In 2023, at the same time all this was going on at Lime Green, Intra released this 12 page article called “The solution – Provide non-credit bearing legal compliance training” subtitled “What is going on here”, To quote page 6 “Alarmingly in 2023, these three First Aid Unit Standards are now being replaced by QCTO First Aid Qualifications, Part Qualifications and or Skills Programmes. We anxiously anticipate the publication of the course curriculum and have adopted a “wait and see” approach to this supposed legislative supported change.”
It describes Intra’s desire for training to be non-accredited, and implies that govt was never going to get there with the new curriculums (I think). There is merit to this, DEL have still not signed off. QCTO and HWSETA have though. It specifically says they (Intra) are taking passive stance on the matter; the “wait and see” approach.
The result of that passive approach was that Intra was not ready for their clients when the established QCTO first aid curriculums went live on Thursday 28th September 2023 at 7pm. Lime Green was ready in October 2023 already. Intra did not have learning material ready for their clients who needed it. They still do not it seems (at time of writing). That deficiency is what sparked the letter.
Government did not adopt the non-credit bearing legal compliance training model as Intra hoped, which officially means Intra had to start to create material after the curriculum was live. It takes ages to develop good material. This, understandably, has created a problem for them, which has prompted this attack of any other material but more so, the curriculum and the way it dares to exist.
*12 March 2024 Update to this article*: They seem to have doubled down on this and are trying to have the curriculum changed or replaced. I will certainly not stand in anyone’s way and I wish them the best of luck. The crux of it though, is that anyone can simply put the GSR 3 info into the manual at the section about legislation (which the curriculum does have). Trying to re-write the whole curriculum is making a mountain out of, well, not even a mole hill. If Intra could write multiple research articles on why they did not get involved, they could just as easily have got involved… Credit to them though, they are getting involved in the OHS sessions for program development which hopefully is a trend of positive change in the way they deal with change.
If you wish to become an independent training provider, please contact me. You can purchase the learning material (e.g. my top notch first aid manuals). You can purchase the plug and play QMS system. And you can use my services to help you gain accreditation, but more importantly, to gain your independence as a training provider.
Make once-off purchases. There are no levies or ongoing costs. No sharing of your hard earned profits, no commissions to pay, and no monthly fees. Going into my 8th year at this, the QMS and every manual I supply has been revised regularly. These revisions are distributed to clients at no charge.
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