THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNER READINESS FOR THEIR EISA FOR SDPs AND EMPLOYERS
External Integrated Summative Assessments (EISA) serves as a crucial benchmark for evaluating a learner's competency against their chosen occupational qualification. But from a skills development provider (SDP) or employer's perspective, ensuring learner readiness for the EISA goes beyond just achieving a passing grade.
A high success rate in the EISA reflects well on the training offered by the skills development provider or employer. Strong learner performance demonstrates the programme's effectiveness which in turn, attracts potential clients seeking credible training institutions and boosts the provider's reputation.
Moreover, the QCTO, through the Assessment Quality Partner (AQP), closely monitors the statistical outputs of learner competency in their EISA for each training institution. Should an institution’s learners consistently fail their EISA or require continuous re-writes, it could ultimately impact on the institution’s accreditation status with the QCTO.
In the event where the training offered by the SDP is a registered learnership that may be linked to the skills development element of the B-BBEE scorecard or SARS 12h tax concession, successful, timeous completion and a passing grade on the learners EISA becomes even more critical as this then has a direct financial impact on the measured organisation.
The real challenge faced by SDPs that have delivered the knowledge, practical, and workplace components of the occupational qualification to their learners is that the time which lapses between the completion of training and the learner actually sitting for their EISA could span a period of months. This means that by the time the learner completes their EISA they may have forgotten some of the key training content and learnings. To overcome this, many Skills Development Providers and Employers have included a refresher training intervention for learners prior their EISA to ensure that learners go into their EISA with training content fresh in their minds.
The down side of such interventions is that they can become costly, especially when calling back large cohorts of learners. Secondly, such interventions may often take a “blanket” approach recapping on all the training content with all learners. This could result in learners not receiving refresher training on areas where they really need it.
The solution to ensure that costs involved in calling learners back for refresher training only on what is needed, is to allow learners to complete an EISA Readiness Assessment. An EISA Readiness Assessment tests the learners knowledge and understanding on all the Exit Level Outcomes and Associated Assessment Criteria of each outcome with the objective being to isolate clear gaps in the learners understanding of the qualification, if applicable. Ideally, an EISA Readiness Assessment should be accessible online to allow a learner to complete their assessments at their own pace and statistical data can then also be obtained from established and reliable sources.
The EISA Readiness Assessment can assist the SDP to identify specific gaps in learners’ understanding of the training content and allow for refresher training to be significantly reduced to only cover identified gaps and only with learners who require additional interventions thereby reducing overall costs required for their learners’ EISA preparedness. These assessments therefore become a crucial component of the SDP’s QCTO occupational qualification implementation process.
For SDPs to create such assessments of their own could involve considerable investment not only in the software infrastructure, but also in the human resources required to maintain, manage, and monitor such applications. Is is therefore a much more viable option to source an established service provider that is able to offer EISA Readiness Assessments. When sourcing a partner for delivery of EISA Readiness Assessments, it is very important to ensure that the service provider has a solid track record in the development of assessment tools that are able to successfully deliver the desired outputs and objectives of the assessment. Online assessments, should be offered on a recognized and credible online platform that is able to extract the required statistical data and scoring analysis for each learner. If you are in need for a trusted partner for the EISA Readiness Assessments for your learners, EISA Hub is able to assist you.
We are experts in External Integrated Summative Assessments, and have made considerable investments in developing a broad range of EISA Readiness Assessments across most SAQA registered Occupational Qualifications. In addition, where past EISA Exemplars have been made available by the AQP, EISA Hub have built these exemplars into our online EISA Readiness Assessments to further prepare learners for their EISA. All our assessments are available on our online platform which has been custom developed to align with the QCTO processes in South Africa.
All learners completing their EISA through EISA Hub automatically get access to all these assessments for their occupational qualification to assist them with their EISA preparedness. However, we are able to offer the EISA Readiness Assessments as a stand alone tool for SDPs or employers who wish to assess their learners’ readiness for their EISA at a nominal fee.
In conclusion, as a provider or employer, you have a vested interest in the readiness of your learners for EISAs. Learner readiness for the EISA is not just about individual success; it holds significant value for both skills development providers and employers. By prioritizing learner preparation, all stakeholders can achieve their desired outcomes and learners can confidently complete their EISA knowing that they are fully prepared.
For more information on our EISA Readiness Assessments, please click on the link below or contact us: info@eisahub.co.za
