IEASA National - News

It’s back to school for all estate agents   Article Date :22 Aug 2006 EAAB update re mandatory training School bells will be ringing for everyone in the estate agency business from the beginning of next year, when not only newcomers but also those who have been in the business for years will have to study, and pass exams. This is because the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB), established by parliament in 1976 to maintain and promote the integrity of estate agencies and the interests of consumers, had decided that the current examination format doesn’t comply with the requirements of the South African Qualifications Authority Act 58 of 1995. Clive Ashpol, the board’s manager of education and training, says an entirely new career path strategy is envisaged for estate agent. Principal agents will also be required to study, and to be found competent in specially designed skills programmes before they may act as principal agents. “Oubaas regte (grandfather rights, which entitle those who have been in a business for many years not to have to pass current exams) are a thing of the past,“ says Ashpol. Even those who have been estate agents for most of their lives will have to learn new tricks, if they don’t already know them, and prove to examiners that they have mastered them, if they want to stay in business.” This course will be at the National Qualification Framework (NQF) 5 level. Specialisation skills programmes will be introduced at a higher NQF level for principal and non-principal estate agents. And it gets more onerous. If they are to retain their fidelity fund certificates, all estate agents will have to comply with the “annual continuing professional development requirements” that will conform with the current best-practice requirements in most worldwide regulatory jurisdictions. “The board is designing a totally new entry qualifications framework for estate agents that will comply with the practical requirements of outcomes-based education,” say Ashpol. “the revised curriculum is intended to equip new entrants into the industry with a holistic and integrated practical and theoretical grounding on the basic principles and practices of estate agency.” The proposed certificate course, intended to produce fully qualified, competent and economically successful estate agents, is likely to be pitched at the NQF 4 level. Those who have been in the estate agency business for several years and kept up with the herd will be pleased to know that RPL (recognition of prior learning) principles will apply, but comparing the previous learning and experience of estate agents against the new learning outcomes that will be required to meet the certificate or diploma qualification may run until 2010, to give all agents an opportunity to be assessed. The EAAB plans to complete: · The certificate-level programme for new entrants by October 2006 for implementation in January 2007; · The diploma-level programme for principal estate agents by March 2007 for implementation in July 2007; · The various specialization skills programmes by June 2007 for implementation in July 2007; · The introduction of continuing professional education by the end of 2007 for implementation in 2008; · And the RPL learning programme for current estate agents by 2010. Training criteria for lecturers will have to be established by October this year, to ensure that those who are accredited will be functional when the certificate programme is introduced, say Ashpol, who adds: “As far as this is concerned, the board has been appointed by the Services Seta as its accreditation partner from January 2007. In the latest edition of the EAAB’s journal, Agent, CEO Nomonde Mapetla says: “The EAAB is conducting an investigation to determine the best module to establish an inspectorate, as required by the Estate Agency Affairs Act.” Despite claiming to be “committed to full transparency, good governance and accountability to our many stakeholders”, the EAAB has proved to be a master of obfuscation and to have lost touch with the benefits of playing open cards with the public. Several months ago some EAAB board members were fired. Despite the public having the right to know, their names weren’t divulged, and nor were the reasons for their being fired. This led to speculation that they were given the boot because of corruption. It was impossible to confirm this, because our success rate when phoning Mapetla is zero. Ashpol says the SAPS’s Commercial Crime Unit is investigating the matter. There is also something amiss with its issuing of certificates. Rarely a month goes by without estate agents phoning to tell us that they paid their fees at the beginning of the year, but haven’t received their certificates yet – which means they were trading illegally, and their clients weren’t covered by the EAAB’s fidelity fund. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE