Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth at NAMCOL

The Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth is an innovative approach to professionalizing community-based care for children and youth. It aims to enhance effectiveness in working with children at risk and to give students knowledge, skills, and information to study key trends, theories, and approaches in working with vulnerable groups.

The Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth is for prospective students who wish to work with children, families, and communities affected by HIV & AIDS, conflict, poverty, and displacement in Africa. It is also for people working with youth, formally and informally (Church, Communities, NGO`s, Ministry of Youth, Education, etc.).

The Certificate is academically rigorous in design and is quality assured by the University of KwaZulu Natal. An independent assessment conducted by the South African Institute for Distance Education found that the Certificate is an excellent example of a well-designed distance education access program. It offers an innovative learning and teaching model that combines learning materials, supported by trained mentors, and continuous assessment.

The Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth is important because graduates are professionalizing the field of community-based childcare and mainstreaming child protection, psychosocial support, and community mobilization principles into their work. Many graduates have moved from voluntary positions to paid staff as a result of their qualification.

If you are a government, company, or organization, you can provide sponsorship for selected applicants. If you are an organization working with vulnerable children and youth, you can sponsor staff or partners to enroll for the Certificate. This will build your organization’s capacity to provide improved, professionalized services to children.

The Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth is an 18-month module that contains 6 modules. It is a supported distance learning certificate, meaning that students study while continuing to work. Students meet at least once every three weeks for a facilitated discussion in which they share learning and write a pop quiz. They submit two assignments and write a 3-hour examination for each module.

The admission requirements for the Certificate Module are either a Grade 12 certificate (20 points in six subjects) with an E symbol in English and one year of relevant working experience or a Grade 10 certificate (25 points in six subjects) with an E symbol in English and three years of relevant working experience.

APSSI is a non-profit organization working to lessen the devastating social and emotional impact of poverty, conflict, HIV and AIDS among children and youth. They work in 13 countries of Eastern and Southern Africa, partnering with governments, development partners, and NGOs. With their assistance, these partners strengthen communities and families’ ability to care for their children.

The fee structure for the Certificate Module in 2023 is N$7,500.00, which includes the registration fee of N$2,690.00, the once-off data fee of N$690.00, and the cost of the 6 modules, which is N$6,120.00.

The program consists of 6 modules, which are Personal and Professional Development, Human Rights and Child Protection, Child and Youth Development, Care and Support, Integrated Community Development, and Project.