Rawson Properties new Managing Director, Tony Clarke, who has relocated to Cape Town to be more closely involved with the Rawsons head office, says that although no final cut off dates have yet been set for their implementation, the Estate Agency Affairs Boards new compulsory qualifications for all agents will become a reality and, he warns, those who try to avoid meeting the new requirements will in the end find that they can no longer obtain their Fidelity Fund Certificates and will not be allowed to act as estate agents.
Quoting from the report by Jill Corfield, founder of the Corfield School of Real Estate, Clarke said that no jobholder anywhere in the world is allowed to refer to himself as a professional until he and his fellow workers have proved themselves in public examinations to be well trained for and knowledgeable.
'The EAABs new qualifications,' said Clarke, 'were therefore very definitely overdue. Now, however, we are entering a new era in which the EAAB is determined to comply in full with the training and education rulings of the Qualification Act 58 of 1995. They will also be implementing the National Qualifications Framework set out in the act. These measures will take the estate agency sector a giant step forward'
Clarke said that the current examination does not comply with the Act nor does the commonly used study material comply with the National Qualifications Framework.
'This is not a situation to be proud of,' he said. 'Many other institutions are ahead of ours in implementing the new standards and we have a great deal of ground to catch up'
Under the new rulings all categories of estate agent, including those who have previously qualified on account of their length of service or who have already passed the EAAB examinations, will have to obtain the new qualifications. Further, once qualified, they will have to meet with annual development requirements. Principals of agencies, too, will have to meet certain advance requirements not only initially but each year thereafter.
On enrolling for their qualifications, learners will have to gain a minimum number of study credits in five main subject categories. Some of these are fundamental or core and therefore compulsory and others are elective. Each credit granted will be equal to ten hours that the average learner would require to read up on the subject and altogether 157 credits (equating to some 1 570 hours of study) will have to be obtained. However RPL (Recognition for Prior Learning) credits will be awarded for certain already achieved qualifications such as matriculation, a tertiary education and already achieved EAAB diplomas.
Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson group, said that the new qualifications are so far ahead of anything in use until now that they will inevitably take time and a great deal of management effort to be applied across the country. In the end, he said, they will significantly upgrade the standards throughout the estate agency business putting it on a level with that of the USA Realtors Association. This process, he said, will result in a cutting down of the numbers of estate agents employed because for many acquiring these qualifications will be too time consuming or cumbersome.
'It has been predicted that it will probably take at least until the end of 2010 to get the new system up and running. Those agents who believe that this will never happen are however, completely wrong: it will happen and all agents should now be doing their best to get their portfolio of qualifications and work experience ready ahead of the inevitable flood of applicants which will take place from the end of this year onwards'
