Accredited short course needs to be registered and will award less than 120 credits

Short courses and skill development courses usually span from three to six months

Short course​s are highly specialized and focus on the enhancement of content and pedagogical knowledge in areas identified as being in need of improvement. The short courses are presented and facilitated in line with existing teaching and learning strategies of the University through the use of a variety of strategies.

Petra Institute follows a practice-based philosophy of teaching and learning to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

All courses are offered in a blended format, consisting of face-to-face contact sessions, telematics sessions and interactive e-lessons. ​

Mentoring forms an integral part of the post teaching process. This is offered either on-site or off-site. Teachers can access these platforms such as Moodle, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media via their phones, tablets or computers.

On successful completing any of the short courses, participants will receive a Certificate of Competence, issued by Petra Institute of Development & Accredited by a Particular Institution.

The duration of short courses are normally dependent on the number of credits per short course. These contact sessions are usually offered during school holidays and vary from 2 to 5 days per course.

Short Courses in South Africa

Does a Short Courses Count as Formal Education?

Short courses are ideal for students who wish to upgrade their skills or refresh their knowledge. It is also useful to those who wish to expand their e.g. managerial, technical or computer skills into new areas of interest. Short courses help enhance practice and improve competency, skills, and knowledge. But does a short course count as a qualification? To answer this question, we will first discuss what qualifications are before we look at short courses separately.

Short Courses

A short course is defined as being a course with a duration of less than a year, and it might or might not be accredited. Some short courses count towards a qualification, others don’t. Many short courses are presented on online platforms instead of contact sessions.

We distinguish between credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing short courses:

Accredited Short Courses

Accredited short course needs to be registered and will award less than 120 credits in relation to its contribution toward a program or qualification which will add up to 120 credits.

Non-credited Short Courses

A non-accredited short course does not need to be registered and doesn’t award any credits toward a program or qualification. Although non-accredited short courses don’t need to be registered, SAQA does recognize the added value in certain career fields.