Veritas College International Inc (Australia) has obtained accreditation for a Certificate and three Diplomas in the Australian VET sector. VET stands for Vocational Education and Training. The Australian VET sector is a government accreditation system for courses that lead to employment. VET-sector qualifications always address the skills that people need in employment, including Christian ministry.
Where can you do these qualifications?
There are two ways in which the Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Graduate Diploma can be done:
- Through assessment (Recognition of Prior Learning) in some of the countries where a member of the VCI network offers the grassroots training (four modules). RPL is not available in places where the VCI network has no training.
- Through training in Perth, Western Australia for local students only, where the students will also be assessed.
What is expected at each level?
- The Certificate IV is the first level at which skills are primarily conceptual. It is quite appropriate for introductory levels of leadership, and is also a suitable qualification for people who graduate at the end of the first year of Bible college.
- The Diploma is generally defined as a paraprofessional level, and is often the first level of professional education.
- The Advanced Diploma requires more complex skills than the Diploma, for example, skills to manage Diploma-level graduates in the workplace.
- The Graduate Diploma is higher than a Bachelor degree. It focuses on a higher level of expertise, and students must be able to act as independent professionals in their field. If it is related to a Master program, it is often the first year of a two-year Masters.
What is a competency?
A competency is a course requirement that is expressed as something the student must be able to do. All VET qualifications and many university programs are defined as competencies. For example, at the end of a course, the student will be able to:
- Maintain participation in corporate worship
- Maintain a system of personal Bible reading
- Develop a personal strategy for spiritual growth
Each competency also has a set of criteria to determine how well the competency must be done. For example, if preaching is being assessed, we have criteria to differentiate between sermons that are acceptable and those that aren't.
Where can I go with this?
Australian qualifications are generally well-recognized around the world. The VCI Inc qualifications are specifically designed to suit Christian ministries in the VCI network of related denominations. Some are suited to ordained ministry. However, as denominations generally differ, you should check with your particular denomination in the VCI network.
If you want to transfer credit to another college or university, you will find that acceptability will depend on:
- The particular institution you want to transfer credit to
- The particular policies of the institution
- How much credit you hope to get for it
- The particular course requirements you want credit for
- How well you did in your VCI studies
- Whether the other institution is familiar with VCI and its particular institutional standards
Do not expect to get full recognition; it is normal for transfer students in the higher education sector worldwide to lose some credit when transferring between institutions.
How will I be assessed?
You will be assessed on tasks that match the competency. For example:
- If the competency is to analyze a passage of Scripture, your supervisor needs to see your analysis notes.
- If the competency is to preach, then somebody needs to observe you preaching in a church or home group.
- If the competency is to plan a kind of meeting, then your supervisor needs to see your planning notes.
In many cases, the supervisor may ask questions to ensure that you understand what you have been doing.
You will be assessed in your own context. For example, if you minister to farmers in a village, the standards will be interpreted according to the needs of village ministry. If you serve highly educated city people, VCI Inc will use the same standards and interpret them in terms of the urban ministry context.
Most things need to be done either a number of times or over an extended period of time. One-time-only assessments are usually not reliable indicators of whether you have the required skills.
In each case, the supervisor will report whether tasks have been done successfully or unsuccessfully.
What are the entry requirements?
Please see each specific qualification for its entry requirements.