Continued Professional Development
The CPD program is designed to assist individuals within the industry to remain current and to continue to develop as professionals
Members of Professional bodies and Industry professionals are encouraged to apply for Professional Designations. The firearms training industry is no different.
The PFTC Professional Designations currently registered and recognised at SAQA include the following:
- Professional Range Officer + current description
- Professional Firearms Instructor + current description
- Professional Tactical Firearms Instructor + current description
- Professional Training Specialist + current description
- Professional Firearm Training Counsellor + current description .
In order to maintain a Professional Designation, the professional must attain a specific number of CPD points-achieved by completing certain activities over the period of 36 months.
- The Continued Professional Development (CPD) program which is hosted and administered by the PFTC is created and managed by following guidelines and requirements put in place by SAQA.
- Once an individual has applied for and been granted a Professional Designation (based on achieving the initial criteria for that specific designation), this person becomes a candidate for the PFTC CPD program.
- The CPD program is designed to assist individuals within the industry to remain current and to continue to develop as professionals within the industry at their specific level of contribution, and to maintain a certain level of expertise that defines them as professionals.
- The CPD program runs over the course of 36 months, with a certain amount of CPD points that must be attained in each 12-month cycle.
The program is divided into three segments each with its own points criteria:
Generic CPD Activities
Customised CPD Activities
Designation Specific Activities
Generic CPD Activities
The generic component to the PFTC’s CPD Program includes activities such as grading shoots (applicable to the designation), attendance of industry-related exhibitions and shows (such as Huntex), involvement in the training of local Community Policing Forums and subscriptions to industry-based publications. Please see the table below.
| ACTIVITY | POINTS ALLOCATED |
| GRADING SHOOTS | 2 Points for attending your 1st Grading shoot for the year. 5 Points for improving your grading level or for qualifying at advanced level. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN A YEAR: 7. |
| SPORTS SHOOTING POINTS | 3 Points for Dedicated Status (4 shoots a year). 5 Points for participating in a National / International shooting event. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN A YEAR: 10. |
| ETHICS COURSE | 2 Points for attending a PFTC Ethics workshop 3 Points for attending a PFTC accredited Ethics Unit Standard Course. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN THREE YEARS: 5 |
| PFTC MEETINGS | 2 Points for attending. 1 Point for sending proxy. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN THREE YEARS: UNLIMITED – Industry participation is important. |
| SUBSCRIPTION TO INDUSTRY-BASED MAGAZINES | 1 Point per magazine. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN A YEAR: 2 |
| ATTENDING AN INDUSTRY-RELATED SHOW | 1 Point per show. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN A YEAR: 2 |
| COMMUNITY POLICING FORUM OR SIMILAR | 1 Point for involvement. 2 Points for presentation of training. MAXIMUM POINTS ALLOCATED IN A YEAR: 3 |
Customised CPD Activities
The specialised activities are PFTC or industry service provider driven. These could include training courses, shooting events and the like, aimed at improving identified lacking skills and knowledge within the membership.
Designation Specific Activities
The PFTC has a requirement of activities that are tailored to the specific duties and functioning in the maintaining of the Professional Designations. PFTC Members with a Membership Profile will have access to these activities.
- To be able to Register for PFTC’s CPD Program, individuals need to be PFTC Members in good standing and must already have been awarded a Professional Designation that they now wish to maintain through CPD.
- Members must also have created a PFTC user profile. Members will not be able to register for an event if a PFTC profile has not been set up. Nor will they be able to apply for pre-approval for specific activities outside of those that are already approved and recognised by the PFTC.
- All CPD-registered training providers may submit their proposed CPD programs here for approval by the PFTC.
- Once approved, the event will be loaded onto the CPD program framework allowing CPD candidates the opportunity to register for these events.
POINT ALLOCATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS
Minimum number of points required to maintain a Professional Designation: 80 Points
THREE CATEGORIES OF CD POINTS
| GENERIC CD POINTS: | 40 points over three years (at least 10 points per year) |
| CPD-PROGRAM SPECIFIC POINTS: | 20 points over three years (at least five points per year) |
| DESIGNATION-SPECIFIC POINTS: | 20 points over three years (at least eight points per year) |