Cement & Concrete SA’s School of Concrete Technology (SCT) has announced that it will next year again offer the internationally recognised Advanced Concrete Technology (ACT) diploma course, the concrete’s industry’s most sought-after qualification.
John Roxburgh, senior lecturer at the school, said the SCT50 course would, for the first time, be presented in a modular, self-study format instead of the former classroom/lecture system.
“The decision to shift towards modularisation was made to attract potential delegates who lack time for a classroom-based course and accommodate site staff experienced enough to enroll for this highly coveted diploma. Uncertainty about the future of pandemic lockdowns is also eliminated by the new format,”
Roxburgh said the School of Concrete Technology (SCT) had for the past 30 years worked closely with the Institute of Concrete Technology (ICT) in London to locally provide the SCT50 Advanced Concrete Technology programme in preparation for the ICT Stage 4 diploma examinations. Dozens of South African students had excelled in the course and now hold top academic and industry posts in various corners of the world.
Training for the ACT course will next year consist of five modules, with a textbook book based on the structure of the 10th edition of Fulton’s Concrete Technology, the SA “concrete bible” launched by CCSA earlier this year. Delegates will also be supplied with supplementary reading material to ensure all topics in the ICT Stage 4 diploma examinations are covered.
“Each of the first four modules of the training will have a workbook for delegates to complete. The workbooks – designed to challenge the students and provide practice in technology-based writing and thinking – will then be assessed by a lecturer at SCT with satisfactory completion providing a pass to the next module.”
Delegates can enroll for up to two modules at a time, and the entire course can be completed within two years.
Roxburgh said the only essential requirement for admission would be a pass in both the ICT Stage2 (SCT41) and Stage 3 (SCT42) examinations. Both courses are presented online by the school.
“The modularised self-study approach will ensure a better quality of concrete technology education and allow more time to study each topic in detail while reducing the impact on delegates’ work commitments. It will also be more affordable as students can now pay per module, without the need for a large upfront payment.”
The modules cover the following topics:
- Module 1: Materials and mixes;
- Module 2: Concrete properties;
- Module 3: Concrete manufacture, site practices, quality control and non-destructive testing;
- Module 4: Special concretes and techniques; and
- Module 5: Concrete sustainability, statistics for concrete and a selected Advanced Concrete Technology project.
