Mechanism for Assessing CPD Activities and Awarding CPD Points

4.1 Accreditation

4.1.1 Accreditation of CPD Activities and Courses

Under the Scheme, RSWs are free to make their own CPD plans as appropriate. Therefore, in principle, the Board will not go through any procedures for accrediting CPD programmes or activities.

4.1.2 Admission of Organizers of CPD Activities and Courses

To facilitate RSWs’ access to relatively reliable information on CPD activities as provided by various organizers, the Board will compile a list of CPD activity organizers that meet her basic requirements rather than monitoring their CPD activities individually. This practice will reduce the Board’s intervention in the Scheme to the least. The requirements and procedures for admitting CPD activity organizers are set out in Appendix 4.

4.2 Award of CPD Points

Award of points to RSWs for completing various CPD activities will follow the principles and criteria below:

(A) Level of Participation

More points will be earned by way of active/direct involvement than passive participation in a CPD activity. For example, a principal speaker in a seminar would obtain more CPD points than those who attend the seminar.

(B) Efforts and Gain

The number of points that an individual earns will be proportionate to the level of his/her input of effort, the knowledge acquired and the professional advancement achieved in the process of the CPD activity. For example, the principal author of a publication would gain more CPD points than a co-author.

Under the principle that sharing knowledge is a process of learning, more points will be accrued for an activity that provides refereed knowledge than that provides non-refereed knowledge. An example of an activity that provides refereed knowledge is the publication of a professional paper in a journal. The process, unlike the release of a column article in a newspaper, involves peer evaluation and assessment on a relatively objective standard. It would mean a certain measure of quality assurance. Since input of more time and effort for such a publication is required, more CPD points will be awarded for that publication.

(D) Domain of Publication

Research that is published in public will be awarded more CPD points than that published in a restricted domain based on the assumption that the former may involve more input of time and effort to meet relatively high expectations. For example, an individual will gain more points from a research paper published in a refereed journal open to the public than from that circulated through Intranet solely for his/her colleagues’ reference.

(E) Achievement, Implication and Contribution

As CPD in this context emphasizes the learning element rather than personal achievement, the contribution which social workers may make, the social impact, the magnitude of innovation or development of new social work knowledge or practice that may arise from a CPD activity. These outcomes of CPD will not be the factors for the consideration of the level of award of CPD points.

(F) Nature of Activity

An activity that is part of job duties, no matter remunerated or not, will not be considered for the award of CPD points.

4.3 Proportion of CPD Activities

RSWs may consider taking the following references as parameters for sketching their CPD plan:

(A) Activities Relevant to Social Work Practice

RSWs are recommended to undergo the following training or activities to obtain not less than 70 percent of the benchmark (60 CPD points) suggested in the Scheme:

a) Training or activities with social work content; and

b) activities that are indirectly related to social work or in allied disciplines but are relevant to social work practice.

(B) Other Activities

The CPD points gained from the following activities in the aggregate should not exceed 30 percent of the benchmark (60 CPD points) suggested in the Scheme:

a) Activities that may not be relevant to social work practice but are aimed at facilitating RSWs’ ongoing personal enhancement; and

b) Community service that may include committee work, consultative commitments, public service and voluntary work.