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National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Bill passed in National Assembly

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:16

The National Assembly passed the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Bill on 19 August and it will become law later this year.

Speaking to delegates of the First Pan African Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Further Education and Training (FET) Conference, held in Cape Town on 21 August, the Minister of Education said:

The Department of Education (DoE) briefed the Education Portfolio Committee on the NQF and two additional bills under its remit that changes in the NQF Bill required - the Higher Education Amendment Bill and the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Amendment Bill (GENFETQA Bill) - on 17 June.

The Committee held public hearings on 30 July and adopted the Bills on 12 August.

The NQF Bill was the outcome of a NQF review process that began in 2001 and was completed early in 2008 with the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour's joint release of a policy statement.

The statement outlined a number of key features that the NQF must contain.

The NQF must integrate all elements of the education and training system; enable learners to progress to higher levels from any starting point; enable learners to transfer credits from one part of the system to another; enable assessment and recognition of prior learning and skills acquired through experience; and enable curricula to cut across traditional divisions of skills and knowledge.

The NQF Bill determines the executive responsibilities of the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour.

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Act requires the Minister of Education and Minister of Labour to agree on various matters.

However, these provisions have proved to be cumbersome in practice.

The NQF Bill requires the two Ministers to act collaboratively, but prescribes clear spheres of ministerial responsibility.

The Minister of Education is responsible for the NQF, SAQA, Quality Council (or QC) for General and Further Education and Training, and QC for Higher Education (clause nine).

The Minister of Labour is responsible for the QC for Trades and Occupations established in terms of the Skills Development Act (clause 10).

The NQF Bill radically simplifies the NQF.

The SAQA Act empowered SAQA to establish or recognise substructures that could design standards and qualifications and undertake quality assurance.

As a result, the NQF processes were complicated by the proliferation of substructures with overlapping mandates.

By naming the QCs for General and Further Education and Training, Higher Education, and Trades and Occupations, the NQF Bill provides a radically simplified sectoral structure with clear lines of accountability and explicit requirements for collaboration and dispute resolution.

The NQF Bill provides for sectors and not bands.

The regulations drafted in terms of the SAQA Act formalised the concept of NQF bands as an organising principle, namely, the General Education and Training Band (level 1), the Further Education and Training Band (levels two to four), and the Higher Education and Training Band (levels five to eight).

This horizontal organisation was meant to give expression to the integration of all forms of learning within a band, no matter how or where learning and teaching was provided.

The NQF Bill, by contrast, is based on the idea of three education and training sectors, namely, the General and Further Education and Training Sector; Higher Education Sector; and Trades and Occupations Sector.

The first two sectors comprise formal education institutions (schools, adult education centres, FET colleges and higher education institutions) and fall under the Minister of Education.

The third comprises education and training in and for the workplace, and falls under the Minister of Labour.

The NQF Bill gives responsibility for implementing the NQF to three quality councils.

The SAQA Act gave SAQA the responsibility for conceptualising the NQF and leading its implementation.

However, many participants felt that the NQF system, as it developed, entailed an unnecessary degree of centralisation and conceptual and procedural rigidity.

The NQF Bill gives the responsibility for implementing the NQF to three sectoral QCs, which will act in close cooperation with each other and with SAQA.

Two of the three QCs, Umalusi and the Council on Higher Education are existing statutory bodies with original powers and responsibilities under their founding Acts and are accountable directly to the Minister of Education.

The third QC, for Trades and Occupations, is to be established by the Skills Development Amendment Bill and is directly accountable to the Minister of Labour.

The Minister of Education is empowered to determine regulations for dealing with the settlement of disputes that may arise.

In this way, damaging and time-consuming deadlocks will be avoided.

The NQF Bill requires consequential amendments to a number of Acts: the Higher Education Act, 1997, the GENFETQA Act, 2001, and the Skills Development Act, 1998. The most important changes relate to the establishment of the three QCs.

Umalusi is to become the QC for General and Further Education and Training, and the Council on Higher Education is to become the QC for Higher Education.

The relevant Acts must be amended to reflect these bodies’ new status and additional functions as QCs.

The position is different for work-related education and training.

A new QC for Trades and Occupations must be established in terms of the Skills Development Amendment Bill under the Department of Labour.

The NQF Bill is therefore accompanied by Bills to amend the GENFETQA Act and the Higher Education Act, both of which fall under the Minister of Education and the Skills Development Act, which falls under the Minister of Labour.