ISETT SETA was accredited as an ETQA by SAQA in February 2001 to Quality Assure provision of NQF education and training within the ICT Sector. The ISETT SETA has retained its accreditation for the period 1 October 2004 to 31 March 2006 for all the qualifications and unit standards that it had previously been accredited for. ETQA is an acronym that stands for an Education and Training Quality Assurance body. In terms of the Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act 97 of 1998), SETAs act as ETQAs within the various economic sectors in order that it may quality assure education.

A unit standard describes the desired education and training outcomes and their assessment criteria of learning for which the learner will get credits. A combination of relevant unit standards makes up a qualification.

A qualification is made up of a cluster of unit standards, including fundamental learning, core learning and elective learning. This is to ensure that learners are not only competent in a particular field, but that they are developed holistically with competence in inter alia, communication and numeracy etc. This is subject to the definition and rules of combination as defined in 8(1) of the NSB Regulations.

A learning programme is a provider-specific course or programme offered to learners against a particular qualification or unit standards, and is subject to quality assurance by an accrediting ETQA. Learning programmes cannot be registered on the National Qualifications Framework. However learning programmes must be submitted to the ISETT SETA for evaluation and approval.

A learnership is a learning programme that combines work-based experience with structured learning, i.e. theory and practice

Skills programme/short courses are shorter in duration than a Learnership and can lead to a qualification.

Accreditation is the certification of a provider for a particular period of time to deliver training on qualifications and/or unit standards registered on the NQF. Training providers can apply to deliver training, conduct assessments or to do both. All providers that apply for accreditation will go through a process of site evaluation and programme evaluation to ensure that training and assessments are aligned with the relevant qualifications and unit standards. SAQA prescribes two forms of accreditation in terms of the criteria and guidelines of ETQAs: Provisional Accreditation and Accreditation.
Provisional accreditation is the certification of provider granted for a particular period of time not exceeding 1 year in accordance to an agreed developmental programme that will enable the provider to meet full accreditation status while the interest of learners are protected.

An assessor is a person trained and qualified to plan and conduct assessments of NQF qualifications and/or unit standards.

South African Qualifications Authority
What is a National Qualifications Framework (NQF)?
It is a framework i.e. it sets the boundaries - a set of principles and guidelines which provide a vision, a philosophical base and an organisational structure - for construction, in this case, of a qualifications system. Detailed development and implementation is carried out within these boundaries. It is national because it is a national resource, representing a national effort at integrating education and training into a unified structure of recognised qualifications. It is a framework of qualifications i.e. records of learner achievement.

In short, the NQF is the set of principles and guidelines by which records of learner achievement are registered to enable national recognition of acquired skills and knowledge, thereby ensuring an integrated system that encourages life-long learning.

Why has South Africa chosen a National Qualifications Framework?

In 1994 the international community witnessed the birth of a new democracy and welcomed the new South Africa as the most recent member of its global village. In accepting that honour, this country took on the associated challenges of that position.

Many countries all over the world are looking for better ways of educating their people and organising their education and training systems so that they might gain the edge in an increasingly competitive economic global environment. Furthermore, the world is an ever-changing place, politically, geographically and technologically. Indeed, the rapid technological advances of the twentieth century have placed education systems under extreme pressure as they try to adapt and incorporate these changes in an effort to produce more creative, effective and adaptable people. Success, or even survival, in such a world demands that South Africa has a national education and training system that provides quality learning, is responsive to the ever-changing influences of the external environment and promotes the development of a nation that is committed to life-long learning.

When learners know that there are clear learning pathways which provide access to, and mobility and progression within education, training and career paths, they are more inclined to improve their skills and knowledge, as such improvements increase their employment opportunities . The increased skills base of the workforce has a wider implication namely the enhancement of the functional and intellectual capability of the nation, thereby increasing our chances for success in the global community.

Sir Christopher Ball (1996) in describing the kind of learner profile that is suited to the 21st century, spoke about ‘flexible generalists’. Ball maintained that such people are needed to realise the goal of life-long learning which, with the ever-increasing human longevity, will characterise the successful citizenry of the next millennium. ‘Flexible generalists’ are people equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and values to adjust readily to multiple career changes and make, through their own personal development, a significant contribution to the life of this country and the world. The shift in thinking is from education for employment – developing the ability to do a specific job - to education for employability – developing the ability to adapt acquired skills to new working environments. The new education and training system must be able to support the notion of an adaptable workforce.

How did the NQF come into being? A brief history

The NQF traces its origins back to the labour movement of the early 1970s. From the early 1970s, black trade union demands for a living wage were repeatedly rejected by employers, on the grounds that workers were unskilled and therefore their demands were unjustified. This in turn led to black workers seeing training as a means to achieving their demands for better wages. The struggle to persuade employers to accede to worker demands continued into the 1980s and in 1989 the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), established a research group comprising workers and union officials, to formulate recommendations on training. On the assumption that skills development would lead to better wages, an integrated proposal was formulated, based on a staged improvement in skills, linked to grading increments. The proposal stressed the need not only for basic education, without which workers would not be able to access the proposed system, but also for portability and national recognition of training so that workers would not be at the mercy of a single employer. The proposal was formally adopted by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in July 1991.

The mid-1970s also witnessed a demand for change in education, spearheaded by the non-governmental education sector. Protest was epitomised in the Soweto student uprising of 1976, which was followed by nation-wide student protest. By the 1980s the entire education system had been discredited and rejected. Non-governmental education sector resistance resulted eventually in the formation of the National Education Policy Initiative (NEPI), which set about developing proposals for the restructuring of the formal education system. Drawing on discussions with a wide range of interested parties within the democratic alliance, the NEPI reports and framework, published in 1992, were premised upon the principles of non-racism, non-sexism, democracy and redress, and the need for a non-racial unitary system of education and training. COSATU was closely involved with the NEPI process – an alliance which continued through the period leading to the democratic elections of 1994.

Despite repeated resistance to worker and student demands for change, the government of the day came increasingly to appreciate the inappropriateness, and ultimately the unsustainability, of its rejection of such demands. The announcement by President de Klerk in 1990 of the government’s intention to dismantle apartheid gave added impetus to, and was symptomatic of, the change of policy towards worker and student demands. The Department of Manpower, through the National Training Board (NTB), embarked as far back as the 1980s upon a number of initiatives, notably the restructuring of the apprenticeship system into a competency-based modular training system run by autonomous industry training boards. However unions viewed the process as flawed, not only because it excluded workers, but also because the proposals emanating from the initiatives were narrowly focussed on apprenticeship to the exclusion of basic education, which was seen as a point of access to the skills training. After an extended conflictual relationship, the Department of Manpower and the trade union federations reconvened in 1992 in an attempt to renew the process.

The Department of Education simultaneously initiated its own process of policy discussion, which culminated in the Education Renewal Strategy (ERS). The democratic alliance within the education sector was invited to participate in the process, but declined the invitation on the grounds that the initiative lacked legitimacy. Furthermore the ERS advocated three streams – academic, vocational, and vocationally-oriented – a system the democratic alliance found unpalatable. The education employer sector did, however, participate in the process, advocating a seamless framework similar to that adopted by Scotland and New Zealand.

The 1992 meeting of the Department of Manpower and the trade union federations resulted in the formation of a representative Task Team, which established eight working groups charged with developing a new national training strategy. The working groups had representation from trade unions, employers, the State, providers of education and training, the ANC Education Department, and the democratic alliance. Working Group 2 reached agreement on a new integrated framework. 1994 saw the publication of three documents which laid the foundation for the SAQA Act (RSA, 1995): the ANC Policy Framework for Education and Training (1994); the Discussion Document on a National Training Strategy Initiative (1994); and the CEPD Implementation Plan for Education and Training (1994). White papers on Education and Training (1995) and on Reconstruction and Development (1994) followed, both of which underscored the need for the development and implementation of the NQF.

An Inter-Ministerial Working Group was established to draft the NQF Bill which was passed into law as the South African Qualifications Authority Act (No. 58 of 1995) on 4 October 1995. The appointments to the first Authority were made in May 1996 and the first meeting of the Authority under the chairmanship of Mr S B A Isaacs, was held in August 1996.

What are the objectives of the NQF?

The objectives of the NQF as outlined in the SAQA Act are as follows:
To create an integrated national framework for learning achievements;
Facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within education, training and career paths;
Enhance the quality of education and training;
Accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities;
Contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the nation at large.

What is the relationship between the NQF and outcomes-based education?

Qualifications and standards registered on the NQF are described in terms of the learning outcomes that the qualifying learner is expected to have demonstrated. Hence there is an underlying commitment to a system of education and training that is organised around the notion of learning outcomes.

of the criticisms of the past system of education in South Africa was that certain institutions were privileged above others because of the policy of unequal allocation of resources to learning institutions, based on race. In addition, as a result of this financial discrimination, the perception grew that the standard of provision at these institutions was superior to that of other institutions. Consequently, students from these institutions were granted preferential treatment in access to further education opportunities and in the labour market. In other words, where the qualification was obtained was more important than what qualifying students actually knew and could do. In addition to problems of access, there was the problem of portability in that institutions arbitrarily chose to recognise or not to recognise qualifications achieved at other institutions; employers actively sought graduates from certain institutions and ignored graduates from other institutions. The impact of such practice on the economic and social fabric of our society is self-evident. There is hence an historical imperative in the fragmentation of our society, to focus on what it is that a learner knows and can do rather than where the learner did his or her studying. It is necessary to address the inappropriate social use of qualifications that has been part of our history.

A further pressing imperative to base our NQF on outcomes has emerged from global trends and discussions. Ronald Barnett’s discussion of competence in higher education epitomises the kinds of transition that are taking place in education and training systems the world over:

The new vocabulary in higher education is a sign that modern society is reaching for other definitions of knowledge and reasoning. Notions of skill, vocationalism, transferability, competence, outcomes, experiential learning capability and enterprise, when taken together, are indications that traditional definitions of knowledge are felt to be inadequate for meeting the systems-wide problems faced by contemporary society.

Whereas those traditional definitions of knowledge have emphasised language, especially through writing, an open process of communication, and formal and discipline-bound conventions, the new terminology urges higher education to allow the term knowledge to embrace knowledge-through-action, particular outcomes of a learning transaction, and transdisciplinary forms of skill (Barnett, 1994: 71)

If South Africa is to take up its position in the global village, it needs to embrace the new vocabulary of which Barnett speaks: competence and outcomes. Countries in Europe, the Pacific rim, Australasia, and North America have either adopted or moved in the direction of a national qualifications framework, underwritten by a commitment to outcomes-based education. South Africa cannot afford to ignore these developments. The South African NQF with its emphasis on the notion of applied competence – the ability to put into practice in the relevant context the learning outcomes acquired in obtaining a qualification - is already contributing to these debates and developments.

Associated with the recognition that knowledge needs redefinition is the recognition that sites of learning are many and varied. The traditional definitions of knowledge have implicitly designated formal institutions of learning as the primary site of learning. This perception has been re-enforced by the fact that in most instances, a qualification is awarded by an institution, before any further learning in a practical environment is obtained by the learner. In other words, the sub-text is that once the qualification has been awarded, learning is over - and unless a learner registers for a new, formal qualification, learning for life is over! This bias towards qualification-as-destination is at odds with reality and also with what the White Paper on Education and Training (1995: 15) identifies as the education and training requirement of a successful economy and society:

Successful modern economies and societies require the elimination of artificial hierarchies, in social organisation, in the organisation and management of work, and in the way in which learning is organised and certified. They require citizens with a strong foundation of general education, the desire and ability to continue to learn, to adapt to and develop new knowledge, skills and technologies, to move flexibly between occupations, to take responsibility for personal performance, to set and achieve high standards, and to work co-operatively.

If one accepts that there is more than one dimension to knowledge and hence that learning continues both before and after a qualification has been awarded in a variety of sites of learning, then in order to achieve integration and coherence within the system so that access and portability can become a reality, it is necessary to clearly articulate the outcomes of learning achievements.

Finally the South African Qualifications Act (No. 58 of 1995) indicates that one of the functions of the South African Qualifications Authority is to ensure that standards and qualifications registered on the NQF are internationally comparable. Since the global trend is moving towards describing qualifications in terms of achieved learning outcomes, articulation of South African qualifications with their international counterparts is facilitated if our qualifications are described in terms of the learning outcomes.

The NQF with its commitment to outcomes-based education and training is the means that South Africa has chosen to bring about systemic change in the nature of the education and training system. This systemic change is intended to transform the manner in which the education and training system works as a system, how it is organised and the vision that drives participants within the system as they perform their own particular roles and functions within that system.

What are the Critical Outcomes?

The Critical Cross-field Education and Training Outcomes, commonly known as the Critical Outcomes, are an additional mechanism through which coherence is achieved in the framework. These Critical Outcomes describe the qualities which the NQF identifies for development in students within the education and training system, regardless of the specific area or content of learning i.e. those outcomes that are deemed critical for the development of the capacity for life-long learning. These outcomes are intended to direct the thinking of policy makers, curriculum designers, facilitators of learning as well as the learners themselves.
It is mandatory for standards setters to incorporate at least some of the Critical Outcomes in the standards that they recommend and proposers of qualifications must ensure that all Critical Outcomes have been addressed appropriately at the level concerned within the qualifications being proposed.

The Critical Outcomes adopted by SAQA are as follows:

Identify and solve problems in which responses display that responsible decisions using critical and creative thinking have been made;
Work effectively with others as a member of a team, group, organisation, community;
Organise and manage oneself and one’s activities responsibly and effectively;
Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information;
Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral and/or written presentation;
Use science and technology effectively and critically, showing responsibility towards the environment and health of others;
Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem-solving contexts do not exist in isolation;
In order to contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the society at large, it must be the intention underlying any programme of learning to make an individual aware of the importance of:
Reflecting on and exploring a variety of strategies to learn more effectively;
Participating as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and global communities;
Being culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts;
Exploring education and career opportunities, and
Developing entrepreneurial opportunities.

What do NQF qualifications look like?

The NSB regulations indicate that a qualification shall:
Represent a planned combination of learning outcomes which has a defined purpose and which is intended to provide qualifying learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning;
Add value to the qualifying learner by providing status, recognition, enhancing marketability and employability;
Provide benefits to society and the economy;
Comply with the objectives of the NQF;
Include both specific and critical cross-field outcomes that promote life-long learning;
Where applicable, be internationally comparable;
Incorporate integrated assessment appropriately to ensure that the purpose of the qualification is achieved. Assessment should include a range of formative and summative assessment methods such as portfolios, simulations, workplace assessments and also written and oral examinations;

Indicate in the rules governing the award of the qualification that the qualification may be achieved in whole or in part through the recognition of prior learning, which concept includes but is not limited to learning outcomes achieved through formal, informal and non-formal learning and work experience.

There is provision in the regulations for the registration of qualifications constructed from unit standards as well as the registration of whole qualifications, not constructed from unit standards. Unit standard means registered statements of desired education and training outcomes and their associated assessment criteria together with administrative and other information as specified in the regulations. Both formats of qualification structure however require the specification of learning outcomes, the latter format requiring the articulation of exit level outcomes and associated assessment criteria.

There is much debate about the ability or desirability of reaching agreement on learning outcomes at a national level, and furthermore, about describing learning outcomes in the form of applied competence standards. SAQA has placed the requirement for participation in national stakeholder processes only for those qualifications and standards that are to be registered on the NQF – national recognition requires acceptance by national stakeholders. Furthermore constructors of qualifications and standards can choose to be rigid or choose to be flexible in the construction of the qualifications and standards, allowing for choice or not. The strength of the NQF processes is that representatives of all key stakeholders in the learning area and not just a select few will make those decisions. Furthermore, through the required process of review all qualifications and standards must be reviewed regularly to ensure that the agreed criteria and requirements are feasible, relevant and desirable. If there is agreement that changes are necessary, there is ample opportunity for those changes to be adopted.

A more complex issue is raised by the notion of learning outcomes and competence standards. Some people raise the problem that the learning outcomes of certain qualifications and standards can relatively easily be described by in the form of competence standards e.g. the draft standards for Engineering qualifications. However, in the case of other qualifications, this is more difficult because the learning outcomes are less obvious or less precise. Any effort to try and establish national agreement will result in a loss of creativity and originality when in fact, it is that very creativity and originality that gives them value. SAQA is of the opinion that the description of a NQF qualification addresses this question i.e. a qualification shall represent a planned combination of learning outcomes which has a defined purpose and which is intended to provide qualifying learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning.

In describing the purpose of qualification, standards setters will have to give consideration as to what the purpose of the qualification is and how it contributes to the learner’s development and further learning.

Furthermore the notion of applied competence suggests a broadening of the behaviourist notions of knowledge usually associated with outcomes and competence models. Applied competence suggests that foundational competence, practical competence and reflexive competence are all necessary for the meaningful accomplishment of a task in any real world context. Foundational competence is described as an understanding of what is being done and why. Practical competence is described as a demonstrated ability to do a particular thing. Reflexive competence is described as a demonstrated ability to integrate or connect performance with the understanding of that performance so as to learn from the actions and adapt to change and unforeseen circumstances.

Hence the challenge for standards setters is the attainment of a balance between society’s needs and the needs of the individual; the development of learning outcomes that are precise enough to indicate the purpose of the qualification but general enough to permit flexibility in delivery, choice of content, assessment methodology; a balance between the need for practical competence and the need for foundational and reflexive competence; the adoption of qualification construction, possibly through electives, that encourages creativity, originality and experimentation without jeopardising the primary purpose of the qualification.
Qualifications and standards are registered at specific levels of the framework and have a credit value. Learners, in the course of study, may accumulate credits over time towards a qualification.

National certificates

SAQA has adopted an eight-level framework, with levels 1 and 8 respectively being regarded as open-ended. Level 1 accommodates three Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) certification levels as well as the General Education and Training Certificate.

What is the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)?

The South African Qualifications Authority is a body of 29 members appointed by the Ministers of Education and Labour. The members are nominated by identified national stakeholders in education and training. The functions of the Authority are essentially twofold:

To oversee the development of the NQF, by formulating and publishing policies and criteria for the registration of bodies responsible for establishing education and training standards or qualifications and for the accreditation of bodies responsible for monitoring and auditing achievements in terms of such standards and qualifications;

To oversee the implementation of the NQF by ensuring the registration, accreditation and assignment of functions to the bodies referred to above, as well as the registration of national standards and qualifications on the framework. It must also take steps to ensure that provisions for accreditation are complied with and where appropriate, that registered standards and qualifications are internationally comparable.

SAQA must advise the Ministers of Education and Labour. The Authority is required to perform its tasks after consultation and in co-operation with all bodies and institutions responsible for education, training and certification of standards which will be affected by the NQF. It must also comply with the various rights and powers of bodies in terms of the Constitution and Acts of Parliament. The office of SAQA is responsible for implementing the policies and decisions of the Authority.

In 1998 SAQA published the National Standards Bodies (NSB) Regulations whereby provision was made for the registration of National Standards Bodies and Standards Generating Bodies. These bodies will be responsible for the generation and recommendation of qualifications and standards or registration on the NQF. The Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) regulations were also published in 1998 and provided for the accreditation of Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies. These bodies will be responsible for accrediting providers of education and training standards and qualifications registered on the NQF, monitoring provision, evaluating assessment and facilitating moderation across providers, and registering assessors.

What are the structures of SAQA and what is their purpose?

The NQF standards setting and quality assurance processes embrace two basic tenets:
Knowledge, relevant for the current world, is created through partnerships between and amongst varied groupings in society, from academics and researchers to business, from workers to professional experts, from government to community organisations, from learners to professors i.e. knowledge creation is no longer the preserve of narrowly-defined groups of ‘experts’;

The national system of education must balance the need for quality education for all its citizens with the need for flexibility to cater for the wide-ranging circumstances that face learners and the wide-ranging options in what constitutes relevant education and qualifications i.e. a balance between society’s needs and the needs of the individual.

The first of these tenets is addressed in the structures that SAQA has in place. SAQA itself is made up of representatives from education and training stakeholders in South Africa. Membership of the NSBs also reflects these new partnerships in the creation of knowledge - the NSBs are made up of representatives from six national stakeholder bodies with a key interest in the field: State departments, organised Business, organised Labour, providers of education and traing, critical interest groups and community/learners organisations. Traditionally few of these partners have sat down together to discuss education and training needs for the country. Furthermore, members of the SGBs are nominated from key education and training stakeholder interest groups in the sub-field, again recognising that relevant knowledge creation is brought about through discussion on a broader front.

The NQF’s commitment to outcomes-based education and training as the means for bringing about systemic change in the nature of the education and training system in South Africa addresses the second tenet. By describing national standards and qualifications in terms of learning outcomes through a participatory process, the NQF is placing the national demands in respect of quality, before the citizens of the country. No longer can the nation tolerate a situation where the range of competence that exists between holders of the same qualification is so wide that the employers of the qualifyingstudents cannot be sure of what the competences are; no longer can the nation tolerate discrimination against learners on the basis of perceptions of what their competences are; no longer can the nation afford to ignore global standards in qualifications. In short, the learning outcomes, standards and qualifications, must be clear so that there is no doubt as to what is expected of qualifying learners.

By the creation of Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies (ETQAs), SAQA has recognised that delivery of the standards and qualifications is the preserve of the professional providers and learners and other key stakeholders in the field. Different qualifications and standards will make different demands on curriculum development and delivery, on assessment and teaching. SAQA's concern is not in ensuring that all providers follow a national programme of delivery but rather in ensuring that the learners who are awarded a registered NQF-qualification or standard are able to demonstrate the learning outcomes of the qualification or standard in accordance with the described criteria and requirements. SAQA therefore will not register learning programmes on the NQF; however ETQAs will evaluate the learning programmes of different providers in a process of accreditation, thereby assuring learners and other users of the system that any learner who has been deemed successful after participating in that learning programme, has displayed the learning outcomes required for that qualification or standard. The best group for ensuring that this will be the case, is a body made up of representatives of stakeholders, active in the area of the qualification or standard i.e. the ETQA which has that area as its primary focus. For that reason, in respect of its quality assurance functions, an ETQA must have national stakeholder representation at decision-making level, which representation shall ensure public accountability and transparency.

SAQA has two ‘arms’ i.e. Standards Setting and Quality Assurance. The sub-structures in the standards setting arm are the National Standards Bodies (NSBs) and the Standards Generating Bodies (SGBs), while the sub-structures in the quality assurance arm are the Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies (ETQAs). SAQA may choose to appoint moderating bodies if it deems it necessary. The functions of SAQA are set out in the SAQA Act and have already been outlined above. The functions of the NSBs and SGBs are set out in the Regulations under the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995): NSBs, Government Gazette No. 18787 (28 March) while the criteria for accreditation and the functions of the ETQAs as well as providers of education are set out in the Regulations under the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995): ETQAs, Government Gazette No. 19231 (8 September).

In the NQF all learning is organised into twelve fields. SAQA has established twelve NSBs, one for each organising field. The twelve organising fields are as follows:

NSB 01: Agriculture and Nature Conservation
NSB 02: Culture and Arts
NSB 03: Business, Commerce and Management Studies
NSB 04: Communication Studies and Language
NSB 05: Education, Training and Development
NSB 06: Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology
NSB 07: Human and Social Studies
NSB 08: Law, Military Science and Security
NSB 09: Health Science and Social Services
NSB 10: Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences
NSB 11: Services
NSB 12: Physical Planning and Construction

The functions of NSBs include the following:

Defining and recommending to SAQA the boundaries of the field and, within this, a framework of sub-fields;
Recognising or establishing SGBs within the framework of sub-fields, and ensuring that the work of the SGBs meets SAQA requirements;
Recommending the registration of qualifications and standards to SAQA;
Overseeing the update and review of qualifications and standards;
Liaison with ETQAs;
Defining requirements and mechanisms for the moderation of standards and qualifications.
NSBs do not generate standards or qualifications but rather oversee these activities at the sub-field level.

The functions of SGBs include the following:

Generating standards and qualifications in accordance with the Authority requirements in identified sub-fields and levels; Updating and reviewing standards;
Recommending standards and qualifications to NSBs;
Recommending criteria for the registration of assessors and moderators or moderating bodies .
An ETQA may be established in a social sector, in an economic sector or in an education and training sub-system sector. The principle of minimum duplication will apply in the establishment of ETQAs i.e. an ETQA is accredited in respect of its primary focus, based upon its association with the sector, so that its functions do not duplicate the functions of an existing ETQA. The functions of ETQAs include the following:

Accrediting providers;
Promoting quality amongst constituent providers;
Monitoring provision;
Evaluating assessment and facilitating moderation among constituent providers;
Registering assessors;
The certification of learners
Co-operating with relevant moderating bodies;
Recommending new standards or qualificatiosn to NSBs or modifications to existing standards and qualifications;
Maintaining a database;
Submitting reports to SAQA.

ETQAs do not set standards; they assure the quality delivery and assessment of registered standards and qualifications. Furthermore an ETQA may not be a provider; its primary function is to assure the quality of provision and assessment of providers it has accredited.
In seeking accreditation from ETQAs, providers will have to fulfil the following criteria:
Be registered as a provider in terms of applicable legislation;
Have a quality management system;
Be able to develop, deliver and evaluate learning programmes which culminate in specified NQF qualifications or standards;
Have the necessary financial, administrative and physical resources;
Have policies for staff selection, appraisal and development; for learner entry, guidance and support systems; for the management of off-site practical or work-site components; for the management of assessment;
Have necessary reporting procedures;

Have the ability to achieve the desired outcomes using available resources and procedures.
SAQA recognises the need for accommodating providers in the system that do not meet all the criteria for accreditation. In such cases SAQA allows for provisional accreditation during which time the provider shall undergo a programme of development which is designed to enable the provider to meet the required criteria for accreditation. Furthermore provisional accreditation will only be granted if the interests of the learner are protected during the development period.

How will quality in assessment be maintained?

has been specific in identifying forms of assessment that could be used to ensure that attention is given to exploring alternatives to the traditional once-off written examination. Indeed a review of the critical outcomes clearly indicates the inappropriateness of such forms of assessment for many of those skills. Alternative assessment methods place a greater demand on the system to ensure that there is fair and consistent interpretation of the required standard among assessors at different provider institutions and registered in different ETQAs i.e. the prevention of ‘standards drift’. If different standards are applied across the system, the credibility and integrity of the whole system is placed in jeopardy. To ensure that this does not occur, SAQA has put a number of checks in place.

Every standard or qualification submitted for registration of the NQF must articulate the assessment criteria for the learning outcomes;
stipulate the criteria for the registration of assessors of those outcomes, and
indicate moderation options including the recommendation of a moderating or moderating bodies for those outcomes.

Therefore, the proposers of qualifications and standards have an important role to play in setting clear, unambiguous standards and associated assessment requirements.
Furthermore, among the functions of an ETQA are the following:

to evaluate assessment and facilitation of moderation among constituent providers;
to register constituent assessors in terms of the criteria established for this purpose;
to co-operate with the relevant body or bodies appointed to moderate across ETQAs.
Hence in the quality assurance process, there is considerable emphasis on the process of moderation to ensure the application of comparable standards across providers.

Finally, SAQA has the right to appoint a moderating body, if it sees fit, to ensure that assessment of the outcomes described in NQF qualifications and standards is fair, valid and reliable across different ETQAs or providers.

How does SAQA ensure acceptance of its policies by stakeholders?

The SAQA Act clearly states that the NQF must be set up after consultation and in co-operation with those bodies and institutions responsible for education, training and certification of standards affected by the NQF.

The fact that the SAQA Act clearly articulates the need for SAQA to do its work in a spirit of consultation and co-operation indicates the commitment of the new democratic government to the principles of representation and participation of all relevant stakeholders in society’s institutions. This emphasis on inclusiveness has its roots in a history of exclusion of large sectors of the community from important decision making processes in education and training. For example, the skills to be developed and the content of a learning programme in the past were constructed by the so-called experts in the field, usually academics rooted in formal institutions of learning i.e. ‘providers’ of education, with little or no consultation with the ‘users’ of the qualifications i.e. business, labour unions, learners. This led to the frequently cited criticism that there was little match between what was taught in formal institutions of learning and what was required in the world of work or even for further study. Furthermore, there was little co-operation or consultation between previous ministries of Education and Manpower; across industries or companies or with the state; between providers of formal education and providers of training. This meant that there was no means to align learning across different providers or courses – qualifications remained sectorally-based, geographically-based or institution-based with little or no formal articulation between allied learning areas.

In spite of the culture of consultation and co-operation in decision-making in the new South Africa, the most logical reason for representivity in decision-making about what learning outcomes for a particular qualification should be, is the question of relevance. For South Africa to remain responsive to changes in the environment, it is essential that all relevant voices in the field of learning are heard, the state, the academics, the business world, the labour market, the providers of education and training to name a few. An inclusive approach to standards setting and the construction of qualifications will enable new trends to be taken into account swiftly, thereby ensuring that South Africa is at the cutting edge of international developments.

SAQA is committed to a process of public consultation in the development and execution of policy. Qualifications and standards are required to go through a process of narrow consultation with stakeholders in the field and a process of broad consultation, whereby the public at large is provided with an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed standards. Furthermore all qualifications and standards are submitted to a Reference group which comprises organisations representing the disabled and marginalised sectors of the community, for comment, before registration, in an effort to ensure that proposed standards and qualifications do not discriminate unfairly against any of these sectors of the community.

In the execution of its quality assurance functions, ETQAs are required to have national stakeholder representation. The main purpose of this representation is to ensure public accountability and transparency. In addition all policy documents of SAQA are drawn up through an open consultation process with relevant stakeholders and while in draft form, are published in the Government Gazette for public comment. All nominations to SAQA structures, excluding Authority members, are published in the Government Gazette prior to appointment, to enable public comment. In addition, all documents requiring public comment and all SAQA publications in the Government Gazette are posted on the website (http://www.saqa.org.za). In this way SAQA ensures social transparency and inclusivity in its work.

An education and training system that is constructed through a process of participation and negotiation in order to meet the needs of all stakeholders enjoys greater legitimacy and credibility in the society within which it operates than would otherwise be the case. Furthermore SAQA, the guiding body in the South African system, is an impartial "overseer" i.e. it not a state department or an arm of government, it is not an initiative of business, nor of labour, nor is it allied to the education provider sector. For this reason, SAQA is independent of the agendas of each of these sectors and as such, is able to retain its integrity in facilitating negotiations between education and training stakeholders which sometimes have conflicting interests.

The SAQA Act is an example of enabling legislation – it does not hand down a blueprint from ‘on high’ but rather enables the development of the NQF as a social construct whose meaning has been, and will continue to be, negotiated by the people for the people. It is a synthesis of the experience, thinking and practice of South Africans from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds representing a variety of world-views. The cornerstones of this construct are democratic participation, intellectual scrutiny and the availability of resources – notions central to SAQA’s development and implementation of the NQF.

How does SAQA ensure that quality is a feature across the NQF?

The objectives of the NQF underpin the notion of quality in the new system. Moreover the NQF supports a comprehensive quality cycle which includes standards setting and quality assurance. Every standard and qualification before being registered on the NQF is measured against the principles enunciated in the objectives of the NQF, to ensure that it meets the criteria for an integrated qualifications framework that supports life-long learning. In the same way, the foundation for national and international assurance of achievement of these standards rests upon the way in which they reflect these same principles and objectives.

By bringing these principles together in the social construction process, the standards developed through the participatory and representative structures and processes of the NSBs and SGBs and then registered on the framework, will have their delivery and achievement assured, for all users of the learning system through the ETQA system. This system in turn, reflects participatory and representative structures and processes. It is in assuring the quality of both the standards and achievements that the quality cycle of the framework is closed. It is through closing the cycle that the system allows ongoing improvements both in the construction of standards and qualifications and in the delivery and assessment of these standards and qualifications, by the users of those standards and qualifications. In other words, the NQF is a system of assuring and continually re-assuring learners and other users of the education and training system that credits, awards or certificates issued during the learning process adhere to the standard registered on the framework, and that all forms of provision deliver learning to the same standards for accreditation purposes. The inclusive nature of the quality cycle ensures that the responsibility for setting standards and for delivery of quality education and training rests with the education and training stakeholders who participate in the SAQA processes.

How does SAQA acknowledge Recognition of Prior Learning(RPL)?

Among the objectives of the NQF are the need to facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within education, training and career paths as well the need to accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities. SAQA is challenged to find a way in which these two objectives can be met, to find a way to recognise the learning that has taken place outside traditional learning contexts, previously the only learning contexts that were formally recognised. SAQA has indicated its intention to engage its structures in the area of RPL as a means of giving practical meaning to these objectives.

SAQA has mentioned RPL directly in the NSB regulations and has also made reference to it in the ETQA regulations. In the NSB regulations, the criteria for the registration of a qualification are outlined. One of these requirements is that the proposal should indicate in the rules governing its award, that the qualification may be achieved in whole or in part through the recognition of prior learning. The point is made that the concept of RPL includes but is not limited to learning outcomes achieved through formal, informal and non-formal learning and work experience.

In the ETQA regulations one of the criteria for accreditation as an ETQA is that the activities of the ETQA must advance the objectives of the NQF and hence in accordance with these objectives, policies and procedures for RPL are also the responsibility of the ETQA and hence will be considered in the accreditation process.

What else does the SAQA Office do?

SAQA is responsible for the development and maintenance of a National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD). The first version of the NLRD was launched in 1999. Once fully established and populated, the NLRD will be able to provide information about:
SAQA and its sub-structures (NSBs, SGBs and ETQAs);
Qualifications and standards registered on the NQF;
Accredited ETQAs and their providers;
Registered assessors;
Moderating bodies;
Individual learner achievements.

The NLRD will be able to provide policy makers with comprehensive information to enable informed decision-making.

SAQA has the task of evaluating educational qualifications, especially if foreigners who wish to attend South African education institutions or who wish to enter the South African labour market.

SAQA also has a Resource Centre that keeps copies of SAQA publications and SAQA-related documents as well as other material that SAQA staff may need in the course of their work.

The Communications and Secretariat division provides SAQA with a secretarial service for the Authority and its sub-committees required in the execution of its duties e.g. the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee.

Legal documents and other SAQA publications
SAQA Act (No. 58 of 1995)
NSB Regulations (Government Gazette No. 18787; 28 march 1998)
ETQA Regulations (Government Gazette No. 19231; 8 September 1998)
The NSB Manual
Criteria for the Generation and Evaluation of Qualifications and Standards within the NQF
Criteria and Guidelines for ETQAs
Criteria and Guidelines for Providers
Guidelines for the Assessment of NQF registered unit standards and qualifications
SAQA publishes the SAQA Update on a regular basis. This one-page newsletter gives up-to-date information about the progress made in respect of the development and implementation of the NQF.

SAQA publishes a bulletin on a regular basis which is intended to keep readers abreast of decisions and developments within SAQA as well as highlight pertinent debates. It also provides the opportunity for critical reflection on the NQF and related issues. Bulletin No. 1 (May 1997) is of particular interest as it records the fundamental decisions of SAQA in respect of the establishment of the NQF.
Related Acts
National Education Policy Act
South African Qualifications Authority Act
Higher Education Act
Skills Development Act
Skills Development Levies Act
Further Education and Training Act
South African Schools Act
17. Glossary
(as per NSB and ETQA regulations)

Accreditation means the certification, usually for a particular period of time, of a person, a body or an institution as having the capacity to fulfil a particular function in the quality assurance system set up by the South African Qualifications Authority in terms of the (SAQA) Act
Applied competence means the ability to put into practice in the relevant context the learning outcomes acquired in obtaining a qualification
Assessor means the person who is registered by the relevant Education and Training Quality Assurance body in accordance with criteria established for this purpose by a Standards Generating Body, to measure the achievement of specified National Qualifications Framework standards and qualifications
Critical outcomes means those generic outcomes that inform all teaching and learning
Education and Training Quality Assurance body (ETQA ) means a body accredited in terms of section 5(1)(a)(ii) of the (SAQA) Act. The body is responsible for monitoring and auditing achievements in terms of national standards and qualifications and to which specific functions relating to the monitoring and auditing of national standards and qualifications have been assigned in terms of section 5(1)(b)(i) of the (SAQA) Act
Exit level outcomes means the outcomes to be achieved by a qualifying learner at the point at which he or she leaves the programme leading to a qualification
Integrated assessment refers to that form of assessment that permits the learner to demonstrate applied competence and which uses a range of formative and summative assessment methods
Moderating Body means a body specifically appointed by the Authority for the purpose of moderation
National Standards Body (NSB) refers to a body registered in terms of section 5(1)(a)(ii) of the (SAQA) Act. The body is responsible for establishing education and training standards or qualifications, and to which specific functions relating to the registration of national standards and qualifications have been assigned in terms of section 5(1)(b)(i) of the (SAQA) Act.
Outcomes means the contextually demonstrated end products of the learning process.
Primary focus means that activity or objective within the sector upon which an organisation or body concentrates its efforts
Standards Generating Body (SGB) refers to a body registered in terms of section 5(1)(a)(i) of the (SAQA) Act. The body is responsible for establishing education and training standards or qualifications, and to which specific functions relating to the establishment of national standards and qualifications have been assigned in terms of section 5(1)(b)(i) of the (SAQA) Act
Unit standard means registered statements of desired education and training outcomes and their associated assessment criteria together with administrative and other information as specified in these regulations

ACRONYMS
NQF: The National Qualifications Framework
SAQA: The South African Qualifications Authority
ETQA: Education and Training Quality Assurance body
NLRD: National Learners’ Records Database
NSB: National Standards Body
SGB: Standards Generating Body

Bibliography and Notes
The history of the NQF is based on the personal account of the origins of the NQF presented to the SAQA staff on 29 May 1998 by Adrienne Bird, Chief Director, Human Resources and Employment Services at the Department of Labour, and on a paper presented by Mr S M Pityana, Director-General at the Department of Labour, at the "Conference on the National Qualifications Framework" on 22-24 April 1996, Technikon South Africa, Johannesburg.
Ball, Sir Christopher (1996): Life-long learning for the 21st Century, keynote address at the 21st Improving University Teaching Conference, the Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
Barnett, Ronald (1994): The Limits of Competence: Knowledge, Higher Education and Society, London: Society for Research into Higher Education
RSA (1995): South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995), Government Gazette No. 1521 (4 October)
RSA (1998): Regulations under the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995): NSBs, Government Gazette No. 18787 (28 March)
RSA (1998): Regulations under the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995): ETQAs, Government Gazette No. 19231 (8 September)
SAQA (1996): SAQA Bulletin 1.1, South African Qualifications Authority
(1994): A Discussion Document on a National Training Strategy Initiative, National Training Board
(1994): A Policy Framework for Education and Training, African National Congress
(1994): Implementation Plan for Education and Training, CEPD
(1995): Ways of Seeing the National Qualifications Framework, Human Sciences Research Council
(1995): White Paper on Education and Training, Notice 196 of 1995 (15 march), Department of Education
(1998): The Star newspaper (24 July), quoting Mamphela Ramphele
Internal working documents compiled by SAQA staff: Mr M Cosser, Ms G Elliott, Mr J Gunthorpe, Ms S Mokhobo-Nomvete and Mr J Samuels,