-- South African Qualifications Authority --

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What is the South African Qualifications Authority?

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is a juristic person - that is an entity given a legal personality by the law. The South African Qualifications Authority Board is a body of 12 members appointed by the Ministers of Education after consultation with the Minister of Labour. The members are nominated by identified national stakeholders in education and training.

SAQA's role is to:

advance the objectives of the NQF;
oversee the further development of the NQF; and
co-ordinate the sub-frameworks.

SAQA must advise the Ministers of Education and Labour on NQF matters in terms of the NQF Act. The Board 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 Board.

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. In 2005, and in line with the recommendations of the NQF Study Team appointed by the Ministers of Education and Labour, the NSBs were allowed to complete the second cycle and were disestablished. Their qualifications scrutiny function was taken on by specially convened Consultative Panels. The Consultative Panels consist of subject matter experts as well as qualifications experts and their role is to evaluate qualifications and standards from the perspective of the sector for which the qualifications or standards have been developed using SAQA criteria. The Standards Generating Bodies and Task Teams are responsible for generating standards and qualifications and recommending them to the Standards Setting Directorate.

In terms of the NQF Act no. 67 of 2008, the Quality Councils, will, amongst others,

develop and manage their sub-frameworks, and make recommendations thereon to relevant Ministers
ensure the development of qualifications or part qualifications as are necessary for their sectors, which may include appropriate measures for the assessment of learning achievement
recommend qualifications or part qualifications to the SAQA for registration

SAQA has the following role with respect to qualifications:

SAQA must develop and implement policy and criteria, after consultation with the QCs for the development, registration and publication of qualifications and part-qualifications, which must include the following requirements:

The relevant sub-framework must be identified on any document relating to the registration and publication of a qualification or part-qualification;

Each sub-framework must have a distinct nomenclature for its qualification types which is appropriate to the relevant sub-framework and consistent with international practice.

SAQA must register a qualification or part-qualification recommended by a QC if it meets the relevant criteria;
SAQA must develop policy and criteria, after consultation with the QCs, for assessment, recognition of prior learning and credit accumulation and transfer.

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 are 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. The ETQA responsibilities of SETAs will remain according to the mentioned SAQA regulations, until such time as the Minister of Labour publishes new Regulations replacing the existing regulations, thereafter the responsibilities will reside with the Quality Council for Trade and Occupations (QCTO).

SAQA has the following role with respect to professional bodies:

must develop and implement policy and criteria for recognising a professional body and registering a professional designation for the purposes of this Act, after consultation with statutory and non-statutory bodies of expert practitioners in occupational fields and with the QCs;
recognise a professional body and register its professional designation if the relevant criteria have been met.

What is a National Qualifications Framework?

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a comprehensive system approved by the Minister for the classification, registration, publication and articulation of quality-assured national qualifications.

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.

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