The call for a decolonised South African education and training system began in 2014, and was foregrounded early in 2015 when students protested at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) over issues around funding and registration. The protests spread across the country, initially focussing on the removal of a colonial statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and other public sculptures. Students rallied to join the call to end colonial influence; protests advanced to include the call for free Post-School Education and Training (PSET), the reform of curricula and approaches to teaching and learning, and multiple other issues relating to the transformation of the system. Decolonisation has become part of the social, political and educational discourse relating to transformation in South Africa. It runs more deeply than any single emerging issue – it involves an authentic process of renewal and regeneration that impacts profoundly on the content of courses, and language and management in education and training so as to reflect the ethos of African institutions of learning (Africanisation) in a way that serves the interests and needs of people in the country.
The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and holistic lifelong learning are potentially mechanisms for transformation and Africanisation. SAQA and the NQF community have roles to play in building trust and making bridges in the system. Each one of us; each entity has a role to play in building a harmonious and sustainable future for the good of all. As part of SAQA`s commitment to sustain research that underpins and informs NQF policy development and implementation, including the decolonisation and indigenisation of curricula, education, training, and professional development, SAQA invites you to the NQF Colloquium “Decolonisation and the NQF:Way forward”,
(a) to understand the current “decolonisation” debates, and
(b) to develop shared notions of the implications of “Africanisation” in the NQF context.
You are also invited to the SAQA Board Chairperson`s Lecture “Considering the meaning of `occupational` and `vocational` qualifications” which takes place the evening before the Colloquium. The topic of this Lecture addresses the respective meanings of `occupational` and `vocational`, and the implications of merging or splitting the concepts respectively.
Venue: Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre (https://aha.co.za/kopanong/)
Date/times, Chairperson`s Lecture: 12 February 2018, 16h00-19h00 (Registration is from 15h00)
Date/times, Colloquium: 13 February 2018, 8h00-17h00 (Registration is from 07h00)
Kindly RSVP to Dr Letitia Adaken (LAdaken@saqa.co.za); and cc Ms Renay Pillay (RPillay@saqa.co.za) and Dr Heidi Bolton (HBolton@saqa.co.za) by 15 January 2018.
