SAQA Bulletin: Volume 12 Number 2: December 2012

This is a special edition dedicated to the recognition of SAQA form CEO Mr Samuel Isaacs’s contribution to the NQF. The papers look into the development of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in South Africa. They reflect on the framework objectives, as well as offer critique and applaud. The Bulletin takes a look at the evolution of the South African NQF and presents valuable lessons for consideration, and from these a more effective NQF future is imagined.

Overall, the framework is defined and contextualised; it is demystified and made real not only for an individual’s education ambitions and reality, but also for role-players and stakeholders to participate actively in its development and implementation. The South African Qualifications Authority Act as well as the National Qualifications Framework Act have both been annexed in the Bulletin.

Contents of this Bulletin

1. Introduction
2. Foreword
3. Editorial comments
4. Ways if seeing the National Qualifications Framework: an introduction
5. Discussion document: Lifelong learning through a National Qualifications Framework
6. Making the nqf road by walking reflectively, accountably and boldly
7. South Africa’s National Qualifications Framework: reflections in the Seventh Year of the SAQA
8. Do good ideas matter?
9. National Qualifications Frameworks as integrated qualifications frameworks
10. “Optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect”: Building communities of trust in South Africa
11. Recognising learning and its outcomes
12. Response to Dr Jim Gallacher’s paper, “National qualifications frameworks: instruments of change or agents of change?”
13. The NQF as a socially inclusive and cohesive system: communities of practice and trust
14. A critical reflection on current qualifications frameworks and possible future directions in Africa
15. National Qualifications Frameworks: Insights from South Africa
16. Lessons from the South African National Qualifications Framework
17. How are we doing in relation to NQF objectives? Measuring the impact of the South African NQF
18. End note
19. SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY ACT
20. NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK ACT