ADEA Articulation of Post-Primary Education and Skills Development:
National Qualification Frameworks of South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius

Articulation of Post-Primary Education and Skills Development:
National Qualification Frameworks of South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius

by Hans Krönner

Presented at the
UNESCO Regional Seminar on Secondary Education in Africa

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
21 to 24 November 2005

Last modified on 23 January 2006

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ADEA Articulation of Post-Primary Education and Skills Development:
National Qualification Frameworks of South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius

This document was presented at the UNESCO Regional Seminar on Secondary Education in Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21 to 24 November 2005. It is based on the draft of an ADEA case study commissioned to Jakes Swartand, with contributions from the Mauritius Qualifications Authority the Namibia Qualifications Authority and the South African Qualifications Authority, and from other sources. The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and should not be attributed to ADEA, to its members or affiliated organizations or to any individual acting on behalf of ADEA.

© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) – 2005

Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)

International Institute for Educational Planning

7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix

75116 Paris, France

Tel.: +33(0)1 45 03 77 57

Fax: +33(0)1 45 03 39 65

Website: www.ADEAnet.org

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ADEA Articulation of Post-Primary Education and Skills Development:
National Qualification Frameworks of South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius

Contents

List of Tables and Figures 3

List of Acronyms 4

1 Summary 5

2 Scope of Post-Primary Education 5

3 What are Qualifications Frameworks? 6

4 Why are National Qualifications Frameworks being developed? 8

5 National Qualifications Frameworks in the SADC region 9

6 The Scope: Education and Training 13

7 Some Common Characteristics 14

8 Conclusions for Secondary Education 14

References and Bibliography 15

List of Tables and Figures

Tables

Table 1: Range of post-primary learning 6

Table 2: Engagement of SADC Member States in NQF development 10

Table 3: Qualification Framework level descriptors: examples (Namibia) 12

Figures

Figure 1: Regional (EQF) and national (country) qualifications frameworks 8

Figure 2: Structure of the National Qualifications Framework (South Africa) 10

Figure 3: Structure of the National Qualifications Framework (Namibia) 11

Figure 4: Structure of the National Qualifications Framework (Mauritius) 13


List of Acronyms

ADEA / Association for the Development of Education in Africa
CPE / Certificate of Primary Education (Mauritius)
FET / Further Education and Training (South Africa)
GET / General Education and Training (South Africa)
HET / Higher Education and Training (South Africa)
MQA / Mauritius Qualifications Authority
NEPAD / New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NQF / National Qualifications Framework
NTB / National Training Board (South Africa)
RPL / Recognition of Prior Learning
RQF / Regional Qualifications Framework
SADC / Southern African Development Community
SADCQF / SADC Qualifications Framework
SAQA / South African Qualifications Authority
TCCA / Technical Committee on Certification and Accreditation (SADC)
TVET / Technical and vocational education and training
UNESCO / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO-UNEVOC / UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
WGPPE / ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

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ADEA Articulation of Post-Primary Education and Skills Development:
National Qualification Frameworks of South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius

1  Summary

  1. Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are in the process of introducing national qualifications frameworks (NQFs). These can be described as frameworks for learning achievements. They aim at facilitating assessment, certification, quality assurance as well as learner mobility across education and training systems.
  2. Although in SADC the NQFs were initially intended to focus on technical and vocational education and training, their scope was soon expanded to cover education and training systems as a whole, ranging from primary education through further education and training to higher education as well as recognition of prior learning.
  3. This has implications for the development of post-primary education in Africa. Post-primary education as well as diversified secondary education are increasingly perceived to include skills development and technical and vocational education and training (TVET), thus being elements of a coherent system of education and training, which includes both theoretical and applied learning.
  4. South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius are at the forefront of NQF development in SADC countries. ADEA has commissioned a comparative review of NQFs in these three countries. This review is available as a working document entitled “National Qualifications Frameworks in the SADC Region: Impact and Achievements in Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa”.
  5. Based on this review, the presentation addresses the role of NQFs in the SADC region, the rationale for their development, the scope of qualifications covered by NQFs in these three countries, and some impacts and achievements. Common characteristics are highlighted.
  6. The presentation is expected to convey insights and lessons learned that will assist in system design of post-primary education in sub-Saharan Africa.

2  Scope of Post-Primary Education

  1. If we want to approach post-primary education in an overarching and comprehensive manner, we need to cover, on the one hand:

§  General secondary education
that aims at preparation for life in general, and for progression within the education system, and, on the other hand:

§  Technical and vocational education and training and skills development
that serves as a preparation for particular occupations, and to facilitate transition from education to working life.

  1. General secondary education is typically a constituent element of the portfolio of Ministries of Education. This is not necessarily the case for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and skills development. As a matter of fact, skills development encompasses a much broader range of options than do traditional forms and patterns of education. This is illustrated in the following table:

Range
from / to
Type / Formal / Non-Formal
Delivering agency / Public Sector / Non-governmental,
employer
Monitoring / Government / Private (or none)
Place of learning / Schools and traininginstitutions / Anywhere, includingworkplaces
and learningcenters
Delivery pattern / Classroom
(face-to-face) delivery / Open and distance learning,
e-learning
Educational objective / Individual and
socialdevelopment,
life skills / Employability, occupationalcapabilities

Table 1: Range of post-primary learning

  1. The invitation letter to this seminar says: “UNESCO is committed to promoting a holistic vision of secondary education” … It refers to “diversification … of learning contents to include skills development and generic competencies … in secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In its Draft Programme and Budget for 2005-2006 (33C/5), UNESCO underlines this holistic approach: “Many countries … are faced with the urgent need to expand and reinforce secondary education,
    including technical and vocational education and training …” (UNESCO 2005 para 01401)
  2. What are the instruments for such a holistic approach? Today, we will deal with Qualifications Frameworks as one possible answer to that question.

3  What are Qualifications Frameworks?

3.1 National Qualifications Frameworks

  1. A National Qualification Framework (NQF) is based on a system of credits for learning outcomes achieved. A learning outcome is essentially:

§  a capability developed in the learner

§  reflecting an integration of knowledge and skills

§  which can be understood, applied and transferred to different contexts.

  1. The achievement of a qualification in such a system is not dependent on attendance at particular courses, but based on learning outcomes defined by full-time, part-time or
    distance learning, by work-based learning or by a combination together with the assessment of prior learning. The NQF is designed to:

§  Introduce a fair assessment system, which measures achievements against clearly stated national standards;

§  Establish a dynamic and flexible system able to adapt quickly to new developments in the labour market, workplace, education and training;

§  Encourage more people to participate in further education and training;

§  Develop learning which is relevant and responsive to the needs of the individual, the economy and society;

§  Promote access to learning;

§  Provide a variety of routes to qualifications, and

§  Provide national quality assurance. (Samuels in UNESCO 2001a p.14)

  1. How does UNESCO look at the concept of National QFs? In the Revised Recommendation on TVE adopted in 2001, the General Conference of UNESCO stipulated that …

“… policies … should be established … designed to implement the principle of lifelong education through the creation of open, flexible and complementary structures for education, training and educational and vocational guidance, regardless of whether these activities take place within the system of formal education or outside it. Governments should consider establishing a system of equivalencies whereby credit is given for completion of any approved program, and recognition is granted to educational and/or professional qualifications and work experience.“ (UNESCO Revised Recommendation on TVE (2001), para 13)

National authorities should establish criteria and standards … applying to all aspects of technical and vocational education, including, to the greatest extent possible, non-formal education, for all forms of recognition of achievement. (UNESCO 2001b par15)

  1. How does the International Labour Organization (ILO) perceive the role of NQFs? In 2004, the ILO adopted Recommendation 195 Concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning. In para 5, the Recommendation stipulates that:

“Members should … develop a national qualifications framework to facilitate lifelong learning, assist enterprises and employment agencies to match skill demand with supply, guide individuals in their choice of training and career, and facilitate the recognition of prior learning and previously acquired skills, competencies and experience; this framework should … recognize regional and local differences, without losing transparency at the national level.”(ILO 2004 para 5)

3.2 Regional Qualifications Frameworks

  1. Explaining the role of a national qualifications frameworks would not be complete without explaining the difference between a national qualifications framework (NQF) and a regional qualifications framework (RQF). Although interlinked, both types of qualifications frameworks are different from one another:

§  A national qualifications frameworks is an instrument for the development and classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria for levels of learning achieved. (OECD definition)

§  A regional qualifications frameworks is a meta-framework that enables users to see how qualifications embedded in different national systems relate to one another.
(European Communities definition)

  1. Their different roles can be illustrated as follows:

Figure 1: Regional (EQF) and national (country) qualifications frameworks

Source: Source: Commission of the European Communities, SEC(2005)957, 08.07.2005

  1. In both countries – A and B – a variety of qualifications can be described. National qualifications frameworks will seek to related these individual qualifications to a system of defined levels – in this particular example, country A has determined 9 levels, while country B has determined 6 levels.
  2. A regional qualifications framework does not supersede or interfere into any of the national qualifications frameworks. Rather, it relates one national qualifications frameworks to that of another country. National qualifications frameworks are thus a prerequisite for regional qualifications frameworks, such as the regional qualifications frameworks envisaged in the SADC region, which is characterized by a high rate of migration across countries.
  3. One might look at the relationship also as follows: national qualifications frameworks define the “educational currency” in each country, while regional qualifications frameworks determine the exchange rate between different national “educational currencies”.

4  Why are National Qualifications Frameworks being developed?

  1. From now on, we will refer to national qualifications frameworks only. From the perspective of secondary education, the challenge is twofold:

§  Citizens need to acquire skills and knowledge that help to improving their living conditions as set forth in the Millennium Development Goals.
They must be enabled to generate their income in their immediate local environment.
This is the aspect of localization. Curricula as well as delivery patterns need to take diversification and adaptation to local conditions into account.

§  On the other hand, the overall coherence and articulation of the system needs to be ensured. In spite of the diversity of learning achievements, there needs to be opportunity for learners to move vertically as well as horizontally within post-primary education. Coherent systems of assessment and certification are required.

  1. Thus, diversification and localization on the one hand, and an overarching and coherent system for assessment and certification of learning achievements on the other hand, are two sides of the same coin. This is where national qualifications frameworks come in. In the case studies from Southern Africa that follow, examples and experiences will be presented that interrelate these two challenges.

5  National Qualifications Frameworks in the SADC region

5.1 The Joint SADC Approach

  1. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) currently has 14 Member States: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
  2. In 1997, SADC Members agreed to cooperate in the “…development of national examinations and accreditation systems to move vocational education and technical training systems towards harmonized, equivalent and eventually standardised certification.” (SADC 1997: Article 6 3. b iv). When SADC Members first came up with these plans back in 1997, they were aware that this process might well require a period for implementation of up to twenty years.
  3. What has happened since 1997: Mechanisms have been developed that included, inter alia, the development of national qualifications frameworks, which would eventually lead to the development of a regional qualifications framework.
  4. In 2001, SADC developed criteria to determine the progress made with national qualifications frameworks in Member States:

§  Stage 0:
No progress made and no reports received.

§  Stage 1:
Background work under way and initial discussions with politicians, education and training officials and advocacy in progress

§  Stage 2:
Initial development, task teams/steering committees established, conceptual papers and implementation plans developed.

§  Stage 3a:
Draft legislation formulated, some structures already in place

§  Stage 3b:
Legislation formulated and passed, authority and structures established, development of procedures and processes, development of standards, quality assurance systems and management of information system