ETQA Recognition of Prior Learning Policy

ETQA Recognition of Prior Learning Policy

ETQA Department

ETQA

K1.6

July 2012

CONTENTS

Purpose and Scope / 3
Legal Reference / 3
Acronyms used / 3
Policy / 4

PURPOSE SCOPE

The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy and procedure apply to all accredited constituent training providers, constituent assessors, constituent moderators and learners seeking recognition for the achievement of a National Qualification as registered on the National Qualifications Framework. The W&RSETA ETQA staff and or its representatives, responsible and accountable for managing and overseeing the implementation, maintenance, review and improvement of the W&RSETA ETQA policy and procedures.

The W&RSETA ETQA is required by SAQA to have a policy and the necessary process in place tio facilitate RPL by providers. The W&RSETA ETQA takes as its starting point, the standpoint of critical theory which challenges the social and structural conditioning of the curriculum, institutions and related opportunities and learners in formal education.

The purpose of this document is to outline W&RSETA ETQA policy and processes for the recognition of prior learning and provide guidelines for providers.

This policy also articulates with some of the key objectives of the NQF as providedfor in the SAQA Act. The NQF objectives particularly relevant to RPL include:

Facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within education, training and career paths;
Accelerate redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities.
Facilitate access, transfer and progression of learners through recognition of prior learning within the national qualification framework
Promote the recognition of prior learning through quality assured providers in relation to entry, credit and access to unit standards and or qualifications.
Monitor and verify the achievement of learner outcomes to ensure the overall credibility and consistence of processes for the recognition of prior learning.

The two main purposes of RPLareaccess and redress. The RPL policy explains these purposes in the differing contexts within which Recognition of Prior Learning may take place.

However, it should be noted that there is no fundamental difference in the assessment of previously acquired skills and knowledge and the assessment of skills and knowledge acquired through a current learning programme. The candidate seeking credits for previously acquired skills and knowledge must still comply with all the requirements as stated in unit standards or qualifications. The difference lies in the route to the assessment. RPL is a form of assessment, which ideally, should be fully integrated into all learning programmes and where a learner is found not yet competent in a specific area, the learner is provided support and training to address the identified gaps.

As such, the principles of good assessment are equally true for RPL and all other forms of assessment. This includes taking a holistic view of the process of assessment, where the context of the learning, as well as the context of the person who is being assessed is taken into account.

Recognition of Prior Learningas a negotiated process should be an integrated feature of the assessment and learning programme policies of the W&RSETA ETQA`s and their constituent providers and not an ‘add-on’ procedure.

LEGAL REFERENCE

The policy addresses the following key roles and functions of ETQA`s as contemplated in sub regulation 9(1) (a-e) of the Education and Training Quality Assurance Bodies Regulations, 1998 (No. R 1127 of 1998). This also promulgated under section 14 of the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995) that ETQA`s are required to:

accredit constituent providers for specific standards or qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework;
promote quality amongst constituent providers;
monitor provision by constituent providers;
evaluate assessment and facilitation of moderation among constituent providers;

SUMMARY OF LEGAL AND POLICY REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No 108 of 1996)
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (Act No. 3 of 2000)
South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act No. 58 of 1995)
National Qualifications Authority Act ( Act 67 of 2008)
Education and Training Quality Assurance Bodies Regulations (No. R 1127 of 1998)
National Standards Bodies Regulations ( No. 18787 of 1998)
SAQA 2001 Quality Management Systems for Education and Training Providers
and Guidelines>All Documents
SAQA 2001 Criteria and Guidelines for Providers
and Guidelines>All Documents
SAQA 2002. Criteria and Guidelines for the Registration of Assessors
and Guidelines>All Documents
SAQA 2002. Criteria and Guidelines for the Implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning

and Guidelines>All Documents

ACRONYMS USED

The definitions of the terms below apply to their use in this policy:

"accreditation" means the certification, usually for a particular period of time, of a person, a body or an institution as having the capacity to fulfill a particular function in the quality assurance system set up by the South African Qualifications Authority in terms of the SAQA Act
“accreditation scope” means the list of qualification(s) and/or unit standard(s) for which a body is accredited for a defined purpose
"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 or qualifications, and "constituent assessor" has a corresponding meaning
"Education and Training Quality Assurance Body" (ETQA) means a body accredited in terms of section 5(1)(a)(ii) of the SAQA Act, responsible for monitoring and auditing achievements in terms of national standards or qualifications, and to which specific functions relating to the monitoring and auditing of national standards or qualifications have been assigned in terms of section 5(1)(b)(i) of the SAQA Act
"moderation" means the process which ensures that assessment of the outcomes described in National Qualifications Framework standards or qualifications is fair, valid and reliable
“moderator” means someone who is competent to conduct a moderation process
"provider" means a body that delivers learning programmes which culminate in specified National Qualifications Framework standards or qualifications and manages the assessment thereof
"quality assurance" means the process of ensuring that the degree of excellence specified is achieved
"registered standards" means unit standards or qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework
“registration scope” means the list of registered standards for which an assessor or moderator is registered with the SETA as an assessor or moderator

“Verification” is the process by which the recommendations from the provider about the award of credits or qualifications to learners are checked. It is an ETQA function to verify the claims of providers that assessment has been properly conducted and moderated.

“Assessment” is the process of gathering and weighing evidence in order to determine whether learners have demonstrated outcomes specified in unit standards and/or qualifications registered on the NQF. The management of assessment is the responsibility of providers.
“Recognition of Prior Learning” means comparison of the previous learning and experience of a learner howsoever obtained against the learning outcomes required for a specified qualification and acceptance for the purpose of qualification of that which meets the requirements.

“RPL advice and support services” are additional services needed for effective RPL which are not covered by the assessor standard or the evidence facilitator standard. This focus on assisting learners to make effective choices about available programmes, career and work related opportunities. Practitioners require a thorough knowledge of the relevant economic sector. They should be trained to identify skills, knowledge and other attributes developed outside formal knowledge systems, and to interact with cultural sensitivity.

“Constituent” means belonging to the defined or delegated constituency of an organization or body referred to in the SAQA ETQA Regulations. W&RSETA ETQA has constituent providers, constituent learners and constituent assessors.

“Registered constituent assessor and moderator” means a person who is registered by the W&RSETA ETQA in accordance with criteria established for this purpose by SAQA to measure the achievement of specified National Qualifications Framework standards or qualifications. The W&RSETAETQA must have a register of assessors; they may also wish to have similar registers of moderators and verifiers.

“Registered constituent verifiers” means the person who verifies the moderation process.

“Verification” means the process managed by an ETQA for externally verifying (checking)

moderation processes and confirming or overturning moderation findings

POLICY

W&RSETA ETQA has identified the following principles which underpin all assessments including RPL Assessment policy.

Validity ensures assessment measures what it claims to measure. This is the most important principle for assessment.
Reliability refers to the accuracy with which an assessment measures the skill or attainment it is designed to measure. A reliable assessment consistently gives the same results under similar conditions.
A fair assessment, in addition to being valid and reliable, provides equity of opportunity for learners in line with Equality legislation.
Quality is a key principle in ensuring the credibility and status of W&RSETA ETQA accreditation. Quality will be assured through establishing an assessment framework for providers, to include policy and guidelines, national standards, providers’ quality assurance, programme validation and national monitoring and evaluation.
A transparent assessment policy and guidelines will ensure clarity and understanding by all relevant stakeholders. This will include clear and unambiguous definitions and requirements with regard to fairness, consistency, validity and reliability.

A holistic approach to RPL therefore attempts to prevent assessment from becoming a purely technical application, dislocated from a particular individual and broader context.

The following are the key elements of a holistic approach to assessment. A holistic approach:

Is deeply committed to the development and maintenance of assessment systems that protect the integrity of standards, qualifications and institutions;
Subscribes to the principles and values of human development and lifelong learning.
As such it consciously supports the social purposes of RPL in relation to access, equity and redress, and strives to implement assessments in a manner that promotes dignity,

confidence and educational opportunities;

Is learner-centred and developmental where assessments are not used to penalize candidates for what they do not know, but to shape and form decisions around educational planning and career-pathing;
Allocates a high priority to learner-centred support systems that will assist in the
preparation for assessment;
Seeks to address the context and conditions that inform the practice. This means taking steps to remove the emotional, educational and cultural factors that may constitute barriers to effective learning and assessment practice;
Promotes the principle of flexibility in the use of assessment methods and instruments in accordance with the rights of candidates to participate in the selection and use of ‘fit for purpose’ assessment methods;
Recognizes the rich diversity of knowledge and learning styles, which candidates bring into an assessment situation;
Recognizes that RPL should ideally be the first step into a learning programme that will build on the skills and knowledge already recognized and credited;
Takes as its starting point the standpoint of critical theory, which challenges the social
and structural conditioning of the curriculum, institutions and related opportunities for
adult learners4 in formal education; and
Will increasingly challenge the construction and content of qualifications to be more inclusive of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that are acquired outside formal institutions of learning in society.

GENERAL RPL REQUIREMENTS

The W&RSETA ETQA RPL Policy advocates access, transfer and progression of learners through recognition of prior learning within the national qualification framework:

That programme entry requirements must take into account the wide variety of backgrounds and learning experience of applicants.
That Learner may be eligible for entry into programmes to have their prior learning and experience recognized.
The W&RSETA ETQA will facilitate redress and promote equity in the rollout of RPL

QUALITY ASSURANCE

The new providers applying for accreditation to W&RSETA shall be required to have recognition of prior learning policy and procedures in their Quality Assurance system. Existing providers are required to incorporate RPL policy and procedures into their quality assurance system.

Providers seeking accreditation will indicate in the Quality Assurance Application, their policy, procedures and methods of internal monitoring with regard to the Recognition of Prior Learning for entry to programmes, exemptions from some programme requirements, and credits towards unit standards and or full qualification. The provider will also identify the support mechanism in place for a learner before, during and after the RPL process.

A provider may only provide RPL services for the Qualifications or Unit Standards under their scope
They must obtain approval from the W&RSETA ETQA for RPL tool to be administered
RPL must focus on access and promote redress
The provider must submit a write – up of RPL practices and processes to the W&RSETA ETQA for monitoring
A provider must make explicit their costing/ funding model for RPL

PROGRAMME VALIDATION

Constituent providers submitting programmes for validation will be required to state their ‘arrangements’ for recognition of prior learning for each programme in the context of entry/access, exemptions to achieve in part or full the registered qualification as required.

This will include statement of:

A learner entry/access arrangements that are available in respect of each programme for the recognition of prior learning for gaining credit towards qualification.

These statements should define the purposes for which the recognition of prior learning process can be used, i.e. to enable entry to the programme; to provide exemptions from programme requirements or credit towards an award or to establish eligibility for a full award.

The statement of arrangements available should indicate to learners the ‘competences needed to succeed on the programme’.

ETQA VERIFICATION (MONITORING AND EVALUATION)

As part of ETQA`s function to ensure providers implement appropriate policy and procedures to access, transfer and progression, ETQA will monitor and evaluate all providers. However, prior to conducting RPL assessments, an evaluation and approval of the RPL resources must be conducted by the ETQA.

In the verification of the provider’s RPL practice, particular emphasis will be placed on the following:

Resource competence and preparation
Fees / Funding requirements
Workplace requirements, evidence and instruments
Evidence Gathering
Certification

The Certificate that the learners obtain, will not indicate that such certificate was obtained through RPL, but the W&RSETA will however have a field in the SMS that will allow for the recording of RPL. The purpose for such a field will allow the ETQA to monitor the overall provision, successes and challenges regarding RPL.

SPECIFIC RPL REQUIREMENTS

W&RSETA ETQA has prepared the following specific guidelines to assist providers to facilitate learners through the recognition of prior learning with regard to entry, exemption or eligibility for an achievement of full qualification or in part.

Entry/access to programmes

The facilitation of the recognition of prior learning process for entry to programmes is the responsibility of the training provider to which the individual applies.

The provider’s procedure for entry to programmes will be approved by ETQA at the point of programme validation within the context of the provider’s quality assurance system.

Providers will be required to:

Inform the learners of the value of prior learning and of the steps in the process involved for making an application in terms of W&RSETA RPL Toolkit.
Provide appropriate information to learners on the entry criteria/requirements to successfully participate in a programme. RPL information leaflets and RPL application procedures should be made available to learners.
Specify the entry criteria which form the basis for successful participation for each programme to be validated by ETQA. These criteria will refer to the standards and level of credits to be achieved or qualification and take into account the knowledge, skill and competence to be acquired by the learner. This will be required when submitting programmes to the ETQA for validation.
Include RPL information in all programme materials i.e. programme prospectus or course profile prepared in advance of the programme. This information should be readily available to prospective learners in an appropriate medium
Establish an application procedureto assist the learner to apply on the basis of prior learning experiences and to attach supporting evidence of prior learning experiences. The application procedure should be simple and allow the individual to document the relevant prior learning experiences. The standard application procedure with an additional section for RPL applicants is recommended.
The application procedure should gather information on the learner’s prior experience such as: personal information, previous employments, leisure and voluntary activities, education and training undertaken, and references as well as reasons for applying for the programme. The applicant should be given an opportunity to highlight the relevant prior learning in relation to the entry criteria.
Criteria for the evaluation of the learner should include minimum acceptable criteria for successful participation such as: a minimum of about 5 years relevant life experience, a clear demonstration of the capacity to succeed – standard of overall application, individual commitment of the learner and other requirements which may be specific to the programme.
The evaluation of the prior learning in the application should be carried out by an RPL Advisor / RPL assessors with appropriate expertise in the relevant field. If required the provider may seek more information and evidence from the prospective learner.
Ensure that their arrangements for selecting and assessing learners for entry are transparent and fair. Prospective learners can be interviewed to discuss the above to assist in the decision making process.
On completion of the assessment of the application, a recommendation will be made regarding entry to the programme.
An appeals mechanism should be in place as for all prospective applicants in the event of a learner making an appeal.
Monitor and record the application and its outcome to meet requirements of quality assurance elements for recognition of prior learning for entry.

To assist providers an RPL Toolkit has been prepared by W&RSETA for the implementation of this process. It is of course possible for providers to make adjustments or amends to the toolkit as appropriate.Providers are to provide input into the annual updating of the RPL toolkit.