The Future of Skills Programmes
Careful reading ........ I requested my learning records from SAQA in 2019, and was so surprised that even my Gr12 (Senior Certificate) was recorded on the NLRD.?All the Qualifications and Unit Standards through the years were recorded.?Every single one of them.?And there are more being added, as they are linked to the NQF, they are registered, recognised and bear credits.
Then, further research has shown me, that should I now register for an Occupational Skills Programme - no credits will be recorded on SAQA at all, as they are not registered on the NQF (they do not have a unique SAQA ID).?Even though we are currently in the process to appeal the 8 credit stipulation of newly registered occupational skills programmes with a minimum duration of 10 days - the future of occupational skills programmes seems to be of no value whatsoever, as it will not be submitted to SAQA, as they are not registered.?
Although, it shows the NQF Level and the number of credits against each occupational skills programme listed/registered under the QCTO, the Skills Programme Code and/or Module Codes (knowledge, practical and workplace) codes are not registered with SAQA.?It is noted that: The objective is for certified learners to be more likely to secure employment or be more employable. These Skills Programmes can be provided at entry, intermediate, or advanced levels.
I look at an occupational skills programmed that is registered under the QCTO for 93 credits.?So, if you calculate the notional hours, they are 930 hours of learning (knowledge, practical and workplace) - duration : 4 months.?Once the learner achieves the skills programme, they get issued an occupational skills certificate, but this will not be recognised by SAQA, as it is not registered at all with SAQA or linked to the NQF.?
Although I read in policy, that a Learner Achievement means the meeting of the requirements for the award of a qualification, part-qualification, skills programme or trade by a learner - in fact, a skills programme will not be recognised by SAQA, the credits will not be placed against the learner's NLRD record.?
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In the past (legacy/historical) unit standards could be accumulated towards the credits that the learner has completed throughout the years, were recognised and carried so much weight, building towards a full qualification (legacy).?So there will be no way of accumulating credits with a number of skills programmes towards an occupational qualification??Have you looked into all the policies and changes??Where does this place us in the future, how does this help the disadvantaged learners with building credits?
Am I missing the value, the benefit to the learner, the employer, and the provider??Have I missed an important policy, act, regulation that gives me more clarity??Is credit-bearing, still credit-bearing, if this is not recognised by SAQA??
Chapter 5 of the Skills Development Act defines a skills programme as "a skills programme that is occupationally based and when completed will constitute/contribute a credit towards a qualification registered on the NQF.?But, now I am confused - does it really constitute credits if it is not registered on the NQF??Am I reading this wrong, or have I noticed the chaos this is going to create, once Providers conduct their own research?
I welcome comments, input and any direction where I have gone wrong or misinterpreted any policy.?Its been a long 11 days - reading, searching for answers ............ but I am stuck.
LFCSA (Pty) Ltd
2 年For those who have requested the link to the survey, here it is. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCHJB1y7-R2kiRhseluc78QC52oWegHx_uhvE6mViaGwDcPA/viewform?usp=sf_link
CEO at JET Education Services
2 年Hi Lynel Farrell, this is great contribution that can open up some key debates that we need to have in South Africa. SAQA and the QCs are definitely grappling with the very same issues as we speak. My view is that we should think about what the NQF could look like in 5-10 years - this will certainly be more digital and more seamless. The current generation of NQFs are being implemented in more than 2/3 of countries across the globe, but are starting to transition towards recognising all forms of learning in more interoperable modes. Maybe it is time for a good national debate on this issue. I am sure SAQA could lead this.
Securing swimming pools and providing peace of mind to families...
2 年It's ludicrous! Clearly this was not thought through properly. But again like anything else where government is involved it fails dismally.
Director at White Rose Training & Development institute
2 年Hy Lynel. This is very strange. I applied to sasseta to develop a skills programme after they advertised, FOR NO CHARGE which was just an expansion of existing unit standards. Apparently I must now apply to do this via QCTO and base it on a qualification and its modules that I developed for QCTO which is not yet registered by SAQA after 2 years but Sasseta will still be the AQP as QCTO don't seem to have interest in this role. The whole situation is madness. It seem that all the officials in DHET are far removed from the coal face and have lost the plot completely. Their time seems to be spent on designing new Admin policies to burden providers tbh
Training Manager at ELT Solutions
2 年Something is definitely not right. I was wondering why these new skills programmes do not have SAQA ID!!! How then do we make better the lives of those who need this training? This is a disaster! How do we motivate for training and development if people are going to spend four months in Training and their learning is not even recognised by SAQA? I think we need to bring SAQA, QCTO & DHET in one room and discuss this. We want the CEOs and Director Generals and Minister of Higher Education in one room because we want answers. We are always side lined but we make an ernomous contribution to skills development including job creation.