“NQF”, “Registration”,“Accreditation”- Do you find these words confusing? If you answered, YES, then you are not alone. These words may sometimes appear confusing and frightening, but it is actually much simpler than you think. If you are a new student exploring new opportunities to study, it is important for you to understand these terms, so you can make informed choices, which will help guide your career and employment goals. The reality is that there are various opportunities available over and above a University qualification to support a learning pathway linked to nationally recognised qualifications. Private educational institutions, including providers with the relevant accreditation and registration including Further Education and Training Colleges such as INTEC – offers you a host of solutions and choices. Did you know that INTEC is the first College in South Africa to offer 173 accredited qualifications in 5 exciting Schools? Visit intec.edu.za to learn more…. Let us now consider some of the important terminology that you should be aware of in order to enable an informed decision about your future academic career: 1. The NQF: The NQF is a framework, i.e. it sets the boundaries, principle and guidelines, which provide a vision, a philosophical base and an organisational structure, for the construction of a qualifications system. All education and training in South Africa fits within this framework. It is national because it is a national resource, representing a national effort at integrating education and training into a unified structure of recognised qualifications. The NQF consists of three sub-frameworks and are overseen by the South African Qualifications Authority or SAQA. The three sub-frameworks are: • The Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework • The General and Further Education Qualifications Sub-Framework • The Trades and Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework Together these three sub-frameworks form the NQF. 2. Quality Councils: Each of the sub-frameworks of the NQF is overseen by a specific Quality Council. The QCs are responsible for the accreditation of providers and quality assurance of provision of education, training and development offered by accredited providers. • The Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) oversees the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework • UMALUSI oversees the General and Further Education Qualifications Sub-Framework • The Council for Trades and Occupations (the QCTO) oversees the Trades and Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework – with the assistance of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) 3. Department of Education: Providers offering full Higher or Further education qualifications residing under the Higher and General and Further Education sub-frameworks are obligated by means of legislation to register with the Department of Education. Where providers presently offer full qualifications residing under the QCTO, registration with the Department of Education is the provider’s choice. 4. Learning Programmes: A Learning programme is aligned to a specific qualification which must be registered on the NQF. If you want to know more about accreditation and the status of INTEC courses – one of our friendly consultants are ready to answer your questions on 0861 173 173.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 10:43:33 +0000