In pursuance of its aim, namely, to issue credible certificates to successful candidates which are nationally and internationally comparable, Umalusi has to develop processes and procedures for the development of such a certification system, as set out in paragraph 9(1).
In the event of discrepancies that may occur during the certification process, special provision has been made to cater for these discrepancies in paragraph 9(3).
| (1) | Processes and procedures— |
| (a) | The resulting data must be approved after an examination was conducted by the assessment bodies; |
| (b) | Requests for the certification of candidate achievements must only be done after the results have been approved by Umalusi; |
| (c) | All applications and requests for certification must be submitted to Umalusi by an assessment body within three months of the release of the results; |
| (d) | Certification for candidates who did not apply for a re-mark or re-checking or a supplementary examination must be submitted within 10 days after the closing date for applications for re-marks, re-checks or supplementary examinations; |
| (e) | A signed declaration to confirm the accuracy and authenticity of the examination data must be submitted to Umalusi with the request for the bulk certification; |
| (f) | Rules of combination and pass requirements may change from year to year and therefore care must be taken to ensure that evaluation and resulting for a specific year is done in terms of the rules that apply to that examination, irrespective of what the future rules may be. In view of this, the rules applicable are those that applied at the date of the last examination that is included in the examination; |
| (g) | The directives for certification, as published by Umalusi, must be adhered to for the certification of candidate records; and |
| (h) | Amendments to certificates may be requested, provided such amendments comply with the Policy for the Re-issue of National Certificates. |
| (2) | Financial management— |
| (a) | The following financial principles must be applied— |
| (i) | Certification tariffs for private assessment bodies and private institutions are revised and set by Umalusi; |
| (ii) | Private assessment bodies must be advised well in advance of changes to the tariffs to allow for budgeting; |
| (iii) | New tariffs must be implemented on 1 April of each year; |
| (iv) | Private assessment bodies must ensure that these tariffs are shared with their relevant stakeholders; |
| (v) | Once a data set has been approved for certification, an invoice is generated for the attention of the private assessment body or private institution; |
| (vi) | Certificates are released to the private assessment body or the college/school – as the case may be – if the invoices are paid; and |
| (vii) | The certificates of private colleges with accounts in arrears for more than 90 days will be withheld until payment is received. |
| (3) | The occurrence of discrepancies in the certification process— |
| (a) | Discrepancy between the date for credit accumulation and the date of the enactment of the current certification requirements— |
| (i) | A candidate is certified when the minimum requirements have been met for a specific qualification or subject/learning area, as stipulated in policy/regulations and directives that were in place and effective in the qualifying year; |
| (ii) | If the date for obtaining the minimum requirements differs from the enactment date of the certification requirements, e.g. the final examination was completed in 1996, but the application for certification was in 2007, the qualification will be awarded in terms of the rules that applied in 1996, and the candidate will be resulted and issued with a certificate according to the rules effective in 1996. The current, i.e. 2007, rules do not apply in this case. In other words, the rules for the qualifying year will be applied; and |
| (iii) | The application of different certification requirements, as contemplated in sub-paragraph (3)(a)(ii) above, is subject to a verification process by Umalusi to establish whether the differences in dates of meeting the minimum qualification requirements and the certification requirements are valid. |
| (b) | Recognition of credits previously obtained— |
| (i) | In the case that a candidate obtained credits towards a national qualification assessed by any of the education departments prior to 1992, i.e. the Senior Certificate, National Senior Certificate, National Technical Education (NATED) Certificate 190/191 or N3 Certificate, such credits may be recognised for the award of the Senior Certificate, National Senior Certificate, NATED 190/191 or N3 Certificate, subject to the compliance of the candidate with all the requirements for the award of the qualification; and |
| (ii) | Changes to any of the qualifications, as contemplated in sub-paragraph (2)(b)(i) above, may affect the ruling as contemplated in the set sub-paragraph, should different transitional arrangements be determined. |
| (c) | Review of qualifications— |
| (i) | Following the review of a qualification, it may need to be amended or even regarded as no longer serving a need in the system. In such a case, Umalusi and the relevant ministry of education jointly determine a date after which the offering of a qualification on the GFETQSF ceases. |
| (ii) | Transitional arrangements must be regulated, and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) must be advised accordingly. Both parties determine and put into effect the transitional arrangements simultaneously; and |
| (iii) | Institutions offering qualifications registered on the GFETQSF (public and private schools, public and private technical and vocational education and training (TVET)/community education and training (CET) colleges, and public and private adult learning/education centres) must be fully advised by means of a circular of amendments to a qualification, or of the transitional arrangements for a qualification that ceases to be offered. |
| (d) | Completion of outstanding requirements in order to meet certification requirements— |
| (i) | The certification of a qualification, as contemplated in sub-paragraph (3)(c)(i), nevertheless remains a possibility. Should Umalusi establish whether the rules of combination prescribed in the policy document have met its approval, it could grant approval to a candidate for the completion of the outstanding requirements by offering a subject/s from an existing qualification. |
| (ii) | Subject to Umalusi’s decision in such a case, as contemplated in sub-paragraph (3)(d)(i), the qualification will be awarded, and the certificate issued will be effective in the month following the offering of the last subject. |
| (e) | Phased-out qualifications— |
| (i) | A qualification that is no longer offered is nevertheless retained on the GFETQSF and remains valid. |
