National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008)

Access

Means the opportunity to pursue education and training, including relevant qualifications, part-qualifications, professional designations, opportunities in the workplace and career progression.

Accredited provider

In the context of the GFETQSF, ‘accredited provider’ means recognition of

Articulation

Means the process of forming systemic, specific and individual possibilities of connection between qualifications and/or part-qualifications to allow for the horizontal/lateral, vertical and diagonal movement of learners through the formal education and training system and its linkages with the world of work:

Assessment

Means the processes used to identify, gather and interpret information and evidence against the required competencies in a qualification, part-qualification or professional designation in order to:

Assessment includes evaluations that lead to judgements.

Assessment body

Means a department of education or a juristic body accredited by the Council as a body responsible for conducting internal assessment and external examinations.

Council

Means Umalusi, the Quality Council for General and Further Education and Training, as contemplated in the National Qualifications Framework Act (Act 67 of 2008) and the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001).

Certification

Means the formal recognition of a qualification or part-qualification awarded to a successful learner.

Comparability

Means the degree of similarity between two or more qualifications/part-qualifications in terms of purpose, level, credits and learning outcomes used to determine the extent of credit accumulation and/or transfer within or between entities. The matching of curricular properties should also be considered when comparability is determined.

Credit accumulation

Means the totalling of the relevant credits required to complete a qualification or part-qualification.

Credit accumulation and transfer (CAT)

Means the practice of accumulating credits from one or more cognate learning programmes through a provider and transferring those credits to be recognised towards a qualification/part-qualification in the same or different provider context. CAT is the recognition of formal learning.

Credit matrix

Means a system in which learning outcomes can be arranged and compared in levels of increasing complexity based on agreed groupings of credits, such as in modules/subjects or part-qualifications.

Credit transfer

Means the vertical, horizontal or diagonal relocation of credits towards a qualification or part-qualification on the same or different NQF level, usually between different programmes, departments or institutions.

Credits

Means the amount of learning contained in a qualification or part-qualification whereby one (1) credit is equated to ten (10) notional hours of learning.

Curriculum

Means a statement of the training structure and expected methods of learning, teaching and assessment that underpin a qualification or part-qualification, and intended to facilitate a general understanding of its implementation in the education system. The curriculum encompasses three components:

Designated variants

Means the layers of qualification specialisation nested within the qualification type in the GFETQSF (for example, the National Certificate (NC) as a qualification type at Level 4 of the NQF has the following designated variants:

SC(a), NSC, NC(V), and NASCA; and the General Certificate (GC) as a qualification type at Level 1 of the NQF has the following designated variants: GCE, ABET and GETCA.

Exclusionary practices

Means any systems and processes that are designed to limit the opportunities of specific individuals or groups of people seeking access to further learning or professional development when they meet the legitimate criteria for admission or professional registration. Unfair exclusionary practices limit opportunities and are based on illegitimate criteria including but not limited to population group, disability, gender and affordability, and may be contested.

External assessment

Means any assessment conducted by an assessment body that is not directly involved in the development and/or delivery of the learning programme, the outcomes of which count towards the achievement of a qualification.

Formal learning

Means learning that occurs in an organised and structured education and training environment and is explicitly designated as such.

Further Education and Training

Means all learning and training curricula leading to qualifications on NQF Levels 2–4.

General Education and Training

Means all learning and training curricula leading to a qualification on Level 1 of the NQF, the level below further education and training.

General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-framework (GFETQSF)

Means the sub-framework of qualifications on NQF Levels 1–4 developed and managed by Umalusi Quality Council as envisioned in sections 4–7 of the National Qualifications Framework Act (Act 67 of 2008). The GFETQSF is a sub-system  f the NQF that requires co-ordination with the sub-frameworks developed and managed by the Quality Council for Higher Education and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.

Informal learning

Means learning that results from daily activities related to paid or unpaid work, family or community life, or leisure; it can include deliberate self-teaching.

Learner

Means anyone of any age engaged in learning at any level of the NQF, and in any NQF, work or social context, including formal, informal and non-formal learning; used interchangeably with ‘student’.

Learning pathways

[See ‘Articulation’]

Learning programme

Means a structured and purposeful set of learning experiences comprising modules/subjects and other learning activities, which together contributes towards the achievement of specified learning outcomes.

Level descriptor

Means a statement that describes learning achievement at a particular level of the NQF and provides a broad indication of the type of learning outcomes and assessment criteria that are appropriate to a qualification/part-qualification

at that level.

Lifelong learning

Means learning that takes place in the context of everyday life, from a life-wide, life-deep, and lifelong perspective. It includes learning behaviours and developing knowledge, understanding, attitudes, values and competencies for personal growth, social and economic well-being, democratic citizenship, cultural identity, and employability.

National Qualifications Framework (NQF)

Means the comprehensive ten-level framework and system approved by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation for the classification, coordination, registration, publication and articulation of quality-assured national qualifications and part-qualifications.

Non-formal learning

Means planned learning activities not explicitly designated as learning towards the achievement of a qualification or part-qualification; non-formal learning is often associated with learning that results in improved workplace practice.

Notional hours of learning

Means the agreed estimate of the learning time required by an average learner to meet the defined outcomes. It takes into account contact time, research, completion of assignments, time spent on structured learning in the workplace and individual learning. Ten (10) notional hours equate to one (1) credit.

NQF Act

Means the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Act No. 67 of 2008, as amended.

Outcomes

Means the contextually demonstrated end-products of specific learning processes; outcomes include knowledge, skills and values, and may be generic or specific.

Parity of esteem

Means granting equal value and status to qualifications that are on the same NQF level but have different routes of study. Parity of esteem is achieved when both qualifications progress equally to employment and/or to further studies.

Part-qualification

Means an assessed unit of learning that is registered as part of a qualification on the NQF.

Professional body

Means any statutory or non-statutory body that sets professional standards and registers individual expert practitioners in an occupational field.

Professional designation

Means a title or status conferred by a professional body in

recognition of a person’s expertise and/or right to practise

in an occupational field.

Programme

[See ‘Learning programme’].

Provider

[See ‘Recognised provider’].

Qualification

Means a registered national qualification.

Quality council

Means one of three councils, each tasked with developing and overseeing one of the three sub-frameworks that comprise the NQF to ensure that agreed quality standards are met: the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for the HEQSF, Umalusi for the GFETQSF and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) for the Occupational Qualifications Sub-framework (OQSF).

Recognised provider

Means, in South Africa, a public or private entity that offers any learning programmes that lead to qualifications and/or part-qualifications registered on the NQF, that is, (1) accredited by Umalusi or deemed accredited in the GFETQSF context, or (2) that is accredited by the QCTO as a skills development provider in the Occupational Qualifications Sub-framework (OQSF) context, or (3) is a public institution or registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to offer programmes that are accredited by the CHE. Independent schools, private higher education institutions, private colleges and private community and adult learning centres must be registered with the relevant education department.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Means the principles and processes through which a person’s prior knowledge and skills are made visible, mediated and assessed for the purposes of one or more of the following: alternative access and admission, recognition and certification, or further learning and development. RPL is a recognition of informal and/or non-formal learning.

Registered qualification

Means a qualification registered on the GFETQSF of the NQF by SAQA in terms of section 13(1)(h) of the National Qualifications Framework Act (Act 67 of 2008).

Standard

Means a statement of the level of quality or attainment required.

Sub-framework of the NQF

Means one of the three coordinated qualifications sub-frameworks that make up the NQF as a single integrated system, namely the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework (HEQSF), the GFETQSF and the OQSF.

Umalusi

Means the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training established in terms of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001).