National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008)NoticesPolicy and Criteria for Credit Accumulation and Transfer within the National Qualifications Framework (as amended, 2021)Responsibilities for implementing CAT |
| 32. | The development and implementation of CAT is the joint responsibility of the DHET, the DBE, SAQA, the Quality Councils and all recognised providers of education and training. |
| 33. | Responsibilities of the DHET and DBE are to: |
| a. | provide enabling legislative and planning environments for CAT; |
| b. | where they carry responsibility, ensure that CAT principles and opportunities are taken into account when designing and developing qualifications; and |
| c. | where they carry responsibility, ensure the development and implementation at institutional level, of policy and criteria for CAT, are aligned with the DHET Articulation policy, and the CAT policies of SAQA and the Quality Councils. |
| 34. | Responsibilities of SAQA are to: |
| a. | ensure that the CAT Policy and Criteria has been applied in qualifications and part-qualifications submitted to SAQA for registration on the NQF; |
| b. | co-ordinate the Sub-Frameworks of the NQF, to ensure the alignment of Sub-Framework policies on CAT, to enable articulation across the education and training system; |
| c. | provide leadership to the Quality Councils in terms of CAT processes and practices to ensure that an integrated and articulated education and training system is continued and maintained; |
| d. | support the development of collaborative partnerships across the NQF Sub-Frameworks to develop enabling environments for CAT and the progression of lifelong learners in general; |
| e. | advise the Quality Councils and professional bodies regarding potential and actual transgressions relating to the CAT policies of SAQA and the Quality Councils; |
| f. | conduct/oversee research to improve CAT in collaboration with the Quality Councils, |
| g. | provide annual reports to the Minister after consultation with the Quality Councils regarding implementing CAT across the education and training system. |
| 35. | Responsibilities of the Quality Councils are to: |
| a. | adhere to the principles, criteria and responsibilities as outlined in this CAT Policy and Criteria; |
| b. | ensure that CAT principles and opportunities are taken into account when qualifications are designed and developed; |
| c. | develop policy and criteria for CAT for use in their NQF Sub-Framework contexts, that are aligned to SAQA’s CAT Policy and Criteria and address unfair practices; |
| d. | develop and share guidelines for all aspects of CAT; |
| e. | work with recognised providers in their NQF Sub-Framework contexts to ensure that they implement CAT in consistent ways and develop the capacity needed to do so; |
| f. | monitor the CAT practices of recognised providers in their NQF Sub-Framework contexts; |
| g. | report annually to SAQA in the format prescribed by SAQA, on CAT implementation in their NQF Sub-Framework contexts. |
| 36. | Responsibilities of recognised providers are to: |
| a. | adhere to the principles, criteria and responsibilities as outlined in this CAT Policy and Criteria as well as the aligned NQF Sub-Framework policies and criteria for CAT; |
| b. | develop, promote and implement institutional policy and criteria for CAT and articulation that are aligned with the DHET Articulation Policy, and the aligned CAT policies of SAQA and the Quality Councils; |
| c. | ensure that institutional policies for assessment, moderation, the recording of results, and RPL, are aligned to institutional policies for CAT; |
| d. | demonstrate through regular internal and external quality reviews, including those done by the Quality Councils, that institutional policies and practices for CAT support this CAT Policy and Criteria and the relevant aligned NQF Sub-Framework policies and criteria; |
| e. | where relevant, establish inter-institutional and/or intra-institutional partnerships and formal arrangements through which the vertical, horizontal or diagonal articulation between qualifications and part-qualifications can take place, on the basis of parity of esteem and collaborate to ensure the quality delivery and assessment needed to enable CAT; |
| f. | undertake collaborative approaches to curriculum development within and across recognised providers, to advance CAT, including aligning curricula in cognate fields, taking into account the purposes of the qualifications/ part-qualifications involved and the types of knowledge, skills and competencies required; |
| g. | provide career advice services that include advice on different learning-and-work pathways/ articulation routes; |
| h. | put in place mechanisms to monitor and avoid unfair exclusionary practices relating to CAT; |
| i. | assist learners seeking to transition into the certifying institution, as well as those who need to transition out of the institution, by making the necessary information available, in a way that is enabling for the learner and not harmful to the entity: a balance must be found in order to provide this information; and |
| j. | maintain records that are compatible with the National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD) and other relevant government information management systems, and submit the relevant data in the formats required. |
| 37. | Responsibilities of recognised professional bodies are to: |
| a. | participate in partnerships with Quality Councils and recognised providers, to promote CAT; |
| b. | provide career advice that includes advice on learning-and-work pathways/ articulation routes; and |
| c. | where applicable, participate in, and adhere to, processes set up by SAQA and theQuality Councils to monitor unfair exclusionary practices related to CAT. |