Student Experience - News #SAQA

Strengthening The Foundation of Higher Ed: Upcoming Regional Workshops by the CHE and SAQA

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 21:30:04 +0000

In a significant move to enhance the quality and implementation of higher education qualifications, the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) have announced a series of regional workshops. These workshops aim to address key concerns related to the registration of qualifications and part-qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and the implementation of the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework (HEQSF).

Access Communique 2 of 2024

This initiative follows the joint communiqué released by CHE and SAQA on 9 May 2024. The communiqué outlined the commitment to support institutions in reviewing their qualifications to ensure compliance with the Policy and Criteria for Registration of Qualifications and Part-Qualifications on the NQF. In response, CHE has sent detailed letters to institutions, informing them of the status of their qualifications. Institutions have been informed whether their qualifications have been re-registered, failed to meet the requirements, or have other concerns that need to be addressed.

Addressing Key Concerns

The letters sent to institutions also highlight the intention to use the re-registration process to address several critical issues, including:

Naming of Qualifications: Ensuring the proper use of designators in qualification names.
Proliferation of Qualifications: Managing the increasing number of qualifications listed on the NQF.
Management of Specializations: Overseeing internal learning plans and the awarding of qualifications.

Workshop Objectives

The upcoming workshops are designed to facilitate engagement between institutions, CHE, and SAQA. They aim to provide a platform for discussing specific concerns related to HEQSF-aligned offerings and qualifications. Target participants include institutional personnel involved in the development and review of programmes, quality assurance officials, curriculum specialists, and officials in registrars' offices and offices of Deputy Vice Chancellors responsible for teaching and learning.

Schedule and Registration

Five regional workshops will be held physically, with dates and locations as follows:

Western Cape: Cape Town, 04-05 July 2024 at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Gauteng: Johannesburg, 18-19 July 2024 at the University of Johannesburg.
KwaZulu-Natal: Durban, 22-23 July 2024 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Limpopo & Mpumalanga: Nelspruit, 30-31 July 2024 at the University of Mpumalanga.
Eastern Cape: 29-30 August 2024 at Walter Sisulu University.

Interested individuals are encouraged to register for the workshops by close of business on Monday, 24 June 2024. Registration links and further details can be found on the provided SurveyMonkey link. Depending on the level of interest, an additional workshop may be organized in Tshwane, Gauteng.

Engagement and Reflection

In addition to capacity building, these workshops will offer opportunities for institutions to reflect on their experiences with the HEQSF implementation. They will also provide a space for dialogue between institutions and regulators to address specific programmatic and qualification-related issues, as well as broader concerns related to the NQF.

The collaborative efforts of CHE and SAQA through these regional workshops underscore a commitment to maintaining high standards in higher education. By addressing pressing concerns and fostering an environment of continuous improvement, these workshops aim to enhance the quality and integrity of qualifications on the NQF.

For further clarity on any aspect of this communication, institutions can reach out to Dr. P. Dlamini via email at mheqsf@che.ac.za.

NSFAS, SAQA & DSI 2021/22 Annual Performance Plans; with Minister and Deputy Minister

Tue, 18 May 2021 09:27:13 +0000

//www.youtube.com/embed/rpVsJUOnSCE

Date: 05 May 2021

Chairperson: Mr P Mapulane (ANC)

Meeting Synopsis

The Committee met virtually to receive briefings from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, South African Qualifications Authority and the Department of Science and Technology on their 2020-25 Strategic Plans and 2021/22 Annual Performance Plans.

Amongst the difficulties of the troubled National Students Financial Aid Scheme, the unavailability of resources to carry its mandate effectively was raised sharply by the Scheme. The entity informed Members that the demand for funding was expected to sharply increase over the medium term due to the pandemic, job losses and the weak economic growth. Due to unavailability of resources many students could not access funding. What worsened matters at the Scheme were the challenges presented by its Information and Communications Technology systems, which were not fit for purpose, and a poor governance environment with policies not properly enforced. Its approved budget for the 2020/21 financial year amounted to R41.5 billion, which excluded the R6.4 billion additional budget approved by the Minister awaiting virement from the National Treasury. By 2023/24, its budget would decrease to R39.6 billion, which posed serious challenges with the expected increase in the number of student applications for funding. Needless to mention that the new Board inherited a disastrous organisation from the previous Administrator, but Members rallied behind the new Board and assured the Board and management that if it remained its preoccupation to address the multiple inefficiencies in the entity, it will receive the full support of the Committee to turn around the entity.

The South African Qualifications Authority reported on its new structure, which was forcefully imposed on it by the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of significant losses of income. The lockdown severely affected the Authority’s ability to generate income from services. It revised its revenue projection for 2021/22 and this unfortunately resulted in a shortfall of R19 million. Challenges experienced in balancing the 2020/21 budget resulted in major expense and projects being deferred to 2021/22. The Authority was then left with no choice but to initiate retrenchments on 01 May 2021 to avoid further payments of salaries as it attempted to minimise the volume of retrenchments. It assured the Committee that under the new structure, the retrenched staff would be prioritised for available positions.

The Minister joined the meeting to provide an overview of the work that the Department of Science and Innovation has been doing. He touched on the White Paper on Science and Innovation and the Decadal Plan, which its aim was not only to mainstream the STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) in government, in a broad sense, but to also mainstream it in the whole of society. The adoption of the Decadal Plan meant that the President will soon appoint an Inter-Ministerial Committee responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Decadal Plan from Cabinet level. The Minister also touched on the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Pla), and as part of the Plan, there is a Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, which was introduced as an employment stimulus based on the R100 billion allocation for job retention.

The Department of Science and Innovation has played an important role in mitigating the impact of Covid-19. In the wake of Covid-19, the Department set aside R69 million from the constrained budget, for research and related activities that were linked to tackle Covid-19. The money went towards funding since June 2020 for epidemiology of Covid-19. This research has led to the discovery of the first variant of Covid-19, which contributed globally in sensitising the global scientific community in the mutation of the virus. In addition, there was work led by the Human Sciences Research Council and the National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, which have completed surveys and research on dealing with the attitude of the people towards Covid-19 and vaccines. This work has fed into the work of the National Coronavirus Command Council as well as the Department of Health to better respond to the pandemic. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has set up a dashboard, which enables the Department to study how the pandemic was manifesting itself up to district level in the country. The dashboard reveals what is happening in each district. Lastly, an observatory was established to follow and track Covid-19.

Members asked about the Financial Aid Scheme’s vacancy rate; cases that were still under litigation and the costs therein; fundraising strategy; student funding appeals; Information and Communications Technology challenges and personnel incapacity; whether the Scheme funding model would be geared towards funding qualifications in demand to boost economic growth; frames and progress for the Technology Innovation Agency as well as reviews of the South African National Space Agency; renewal of tax incentives on research and development.

Members asked questions about the National Qualifications Framework Bill; reconfiguration of the structure; retrenched personnel at the Qualifications Authority.

Members also asked whether the District Development Model is properly highlighted in the Decadal Plan and whether it was linked to give expression to the White Paper on science and innovation.

Access Documents Here

Meeting Details

Meeting Title:	National Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology: NSFAS, SAQA & DSI 2021/22 Annual Performance Plans; with Minister and Deputy Minister
Meeting Date:	5 May 2021
Chairperson:	Mr P Mapulane (ANC)
Meeting Transcript:	Access Here

Regulatory Update: SAQA

Tue, 12 May 2020 15:07:07 +0000

Strategic Plan 2020/2025 and Annual Performance Plan 2020/2021

Herewith please find the most recent Strategic Plan for the period 2020/2025 and the Annual Performance Plan 2020/2021 for the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). This posts contains the presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science & Technology and Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sports, Arts & Culture on Monday, 11 May 2020.

Visit the SAQA Website

https://docs.zoho.com/embed/bhz1v4d8af00bff754439a9fb0e33451314dd

Briefing by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) on its Annual Report

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 14:34:22 +0000

Statutory Series: CHE, SAQA & QCTO 2018/19 Annual Reports

Herewith please find the meeting summary and presentation by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) on its integrated annual report for the 2018/2019 financial year. The integrated report is also available for download in this article. The presentation as presented by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) can be found below.

https://show.zohopublic.com/publish/hh445f97dbe010f2144d892d21962e2b0a74c/params?toolbar=true&menu=false&loop=false&viewtype=2

Download the SAQA Annual Report for 2018/2019

The Chairperson of the Board, Dr Vuyelwa Toni Penxa, indicated that it was her last year as the Chairperson of the Board. She reported that SAQA is a Section 3A entity which is governed by a board appointed by the Minister of Higher Education. She shared a few achievements and said that this was a 21st unqualified audit report. SAQA prides itself on that and the current board did not drop the baton. It also increased the international footprint – Members of conventions and participates at world reference levels and the Board passed the Addendum.

Mr Joe Samuels, Chief Executive Officer and reported that the overall performance sat at 96% in terms of achieving targets. 50 deliverables were achieved and exceeded expectations on two deliverables but only two deliverables were not achieved.

SAQA’s key contributions over the last year included advising the Minister on the TVET landscape; it commented on draft education sector policies and NQF Amendment Bill; and produced an addendum to recognise learning of refugees and asylum seekers and revised RPL Policy, amongst others.

On the Limpopo issue programme issue, it advertised the programme as a Learnership at NQF level five but at the time there was no learnership registered and there must be a qualification that the learnership culminates into. That qualification was not registered and that learnership was not advertised appropriately. The issue was how it presented it to the public.

In the current year, SAQA recruited and trained 16 interns. It also spent R212 957 on staff training, seminars and workshops. R150 420 on staff education assistance. Four members of staff were promoted, 72 staff members were recognised and awarded qualifications. 20 learning and development initiatives were facilitated in the organisation.

The CFO reported on the actual revenue received which amounted to R123 306 811 of which 54.1% came from government grants; 30.5% from evaluation fees; 8% from verification fees; 2.2% professional bodies’ fees and the remaining 5.2% constituted other income (rental, sundry and interest received).

Of R117.42 million of the budget R128.66 million was spent. SAQA made various savings through IT related costs (R4.5 million); Property, Plant and Equipment (R2.9 million); legal fees (R1.7 million); Staff expenses (R3.2 million) and Sewerage pipes (R1 million).

Over-expenditure stemmed from repairs and maintenance (R71 673). There was also expenditure that was not budgeted which included intangible assets (R764 290) – SAQA does not budget for intangible assets; Depreciation and amortisation (R3.2 million) and debt impairment (R656 386).

Discussion

The Chairperson commented that there was missing information on the presentation. There was also missing information regarding planned targets in line with the APP and what was achieved and not achieved. There was no indication of non-performance and non-achievement. The Annual Report should be reported against the Annual Performance Plan. Achievements must be clearly stated against the planned targets and reasons provided for non-achievement of the targets. The presentation fell far short of the expectations.

The Chairperson said that she felt like the document was drafted in an orientation format and was uncertain how Members would interact and engage with it.

Mr Samuels received the point from the Chairperson and indicated that in the next engagements it will be clearly outlined in the way the Chairperson suggested. However, the suggestion is heeded, and this would be rectified in the next presentations.

The Chairperson indicated that during the short break the Chief Executive Officer of SAQA requested to respond to the questions in writing as the delegation was rushing to catch flights. He asked the Members to express themselves on the matter before making a ruling on the matter.

Mr Letsie said that this was the first time interacting with the entity and it would have been better if the delegation tried and changed the flights arrangements. There are issues of concern that Members would like to raise.

Mr B Yabo (ANC) said that due to the nature of the work conducting oversight was retrospective. There must be some level of concession that must be made because these engagements were unpredictable. It is important that in the presentation of accountability one have some level of flexibility regarding what may happen, Members also need to conduct their Constitutional duty. Therefore, there must be the prioritisation of exercising oversight.

Mr Keetse said that he was of the view that the summarised report on its own was on a form of orientation and that there was nothing to discuss. Unless Members could have time to peruse the actual annual report and engage the entity later. However, in the future this should not be acceptable.

Ms Mkhatshwa said that the country needed sacrifice from everyone right now and the entity should honour the Honourable Members of Parliament.

The Chairperson said that in the nine years he has been a Member of Parliament, this was the first time he had experienced this kind of issue. He felt that this was disrespecting the House and asked the CEO to not disrespect the Committee again.

The Chairperson of the Board humbly apologised for the misunderstanding.

On SAQA, the entity did well as its audit outcome improved but Members were not happy with the presentation of its Report.

Mr Samuels said that on the number and kind of qualifications that have been produced by SAQA that Report would be furnished to the Committee. The entity has prepared a document supported by research that has looked at how qualifications have progressed over 20 years. The Report suggests that the biggest issue stemmed from economic conditions as opposed to the quality of the qualifications. The Report can be shared with the Committee.

The NQF amendment Act which was signed by the President on the 13th of August has brought teeth to SAQA and the President must now proclaim it. The legislation makes a distinction on fraudulent and misrepresented qualifications. As an entity one cannot declare a qualification fraudulent but only a court can do so.

Now, when it comes to government line function departments; there was a directive that was issued by the Minister of Public Service and Administration that compelled the departments to submit qualifications to SAQA for verifications. It was found that some of those qualifications were misrepresented and feedback was provided to the line function and it must be the one that acts.

On the public perception, the number of misrepresented qualifications is about 1% of the total number coming to us. Right up front, the individual must be aware that when they submit misrepresented qualifications their name will appear on the registry of misrepresented qualifications. At the moment, we will make an affidavit at the Police Station and then the criminal process would take its course.

On the Tshwane municipality situation, the municipality did not ask SAQA to conduct a verification of that qualification. We were asked by the Media to comment on the document and whether that qualification was registered and on what NQF level. It was up to the municipality to take action on that. The qualification was not registered on the NQF but when the Act comes into effect, the entity will have more teeth in terms of taking action on such matters in terms of who brings the issue to the police. The qualification is a very old qualification that was never registered on the NQF but the municipalities were still recognising those qualifications as valid. SAQA has made it clear that the qualification is not registered but if the employer accepts the qualification as it is, then at the moment SAQA cannot take any further action. However, the new NQF Amendment Act will change these circumstances.

The Chairperson sought clarity that if the qualification is not registered on the NQF level, the employer can still employ a person with that qualification. ‘What is the legal basis on that’ ‘What is the legal position on this is it requiring that all qualifications that are offered in this country must have an NQF level’? ‘And those that are not registered fall outside the framework’?

Mr Samuels said that the municipalities have for years been employing people with that qualification, and that legal issue is the one that must be sorted out. The NQF amendments now put in place the conditions.

The DHET Official said that there are qualifications that have international and national currency but were not registered within the NQF. Non-registered institutions cannot offer a registered qualification. So the unregistered qualification is not necessarily a fake or bogus qualification; for example, the Microsoft qualification, it has international and national standards that are sought after but it is not registered on the NQF. A fake qualification is when it has been offered and it is registered on the NQF, but the institution is not registered, that is a fake qualification. Then one gets a misrepresented qualification, but the relationship is that to offer a registered qualification, the institution must be registered but registered institutions can offer a qualification that is not registered.

Mr Yabo was perplexed about the matter because the communication was not very authentic and said that the Committee recently had the University of Limpopo that came to account on bogus qualification. There was an outcry in the public about this.

The Chairperson said that there was an expectation out there that all qualifications offered are registered with the SAQA and anything outside the recognition is not a legitimate qualification. Institutions should take qualifications that are registered with the SAQA.

The DHET official said that the University of Limpopo matter was based on accreditation to offer that qualification. The University was registered but it was not accredited to offer the course.

Mr Samuels said the short course was not registered at the NQF.

Source:

Content available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 South Africa license.

Source: Higher Education, Science and Technology: Committee Meeting of the National Assembly held on the 16th of October 2019

Chairperson: Ms N Mkhatshwa (ANC)