Inspecting the Foundations - Umalusi

The nature of the qualifi cation itself may be a part of the problem: responses from the provincessuggest that a less ‘school-ish’ and more vocational set of subjects would have greater appeal, afactor which the new qualifi cation structure attempts to remedy.It may also be that, lacking a clearly defi ned trajectory to further learning, such as the matric, theGETC: ABET is perceived as being of limited value, and that learners in ABET programmes are therebecause they have been told to be there – as is the case in large organizations where ABET targetshave to be met – or because any other form of opportunity is lacking.Table 5: Number of learning area and GETC certificates issued by Umalusi 2001–2007Assessment Body 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Eastern Cape 3586 4792 6329 5845 6193 5173 4919 5551 42388 2126 563 467 507 440 249 315 81 2648 23 6Free State 1308 2236 2046 1608 1701 1376 1510 2155 13940 71 199 85 166 121 58 69 31 730 6 5Gauteng 1290 2338 2200 2591 2632 2750 2449 3040 19290 91 88 182 188 180 176 163 129 1107 10 6Independent0 532 1058 935 1594 1301 301 5721 3Examinations Board 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0KwaZulu Natal 687 1712 367 3848 3618 4723 0 895 15850 814 110 22 312 268 158 1 6 891 8 6Limpopo 1388 2506 4527 5469 7190 8113 11841 14991 56025 2713 72 400 673 460 1034 643 651 3946 34 7Mpumalanga 1094 1375 1658 2198 2189 2261 2805 4789 18369 96 138 185 180 117 109 149 259 1143 10 6North West 1532 1279 1304 1243 1277 142 0 6777 37 151 96 69 53 2 0 378 3 6Northern Cape 190 450 606 630 706 656 949 946 5133 30 11 37 51 67 46 29 10 251 2 5Western Cape 422 679 1068 1403 1573 1168 1534 1435 9282 50 10 76 61 75 68 71 70 431 4 5Total: Learning AreaCertificates (LACs)11497 17899 21163 25770 28673 27663 26308 33802 192775 94Total: GETCs 68 1342 1550 2207 1781 1900 1440 1237 11525 6 6Total: LACs & GETCs 11565 19241 22713 27977 30454 29563 27748 35039 204300Stats as at 30 September 2009 - supplied by QCCTotal perAssessment Body% of total whowrote% of total whowrote per province4.4.2 CERTIFICATION OF SETA LEVEL 1 QUALIFICATIONSSetas have been responsible for the development and introduction of many of the unit standardsbasedqualifi cations registered on the NQF. They are also responsible for the quality assuranceof provision, as has been discussed elsewhere, and for certifi cation. For some of the Setas, thisresponsibility has been the continuation of well-established practices begun by the IndustrialTraining Boards which were their predecessors. The mining industry, for example, trained, evaluatedand certifi cated artisans, miners, and engineers, drawing on state apparatus to assist with theexamining: government mining inspectors would serve as panel members for candidates beingassessed for their Miner’s ticket.40