Inspecting the Foundations - Umalusi

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learnership has been completed, it is diffi cult to fi nd work placements for the learners and withoutthese, the learning processes come to an end. An important point raised by the interviewees isthe need for specialized practical training sites in the engineering sector: the example of a pasthouse-building training centre was given. At this centre, parts of houses were regularly built anddemolished, the bricks being ’washed’ for re-use. FET colleges were identifi ed as possible sites forartisan training. It was felt that, at present, there is a shortage of such sites.43
5. RecommendationsThe signifi cance and role of ABET as a formal part of the South African education and trainingsystem was recognized by its inclusion in the structure of the NQF from its inception. Thisincorporation of the needs of disadvantaged adult learners is a remarkable achievementwhich takes cognizance of the legacies of South African history, and South Africa’s ideal of fullparticipation in the global economy. There is a need now to take all the strong points of thisfl edgling project forward by reviewing aspects which need refi nement or reconsideration.5.1 QUALIFICATIONSOne of the fi rst areas in need of re-evaluation is that of qualifi cations. An isolated adult qualifi cationat NQF Level 1 has not served the needs of adults well. In its Qualifi cation Framework policy forGeneral and Further Education, Umalusi proposes a more compact 80-credit general educationqualifi cation at Level 1, which can become a 120-credit vocational qualifi cation through theaddition of at least two vocational subjects. These Level 1 qualifi cations should form a sturdyplatform for the proposed matric-equivalent qualifi cation being developed for adults and outof-schoolcandidates at NQF Level 4. These proposals will require a re-working of the currentqualifi cation.In the interim, however, and up until 2012, the new GETC: ABET qualifi cation must serve its purpose,and to do so, the qualifi cation needs to be regulated in order to clear up some of the uncertaintiescreated by the qualifi cation itself. Such regulations are urgently required since many candidateswho have studied under the requirements of the earlier ABET qualifi cation may now be eligible toqualify under the new rules of combination. Already Umalusi is fi elding requests of this sort.While the Ministerial Committee Report on Adult Education proposes a shift away from ‘focusingonly on the formal provision of education and training to adults to an approach that includesprogrammes, offering learning opportunities to adults, which are formal, informal and non-formal’(DoE 2008, p. 5), it is clear that South Africa’s formal system of delivery of adult learning could,and should, deliver more sustained learning, based on national qualifi cations and their associatedcurricula. While Umalusi supports the notion that relatively informal, non credit-bearing but relevantcourses of varying lengths should be encouraged and supported, it would argue that mainstreamforms of delivery can help to provide properly quality-assured assessment leading to recognizablequalifi cations. There may be instances in which such short courses need to be accredited or qualitycontrolled through, say, recognized professional associations, but Umalusi supports the idea thatthere is also a need to create an enabling and supportive environment for courses which do notneed to be accredited, quality assured, or certifi ed.5.2 CURRICULUM ISSUESBased on the multiplicity of ABET curriculum documents evident in the documentary review;the expressed diffi culty of creating learning programmes from unit standards; and the needfor comparable appropriate curricula across provinces and within industry sectors, this reportrecommends that National ABET curricula are created for all GETC learning areas and electives, bythe National DoE in collaboration with provinces, subject experts, and representatives of business,labour, and civil society. These curricula should be modeled best practices for good syllabuseslocally and internationally. A single, dated curriculum document for each learning area should bedeveloped, and made readily available – from the National DoE through to the PALCs.Umalusi has developed guidelines which it uses for the evaluation of curricula, and these guidelines(see Appendix C) can provide pointers to some of the main issues that each curriculum shouldcover. These guidelines could be used to support the efforts of curriculum-writing teams.44
Page 2 and 3: INSPECTING THE FOUNDATIONSTowards a
Page 4: AcknowledgementsThis report is the
Page 8 and 9: AcronymsABEABETAETAHCDoEECDETDPETQA
Page 10 and 11: describe Public Adult Learning Cent
Page 12 and 13: literacy campaigns. They attribute
Page 14 and 15: determine learner competence. But w
Page 16 and 17: 3. Methodology usedThis research co
Page 18 and 19: some offer FET subjects only. Numbe
Page 20 and 21: 4. Findings4.1 NQF LEVEL 1 QUALIFIC
Page 22 and 23: This history of a qualifi cation th
Page 24 and 25: the weighting used for Learning Are
Page 26 and 27: Table 3: GETC: ABET Learning Outcom
Page 28 and 29: (if this is seen to be in the inter
Page 30 and 31: was circulated at a national ABET m
Page 32 and 33: 4.2.1.5 Private ABET provider docum
Page 34 and 35: electives. Some of the examples of
Page 36 and 37: to maintain and improve the norms a
Page 38 and 39: the following:• The completion of
Page 40 and 41: The problem of English being the la
Page 42 and 43: This pattern of Setas’ being able
Page 46 and 47: While the occupational qualifi cati
Page 48 and 49: • The associated curricula should
Page 50 and 51: Singizi (2007). Employment Pormotio
Page 52 and 53: PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIF
Page 54 and 55: UNIT STANDARDS:Core 7511ID UNIT STA
Page 56 and 57: Appendix BGeneral Education and Tra
Page 58 and 59: This Recognition of Prior Learning
Page 60 and 61: Elective Component:The Elective Com
Page 62 and 63: ID Number; Unit Standard Title; Cre
Page 64 and 65: • ID 14569; Demonstrate an unders
Page 66 and 67: 2.3 Algebraic techniques are select
Page 68 and 69: learning components and should use
Page 70 and 71: A choice of three Reading Core Skil
Page 72 and 73: Numeracy and Mathematics:• VBQU26
Page 74 and 75: Currently, there are over one hundr
Page 76 and 77: wider selection of vocational subje
Page 78 and 79: UNIT STANDARDS (continued):Fundamen
Page 80 and 81: PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO O
Page 82 and 83: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR CURRICULUM D
Page 84: Where possible and necessary, the c

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