Inspecting the Foundations - Umalusi

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AcronymsABEABETAETAHCDoEECDETDPETQAFETGENFETGETGETCHSRCICTIDIEBLACNC (Vocational)NQFNSCPALCQCTOSAQASBASetaSMMET&TAdult Basic EducationAdult Basic Education and TrainingAdult Education and TrainingAncillary Health CareDepartment of EducationEarly Childhood DevelopmentEducation, Training, and Development Practices (Seta)Education and Training Quality Assurance (body)Further Education and TrainingGeneral and Further Education and TrainingGeneral Education and TrainingGeneral Education and Training Certifi cateHuman Sciences Research CouncilInformation Communication TechnologyIdentifi cation (number)Independent Examinations BoardLearning Area Certifi catesNational Certifi cate (Vocational)National Qualifi cations FrameworkNational Senior Certifi catePublic Adult Learning CentresQuality Council for Trades and OccupationsSouth African Qualifi cations AuthoritySite-Based AssessmentSectoral Education and Training AuthoritySmall, Medium, and Micro EnterprisesTravel and Tourism7
1. Background1.1 UMALUSI’S RESPONSIBILITIES REGARDING STANDARDS INEDUCATIONUmalusi has a statutory obligation to monitor the standards of qualifi cations, curricula, andexaminations in General and Further Education and Training (GENFET). Traditionally, and in responseto general concern about ‘standards’ in our education system (particularly in terms of the MatricCertifi cate – both the Senior Certifi cate, and, as of 2008, the new National Senior Certifi cate(NSC)), Umalusi has conducted much research into this area (Umalusi 2004; Umalusi 2006; Umalusi2007a; Umalusi 2008). Umalusi’s research programme has developed alongside its more visibleand extensive quality assurance activities such as the quality assurance of assessment and theevaluation and accreditation of independent schools. It has nevertheless played a critical role inproviding an informed, theoretical basis for how Umalusi should undertake its mandate to monitor,and now, more recently, to develop standards in education.So, for example, Umalusi’s research relating to the Matric Certifi cate, stretching over a fi ve-yearperiod, has included comparisons of the level of cognitive demand in exams over a ten-yearperiod starting just after the fi rst democratic elections; a comparison of the two South Africanmatrics – the (old) technical NSC (now replaced by the National Certifi cate (NC)(Vocational)) andthe Senior Certifi cate (now replaced by the new NSC); a comparison of the fi nal exit qualifi cations,systems, curricula, and exams in four Anglophone countries – Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, andZambia; and, most recently, a rigorous comparison between the old NATED 550 syllabuses (Higherand Standard Grade) and the National Curriculum Statements for six of the most widely takengateway subjects. This research, which also analysed and compared the levels of cognitivediffi culty of the fi nal exams associated with these respective curricula, supported critical decisionsthat needed to be taken during the evaluation and standardization of the 2008 NSC results.Umalusi is now committed to focusing a similar degree of attention on other areas of the educationsystem: this includes moving lower down the system to examine the GET level at NQF Level 1, a levelwhich has historically been an exit level only in ABET, and the point which marked – informally – thetransition in schooling, from primary to high school education. In 2008, the Minister of Educationannounced that the end of Grade 7 would become a recognized qualifi cation by 2009, althoughthis position has not been fi nalized at the time of writing. The General Education Certifi cate hasbeen present as a placeholder, but not as a formal presence in the education system. Its rolein the system, it has been argued, would be more a critical reporting stage rather than an exitqualifi cation.The GET stage thus commands interest in two ways: the fi rst is its role as a general preparation forthe second half of schooling, and the second is the role it plays in the system’s commitment toproviding an alternative education for adults who, for whatever reason, did not receive a basiceducation during childhood and adolescence. For these reasons, Umalusi has embarked on anevaluation of the different phases of the schooling GET. This particular research report into the ABETcurricula for NQF Level 1 relates to and builds on the fi ndings of the 2007 Umalusi report, The f-word(2007b).1.2 THE STATE OF ADULT EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICAAdult education in South Africa, despite many policy intentions and interventions, remains whollyinadequate to the needs of its adults: provision of adult education within the state system isgenerally allocated less than one percent of the education budget, and various commentatorshave expressed despondency about the levels of provision. Baatjes and Mathe (2004, p. 407)8
Page 2 and 3: INSPECTING THE FOUNDATIONSTowards a
Page 4: AcknowledgementsThis report is the
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 44 and 45: learnership has been completed, it
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
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A choice of three Reading Core Skil
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Numeracy and Mathematics:• VBQU26
Page 74 and 75:
Currently, there are over one hundr
Page 76 and 77:
wider selection of vocational subje
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UNIT STANDARDS (continued):Fundamen
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PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO O
Page 82 and 83:
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR CURRICULUM D
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Where possible and necessary, the c
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