Establishment of SAQA and the NQF

The South African Qualifications Authority, Act No. 58 (SAQA Act), was published in 1995 and stipulated:

• the development and implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), and
• the establishment of the SAQA, a body who would be responsible for the development and implementation of the NQF.

The National Qualifications Framework, Act No. 67 of 2008, was promulgated in February 2009. This new Act provides for the National Qualifications Framework and the South African Qualifications Authority, as originally set out in The SAQA Act (1995). It also provides for the responsibilities of Ministers, Quality Councils and for the transitional arrangements. Although closely based on the SAQA Act (1995), the NQF Act repeals the SAQA Act of 1995.

Objectives of the NQF

The objective of the NQF Act (2008) is to provide for further development, organisation, and governance of the NQF. The Act applies to qualifications offered by educational institutions, skills development providers and professional designations, subject to the limitations prescribed in this Act.

The specific objectives of the NQF are to:

• create a single integrated national framework for learning achievements,
• facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within, education, training and career paths,
• enhance the quality of education and training,
• accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education and training, and
• accelerate employment opportunities.

The NQF is designed to contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the nation.

SAQA and the Quality Councils (QCs) must seek to achieve the objectives of the NQF by:

• developing, fostering and maintaining an integrated and transparent national framework for the recognition of learning achievements,
• ensuring that South African qualifications meet appropriate criteria and are internationally comparable, and
• ensuring that South African qualifications are of an acceptable quality.

The main features of the NQF Act (2008) are:

• The NQF: The NQF Act (2008) contains a description clarifying the notion of an NQF and the way it is organised (including its sub frameworks).
• Role of SAQA: The SAQA Act (1995) gave SAQA the task of conceptualising the NQF and leading its implementation. SAQA is the custodian of the values of the NQF, a research organisation, the learning achievements database manager and advisor on the entire NQF system. SAQA will also work very closely with the three quality councils in fulfilling the objectives of the NQF.

Click here to view a video that explains the National Qualifications Framework.

Functions of SAQA

The SAQA must, in order to advance the objectives of the NQF perform certain functions. The main functions of SAQA are standards-setting and quality assurance. Their functions include:

• oversee the implementation and achievement of the NQF in accordance with an implementation framework prepared by the SAQA after consultation with the QCs;
• develop and publish the content of level descriptions (descriptors) for each level of the NQF and reach agreement on the content with the QCs – ensuring their relevancy (level descriptors are statements describing learning achievement at a level on the NQF);
• develop and implement policy and criteria after consultation with the QCs, for the development, registration and publication of qualifications and part-qualifications (standards-setting);
• develop policy and criteria, after consultation with the QC’s, for assessment, recognition of prior learning and credit accumulation and transfer;
• develop and implement policy and criteria for recognising a professional body and registering a professional designation for the purposes of this Act, after consultation with statutory and non-statutory bodies of expert practitioners in occupational fields and with the QCs;
• maintain a National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD) comprising registers of national qualifications, part-qualifications, learner achievements, recognised professional bodies, professional designations and associated information; and
• evaluating foreign qualifications and public information on the NQF.

The repeal of the SAQA Act (1995) and replacement by the NQF Act (2008) removed the quality assurance function from SAQA. Quality assurance is now performed by the QCs.

Click here to view a video that explains the functions of SAQA.