Umalusi’s presentation to the Education Portfolio Committee on the 2005/6 Annual Report

1. Umalusi’s presentation to the Education Portfolio Committee on the 2005/6 Annual Report 7 November 2006 Cape Town

2. 1. Introduction • Umalusi’s responsibilities • To develop a quality assurance framework for the GEFET bands. This means developing a quality assurance framework and common interpretation in the band. • To ensure continuous enhancement of quality in the delivery and outcomes of the GEFET sectors of the national education and training system. This means monitoring the standards of institutions and qualifications in the GEFET bands;

3. Responsibilities (continued) • To regulate the relationship between DoE, SAQA, other ETQAs, providers and the Council.

4. 2. Background • 2.3. Sectors worked with: • Independent Schools • Private FET colleges • Private Adult education centres • Examination bodies • Provincial departments

5. 3. Umalusi’s activities: 2005 -6 • A new certificate and significance of a certificate in Umalusi’s work –number of certificates (p.5) • Taking the matter of standards forward from the 2004 research – the CHET and Umalusi seminar on ‘matric: what is to be done?’ • Research in some vocational education subjects and seminar early in the year • With Umsobomvu, KZN university, Umalusi hosted a colloquium on “beyond ABET” which was exploring the relationship regulation and provision in adult education

6. Activities (continued) • Facilitated the uptake of ASECA in the Eastern Cape and Minister’s commitment • Evaluated all private and public Examination Bodies • Hosted the standardisation process of examinations for the first time last year • Invited Ghana and Kenya examination bodies as observers of our standardisation process • Key processes for quality assurance of assessments properly regulated through policies and directives

7. Activities (continued) • Quality assurance processes maintained: moderation of question papers, including CTAs; monitoring of conduct of examinations; moderation of CASS portfolios; moderation of marking; standardising results and verifying resulting; verification of certificates. • Launched a new website: www.umalusi.org.za • Work on publication in advance stage – documents available on PDf file on Umalusi website for downloading

8. Activities (continued) • Started some work in regulating the quality and standards of our qualifications and curriculum • Financial statement: • Income Statement (p.29 & 37) • Statement of changes in Equity (p.30) • HR management (p.38-50)

9. 4. Challenges which persist • 4.1. Adult Education • Smallness and marginaliation of the sector of adult education in provision • Misconceptualisation of Adult education (qualification type & department’s branch typology) • Eroding intellectual capacity in the sector and role of popular campaigns

10. Challenges which persist (continued) • 4.2. Difficulties with the NQF • Umalusi set up to establish a quality assurance framework in the 2 bands, as opposed to SETAS who were set up as Skills Development bodies • Two levels at which Umalusi works in the area: (i) qualifications and curricula; and (ii) assessments vs. determining standards through outcomes statements –differing concepts on operationalising quality assurance from other ETQAs

11. Difficulties with the NQF (continued) • Promotion of a healthy national system vs.. a competitive world of providers • Nature of qualifications and nature of private providers and their provision • Registration and accreditation requirements

12. Difficulties with the NQF (continued) • 4.3. Vocational education and the skills development trajectory • Theory and practice in vocational education • Importance of a differentiated upper secondary curriculum with reasonable equivalences – relationship between vocational and general education • Meaning of skills • Promotion of a healthy national system Vs. a competitive world of providers

13. Challenges which persist (continued) • 4.4. Quality assuring provincial departments • The concept of quality assurance in the National Qualifications Framework and its appropriateness for PDEs • Clumsiness of the Act providing for a ‘deemed’ status of accreditation to Provincial departments • Duplication of provincial monitoring requirements by NEPA and GENFETQA Act

14. Challenges (continued) • Quality assuring provincial departments • Role confusion in steps to be taken on defaulting provincial departments • Overload of bodies monitoring and evaluating provincial departments – the Public Service Commission & Auditor-General offices already subject PDEs to overlapping monitoring and evaluations.

15. Challenges (continued) • Most critical challenge are the expectations of Umalusi in influencing quality in the public system, whilst the Act prescribes a minimal role, outside the examination system, for Umalusi – the Act and the roles given to Umalusi tend to militate against direct intervention in public provision.

16. 5. Activities for the current year (2006/7) • SADC conference in June 2006 • Evaluation of Independent schools’ portfolios ( 480) • Site visits in 100 independent schools • Workshop with private FET providers in preparation for the accreditation process – October 12th • Workshop on the standardisation process – November 2nd • Research into CASS continuing • Completing the comparison of the Senior Certificate curricula and examinations with Kenya, Ghana and Zambia

17. Activities for the current year • Starting research on ‘fundamentals’ : communication and numeracy • Approached Department of Labour regarding collaborative work with INDLELA – quality of practical examinations • Audit by SAQA in August 2006 • Customer survey

18. 6. Expectations for the year • A stable and ‘problem –free’ examination period – (analysis of incidents so far) • Independent schools improving their institutional capabilities and management of quality • FET providers (public & private) increasingly coming into Umalusi fold of quality assurance • An improved understanding of the quality of our qualifications and curriculum • Increased uptake and provision of Adult education • Inroads to provincial quality assurance systems

19. 7. Conclusion • Highlights of the past year include: • Research conducted to underpin the quality assurance function • Strengthening the quality assurance function of examinations in order to increase the public confidence • Branding our products around the CERTIFICATE we issue – backed by educational, programmatic and security features of high integrity

20. Conclusion (continued) • In addition, considerable progress has been made in respect to carrying out other functions of the Council – e.g. • Establishment of an evaluation and accreditation system for independent schools; private colleges and private Adult Education and Training system • Has become a critical voice in the pronouncements about quality as a concept, and as an operation in the education and training system

21. Conclusion (continued • Continues to run a well managed organization with appropriate fiscal disciplines • Has a well function governance system and also abides with all PFMA requirements for Public Entities. • The funding ‘formula’ militates against a speedy establishment of other quality assurance functions