Developing a National Qualifications Framework The Namibian Experience………. - Franz E. Gertze...

Developing a National Qualifications Framework

The Namibian Experience………. -

Franz E. GertzeDirector

LuandaANGOLA

29 January 2008

Overview of the presentation

Introduction Context of the the Education and Training System

– History

– Globalisation

– Economic demands

– Expectations by the world of work

– Globalisation

– The current situation

Overview of the presentation

NQF Standards Setting Beneficiaries Conclusion

Standards Assessment

Portability

NQFNQFRecognitionArticulation

Unit Standards

Qualification

CapabilitiesSkills

Competencies

Is the recognition of

is the recognition of

Is built up of

Is built up of

Education and Training in Namibia

Historical Perspective

Apartheid and Colonialism

Inequities to access

Emphasis on formal education and training

Uneven quality of education and training


Expectations by the World of Work

Demand driven Competency based outlook Requires labour market mobility Developed inertia to re-training of graduates Flexible and Multi-skilled workforce needed New approach to education and training warranted


Economical Demands

Globalisation

Changes in the world economy

Global competitiveness the order

International Trade Agreements (WTO, NAFTA, EU,

MERCUSUR, SADC)

Investment in Human Capital is imperative


Socio-Political and Demographic DynamicsDifferent Education levels

High levels of Unemployment

Skewed Age distribution

Income disparities

Employment equity and Affirmative Action

Impact of HIV and AIDS


Globalisation Free movement of goods and services including education and

training Affects decisions that have to be made Education and training responded by:

– Differentiation– Privatisation– Consumerism– CBET– Internationalisation– Massification– Review of Quality


The Status Quo Two Ministries for Education Towards Education for All

Access, Equity, Quality, Democracy and LLL Funding = 25% of National Budget Strategic Alignment to: Vision 2030, NDPII World Bank Study: Human Capital Dev. And

Knowledge mgt ETSIP


Other Challenges

Too many role players (NCHE, NEAC, NTA…..) No nationally agreed nomenclature for qualifications No validation for courses developed, delivered and

certified No source of public information on recognised

qualifications No structured involvement of stakeholders E-learning Mushrooming of providers

NQA Mandate

The Objects of the NQA are to:-a. Set up and administer a NQF;

b. Be a forum for matters pertaining to quals;

c. set up occupational standards for any occupation or position in any career structure

d. Set the curriculum standards required for achieving the occupational standards;

e. Promote the development of, and to analyse benchmarks of acceptable performance norms for any occupation, job or position;

NQA Mandate

f. Accredit persons, institutions and organisation providing education and courses of instruction or training of meeting certain requirements;

g. Evaluate and recognise (certify) competencies learnt outside formal education;

h. Establish facilities for the collection and dissemination of information wrt qualifications;

i. Enquire whether qualifications meet national standards;

j. Advise on matters pertaining to qualifications.

NQA Accountability

A body established by the Namibia Qualifications Authority Act ( Act 29 of 1996)

Governed by a Council of 36 members from key stakeholder areas

Serviced by a Secretariat

Advise Minister on matters pertaining to quals

The National Qualifications Framework

Principles of the NQF

* Relevance * Integration

* Credibility * Coherence

* Flexibility * Standards

* Access * Legitimacy

* Life long Learning * Portability

* Articulation and Progression

THE NQF

A national system for organising qualifications in a way that makes qualifications easy to understand and compare.

A register of all relevant, legal and quality assured qualifications.

System that gives consistency and clarity to the way qualifications are expressed.

The NQF

Make-up of the NQF

The NQF has three distinct types of ‘awards’:1. ‘Portal’ or whole qualifications - components of a qualification are

not separately registered on the NQF

2. Credit-accumulation qualificationsThe components of a qualification are separately registered on the NQF and can be separately awarded. Once specified components have been accumulated, the qualification may be issued.

3. Registered qualification components – unit standardsThe separately registered components that can be used to meet the requirements of credit-accumulation qualifications

The NQF is based on outcomes – what people

know and can do after learning.

Ability is more than time spent learning.

The NQF LevelsThe NQF reflects TEN levels of qualification complexity, each level described by a series of descriptor statements that reflect this complexity (not years of study)

The NQF Levels are descriptive and not prescriptive- qualifications (and courses) may not cover everything described for a particular Level – but must be clearly aligned with a Level

The NQF Levels are cumulative

The descriptor statements provide a broad framework from which specific and contextualised outcomes of learning may be derived

The NQF Levels

Cognitive ability – and context

Technical/scholastic skills – in context

Responsibility for actions

Accountability for own and others actions

NQF Level Descriptors10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Creation ofnew knowledge

through scholarship

andresearch

Recall of narrow rangeof existing knowledge

Analysis and application of

focussed specialistand theoretical

knowledge

Application of knowledge and skillsin and to

familiar situations

Application of existing knowledge

and skills to create or expand,

often in completely abstract situations

Application invariable routine or

non-standard, non routinesituations

OftenInnovative solutions

Self initiatedand directed

Closely supervised

“Loose” guidance

Responsible for managing

others

Accountablefor self

and others

Others are accountable for actions

and outputs

Qualifications of the NQF

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

CERTIFICATES

DIPLOMAS

Bachelor Degree

Bachelor Honours

Masters Degree

Doctoral Degree

Professional Bachelor

Differentiating Qualification Types

Degrees require minimums of 720 hours of learningeffort associated with learning outcomes/abilitiesat or above NQF Level 7

– in some cases, all effort must be at the level the degree is registered.

Honours and Prof Bachelor require at least 1200hours at Level 8 complexity

Masters requires at least 2400 hours at Level 9 complexityand requires considerable evidence through research result

Standards Setting

CurriculumDevelopment

Accreditation

NQA NTA/NHEC NQA NTA PROVIDERS NQA/NHEC NQA NEACB/PROVIDERS NHEC/NEACB NEACB/NTA/PROVIDERS

RegistrationAnd

Licensing EducationTraining

AndSkills Development

Assessment

Moderation

Certification

Recognition and

ValidationNational Qualifications Framework

Unit standards

Components of qualifications, each representing a significant

available to be formally awarded

Their award can be certificated and/or listed

Separately registered on the NQF to make them

separately from the qualification

on the Record of Learning for that recipient

outcome of learning or workplace competency

The NQF and Unit Standards

Responsibility of industry or profession Developing unit standards is an activity that

sits firmly as a responsibility of the industry or profession that requires national benchmarks for certification. The NQA is able to assist through the provision of technical advice and guidance – but it does not have the subject matter expertise to set national standards on behalf of different sectors.

Anatomy of National Standards

National standards, what are they?– National standards are nationally applied statements

of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and special attributes required and combined through underlying understanding to carry out the roles or sets of tasks in a particular occupation and the criterion to be used to determine the achievement at a specified minimum level of performance.

Policy on the the Setting of Standards for qualifications in Namibia

Anatomy of Standards (cont)

What is a standard?

“….a measure, devised by general consent, as a basis for comparison against against which judgements might be made as to the levels of acceptability….”

Anatomy of standards (cont)

Steps in Setting Standards Standards are set by a National Standards Setting

Body normally appointed by the NQA Council and in concurrence with the Ministers of Education

Six critical interest groups are represented on each NSSB

SGB’s provide expertise Techniques Employable in Stds Setting

Anatomy of standards (cont)

Critical interest groups are– Employers

– Employees

– Education and Training Providers

– Professional Bodies

– Lobby Groups

– NQA

– Government Representatives

Anatomy of Standards

Uses of Standards

Human Resource Interventions Performance Management Systems (PMS) Training Curriculum Development – CBET Assessment / Moderation Labour Market Efficiency Accreditation Validation

Scope for the use of Standards

.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Facilities and Infrastructure

Curriculum DevelopmentCurriculum

Development

Teacher EducationTeacher

Education

Teaching andLearning

Teaching andLearning

AssessmentAssessment

Quality AssuranceQuality Assurance

AccreditationAccreditation

Schools ImprovementProgramme

Schools ImprovementProgramme


Provider Accreditation

Course/ProgrammeAccreditation

AccreditationAccreditation

•Teaching Learning ModelPhilosophy, Techniques, Resources,Transfer Promotion, articulation…

•Purpose•RPL•Selection, Orientation•Assessment and Moderation•Certification

•Bus. Structure•Financial viability•Staffing and development•Ethical stds.•Access and Equity•Assessment•Physical Resources•Admin and student records•etc


Teacher Education

Who benefits from the NQF

Learners

Access for everyone to learning Learning pathways and opportunities for progression for

the previously disadvantaged

Learners develop to their full potential

Quality assured learning

National records of learners achievement*

Who benefits from the NQF

Namibia Means to transform education and training in Namibia -

advances a culture of lifelong learning and a single NQF Provides information for planning for socio-economic

development - ensures Namibia a world class learning system, building block in HRD strategy

The Nation A proud and confident nation able to stay abreast of

change (See the vision statement)

Challenges faced

Interpretations and Perceptions– Definitions for Higher/Tertiary education and training

– Meanings of accreditation / evaluation / audit / assessment / recognition / registration

Elitism and Disengagement– Institutions claim autonomy and academic freedom and

become insular from national HRD programmes

– Leads to disengagement from QA arrangements

Challenges

Uneven capacity and incongruent development

– Quality implementation requires interaction of strategic partners e.g. NQA, NTA, NCHE, MoE.

– Responsiveness to NQA requirements by the institutions

Conflicting priorities– Challenge between quantity and quality

– Funding of Research or Technical training or basic education

Challenges faced

Commercialization and Competition– Results in over-duplication of “soft

programmes”– Cooperation and collaboration is compromised– Competition for funding

Policy formulation – Different interpretation about the scope

Message

Quality is never an accident, it is the product of attitude, intention, skill and effort!

THANK YOU.

Definitions for quality

Numerous definitions by quality Gurus

A. Feienbaum

“An effective system for integrating the quality development, management and improvement efforts of the

various groups in an organisation so as to enable production and service (through put) at the most economical levels which allow for full customer

satisfaction”

K. Ishikawa “Optimisation of product design”


W.E. Demming J.M. Juram: “Fitness of use” P.B. Crosby “conformance to requirements

“Prevention not appraisal”


Prof. David Garvin: Categorised definitions into five approaches

Transcendent approach Innate excellence Rolex, Virgin Airlines, MB,

Manufacturing based Free of errors

User-based Fit for purposes

Product-based Measurable set of characteristics

Value based approach Cost and price

Why make Quality a Priority?

Who needs quality in Education and Training, is it

Learners Providers Employers Governments NQA Employers ………….?

CommunityOthersNQAEmployersGovernmentsProvidersLearner

International Developments

EuropeSorbonne and Bologna Declarations

“The vitality and efficiency of any civilization is measured in the fact by the attraction that its cultural system exerts on other countries. We must ensure that the European system of education acquires in the world a degree of attraction equal to our extraordinary cultural and scientific traditions.”

Bologna Declaration, p.2.

Southern African Development Community

SADCQF

Rationale and Background

2. Historical legacy of members states

All members states are former colonies and are at varying levels of development


SADCQF

Rationale and Background

3. Diverse Education and Training Systems

4. Globalization and Competitiveness

5. Efforts to enhance cooperation and Unification

6. Development of National Qualification Frameworks in member states


SADCQF

Beneficiaries of the SADCQF Member States and the region as a whole National education and training systems and

institutions Students and the society at large Employers The global community


SADCQFBenefits of the SADCQF

Promotion of dialogue and mutual understanding Creation of a wider pool of knowledge, skills,

values and experience in the region Increased access to skilled and knowledgeable

personnel Greater flexibility and mobility of learner and

workers Easy and fair determination of qualification

equivalencies and credit transfers Regulation of cross-border provisioning Streamlining and rationalization of resource

allocation


SADCQFDesign Features

Standardized terminology Eight to Ten levels Credit based Common standards and Procedures Regional database Common quality assurance criteria and procedure

.

Our destiny (destination) is in our hands

RecognizedEFA

Mechanisms for the Recognition of Life Skills

THANK YOU!

Key Learning

Quality assurance SOLVE many problems relating to:

Articulation Credit transfer Comparability (public/Private, local/global) Funding Justice Relevance Transparency

Conclusion

The NQF as a social construct must be– Based on Democratic participation– Sustainably resourced– Subjected to intellectual scrutiny

The NQF is a tested and proven means to meaningful Human Capital Development

Provide data for Human Resources planning nationally

Developing a National Qualifications Framework The Namibian Experience………. - Franz E. Gertze...

Documents

Transcript of Developing a National Qualifications Framework The Namibian Experience………. - Franz E. Gertze...