TVET College Qualifications: NC(V) and NATED

1. Presentation to the Select Committee NATIONAL CERTIFICATE VOCATIONAL (NCV) AND NATIONAL ACCREDITED TECHNICAL DIPLOMA (NATED) NC(V) and NATED Qualifications Presentation to the Select Committee on Education and Recreation 12 August 2015

2. Scope of Programme Offerings in TVET Colleges • Anchor offerings (Fiscal funding) • National Certificates (Vocational) Levels 2, 3 and 4 were introduced in 2007 with 19 specialisations across Engineering, Business, Hospitality, Tourism Services, Agriculture, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) • NATED Programmes: N1 – N3 and N4 – N6 (culminating in the National Diploma) with 18/24 months WBE • Additional offerings (various funding sources) • Learnerships (SETA-linked and certified by Quality Council for Trades and Occupations [QCTO]) • Occupationally registered programmes (SETA-linked and certified by QCTO) • Foundational Learning programmes: bridging function (various – not all certified) • Higher Certificates (partnerships with Higher Education Institutions)

3. NC(V): Purpose and Design • The purpose and design of the NC(V) programme is to: • Access and master skills, knowledge, values and attitudes for lifelong learning • Continue horizontal education and training, enter higher education, pursue self-employment or employment opportunities • Aimed primarily at Grade 9 learners who have already decided on a vocational pathway • As a secondary cohort, it helps to strengthen the learning foundations of those who failed or performed very poorly in Matric • 130 Credits per level (360 in total) • Combination of theory and practical – have equal status • Internal continuous assessments have strong focus – both a strength and weakness of the qualification • Annual and supplementary external examinations

4. NC(V) Programme Structure (e.g. Finance, Economics & Accounting)

5. NATED Programmes (pre-dates the NQF) • Purpose: Provision of theoretical foundations for an occupation • Spread: Approximately 150 subjects on offer (but in absolute total close to 1 000) • Structure: • N1 – N3: Not a complete qualification by itself, it requires addition of languages = National Senior Certificate • N4 – N6: combination of college-based learning plus WBE to culminate in a National Diploma • Theoretical focus (reverse provision diluted the value of this programme offering) • Limited internal assessments • External examinations focus

6. Structure and administration of the NATED (N1-N6) programmes • Offered from N1 – N6 but with different focal points: Engineering Studies (ES) predominant at N1 – N3 level whilst Business/Utility Studies (BUS) predominant at N4 – N6 levels • ES – trimesterised and BUS – semesterised • Selected programmes have some practical application incorporated into the curriculum • Both comprise of 4 four subjects per level • Only ES requires Mathematics and Engineering Science • Only BUS requires Business English/Sake Afrikaans

7. Assessment and Certification of NATED Programmes • Pass requirements • Generally, a minimum of 40% is required in all subjects except in Tourism subjects (60% and 70%) • Examination • Examined by National Examinations in the DHET – 5 exam cycles per academic year • Certification • Certificates are issued at each level: N1 – N6 • N1 – N2 are certified by DHET • N3 is certified by the Umalusi • N4 – N6 are certified by DHET (as per delegation from QCTO) • Compulsory WBE required for issue of the National Diploma: 24 months for ES and 18 months for BUS – National N Diploma certified by DHET (as per delegation from QCTO)

8. Implementation challenges: NC(V) • At the system level: • Poor quality of first entrants, including those with Matric • Inappropriate placement of students into vocational specialisations • Bursary allocations that result in wrong motivation to pursue studies in this qualification given the higher programme funding it attracts • Programme is still not widely understood by industry and advocacy is required • At the qualification/programme level: • Three distinct exit levels • Pass requirements: 7/7 subjects plus 50% achievement per subject • Demands of practical learning – resource intensive • External examinations: November supplementary is difficult to administer in short timeframes • Mode of delivery is not suitable for employed learners and therefore not attractive to industry • No Engineering Science included other than a specific elective making articulation problematic

9. Implementation challenges: NC(V) • At the teaching and learning level: • Poorly qualified lecturers in the various specialisations, specifically in Mathematics • Inadequate infrastructure and teaching resources provided by colleges to meet the curriculum needs • Exposure of students to practical learning is inadequate and poorly planned • Poor quality of internal theoretical and practical assessments is set by colleges • Some subjects are very demanding in depth and breadth, and difficult to deliver in the time allocated

10. Implementation Challenges: NATED Programmes • At the systems level • Ambiguously placed among apprenticeships and learnerships in the post NQF era • Outdated curricula and very non-descriptive curriculum statements • Only at the National Diploma is a qualification – N1-N6 at each level and collectively are part qualifications • N2 still widely sought after as entry into an apprenticeship and trade test • At the programme level • Trimester format for N1 – N3 Engineering is impractical and of poor educational value • Very theoretical in nature • Throughput difficult to determine • WBE for the National Diploma not quality assured by the QCTO

11. Implementation Challenges: NATED Programmes • At the teaching and learning level • Taught by lecturers who have themselves come through the system without updating their skills – low ceiling of pedagogical and subject matter expertise • Mainly lecture format used • Very poor capacity to set quality assessment (both internal and external) • Inability of colleges to secure work placements of 18/24 months for all completing students

12. Implementation Challenges: National Examinations and Assessment • Size of the TVET system • 4 million plus subject entries for November examinations cycle • Complexity • Frequency of examinations (especially trimester) does not allow sufficient time to result and register candidates timeously for the new academic period • Consolidation of subject results required across examinations cycles to certificate candidates in the main as the majority of candidates do not complete a programme in the stipulated timeframe • Number of subjects examined per examinations cycle is not sustainable (300 subjects for NC(V) and over 400 subjects for the NATED programmes)

13. Implementation Challenges: National Examinations and Assessment • Demands of the Information Technology (IT) system • Lack of technical and project management capacity at State Information Technology Agency (SITA) • Unstable data which impacts on the integrity of qualifications • Quality of internally set ICASS tasks • Too easy/poor quality leads to unrealistically high ICASS marks which work against a candidate when the ICASS mark is statistically moderated against the external examination mark in the resulting process • Cost • Lecturers paid to mark N2 – N6 and NC(V) Level 4; not sustainable due to increased enrolments • Subjects with very low enrolments not cost-effective • Current low throughput and certification rates do not justify the scale of expenditure for examinations

14. Plans to Address Challenges: NC(V) • Qualification under review by UMALUSI following the report of the Ministerial Task Team • Policy for minimum professional qualifications for college lecturers gazetted in June 2013. Universities are currently developing qualifications for TVET educators for approval by the Council on Higher Education. Parallel capacity development undertaken for lecturers through current (relevant qualifications) and targeted professional support and development • Teaching and Learning Plan is developed to monitor quality improvement and student achievement across the 50 TVET colleges • Work Integrated Learning (WIL) framework and guidelines developed for colleges for implementation in the new year • Partnerships with industry/employers now constituted as part of TVET college Strategic Plans • Revision of guidelines undertaken for bursary disbursement

15. Plans to Address Challenges: NATED • Review of NATED programmes by the QCTO through a modelling exercise using the Financial Management programme • Development of content frameworks for NATED programmes to provide clarity of scope for lecturers and examiners • Reduction in the number of exams conducted per academic cycle to improve teaching and quality of papers • Lecturers required to be placed in the workplace on a 2-year cycle to improve their occupationally directed competencies • Enforcement of the strict conduct of internal assessment standards through application of the ICASS guidelines • Focus on lecturer pedagogical competencies through the development of individual professional development plans

16. Plans to address challenges: National Examinations and Assessment • Review of qualifications vis-à-vis exit levels • Review of examinations regime (frequency and marking model) • Development of new examinations IT system (bid awarded; scoping of contract by service provider in progress) • Additional capacity sourced by SITA (Software AG contracted to eliminate NC(V) certification backlog) • Establishment of an examinations and assessment committee per TVET college to monitor, evaluate and support assessment practices, including data integrity and quality assurance of ICASS tasks • Review of conditions of service in lieu of assessment responsibilities to include marking duties • Streamlining/phasing out programmes with low enrolments which do not address scarce skills

17. Thank you Thank You