FAQ

The Quality Council for General and Further Education - Umalusi is responsible for setting and monitoring the standards for the basic education qualifications.

At Grade 12 (old Standard 10), there are a number of different qualifications that are at the same level, but may be offered in different ways.

At schools: 

• Senior Certificate amended (SCa) that is revised and continuing for adults;
• The National Senior Certificate (NSC). 

At TVET Colleges:

In 2008 and 2009, there were a number of structural changes to the education and training landscape. 

There are a number of posts on social media sites and reports on websites about "legacy" qualifications, but what exactly are they? 

Qualifications that were developed before 2009, under the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) departments were registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). 

The qualifications were based upon the concept of a Unit Standard (US). 

Are you interested in studying further next year, but can't afford the fees? Have you considered obtaining a bursary to fund your studies? 

The www.careersportal.co.za is a good site to find information on bursaries that are available.

Are you interested in studying in the coming year, but not sure where to apply? Check out www.careersportal.co.za for the universities and colleges that have already opened in June, allowing you to register to study next year. 

The NQF is the National Qualifications Framework, which contains 10 levels of qualifications, and is managed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).  

There are three sub-frameworks of the NQF: 

There has been a lot in the news lately about the QCTO - the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations. 

The QCTO is a Quality Council that falls under the Department of Higher Education and Training. 

The QCTO is responsible for the quality assurance of qualifications that are registered on the Occupational Qualifications Sub-framework (OQSF) of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). That is qualifications that relate to the world of work - mainly occupations and trades, but also may be professional qualifications. 

There are three Quality Councils: 

• The HE QC - the Higher Education Quality Council, which falls under the responsibilities of the Council on Higher Education (CHE);
• UMALUSI - the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training; and
• The QCTO - the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations. 

Above the Menu box on the right hand side, there is a Search box. If you enter the word Helpdesk, the search result will bring up all the posts that begin with the word Helpdesk. 

The Helpdesk posts are under FAQs, and can also be found by clicking Menu and then FAQs, and scrolling down through all the questions. 

Although Employment Equity (EE) and Broad-based Black Empowerment (B-BBEE) are covered by separate laws and have different objectives, there are similarities. 

Both strategies have transformation, economic inclusion, and advancement of those people previously disadvantaged as their overall goal. 

Both implementation strategies require reporting and scoring mechanisms related to people at work, in employment, and both focus on the positions of people who were excluded from full economic activity, and previously therefore - disadvantaged by apartheid laws.