Umalusi

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Umalusis presentation to the Education Portfolio
Committee on the 2005/6 Annual Report

• 7 November 2006
• Cape Town

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1. Introduction

• Umalusis 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

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Responsibilities (continued)

• To regulate the relationship between DoE, SAQA,
  other ETQAs, providers and the Council.

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2. Background

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

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3. Umalusis activities 2005 -6

• A new certificate and significance of a
  certificate in Umalusis 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

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Activities (continued)

• Facilitated the uptake of ASECA in the Eastern
  Cape and Ministers 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

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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

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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)

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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 departments branch
  typology)
• Eroding intellectual capacity in the sector and
  role of popular campaigns

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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