Namibia Qualifications Authority

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• Namibia Qualifications Authority
• in Context
• Its Role in the Recognition of Experiential
  Learning.
• Franz E. Gertze
• Director
• 25 June 2007
• PARIS
• France

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Knowledge application is the cutting edge in
Poverty eradication

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Education and Training in Namibia

• ONE Ministry for Education multiple M/O/As
  deliver
• Towards Education for All Access, Equity,
  Quality, Democracy and LLL
• Funding 25 of National Budget
• Aligned to Vision 2030 and NDP 2, MDGs etc
• Strategic plan for improvement and efficiency
  (ETSIP)
• Formal, Non-Formal and In-Formal Provision
• Different modes of delivery
• Public and Private provision

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Education and Training in Namibia

• Globalisation
• Free movement of goods and services including
  education and training and affects decisions that
  have to be made re-skilling required
• Education and training responded by
• Differentiation
• Privatisation
• Consumerism
• CBET
• Internationalisation
• Massification
• Triggered Review of Quality

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Education and Training in Namibia

• Human Resources Development and Knowledge
  Management
• Aspiration of Namibia to improve quality of life
  for her citizens
• Acceleration of economic growth
• Focus on knowledge-based economy
• Knowledge creation and management

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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

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Education and Training in Namibia

• 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

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Education and Training in Namibia

• Socio-Political and Demographic Dynamics
• High levels of Unemployment
• Skewed Age distribution
• Income disparities
• Employment equity and Affirmative Action
• Impact of HIV and AIDS
• Gender-based selection

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Education and Training in Namibia

• Resolutions to address these Challenges
• Establishment of the NQA by Act 29 of 1996
• Develop and Administer the NQF
• Quality Assurance in Education and Training
• Standards Setting
• Assessment, Audit and Accreditation
• Recognition of Prior Learning
• Evaluation of Foreign Qualifications

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The 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

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The NQA mandate

• Accredit persons, institutions and organisation
  providing education and courses of instruction or
  training of meeting certain requirements
• g. Evaluate and recognise competencies learnt
  outside formal education
• h. Establish facilities for the collection and
  dissemination of information with regard to
  qualifications
• i. Enquire whether qualifications meet national
  standards
• j. Advise on matters pertaining to qualifications.

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NQA Vision

• The Namibia Qualifications Authority strives
  towards a proud nation with a (NQF) which allows
  its people to develop to their fullest potential
  without artificial barriers and validly,
  reliably, fairly and equitably recognises peoples
  learning achievements and competencies, no matter
  how, where or when such learning achievements and
  competencies were attained.

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• Who needs Recognition in Education and Training,
  is it
• Learners
• Providers
• Employers
• Governments
• NQA
• Employers
• .?

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The NQF of Namibia

• Increased demand for credentials led to a focus
  on the quality of qualifications
• Credentialing characterized by proliferation of
  certificates
• NQA strives to validate such certificates via the
  National Qualifications Framework (NQF)

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The NQF of Namibia

• NQF
• has ten levels (with level descriptors)
• unifying mechanism
• express value of different qualifications
• enhance acceptance of qualifications
• defines/specifies characteristics of
  qualification types
• makes provision for articulation
• express fields of learning
• provides for a common currency
• facilitate determination of equivalencies

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The NQF of Namibia

• Make-up of the NQF
• The NQF has three distinct types of awards
• Portal or whole qualifications - components of
  a qualification are not separately registered on
  the NQF
• 2. Credit-accumulation qualifications
• The 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
  standards
• The separately registered components that can be
  used to meet the requirements of
  credit-accumulation qualifications

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Standards and the NQF

• An award given through the NQF
• (Unit) standards represent an award, signifying
  that a person has been formally assessed and has
  attained a nationally agreed standard of
  performance. They are registered on the National
  Qualifications Framework (NQF) to enable national
  recording of their being attained. People are
  able to receive national recognition for both
  their whole qualification and what they
  specifically did to receive the qualification.
  Should someone not complete a whole
  qualification, they will gain recognition for the
  outcomes of learning and/or work activities that
  they are able to perform.

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Anatomy of 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.

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Anatomy of Standards

• 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

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Scope for the use of Standards
Curriculum Development
RPL

• .

Accreditation
Trainer/Teacher Education
Assessment
Standards Setting
Facilities and Infrastructure
Teaching and Learning
Quality Assurance
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Anatomy of Standards

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

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Competencies
Qualification
is the recognition of
Standards Assessment Portability NQF Recogniti
on Articulation
Is built up of
Is built up of
Unit Standards
Capabilities Skills
Is the recognition of
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NQF and standards

• Basis of assessment decisions
• standards provide the basis for the design of
  assessment activities and the making of
  assessment decisions. The intended audience are
  informed assessors skilled assessors with
  knowledge, or access to specialist knowledge in
  the subject area being assessed - and candidates
  who have completed relevant learning and who wish
  to self-assess their readiness for formal
  assessment.

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The NQF and Standards

• Responsibility of industry or profession
• Developing 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.

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The NQF and Standards

• National standard setting bodies or steering
  groups
• In most cases, the development of standards will
  be prompted and overseen or managed by a national
  body recognised by the NQA. As well as
  management of standard setting processes each
  national body will ensure that all standards
  developed for their sphere of responsibility
  reflect national requirements and remain fit to
  meet current and future employment trends within
  the sector.

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NQAs Roles
School Polytechnic College of Ed University VTC Pr
ivate institution Company Ministry Parastatal
Community Other nations
Formal and Informal Directed and Self
Directed Present and Prior Currently
competent
Moderation
Reviews
Quality Audits
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Some Challenges

• Power play
• Complexity
• Cost
• Status of Assesors
• High expectations
• Core-slills vs Generic skills

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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

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Who benefits from the NQF

• Workers
• Learning and development paths to enable and
  support life-long learning
• Employers
• Employees will be qualified to world-class
  standards
• Quality assured company programmes
• National records of learners achievement

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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)

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THANK YOU.