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The Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF)
5 October 2007
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[ Complete Document (563Kb ~ 3 min)]
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The new framework in context
A single qualifications framework for a diverse system
Education White Paper 3, A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education (1997), proposed a single qualifications framework for a single coordinated higher education sector. It has taken time, but this document makes good on that undertaking. It replaces the following policy documents:
A Qualification Structure for Universities in South Africa - NATED Report 116 (99/02)
General Policy for Technikon Instructional Programmes - NATED Report 150 (97/01)
Formal Technikon Instructional Programmes in the RSA - NATED Report 151 (99/01)
Revised Qualifications Framework for Educators in Schooling, in Norms and Standards for Educators (Government Gazette No. 20844, February, 2000). In addition, the Criteria for the Recognition and Evaluation of Qualifications for Employment in Education will be amended to ensure consistency with this policy.
The policy also provides the basis for integrating all higher education qualifications into the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and its structures for standards generation and quality assurance. It improves the coherence of the higher education system and facilitates the articulation of qualifications, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the system and enabling students to move more efficiently over time from one programme to another as they pursue their academic or professional careers.
Public confidence in academic standards of higher education institutions requires public understanding of the achievements represented by higher education qualifications. The qualifications framework is thus designed to be readily understood and to ensure a consistent use of qualification titles and their
designators and qualifiers.
The new qualifications framework establishes common parameters and criteria for qualifications design and facilitates the comparability of qualifications across the system. Within such common parameters programme diversity and innovation are encouraged. Higher education institutions will have ample scope to design educational offerings to realise their different visions, missions and plans and to meet the varying needs of the clients and communities they serve.
The policy thus operates within the context of a single but diverse and differentiated higher education system. It applies to all higher education programmes and qualifications offered in South Africa by public and private institutions.
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[ Complete Document (563Kb ~ 3 min)]
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