Press Releases from the Department of Higher Education And Training [DHET]

The Department of Higher Education and Training has issued two press releases over the past two months in which it addresses matters that may be of interest to members. They are:

• Alignment of Setas: A press release issued by DHET on 29 November 2011 reported that the Minister for DHET, Dr Blade Nzimande, had said at a meeting with all the chairpersons of the country's 21 SETAs that `The most urgent task facing the country's Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) at the moment is the finalisation of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) for the 2012/2013 financial year so they may effectively address the critical developmental challenges facing South Africa.’
  
  It goes on to say that Minister Nzimande said that "These SLAs should have very concrete and measurable objectives and goals, as part of the realization of the goals of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III."
  
  The Minister further emphasised the issue of governance in the SETAs, calling on the Chairpersons to also focus their energies on changing the generally negative perceptions the public had of the SETAs. "Improving governance, accountability and accessibility will go a long way towards addressing these negative perceptions," he said.

• Public Comment On National Qualifications Sub-Frameworks: A second press release issued by DHET on 29 December 2011 reports that Minister for Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, has called on members of the public, including affected institutions of higher education and training, to submit comments on the three recently released draft qualifications sub-frameworks for South Africa's national system of qualifications.
  
  The three sub-frameworks were published in Government Gazette number 34883, under general notice (notice number 913 of 2011), on 23 December 2011.
  The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a system for bringing order and coherence into the complex arena of education and training, assisting learners and workers to progress in their educational and career paths, and ensuring that South African qualifications are both relevant and of high quality. The proposed sub-frameworks reflect the qualification types that will be available in general and in further education and training, higher education and occupational education and training respectively. They are meant to articulate or link with one another so that learners are able to make easy transitions from one learning programme to another. Together the sub-frameworks make up the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Copies of the full press release documents as well as Government Gazette 34883 (23 December 2011) are available here.