Older Persons Act, 2006
R 385
Adult Education and Training Act, 2000 (Act No. 52 of 2000)NoticesNational Norms and Standards for Funding Adult Learning Centres (NSF·ALC)Part 13. Funding of Programme Based ABET |
Programme based ABET
| 17. | "Programme-based ABET" will be understood, for the purpose of these NSF-PALC, as a funding approach that involves the actual transfer of funds or spending rights to PALCs on a predictable, uniform, enrolment-driven formula basis, in exchange for the accomplishment of certain "programmes" for educating adults. A funding programme is all the education and training activities that are associated with the achievement of a specific policy objective. This is in distinction to a traditional approach based on direct provisioning of individual goods or human resources to Centres. The total funding will involve most costs incurred by the PALC, including educators even though educators are not employees of the PALC but continue to be employees of the PED. |
Personnel
| 18. | If a PALC is to be a true cost centre and it is to be funded on a per-learner basis, it would presumably have to meet its educator costs out of the transferred funds, either implicitly (through a paper budget that includes educator cost) or explicitly (through an actual monetary budget). Total educator costs would therefore have to rise and fall with some agility as the number of learners increases or decreases. This could be accomplished via increases or decreases in the number of educators or via increases or decreases in the salary mix, by altering the skills and seniority mix of the educators. This is extremely difficult to accomplish from a central location in the system. The natural implication is that the mix of educators at a PALC would have to be managed at PALC level, even if the educators remain employees of the PED. Post allocation would be driven by the funding available, not just at province level but at each PALC, and it would be up to the PALC with planning assistance from the PED, to manage growth or reduction in personnel cost. |
| 19. | Public adult learning centres will be allocated posts according to a post distribution model. The model should take into account various factors such as number of learners, programmes offered at the centre, timeframes for the duration of programmes and skills programmes to be offered. |
Non- Personnel
| 20. | "Funding of programme-based ABET" will be understood, for the purpose of these NSF-ALC, as a funding approach that involves the actual transferof funds or spending rights to public centres on a predictable, uniform, enrolment-driven formula basis, in exchange for the accomplishment of certain curriculum programmes for educating adults. The funding will consist of non-personnel costs such as: |
| (a) | Curriculum offerings in line with credits; |
| (b) | Costs for accessing physical facilities; |
| (c) | Learning Support Materials; and |
| (d) | Learning and teaching aids including equipment for skills programmes. |
| 21. | Priority programmes to be funded will be the following: |
| (a) | Basic Literacy programmes |
| (b) | Skills programmes |
| (c) | Fundamentals (Communication and Numeracy) and |
| (d) | Other priority programmes as determined by the Department of Education. |
| (e) | The proposed funding framework A phased approach |
The proposed funding framework
A phased approach
| 22. | Because of the complex and challenging context of ABET, these NSF-ALC will provide for a phased approach. The phasing in will proceed through a process of certification of public adult learning centres to receive funding on a programme basis. The funding approach will be phased in through a process whereby more and more public adult learning centres become certified to be funded under the programme approach. |
| 23. | By certification of public adult learning centres it is meant that an adult learning centres is deemed capable of managing and accounting for public funds in line with the ABET Act and the Public Finance Management Act. Certification will be granted by Provinces. Conditions for certification will be determined by the Head of Department in consultation with stakeholders. A management checklist will be developed as part of the conditions for certification. |
| 24. | In non-certified adult learning centres, there will be changes in how they are currently provisioned. PEDs must provide paper based budget allocation based on enrolments. In addition, PEDs must ensure that properly set up governance structures are in place and functioning. Financial management systems should be put in place in line with Section 24 of the Act. |
| 25. | A number of public adult learning centres henceforth referred to as certified public adult learning centres will start to be funded on a programme basis. Public adult learning centres will undergo a process of certification as to readiness to receive funding for programmes. Those that are certified will move onto the programme-based approach. Those not certified will receive capacity-building so as to enable them to be certified as soon as possible. Provincial officials should be trained to assist non-certified adult learning centres. |
| 26. | The phasing-in period will thus be driven by the speed at which public adult learning centres can be certified. However, for planning purposes, PEDs must schedule a process whereby all public adult learning centres can expect to be certified by 1 January 2011. At the end of the phasing-in period, the funding norms, and the systems needed to implement them, will cover all public adult learning centres.Each PED must develop a plan to ensure that all existing public adult learning centres are certified by 1 January 2011. The plan must be filed with the Department of Higher Education and Training. It must include the full financial costing and human resource implications of achieving the following goals by the specified date: |
| (a) | Ensure the provision of ABET services to all adults who wish to enrol in adult learning centres to pursue studies up to ABET level 4. |
| (b) | Ensure that all public adult learning centres are certified through the provision of capacity-building. |
| (c) | Ensure that all public adult learning centres are funded as per these norms. |
| (d) | Ensure that ABET staff at PED level and district level have sufficient capacity and have been trained to implement these norms. |
Funding-related improvements in certified public adult learning centres
| 27. | The proposed funding improvements being normed include: |
| (a) | A formula-based approach to funding the certified public centres; |
| (b) | An approach to quality-enhancement performance related to total funding. |
A formula-based approach in certified public adult learning centres
| 28. | Certified public adult learning centres will be funded by the ABET programme in a PED on a formula basts, based on ABET programmes and credits. This will fund learner achievement of credits across all pre-GETC ABET levels (1, 2, and 3) leading to the GETC (ABET level 4). |
| 29. | The formula-based approach will consist of these key elements: |
| (a) | Learner enrolments expressed as full-time equivalents, while considering issues such as level of academic achievement, class size, language barriers, comprehension levels. |
| (b) | The second determinant will be a set of "prices" for the credits. These "prices" will be calculated so as to cover all recurrent costs directly associated with running a high-quality but cost-effective |
| (c) | centre. |
| (d) | The third determinant will be an institutional business plan for the provision of a certain number of credits to a certain level of enrolment in a quality-managed fashion similar to the IQMS developed for schools. |
| (e) | The formula will have a fixed component so as not to disadvantage small centres. |
| (f) | The DoE and the PEDs must, after thorough research, include a factor for rurality into the funding formula for centres. |
| 30. | The enrolment used in the formula, as described in this section, will include only enrolments of learners enrolled on an individual basis, that is, learners not sponsored, and paid for, by a corporate client (public or private, for-profit or non-profit). |
| 31. | Each adult learning centres will be required to produce an annual performance-linked institutional plan. The plan must specify enrolment targets and the total number of credits to be delivered, as well as unit standards to be delivered, for the coming year, as well as medium-term (3 year) goals. The performance-linked institutional business plan will be used to inform the allocation of funds to individual public adult learning centres. |
| 32. | Given that the funding is based on planned enrolment targets for the coming year, each adult learning centres will have a predictable level of funding, at the beginning of the year that will allow it to operate for the year. The enrolment target is not a pre-set, arbitrary target, but one that is sensitive to the normal operating conditions of adult learning centres, and is sensitive to the fact that enrolment in adult learning centres tends to fluctuate during the year. Funding is based on planned enrolment, not actual enrolment. Planned enrolment will be informed by past enrolment. If this planned enrolment is much greater than the actual enrolment, PEDs will provide a report to the Department of Education. |
| 33. | The PED must inform public adult learning centres in advance every 3 rd quarter of the year of the criteria for its quality rating. Adult Learning Centres will be evaluated in the period before the first funding cycle. Using the evaluation procedures, an adult learning centre will be rated on a 4-level scale: "Outstanding," "Meets Expectations," "Satisfies Minimum Expectations," or "Unacceptable." |
| 34. | If a public adult learning centres that has received a "Satisfies Minimum Expectations" rating, has met its enrolment target, and there are reasonable expectations of growth in demand, the adult learning centre's enrolment target and budget could be increased. |
| 35. | The enrolment target, and the means whereby the adult learning centre will attain a "Meeting Expectations" quality rating, together with the budget and educators requested from the PED, will form the core of the institutional business plan that is submitted to and must be approved by the PED. |
| 36. | If an adult learning centres falls below standards in its ability to maintain enrolment during the year, or receives an "Unacceptable" quality rating in its Centre Evaluation, the PED will require that the adult learning centre's business plan does not increase planned enrolment in the following year. An adult learning centre receiving an "Unacceptable" rating will be evaluated the next year, otherwise evaluations will take place every three years. An adult learning centre receiving such a rating will receive capacity development to enable it to improve its rating the next year. If the quality rating remains at "Unacceptable" for one more year, and if there are alternative adult learning centres in the area near the underperforming adult learning centre, then the adult learning centre's business plan must decrease enrolment in accordance to a number determined by the PED as part of the adult learning centres's planning. The process of closing a public adult learning centre will be followed as in section 6 of the Act. |
Approach to quality-enhancement performance incentives
| 37. | The proposed approach contains an incentive for quality improvement, but does not tie performance to funding in any direct way. The incentive consists of enrolment growth. As adult learning centres are evaluated, they will grow in a number of ways. First, their quality will become known, and they will attract more enrolment. Enrolment growth will tend to provide incentives because with payment fixed on a per-learner credit basis, growth in enrolment will allow adult learning centres to take advantage of economies of scale, both in terms of the fixed costs in the adult learning centres but also by increasing class size to more economical levels. On the contrary, poor ones will have their enrolment limited via the approval of their annual plans. |
| 38. | Adult Learning Centre-level quality indicators, to be used in the Centre Evaluation, will focus on: |
| (a) | Trend in learners' achievement of unit standards. |
| (b) | Utilisation of human resources that goes significantly beyond normal or desirable hours per credit and may hence be considered wasteful. |
| (c) | The quality of learners' response to teaching and to the centre's general environment. |
| (d) | The operational characteristics of the centre. |
| 39. | These principles will be made operational to certified public adult learning centres during the phase-in of the implementation of these NSF-ALC. The indicators will be similar to those enunciated in the Policy Document (section 5.6 on Assessment as well as Appendix 2), and will be made part of the Centre Evaluation. |
| 40. | A centre evaluation team will visit each adult learning centre every three years, unless an adult learning centre receives an "Under Review" rating, in which case it will be evaluated again the year following the rating. It would also receive capacity development during the year. An evaluation the following year, rather than three years later, will allow the adult learning centre to shed its negative evaluation as soon as possible. It will also provide an automatic and quick feedback on how well capacity development is working. |
| 41. | Each PALC will be required to inform all learners of its evaluation. The evaluation results will be prominently displayed on a notice board similarly highly visible place in the PALC. |
| 42. | The adult learning centre must be evaluated and rated by the evaluation team prior to the annual general meeting of the centre. |
| 43. | The yearly calendar for the adult learning centre funding cycle during the phase-in period will be as follows: |
|
Months in the yearly PALC cycle |
Actions to be taken |
Entity responsible |
|
At least three months before next cycle starts |
1. Centre Evaluation- rating of adult learning centres 2. Explanation of areas needing improvement 3. Determination of level of enrolment and credits expectation for next cycle |
Centre evaluation team from the PED or through Technical Assistance |
|
At least two months before cycle starts |
1. Centre governing body develops plan 2. Plan is communicated to and negotiated with PED |
Centre governing body with assistance from PED or through Technical Assistance |
|
At least one month before cycle starts |
PED informs adult learning centres regarding plan approval and indicative funding to be received by the centre |
PED |
|
At least one month before cycle starts |
Centre governing body discusses funding from PED at annual general meeting |
Centre governing body
|
|
At least two weeks before cycle begins and quarterly thereafter |
PED transfers funding to centre
|
PED |
|
Continuous |
Technical support on finance, quality improvement, reporting, and other systems issues
|
PED and through Technical Assistance |
|
key to the application of the NSF-ALC |
