Acts Online
GT Shield

National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act 67 of 2008)

Notices

Policy and Criteria for Recognising a Professional Body and Registering of a Professional Designation for the purposes of the National Qualifications Framework Act, Act 67 of 2008 (as amended, September 2020)

3 - 7. Introduction and background

 

3. The South African NQF is a comprehensive system approved by the Minister of Higher Education and Training for the classification, registration, publication and articulation of quality-assured national qualifications. The NQF was established under the SAQA Act (Act 58 of 1995) and continues under the NQF Act (Act 67 of 2008) which came into effect on 1 June 2009.

 

4. The objectives of the NQF are designed to contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the nation at large, including to:
a. create a single, integrated national framework for learning achievements;
b. facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within, education, training and career paths;
c. enhance the quality of education and training; and
d. accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities.

 

5. SAQA is responsible for overseeing the further development and implementation of the NQF, and understands the NQF as a system of communication, co-ordination and collaboration across education, training, development and work. In advancing the NQF objectives, SAQA embraces diversity, environmental sustainability and social justice.

 

6. The NQF is an integrated framework overseen by SAQA and comprising three coordinated Sub-Frameworks, each managed by a Quality Council (QC):
a. Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF) overseen by the Council on Higher Education (CHE);
b. General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-Framework (GFETQSF) overseen by the Quality Council for General and Further Education and Training (Umalusi); and
c. Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework (OQSF) overseen by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

 

7. In terms of Sections 28, 29, 30 and 31, read with paragraphs 13(1)(i)(i), 13(1)(i)(ii) and 13(1)(1) of the NQF Act, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act, a statutory or non-statutory professional body will:
a. co-operate with the relevant QC(s) in respect of qualifications and quality assurance in its occupational field;
b. apply, in the manner prescribed by SAQA, to be recognised as a professional body in terms of the NQF Act; and
c. apply, in the manner prescribed by SAQA, to register a professional designation.