Notice No. 744

20 July 2005

Department of Education

NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY ACT, 1996 (ACT NO. 27 OF 1996) AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT, 1996 (ACT NO. 84 OF 1996)

NATIONAL POLICY REGARDING FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES: APPROVAL OF THE DOCUMENT, THE NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE: A QUALIFICATION AT LEVEL 4 ON THE NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK (NQF)

On 24 May 2005 I, by means of a Government Notice, No 488, published in the Government Gazette Vol.479, No. 27607, called for public comments on the document, Policy for the Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC) Grades 10-12 (General).

The closing date for public comments was 17 June 2005 and sixty (60) comments were received from a variety of stakeholder organisations, national teacher unions, provincial departments of education, individual schools, individuals in their private capacity, statutory bodies, Higher Education South Africa (HESA), Universities, and other organisations and institutions.

All comments and recommendations were scrutinised, considered, and where deemed necessary, the document was amended accordingly.

The major change was the change in the name of the certificate, namely from Policy for the Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC) Grades 10-12 (General), to The National Senior Certificate: A qualification at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

I, Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of Education, hereby, in terms of Sections 3(4)(1) and 7 of the National Education Policy Act, I996 (Act No. 27 of 1996) and Sections 6A and 61 of the South African Schools Act, I996 (Act. No. 84 of 1996), approve the document, Policy for the National Senior Certificate NSC) Grades 10-12 (General), as set out in the Schedule, as national education policy.

Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, MP

Minister of Education