What prospective students should know before they sign up
Terminology related to education in South Africa can often be very confusing, particularly when learners and prospective students need to consider the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and talk of accreditation and registration.
It is, however, very important that prospective students get to grips with the terminology, as not doing so can have serious implications down the line.
Dr Felicity Coughlan, from The Independent Institute of Education, said one of the most important aims of the NQF is to protect the general public from abuse by bogus education providers. By developing an understanding of the NQF, you can make assumptions about registration and accreditation, which makes it all much easier to understand because a qualification that is not registered or accredited is not on the NQF, so it really is your shortcut to working out what is real and what is not.
“South Africa has a register of all qualifications which is managed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), and this register is referred to as the NQF,” she explained.
“We are fortunate in South Africa to have some really strict rules that educational institutions and training providers have to adhere to, so if you want to study there are a few simple questions to ask to which there are very clear answers. If an institution is not clear with you on the answers, the chances are you should be cautious about registering.”
Coughlan says that something can only be called a “qualification” if:
It has a credit value of 120 as a minimum.
It is registered on the NQF with an NQF ID (sometimes called a SAQA ID) number.
“The shortest possible qualification is therefore normally one year as it takes about a year of study to do 120 credits. A degree is normally at least 360 credits and so on. Without these two being in place, what you are studying is considered a short course and not a qualification, so it cannot be called a diploma or degree. So, if a South African institution is offering you a diploma for three weeks of study, it is not legitimate and warning lights should start flashing about that institution.”
Even when an institution does provide an NQF ID, one should still verify it independently by searching for it on www.regqs.saqa.org.za.
“Look up the qualification and check its level and credit value, as well as information about what it covers. You can then compare that information to the marketing material given to you by the training provider to make sure that the promises and reality match.”
