Unit standards to occupational qualifications

This paper argues that the recent policy reform of occupational qualifications in South Africa is not substantially different from previous qualifications composed of unit standards and learning outcomes. The transition to democracy in the 1990s saw the introduction of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for post-school education. The framework adopted a model similar to competency-based training (CBT), where qualifications used unit standards and learning outcomes as a design template. Many problems ensued; amongst other concerns, researchers demonstrated that unit standards fragment learning by focusing on task performance at the expense of knowledge. Substantial changes were made in 2009, including the introduction of the Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework of the revised NQF. Occupational qualifications are designed using a template to standardise the format of occupational standards and knowledge, practical skills, and work experience modules for the curriculum framework. For policymakers, occupational standards represent broad notions of competence based on occupational practice. The development of an occupational qualification is guided by a template for the process of deriving the curriculum framework from occupational standards. However, my research suggests that occupational qualifications based on occupational standards are further elaborated work tasks that are then used to develop curriculum framework contents, which further entrenches CBT approaches and their associated problems

Business · Curriculum · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Political science · Vocational education · Competency Development and Evaluation · Computer Science · Education Systems and Policy · Engineering · Higher Education Learning Practices · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Mechanical Engineering

• A community for expertise development – South African vocational colleges and their internal and external social characteristics

  Open Access•Naomi Sumangala Alphonsus, Johannes Karl Schmees•Journal of Vocational Education…•2024

  Añadir item

• Global Trends in Local Contexts

  Open Access•Pam Christie•Discourse Studies in the Cultural…•1997

  Añadir item