SADCQF: annual meeting TCCA 2024

The annual TCCA meeting in Johannesburg gathers representatives of all SADC Member States, SADC Secretariat and ACQF-II experts. The meeting will monitor progress in implementation of the SADCQF Roadmap 2023-2026.

Introduction

SADCQF - new roadmap 2023-2026

The SADCQF is a regional mechanism for comparability and recognition of full qualifications, credit transfer, creation of regional standards and facilitation of quality assurance. It consists of a set of agreed principles, practices, procedures and standardised terminology intended to meet the five purposes of the SADCQF:

Providing a mechanism for comparability and recognition of qualifications in SADC.
Facilitating mutual recognition of qualifications in all member states.
Harmonising qualifications wherever possible.
Promoting the transfer of credits within and among member states and even beyond.
Creating SADC regional standards where appropriate.

In the six years of its implementation, started in 2017, the SADCQF implementation model showed resilience in the face of challenges and resource limitations and was able to deliver tangible contributions on some of the defined purposes. However, after this initial phase of testing and piloting, SADCQF needs capacities to advance on the defined purposes and generate impact.

The TCCA proposed on 11-12 May 2023 a new SADCQF roadmap for the period 2023-2026, in accordance with the recommendations of the Report “Review of implementation and way forward”, which was adopted by the Joint Meeting of ESTI Ministers, held in Malawi, June 2022.

The summary report of the TCCA meeting of 11-12 May 2023 defines the concise roadmap 2023-2026, based on 8 main priorities, related to SADCQF Guidelines and Handbooks, referencing and follow-up actions, new developments related with digitalisation, micro-credentials, common profiles of qualifications, capacity development, cooperation with other RQFs, updates to key SADCQF documents.

To note significant progress in the range of activities and the cooperation of SADCQF with two major regional qualifications frameworks: a) ACQF and b) EQF. This cooperation addressed the following topics and areas:

ACQF: a) support to countries in developing policies and tools related to NQF and connected areas. Countries involved: Angola, D R Congo, Eswatini, Mozambique and Seychelles; b) surveys on RPL and micro-credentials; c) registers of qualifications under the umbrella of ACQF QCP; d) websites of qualifications authorities.
EQF: comparison EQF-SADCQF. Report completed.

When May 09, 2024 09:00 AM to May 10, 2024 04:30 PM (UTC / UTC0)
Where Radisson Blu Sandton, Johannesburg
Contact Name Eduarda Castel-Branco
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Objectives of the meeting

Update information on the state-of-play of development, implementation and review of Member States’ National Qualifications Frameworks and related policies and instruments (e.g. Recognition of Prior Learning, Credit Accumulation and Transfer Policies, digitalisation of NQF functions and registers, communication, and visibility).
Roadmap SADCQF 2023-2026: overview of activities, progress and plans. Discussion and clarification on scope, timelines, and resources.
Overview of cooperation with ACQF-II. Activities and plans with SADC countries. Support to NQFs and related policies. Qualifications and credentials platform – progress report. Micro-credentials – analytical report, inventory, handbook, training workshop. Common profiles of qualifications based on data driven approach – presentation of results and methodological approach. Plan of international workshops 2024.
New development: African Qualifications Network – sustainable home for ACQF and African NQFs and RQFs.
SADCQF-EQF comparison: presentation of the report. Comments, questions, validation.

Detailed Agenda

Day 1 (09 May): 09.00-17.30

Session 1: 09.00-09.30: Opening, welcome remarks. Objectives of TCCA meeting. Introduction of the participants.

Chair: Representative of the Presidency Member State (Angola). SADC Secretariat.

Session 2-1: 09.30-11.15: Member States updates on developments and plans related to NQF and connected policies. Up to 15 min per country. Part I – in alphabetic order: Angola, Botswana, D R Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi.
11.15-11.45: coffee break
Session 2-2: 11.45-13.30: Member States updates on developments and plans related to NQF and connected policies. Up to 15 min per country. Part II: Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
13.30-14.30: lunch break
Session 3: 14.30-15.50: SADCQF – Roadmap 2023-2025. Overview of conducted activities. Areas and outputs for further discussion: TCCA, guidelines, referencing and follow-up actions, interplay of referencing to SADCQF and to ACQF.

Facilitated: Eduarda Castel-Branco

Session 4: 15.50-16.30: New development – African Qualifications Network. Sustainable future for ACQF, and African NQFs and RQFs.

Facilitated: Laurent Ndaywel, DR Congo

Session 5: 16.30-17.30: EQF-SADCQF comparison. Brief presentation. Discussion, validation.

Facilitated: Fiona Ernesta (CEO SQA, Seychelles), Eduarda Castel-Branco (EQF, ACQF-II); SADC Secretariat.

Coffee break

Day 2 (10 May): 09.00-16.30

Agenda:

Session 6: 09.00-09.30: Opening and agenda. Brief recapitulation of main debates and conclusions of day 1.

Chair: Representative of the Presidency Member State (Angola). SADC Secretariat.

Session 7: 09.30-10.15: PoMISA - Micro-credentials project SADC (Erasmus+).

Speaker: James Keevy – JET Education Services

Session 8-1: 10.15-11.00: ACQF-II – progress report first year implementation. Focus on activities with SADC countries.

Facilitator: Eduarda Castel-Branco, ACQF-II coordinator

11.00-11.30: coffee break
Session 8-2: 11.30-13.00: ACQF-II – progress and plans. Focus on new developments: Qualifications and Credentials platform (QCP), micro-credentials, programme of workshops and webinars. RPL Campaign.

Speaker: Eduarda Castel-Branco, ACQF-II coordinator

13.00-14.00: lunch break
Session 9: 14.00-14.45: Common profiles of qualifications – a data driven approach. Presentation of results and visualisation tool.

Speaker: Mauro Pelucchi (online)

Session 10: 14.45-15.30: Digitalisation of NQF processes and tools. Examples: Angola, Eswatini, Botswana, South Africa.
Session 11: 15.30-16.15: SADC – further developments and plans on policies related to SADCQF, e.g. migration, employment, ODL, innovation, sector qualifications. Interplay SADCQF-ACQF-EQF – proposals.

Facilitators: Prof. Raja Sannassee (SADC Secretariat); Eduarda Castel-Branco (ACQF-II)