Dr J.P. Nel, CEO Mentornet (Pty) Ltd

Introduction. On 25 October 2023 I presented suggested curriculums on NQF levels 4, 5, 6 and 7, which I developed upon advisement by Mr Thomas Lata, to stakeholders in our fields of learning. I developed the curriculums in the hope that we could capitalise on the opportunity to review and remove as many flaws and gaps in the legacy qualifications as we possibly could. The curriculums were intended to replace the four qualifications in OD ETD.

Even though 105 Stakeholders attended the TEAM meeting, few participated in the discussions that followed on my presentation. A prominent QCTO manager suggested that I provide them with copies of the gap analysis that I did prior to developing the curriculums. I, unfortunately, did not prepare a written report because I did the gap analysis for my own purposes – to develop the suggested curriculums. Besides, I would have charged a consultancy fee for the report because just analysing the existing curriculums and writing a gap analysis report would have been a massive task. It took me almost two years just to develop the suggested curriculums.

The skills programmes. At the end of June 2024, after the qualifications on NQF Levels 5, 6 and 7 were registered, stakeholders in occupational learning at last woke up to the reality that, with the legacy qualifications and their unit standards being scrapped, many were left with nothing to offer the community and their clients. In all fairness I need to admit that the QCTO warned us that this would happen four years ago already.

At least we are allowed to develop and registered skills programmes to replace the unit standards for which there is still a need. It is while developing the curriculums, alignment matrixes, and learning materials that I realised that a gap analysis is, once again, called for. This time I made notes and wrote the report. Here it is.

Generally applicable gaps

1. The qualifications on levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 do not form a logical system. Lower-level qualifications do not serve as a foundation for learning on higher levels.
2. Despite assurances to the contrary the Knowledge Modules, Practical Skill Modules and Work Experience Modules do not always support one another.
3. The curriculums that are registered are not the same as the comprehensive curriculums that were developed with the assistance of CEPs during scoping sessions. One gets the idea that the modules and assessment criteria were changed after the curriculums were approved by the CEPs.
4. Some fields of learning, which received good attention in the legacy qualifications, received only limited attention or nothing at all in the new occupational qualifications. They should have been included as separate skills programmes with Knowledge Modules, Practical Skill Modules, and Workplace Experience Modules. The following are examples of this:
   1. Leadership in the quality assurance of learning and development.
   1. Conducting qualitative research and preparing research reports.
   1. Entrepreneurship.
   1. Oral and written communication skills.
   1. Managing assessment of learner performance.
   1. Assisting learners to manage their learning experiences.
5. Differentiating between “theoretical” knowledge, captured in Knowledge Modules, and “Applied Knowledge”, Captured in Practical Skill Modules is a fallacy. There is no such thing as knowledge that cannot be applied.
6. The format of Associated Assessment Criteria is not consistently the same. Here is an example:
   1. Level 5: Learning priorities are established by means of a structured and valid process within the contextual requirements. (Statement of fact. This is the format that was used in the CEP approved curriculums.)
   1. Level 6: Apply principles of team leadership and management in learning and development context. (Starts with a verb.)
   1. Level 7: Analyse and interpret various legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks governing skills development are in terms of their application for compliance purposes. (A mixture of the formats used on levels 5 and 6. Perhaps the same as on level 5, depending how one interprets the meaning of the sentence.)

97154 Occupational Certificate: Occupational Trainer, NQF Level 4

1. This qualification should be replaced in its entirety. It is an eclectic mixture of thumb-suck topics that do not focus on the achievement of any particular purpose.

101321 Occupational Certificate: Training and Development Practitioner, NQF Level 5

1. Workplace learning and work-based learning could have been treated as one field of learning. This would have eliminated the confusion between the Knowledge Modules, Practical Skill Modules and Work Experience Modules.
2. It is important to remember that Knowledge Modules serve as the foundation for progression from practical competence to foundational competence while Practical Skills Modules serve as the foundation for progression from foundational competence to Work Experience Modules (reflexive competence). Therefore, and to avoid confusion, Knowledge Modules should be paired up with Practical Skill Modules. Work Experience Modules are used to gain a measure of reflexive competence, and they can sometimes be integrated. Therefore, there should be the same number of Practical Skill Modules as Knowledge Modules, but there need not be the same number of Work Experience Modules. Let’s look at the situation with the current curriculum as opposed to what would have been a better arrangement:

The arrangement in the current curriculum (wrong).

Knowledge Modules	Practical Skill Modules	Work Experience Modules
01 The statutory learning and development environment.	01 Manage and coordinate logistics, facilities and financial resources.	01 Conduct learning and development management practices.
02 Learning and development management functions.	02 Plan, conduct and report on a learning and development needs analysis.	02 Conduct skills development facilitation processes as required for mandatory grant payments.
03 Organisational Learning and development needs analysis.	03 Plan the delivery of an occupational learning intervention.	03 Conduct learning and development planning and implementation processes.
04 Facilitation of learning in an occupational context.	04 Facilitate different methodologies, training styles and techniques within an occupational learning context.	04 Facilitate an occupational learning session.
05 Assessment principles and practices.	05 Facilitate experiential work-based learning.	05 Facilitate a work-based learning and development process.
06 Workplace learning and development planning, evaluation and reporting.	06 Plan and conduct the assessment of learner competencies.	06 Conduct assessments of learner competence.
07 Work-based learning.	07 Evaluate the impact of learning within an occupational context.	07 Conduct an evaluation of the impact of learning within an occupational context.

The following arrangement would have been less confusing, even though the anomalies in the definition of the modules become clear.

Knowledge Modules	Practical Skill Modules	Work Experience Modules
01 The statutory learning and development environment.	“Statutory” refers to legislation and the impact of legislation. It is not clear where this fits in with any of the Practical skill Modules or Work Experience Modules.
02 Learning and development management functions.	01 Manage and coordinate logistics, facilities and financial resources.	01 Conduct learning and development management practices.
03 Organisational Learning and development needs analysis.	02 Plan, conduct and report on a learning and development needs analysis.	02 Conduct skills development facilitation processes as required for mandatory grant payments.
04 Facilitation of learning in an occupational context.	04 Facilitate different methodologies, training styles and techniques within an occupational learning context.	04 Facilitate an occupational learning session.
07 Work-based learning.	05 Facilitate experiential work-based learning.	05 Facilitate a work-based learning and development process.
05 Assessment principles and practices.	06 Plan and conduct the assessment of learner competencies.	06 Conduct assessments of learner competence.
06 Workplace learning and development planning, evaluation and reporting.	03 Plan the delivery of an occupational learning intervention.	03 Conduct learning and development planning and implementation processes.
A Knowledge Module dealing with quality assurance would have been relevant here.	07 Evaluate the impact of learning within an occupational context.	07 Conduct an evaluation of the impact of learning within an occupational context.

121276 Advanced Occupational Certificate: Learning and Development Professional, NQF Level 6

1. Eight Knowledge Modules are probably too many for one certificate. Ons gets the impression that the developers added everything that they could not fit in on levels 4, 5 and 7 here.
2. The differences between the comprehensive curriculum developed and approved by the CEPs and the curriculum that was registered are vast, especially in terms of content.
3. I could not link Practical Skill Module 02 (Implement strategy for the management of a Work-based learning programme/bursary) with any of the Knowledge Modules or Work Experience Modules.
4. Work Experience Module 02 (Workplace-based learning programme implementation processes) does not fit with any of the Knowledge Modules. This Work Experience Module would have fitted in much better with the modules in the level 5 qualification.
5. As in the case of the level 5 qualification, Knowledge Modules and Practical Skill Modules are not arranged in an orderly sequenced manner.

118774 Advanced Occupational Diploma: Learning and Development Advisor, NQF Level 7

1. 242401-002-00-KM-01, Learning and Development in a Knowledge Economy. This title sounds creative and current. However, it provides no indication of what the learning content of the module should be. One can, of course, obtain more detail information on the learning content by looking at the exit level outcomes. However, titles are always used in marketing materials, whereas using exit level outcomes in such materials would probably be inefficient.
2. Knowledge Module 01 The first knowledge module covers way too much content for one manual compared to the other knowledge modules. I, therefore, divided it into three manuals, one for each knowledge topic.
3. Practical Skill Modules 1 to 3 do not logically belong with any of the listed Knowledge Modules.
4. Knowledge Module 05 (Career Succession Planning, Recognition of Prior Learning and Talent Management) are not addressed in any of the Work Experience Modules. Work Experience Module 05 links to the recognition of prior learning. One can integrate knowledge and practical learning in Work Experience Modules, but regarding the recognition of prior learning as including career succession planning and talent management is somewhat far-fetched.
5. A second implication of the Practical Skill Modules not being aligned with the Knowledge modules is that it was almost impossible to structure the learning content in such a way that the learning process can be planned and executed systematically. Participants in the scoping processes sometimes suggested Associated Internal Assessment Criteria that do not belong with the Practical Modules where they were suggested; some such criteria imply as many as five or six separate and unrelated practical skills while others belong with additional skills that are not listed. Experts would, for example, suggest one step in a process consisting of six steps but not the other five steps. The facilitator will need to explain all six steps and the learners will need to do the steps that were not listed first before doing the one that was listed. Unfortunately, this cannot be supported by examples in the registered curriculum, seeing that it refers to the curriculum that was approved by the CEPs.

Close. In closing, the registered curriculums are better than the elaborate ones generated and approved by the CEPs. Unfortunately, some valuable knowledge and skills are now not addressed. Apart from rendering the learning being provided less effective, it also makes it difficult to align and registered Skills Programmes. One would, for example, have preferred to register three Skills Programmes dealing with assessment, namely Conducting assessment (the old US115753), Design and develop assessment (the old US115755) and Administration of Assessment (which was included in the old US123393 even though it justified and still justifies being a separate Skills Programme).

The most important flaw in the current curriculums is that the qualifications on levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 do not represent a smooth and progressive growth path. During the TEAM meeting on 25 October last year, the ETDP SETA, as the QDP, (Mr Maswazi Tshabalala) promised that the NQF Level 5 qualification would be reviewed this year and that the ETDP SETA would negotiate with the developer of the level 4 qualification to have it transferred to the ETDP SETA, where it belongs. It is already August, and nothing has been done about this problem yet. Furthermore, it would serve no purpose reviewing one or two curriculums only.

All four curriculums should be reviewed as one progressive learning process. I developed four such curriculums in 2022 and 2023 as suggested by Mr Thomas Lata. After the TEAM meeting of 25 October two consultants who attended the meeting asked me by email if they could have copies of the four curriculums. Do they sell the curriculums to the ETDP SETA or QCTO?