A review to be commissioned on SADC Qualifications Framework

Ministers who are responsible for education, training, science, technology and innovation from the member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi, on 17 June to evaluate various initiatives in the sector, including the Southern African Development Community Regional Qualifications Framework (SADCQF).

The ministers will also review the implementation of the region’s 2017 Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology aimed at promoting women’s access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, the SADC said in a statement on 15 June.

The implementation of these and other strategies pertinent to higher education are to be considered under the SADC Protocol on Education and Training and the Protocol on Science, Technology and Innovation.

The SADC has come up with ambitious higher education targets for the 2022-23 period, key among them a review of the qualifications framework and pushing for the operationalisation of the regional bloc’s University of Transformation.

The regional targets are contained in the SADC’s Annual Corporate Plan (ACP) for the 2022-23 financial year, which has been operationalised since April.

The SADC treaty directs that an annual corporate plan has to be formulated which makes it possible to evaluate the implementation of regional policies and programmes.

The SADC Qualifications Framework

The SADC Qualifications Framework (SADCQF) covers higher education and technical and vocational education and training.

In 2018, University World News reported that nine countries were implementing the comprehensive qualifications framework, approved in 2011, which will both facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and ensure the easy movement of students and workers within the bloc’s 16 countries.

The annual report said information provided by member states towards progress on the implementation of the SADCQF had been very slow as a result of the implications of the coronavirus pandemic, including lockdowns.

The report said it is essential for the SADC Qualifications Framework to take into consideration developments in the international higher education sector in respect of learning outcomes and quality assurance.

To achieve that, the SADC secretariat, with the support of the European Training Foundation under the African Qualifications Initiative, will commission a review of the SADCQF.

University of Transformation

In addition, in line with the recommendations of the last meeting of ministers in June last year, the secretariat will support the technical working group tasked with working towards the operationalisation of the SADC University of Transformation in outlining progress so far.

When the ministers met in 2021, they agreed that a regional skills audit should be conducted to pave the way for the establishment of the SADC University of Transformation.

Progress in operationalising the university has been slow, considering that the decision to set up the virtual university originated from a proposal in 2016 by King Mswati III of Swaziland (now Eswatini) when he was the regional bloc’s chairperson.

The SADC University of Transformation is supposed to focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialisation, technology transfer, enterprise development, digital and knowledge economy, to support the SADC industrialisation agenda.

Other focus areas

The SADC’s Annual Corporate Plan (ACP) for 2022-23 also says the relevance and prevalence of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) have been further accentuated by the impact of COVID-19 which has severely hampered continuity of learning in many member states.

It said, in line with the directive of the June 2021 meeting of ministers, with the support of UNESCO, the regional bloc will be commissioning the promulgation of a new SADC ODL Strategic Plan and Implementation Framework.

The report stated that it is a priority to facilitate the signing of the SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Organisation (WISETO) by member states, finalising the draft business plan for the SADC charter on WISETO and development of a roadmap for operationalisation of WISETO.

The targets are in line with Article 14 of the Revised SADC Gender Protocol which calls upon state parties to take special measures to increase the number of girls taking up science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, subjects and ICT at the primary, secondary, tertiary and higher levels.

The SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) was approved in 2017.

According to the charter, the objectives of the SADC WISETO are to develop a SADC database of women in STEM as well as facilitate the establishment of fully functional networks; lobby for more women representation in decision and policy-making bodies and positions relating to STEM and build stronger partnerships between women scientists, engineers, technologists and their communities.

The charter also says some of the functions of SADC WISETO shall be to promote gender mainstreaming in science, engineering, technology and innovation; commission research and studies on key issues relevant to the improvement of women’s participation in STI in the SADC region and organise conferences, seminars and workshops on research and research skills for women and girls in STI and SADC women entrepreneurs.

COVID-19

In addition, it states that a follow-up report on the SADC education response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the second and third phase of the pandemic will be undertaken to gauge the strategic responses of member states in combating the pandemic to ensure learning never stops.

The report said one of the impacts of COVID-19 has been movement restrictions which have normalised the use of technology and virtual meetings.

Although these tools have greatly facilitated business during the pandemic, it has been observed that the quality of exchanges and interaction between and among member states has deteriorated under these virtual modalities.

The usual robust engagement that characterises face-to-face meetings is not always guaranteed, and member states often encounter connectivity problems.

It said member states’ capacity to implement regional programmes and to report on progress remains low, with programming geared towards areas that receive donor funding.

“This approach results in member states and secretariat efforts being directed to areas of donors’ priorities, at the expense of other programmes of regional importance because of inadequate resource allocation,” the report said.

It said key lessons learned in the implementation of the current (2021-22) and past operational plans include that the implications of COVID-19 have been far-reaching, as demonstrated through the findings of a study on the Education Sector Response to COVID-19 which showed that, at the onset of the pandemic, member states did have difficulties in grappling with the impact of the pandemic.

Despite that, the report said the education sector has managed to deliver on a number of outputs, including the Regional Credit Accumulation and Transfer Systems Guidelines, which will facilitate the implementation of the SADCQF, and the Teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework.