South Africa: Strengthening Responses to Sustainable Development Policy and Legislation

Abstract

A key objective of the newly established South African national qualifications framework (NQF) is to enable the transformation of society, following the demise of apartheid in 1994. Through the South African Constitution, which enshrines the right to a healthy environment for all citizens, and the sustainable utilization of resources for current and future generations (RSA, 1996), South African society adopted a development path that is oriented towards sustainable development. The development and implementation of the NQF (established by the South African Qualifications Authority Act in 1995) has involved various initiatives to design and develop qualifications that respond to the environmental rights and sustainable development clauses of the Constitution and associated national policy. The past 10 years have been an active period for reconceptualizing education and training in South Africa, particularly in the previously neglected1 area of workplacebased learning. New structures were put in place to develop and approve flexible and portable qualifications in unit-standard format, new service delivery structures and mechanisms have been established which allow for flexible forms of programme delivery and new learning programmes have been designed to respond to the outcomes-based, flexible format of the NQF. The NQF has created new opportunities for lifelong learning and new possibilities for those formerly disadvantaged by apartheid exclusionary policies and systems to gain access to education and training, and recognition for their skills and competencies. It has also created the space for new innovative programmes to emerge that respond to emerging issues in society, such as increased environmental degradation, increased health risks and new social and economic challenges. Through 10 years of participation in the structures developing and approving qualifications, establishment of new service delivery mechanisms and learning programmes, we have supported, through various activities and networks, the emergence of an environmental and sustainability education focus within the NQF.