Hoping for a national senior certificate for adults? Forget it, there’s no money

The piloting of a new matric certificate for adults and out-of-school youth who did not complete grade 12 has been stymied because of a lack of funding.

Thembisa Futshane, deputy director-general for the CET branch in the department of higher education, said projected funding of R287.3m was needed to implement the National Senior Certificate for Adults (Nasca) for about 10,000 students at 54 pilot community learning centres.

The money is required to fund learning and teaching support materials, employ additional lecturers and support implementation of the qualification. The enrolment of the first cohort of students was to have started this month and the date for the first exams was scheduled for June next year.

Ishmael Mnisi, spokesperson for the department of higher education, confirmed that a notice informing the public that the pilot has been put on hold was expected to be gazetted by Saturday.

He said because the Nasca was a new mandate in the white paper for post-school education and training, “there has unfortunately been no new funding allocated for it”. “The implementation date [for the pilot] will be determined once there is confirmation with the National Treasury for Nasca funding. There has been continuous engagement as it is one of the unfunded mandates of the department.”

Since the Nasca policy was gazetted, the department has been requesting additional funding for implementation, Mnisi said.

“National Treasury has indicated that there is no additional funding and that the department must prioritise from its current budget allocation.” The Nasca, which is intended to replace the Amended Senior Certificate qualification, will provide those completing it with an exit-level qualification and “where possible, access to higher education”.

Futshane said the council advised Nzimande to consider meeting basic education minister Angie Motshekga 'to discuss and harmonise the offering of adult qualifications', including the phasing out of the Amended Senior Certificate and phasing in of the Nasca.

The Nasca will also cater for students under the age of 21, while the Amended Senior Certificate caters for adult learners aged 21 and above.

Matric pupils, on the other hand, write the National Senior Certificate exams, which require them to complete school assessments and exams.

The Nasca qualification was first registered by the South African Qualifications Authority (Saqa) in December 2013. It extended the registration date in July 2018.

Futshane told a parliamentary briefing on June 8 that the editing of the curriculum statements for African languages and Afrikaans still had to be finalised.

She said the chairperson of the Umalusi council, Prof John Volmink, had written to higher education minister Blade Nzimande in September informing him that the implementation of the Nasca “was fraught with serious challenges that could make practical implementation challenging”.

Futshane said the council advised Nzimande to consider meeting basic education minister Angie Motshekga “to discuss and harmonise the offering of adult qualifications”, including the phasing out of the Amended Senior Certificate and phasing in of the Nasca.

Umalusi also asked Nzimande to delay the pilot until the intended curricula for all subjects to be implemented are finalised and quality assured by the body.

“The slow progress of implementation of Nasca is based a lot on the fact that there has been no voted funds or dedicated funds, or any funding from the fiscus for the development and implementation of the Nasca programme.”

She said it has solely depended on donor funding which is project based “and which at the best of times is not guaranteed or provided on a continuous basis”.

“Therefore we need to make bigger strides in ensuring there is voted funds for the further development and finalisation of Nasca. What we are recommending is that we cannot phase out the Amended Senior Certificate until Nasca has fully taken off.”