Question NW2369 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training
10 September 2018 - NW2369
Mavunda, Mr RT to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training
With reference to the 23 member Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Reference Group which was recently appointed as part of the implementation of Phase 1 of the Recognition of Prior Learning Coordination Policy, to what extent will the work and implementation of the RPL Coordination Policy be underpinned by the findings and recommendations of the 2013 RPL Ministerial Task Team Report?
Reply:
The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Coordination Policy was published on
31 March 2016. The conceptual framework for the RPL policy was the findings and recommendations contained in the Report of the Ministerial Task Team (MTT). The MTT for RPL recommended that RPL must be used for access and credit, and advancement. The RPL policy establishes these as principles of RPL. The establishment of the RPL Reference Group was one of the recommendations of the MTT Report. The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the RPL Reference Group draws from the MTT Report, in aspects such as advising the Minister on how to fund RPL for the public, develop a strategy and implementation plan for the establishment of a coordinating mechanism for RPL, collaborate and support RPL centres, and advise the Minister on the professionalisation of RPL practitioners. The work of the RPL Reference Group is aligned to the ToR set out in the RPL Policy attached as an Annexure.