First call National RPL Conference:
Implementing RPL: Tried-and-tested, tools, templates
Johannesburg, 23– 26 February 2014
The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is pleased to announce the National Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) conference, the theme of which is Implementing RPL: Tried-and-tested, tools, templates. The conference builds on the outcomes of the National RPL Conference: Bridging and expanding existing islands of excellent practice (Kopanong, Johannesburg, 2011) which focused on effective delivery models for RPL, credible quality assurance of RPL, and resourcing RPL.
At the National RPL Conference: Bridging and expanding islands of existing excellent practice, it was clear that a wealth of experience had been gained regarding implementing RPL across the board since 1994. It was also evident that a rich body of research has informed this work. One of the conference outputs was the Resolution and Working Document on RPL. This document outlines what is needed to bridge islands of existing excellent practice towards a national RPL system in South Africa. It gives clear pointers relating to effective delivery and quality assurance of RPL, and resourcing RPL. It also makes a number of recommendations towards addressing barriers affecting systemic development of RPL. It has served as a guide for RPL work following the conference.
After the 2011 conference, the Minister of Higher Education and Training set up a Ministerial RPL Task Team to investigate barriers to systemic development of RPL. SAQA’s democratically elected RPL Reference Group refined National RPL Policy in an attempt to enable effective implementation. SAQA coordinated RPL development in over 20 organisational cases with potential to reach over 200,000 people with work and learning experience across the levels of the NQF. Further RPL development took place under the guidance of a number of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Further Education and Training (FET) institutions, and workplaces.
The National RPL Conference Implementing RPL: Tried-and-tested, tools, templates focuses on sharing approaches, practices, insights, methods, tools, templates and other aspects of RPL. While RPL as a practice has grown since 2011, the present conference seeks to further sector-wide and across-sector development towards a national RPL system.
Purposes of the conference
The purposes of the conference are:
· Sectoral, across-sector, and national coordination of RPL.
· Understanding the revised national Policy for implementation of RPL and national RPL strategy
· Sharing recent RPL policy development processes
· Sharing best RPL practices, effective RPL process models, effective tools and templates, and cutting-edge research findings relating to RPL
· Building quality standards for RPL within and across sectors.
· Sharing models for resourcing RPL
· Demonstrating the use of RPL at all NQF levels including below NQF Level 1
· Navigating specific barriers to RPL and to expansion of the reach of RPL
Conference themes
There will be plenary sessions and breakaways at the conference. Plenaries will include national and international speakers and the testimonies of RPL candidates. There will be three breakaways as follows:
1. Breakaway 1 – Implementation of RPL in General and Further Education and Training, and below NQF Level 1, including RPL for unemployed people: processes, tools, challenges, addressing barriers successfully, and pointers for coordination.
2. Breakaway 2 – Implementation of RPL in Higher Education and Training: processes, tools, challenges, addressing barriers successfully, and pointers for coordination.
3. Breakaway 3 – Implementation of RPL in the workplace, including for unemployed people: processes, tools, challenges, addressing barriers successfully, and pointers for coordination.
Delegates are invited to request additional themes or sub-themes for areas that fall outside these selected topics but are relevant nevertheless for systemic development of RPL. SAQA will consider further suggestions.
Presentations and publications Delegates are invited to submit abstracts for podium and poster presentations (30-minutes and 10-minutes respectively) and mini-workshops (90 minutes), and suggestions for round table discussions. Presenters need to speak to their own work on one hand, and to speak directly to the breakaway themes on the other. Presentation slots will include time for in-depth discussion. The event is a ‘conference-workshop’ in that it has elements of both academic conference, and workshop with practical outcomes. A book of abstracts will be circulated before the conference, and books of papers and other articles will be published after the conference.
Call for abstracts
Delegates interested in presenting at the conference are invited to submit abstracts (300 - 500 words maximum) for publication in the peer-reviewed publication, the National RPL Conference: Implementing RPL – tried-and-tested, tools, templates Book of abstracts. Each abstract must state the conference theme to which it speaks. Please indicate the following on the abstract: presentation title, presenter names and titles, presenter organisational affiliation, presenter contact details (e-mail address, landline, cell-phone), and four key words.
Abstracts must be submitted to the RPL Conference Organising Team using the email , Should you need clarity or other information, please contact Ms Mercy Sondlo at or telephone: (012) 431 – 5138. The closing date for submission of abstracts is Friday 1st August, 2013.
Abstracts will be reviewed by members of the RPL Conference Abstract Committee according to the following criteria: (1) Relevance for the conference theme and breakaways; and (2) Clarity of content, reasoning, and presentation.
Delegates will be notified of the acceptance / non-acceptance of abstracts for inclusion in the conference Book of abstracts by 30th August 2013.
Venue and conference fees
The conference will take place in Gauteng, at a venue to be confirmed. Conference fees have been determined on a cost-recovery basis. The fee for attendance is R1700 per delegate for all four days of the event, or R500 per delegate per day - which includes the conference package plus lunch, morning and afternoon teas each day, and copies of the printed book of abstracts, RPL policy, and conference programme. A dedicated bank account must be used for payments; details will follow soon.
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