Terms of Reference

  1. Purpose
  2. Background
  3. The name of the committee
  4. Specific Terms of Reference
  5. Composition of the Committee
  6. Meetings
  7. Special Meetings
  8. Quorum
  9. Period of establishment
  10. Attendance Register
  11. Attendance at meetings
  12. Funding of the committee activities
  13. Minutes
  14. Accountability of Committee Members
  15. SETA Constitution

1. Purpose

These Terms of Reference are intended to guide the stakeholder of the ETQA & Learnerships committee when executing its activities for advising and overseeing the development and implementation of an Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) & Learnership system for the Services SETA.  The Services SETA Council has ratified these Terms of Reference and any deviation from these terms of reference will need approval from the Services SETA Council.

2. Background

The Minister of Labour established the Services SETA in the Government Gazette of 20 March 2000, No. 21012, Vol 417.

The Services SETA comprises of the following chambers and sectors:

  • Management Services Chamber
    Encompassing consulting, public relations, secretarial, project management, property management, associations and quality management SIC codes
  • Business Services Chamber Manager
    Encompassing marketing, labour recruitment and estate agency SIC codes 
  • Commercial & Industrial Services Chamber Manager
    Encompassing postal, cleaning and hiring SIC codes
  • Client Care  Services Chamber Manager
    Encompassing beauty & related services, funeral, hairdressing and commercial services SIC codes

The Services SETA ETQA & Learnerships division and committee must promote the objectives of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and the National Skills Strategy Initiatives for these chambers in the Services sector.

3. The name of the committee

The committee shall be called the ETQA & Learnerships committee

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4. Specific Terms of Reference

The committee shall provide policy advice to the Services SETA on ETQA & Learnerships matters, and oversee the execution of the quality assurance activities identified by the Services SETA.  The committee will also review these policies regularly and implement changes as required.  These activities include, but are not limited to:

  • Providing guidance on the quality assurance of grant disbursements
  • Providing quality assurance advice on the discretionary funds dispersed
  • Setting a mechanism in place to sample the quality assurance of the ETQA & Learnership division
  • The accreditation of constituent providers
  • The registration and accreditation of all assessors
  • The moderation and quality auditing of providers and assessors
  • The certification process and the keeping of learner records.

It is thus imperative that members of the ETQA & Learnership committee are familiar with any legislation which will have an impact on their policy decisions.  This includes:

  • South African Qualifications Act of 1995
  • ETQA Regulations No. R1127
  • Skills Development Act of 1998
  • Skills Development Levies Act of 1999
  • Public Finance Management Act of 1999

Copies of the legislation can be obtained by visiting the following websites:
www.saqa.org.za, www.labour.gov.za and www.serviceseta.org.za

The work which will emanate from this committee should be seen as fundamental to the success of the quality assurance of the entire Services SETA.  ETQA & Learnerships committee members should thus see this committee as a framework within which they can provide expertise and consistent feedback to continuously implement and improve policy relating to the quality assurance of the Services SETA and the Sector as a whole.

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5. Composition of the Committee

The committee shall consist of a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson an Employer (principal and alternate) and an Employee (principal and alternate) member representation from each chamber of the Services SETA.  The Chairperson shall be elected by the members of the ETQA & Learnerships Body, either from among their members or from other sources.  The Secretary shall be the ETQA Manager of the Services SETA.

The committee shall be composed of two stakeholder representatives.  One member should be nominated as the principal member and the other member should be the alternate member.  Members will be capacitated if needed, in order to fulfil their duties with regard to quality assurance.

Additional members, with specific skills, can be co-opted, without voting rights, from each chamber.

The committee will also permit observers to attend meetings provided they notify the secretary, at least a week before the meeting, of their attendance.  Observers will have no voting rights at meetings.

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6. Meetings

    • The ETQA & Learnerships Committee will meet as frequently as necessary in order to complete the tasks at hand.

    • The Chairperson shall have the right to postpone any meeting of the ETQA & Learnerships committee if the business on the agenda appears not to warrant calling such a meeting.  Notice of cancellation of the meeting must then be sent at least one week before the date on which the committee was due to meet.

    • Any person whose presence is required for the purpose of a meeting may be invited by the committee to attend that meeting.

    • All documentation dispatched to members shall be labelled in a manner appropriate to the nature and status of the contents, with the understanding that it is incumbent upon members to ensure that such documentation is dealt with in accordance with that labelling.

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7. Special Meetings

    • Special meetings, of an extraordinary nature which need immediate attention, may be called at the discretion of the Chairperson, or at the substantiated request of not less than one third of the members, in which event the meeting will be held at a time and place determined by the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the receipt of such a request.
    • In such instances, the use of modern technology can be explored in order to handle the matter at hand without a physical meeting transpiring.

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8. Quorum

    • One half of the voting members, excluding the Chairperson, shall form a quorum.
    • When the number of members present at the time and place fixed for the meeting is insufficient to form a quorum, the meeting shall continue, with the proviso that any decisions reached shall be considered to be draft decisions and shall be circulated to the full ETQA & Learnerships committee for further discussion and comment prior to ratification.
    • The Chairperson, when presiding shall not have a deliberative vote, but a casting vote.

9. Period of establishment

Members of the committee will be appointed for a two-year period which will commence January 2004.  Should a vacancy occur on the committee, the secretary will notify the relevant Chamber of the vacancy and request a nomination to fill such vacancy.

10. Attendance Register

Every member present at an ETQA & Learnerships committee meeting shall sign the attendance register which shall be available for that purpose.

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11. Attendance at meetings

Each Principal member would be expected to attend meetings.  In the event that the Principal member is unable to attend a meeting, the Principal member should request that the alternate member attend the meeting as the principal representative.

A Principal member who without prior apology fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings will be reminded of such default in writing and requested to report the reasons for such absence.  A copy of the letter will be forwarded to the Chamber Board for consideration of the membership representing their Chamber.

The ETQA & Learnerships committee reserves the right to dismiss such a member unless there is just cause for the member not attending 3 consecutive meetings.

Reporting by Committee

The Chairperson of the ETQA & Learnerships Committee shall submit a report on the activities of the committee at each SETA council meeting.

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12. Funding of the committee activities

The activities of the committee will be supported financially by the Services SETA.  An attendance fee per meeting will be determined by the SETA financial policy.

13. Minutes

Minutes of each meeting shall be compiled by the Secretary of the committee and submitted for confirmation at the following meeting.  The secretary shall circulate the minutes to members at the same time as the notice convening the next meeting, which shall not be later than 2 weeks prior to the next meeting.

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14. Accountability of Committee Members

  • The committee members of the ETQA & Learnership committee do not have any fiduciary responsibilities in terms of the Public Finance Act No. 1 of 1999.
  • The committee members of the ETQA & Learnerships committee will be expected to abide by a code of ethics as determined by the SETA constitution.
  • The committee members will be considered as being accountable for the quality assurance of the Services SETA.
  • The committee members will be considered as being constituency representatives and therefore accountable to the Chamber they represent

15. SETA Constitution

In the event that matters arise which the ETQA & Learnerships committee terms of reference are unable to satisfy, then the SETA constitution will be referred to.

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