Policy Context

The Department of Higher Education and Training recently promulgated the National Skills Development Plan (NSDP 2020 – 2030) which will take effect on 1 April 2020. The MQA is guided by the policies of the Department of Higher Education and Training as well as the National Skills Development Plan. Therefore, any policy changes will be incorporated into the operations, programmes, and activities of the MQA as and when the need arises. The NSDP was derived from the NDP and seeks to ensure that South Africa has adequate, appropriate and high quality skills that contribute towards economic growth, employment creation and social development.

The second strategic priority of the MQA’s strategic plan is to “Improve skills development planning and decision-making through research”. This assists the organisation to achieve the purpose of the National Skills Development Plan which is aimed at improving the skills of the South African workforce.

Research Projects

The MQA research agenda is informed by the MQA’s strategic objective 2 of the MQA strategic plan and annual performance plan. The research agenda aims to lead and collaborate on research projects related to skills development priorities within the MMS. This is done for the purpose of making informed decisions and creating a credible institutional mechanism for skills development planning and research in the sector.

The role of research, thus is to:

• Monitor trends in education and training, nationally and internationally, and promote a learning and development culture in order to support continuous learning and improvement in the MMS;
• Develop a robust and reliable sector Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) framework and institutional capacity in order to make informed planning decisions;
• Build capacity in the sector to support transformation by ensuring dissemination of best practices, models, and research findings;
• Identify and leverage research and skills planning partnerships;
• Provide a central point for the development, interpretation, and communication of the Sector Skills Plan (SSP) and support its implementation through relevant projects and programmes.