6.1 Qualification Structure

SACOL is designated a distance learning institution for teachers that are employed by the provincial department of education. The certificate and diploma courses are offered to teachers who are classified as either 'unqualified' or 'under-qualified'. According to departmental norms a teacher is classified as qualified if they have an M+3 or higher qualification.

Teachers are admitted to the certificate courses (leading to M+2) either if they have a senior certificate qualification and three years of teaching experience or a standard eight and five years of teaching experience. The student can first register for a certificate in education and after taking a one-year programme (consisting of four courses plus Teaching Practice) can qualify for an M+1 qualification. Then the student can register for a two-year Higher Certificate in Education (HCE) to go from M+1 to M+2. Then the person registers for a two-year diploma to go from M+2 to M+3. Appendix Eight gives the full curriculum structure leading to the completion of the Diploma in Education.

Analysis of the curriculum offerings indicates that students registered for the certificate courses study four subjects a year. Those who register for the diploma courses, study between 3 - 5 courses per year. However students indicated that they study up to seven subjects a year. This seems to be a high number of subjects to be studied by distance learning.