27 October 2022

To:      NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH

NURSING EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (NEIs)

ALL STAKEHOLDERS

SUBJECT: POSITION OF SANC ON ARTICULATION FROM LEGACY TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS SUB-FRAMEWORK (HEQSF)-ALIGNED NURSING QUALIFICATIONS

1. PURPOSE

1.1     To share information with the National Department of Health, Provincial Departments of Health, Nursing Education Institutions (NEIs) and other relevant stakeholders on the following:

1.1.1   Process followed by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) in determining the recommendations submitted to the Council on Higher Education (CHE) about articulation pathways for Nurses who trained under legacy qualifications;

1.1.2   Position of the SANC on Communiqué 1 of 2022 issued by the CHE; and

1.1.3   Position of the SANC on Communiqué 10 of 2022 issued by the CHE.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1    Process followed by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) in determining the recommendations submitted to the Council on Higher Education (CHE) on articulation pathways for Nurses who trained under legacy qualifications.

2.1.1    The legacy qualifications offered by the public and private Nursing colleges/schools were arbitrarily assigned on the NQF, based on the institutional type. When the new NQF Act No. 67 of 2008 was implemented, there was a need for alignment of higher educational qualifications nationally which happened between 2011 and 2015.  This includes Nursing qualifications acquired through universities. However, the public and private Nursing colleges/schools were left out of this process because they were not part of Higher Education at that time. This created a challenge for the Nurses who trained under legacy qualifications in terms of articulation to the new HEQSF-aligned Nursing qualifications. The SANC expressed concern about this omission through engagement with the CHE.

2.1.2   It is on the basis that the SANC initiated a gap analysis process to identify the similarities and differences between the legacy and HEQSF-aligned Nursing qualifications. The purpose of the exercise was to determine if there were gaps in learning content and programme outcomes of these Nursing qualifications, and if there were, how the gap would be bridged. The SANC conducted a three-day workshop from 3-5 March 2020. Nursing Education and Training stakeholders were represented at the workshop, namely, Forum of University Nursing Deans of South Africa (FUNDISA); the College Principals and Academic Staff of South Africa (CPASSA) and Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA). The findings of the workshop were to assist the SANC in mapping out articulation pathways for the Nurses who underwent the legacy qualifications.

2.1.3   The proposed recommendations emanating from the workshop on articulation pathways for the Nurses who trained under the legacy qualifications were approved by the Council of the SANC and submitted to the CHE for further consideration. The copy of the recommendations is available on request from the SANC.

2.1.4   A CHE Advisory Task Team was formed to deal with the SANC recommendations about articulation pathways for the Nurses who underwent the legacy qualifications. The SANC was represented at the CHE Advisory Task Team. The task team met several times and finally the CHE Advisory Task Team recommendations were presented to the Higher Education Quality Committee. After approval, the CHE issued Communiqué 1 of 2022.  

NB.     It must be emphasized that Communiqué 1 of 2022 didn’t include articulation pathways for Nurses who underwent the four-year comprehensive Diploma in line with Regulations Relating to the Approval of and the Minimum Requirements for the Education Training of a Nurse (General, Psychiatric and Community) and Midwife leading to Registration (Government Notice Regulation No.425 of February 1985 as amended).

                                                                                                NOR

For Nurses with a Diploma in Nursing with a one-year Midwifery qualification in line with Regulations for the course for the Diploma in Midwifery for registration as a Midwife (Government Notice Regulation No.22 of February 1975 as amended).

This was because the matter was still under discussion.

3. POSITION OF THE SANC ON COMMUNIQUE 1 OF 2022 ISSUED BY THE CHE

3.1       Much as the CHE has replaced Communiqué 1 of 2022 with Communiqué 10 of 2022, for the purpose of this circular, the position of the SANC will be articulated separately for Communiqué 1 and Communiqué 10.

3.2       The SANC is agreeable with the content of Communiqué 1 of 2022 because the SANC participated in the Advisory Task Team and the content of the Communiqué was in line with the SANC recommendations.

4. POSITION OF SANC ON COMMUNIQUÉ 10 OF 2022 ISSUED BY CHE

4.1       The SANC is agreeable with the decisions 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Communiqué 10 of 2022 because it is based on the content of Communiqué 1 of 2022.

4.2   The South African Nursing Council distances itself from the CHE Communiqué 10 of 2022 on articulation pathways (i.e. decisions 5, 6 and 7) as presented for Nurses who have graduated from the four-year comprehensive Diploma course and the General Nurses with one-year Midwifery qualification.

4.3       The SANC was not part of the discussions leading to decision 5, 6 and 7 of Communiqué 10 of 2022 after noticing that the discussions were derailed from the SANC recommendations and were not in the best interest of the Nursing profession.

5. IMPLICATIONS OF DECISIONS 5, 6 AND 7 OF COMMUNIQUÉ 10 OF 2022 ISSUED BY THE CHE

5.1       The larger pool of Registered Nurses who are eligible to access the postgraduate Diploma programmes are those that are affected by decisions 5, 6 and 7 of the CHE Communiqué 10 of 2022.

5.2       There will be a narrow pool of Nurses who are eligible to access postgraduate Diploma programmes directly.

5.3       There is currently an outcry on the shortage of Nurse Specialists and Midwife Specialists in South Africa. Should the Nursing Education Institutions not be able to train adequate Nurse Specialists and Midwife Specialists, it will exacerbate the shortage of this category.

6. WAY FORWARD

6.1     The Council of SANC ordinary meeting held on 22-23 September 2022 resolved that the matter should be escalated to the Executive Authority responsible for Health in South Africa for intervention. Feedback will be provided subsequently.

For further information in respect of this Circular, you are advised to contact Ms M Mzolo, Acting Senior Manager: Provider Affairs at (012) 420 1047 or on e-mail at: mmzolo@sanc.co.za

Yours Sincerely

(Signed)

MS SJ NXUMALO                                                                                                             

ACTING REGISTRAR AND CEO

SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING COUNCIL

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18 October 2022

To:          Nursing Education Institutions

                 Nursing stakeholders

SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING COUNCIL (SANC) EXAMINATION SCHEDULE – 2023

Attached is the Examination Schedule for 2023

Kindly take note of the following requirements applicable to the SANC examinations:

1. The closing date for the examinations should be strictly adhered to and no exceptions or allowances will be made to extend these dates.

2. Only registered learners will be eligible for an examination: The Head of the Nursing Education Institution (NEI) must ensure that all learners are registered with the SANC within the prescribed period. Foreign applicants apply as individuals but will have to adhere to the prescribed period.

3. Candidates will not be registered for an examination with only an identity number. SANC reference numbers are needed in all cases. Please follow up with the SANC Registration Section first, if learners are registered for the course before registering them for an examination.

4. The SANC will only process applications for entry into the South African Nursing Council examination that meet the following requirements:

• The Examination Application Form is completed in full, accurately and signed by the relevant person/s. The surname and given names must be those appearing in the identity document/ passport number.

• All the required documentation to be included.

• There is proof of payment of prescribed examination fees into the SANC bank account, such payment must be done by the NEI (group payment) and not by learners, except for foreign candidates.

Banking details are as follows:

Name of Bank:            First National Bank

Account number:        51425166282 (Current Account)

Branch:                        Corporate Core Banking – Pretoria

Branch code:               210-554

Reference:                  NEI S-number followed by the type of fee code ‘EXAMFEE’

The correct reference must appear on all deposits to expedite the processing of your payment. The code ‘EXAMFEE’ must only be used for payment in respect of examination fee. This code must not be used for any other types of payment. Here is an example of what a correct reference will look like for an NEI with S-number S12345:  S12345EXAMFEE

NB:      The Head of the NEI must ensure that payment of fees by their Provincial Department of Health or Head Office is made separately for each NEI and for each specific examination.

Provincial bulk payments without specifications create administrative challenges and cause a delay in processing of the applications.

5. Only those candidates that have been issued an examination timetable/number will be eligible to write the SANC examination.

6. All practical MARK SHEETS must be submitted to the SANC by registered mail/courier by the end of the month in which the examination is written. If the PRACTICAL MARK SHEETS in a SANC format are not submitted on time, the examination results will be published without the practical marks, hence qualification certificate will not be issued to the affected candidates.

7. The SANC requests invigilators not to enclose the practical mark sheet or any other documents with the examination package.

8. The SANC reserves the right to cancel an examination reflected on the schedule if there are insufficient candidates for such an examination.

9. The SANC requests the NEIs to inform all their candidates of the outcome of the examination results once published. No examination results will be given out telephonically by the office of the SANC. However, candidates will receive results via text messages (SMS).

NB: Examination fees are non-refundable according to Regulations regarding fees and fines payable to the South African Nursing Council (Government Notice No.R.170 of 8 March 2013)

 ___________________________

Ms S.J Nxumalo

Acting Registrar and CEO

The South African Nursing Council

SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING COUNCIL

EXAMINATION SCHEDULE FOR 2023

The following examination will be held during the year 2023 if there are candidates.

For further information, please contact the Assessment Section, South African Nursing Council.

Contact Professional Advisors:

Ms N Ndlovu Telephone 012 420 1078/ gndlovu@sanc.co.za

Ms M Tshabalala Telephone 012 426 9534/ mtshabalala@sanc.co.za

Manager: Assessment Section

Ms E Magagula Telephone 012 426 9596/ emagagula@sanc.co.za

Fax: 012 343-5400

Address Private Bag X132, Pretoria, 0001

Email: exams@sanc.co.za

Final Examination for the Bridging Course for Enrolled Nurses leading to Registration as General Nurse or Psychiatric Nurse

Regulation: R.683 of 14 April 1989 (as amended)

Paper 1 = Integrated General Nursing Science II

OR

Integrated Psychiatric Nursing Science II

Paper 2 = Ethos and Professional Practice (including Ward Administration

And Clinical Teaching) and Social Science II

Professional Entrance Examination for Registration as a Professional Nurse and Midwife

Regulations: R.174 of 08 March 2013

Paper 1 = Comprehensive Nursing care

Paper 2 = Midwifery component

Professional Entrance Examination for Registration as a General Nurse

(Also written by Foreign Nurses as admission examination)

Regulations: R.171 of 08 March 2013

Professional Entrance Examination for Registration as an Auxiliary Nurse (Also written by Foreign Nurses as admission examination)

Regulations: R.169 of 08 March 2013

Admission Examination for Foreign Applicants for Enrolment as a Nurse

• International Nurses should contact the Foreign Registrations Desk, South African Nursing Council for additional information.

Contact: Mr S Shezi- Professional Advisor

Telephone: National:012 420 1040

International: +2712 420 1040

Fax: National: 012 426 9516

International: +2712 426 9516

Address Private Bag X132, Pretoria, 0001

Republic of South Africa

E-mail:foreign@sanc.co.za

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