Quality Assurance Practice in RPL Provisioning in Higher Education

The policy and practice of RPL remains a contested §area in the higher education sector. While a growing §body of research on RPL has become available, little §is known about the quality assurance dimensions of §this policy and its current expression in higher §education practice. Accordingly, this study seeks to §provide a comprehensive and detailed portrait of the §manner in which RPL is implemented in the Faculty of §Education at the University of Pretoria. The central §question is does the RPL system that is in place at §this institution meet national and international §requirements for quality and quality assurance? If §not, what are the reasons and how can the faculty §improve its RPL practice? The findings indicate that §a relatively good system of RPL provisioning is in §place in the Faculty of Education, with a few areas §of concern (weaknesses). The major problem is that §this system is not benefiting the majority of people §it was intended for. The system is selective §and exclusionary in nature. The policy and practice of RPL remains a contested §area in the higher education sector. While a growing §body of research on RPL has become available, little §is known about the quality assurance dimensions of §this policy and its current expression in higher §education practice. Accordingly, this study seeks to §provide a comprehensive and detailed portrait of the §manner in which RPL is implemented in the Faculty of §Education at the University of Pretoria. The central §question is does the RPL system that is in place at §this institution meet national and international §requirements for quality and quality assurance? If §not, what are the reasons and how can the faculty §improve its RPL practice? The findings indicate that §a relatively good system of RPL provisioning is in §place in the Faculty of Education, with a few areas §of concern (weaknesses). The major problem is that §this system is not benefiting the majority of people §it was intended for. The system is selective §and exclusionary in nature.