Implementing National Qualifications Frameworks Across Five Continents

Stephanie Matseleng Allais is a Senior Researcher at the Education Policy Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Her research interests include the sociology of education, policy, education and development, curriculum, and political economy of education. Prior to joining Wits University she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Educational Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and before this, she managed and conducted research for the International Labour Organization. She was also the director of the Research and Development unit of Umalusi, the statutory body responsible for the quality assurance of primary, secondary, and vocational education and training in South Africa. She has worked in various parts of the South African education system, including working for a non-governmental organization in distance education, running the education department of a trade union, and teaching. She served on many committees by appointment of Ministers of Education in South Africa, and has been involved in numerous policy processes. She has a PhD in Education Policy from the School of Public and Development Management at Wits University in South Africa.


Michael Young, BA, BSc, MA, PhD (Hon caus), FCGLI is Professor of Education (Emeritus) at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. He is a Sociologist. His recent publications include Bringing Knowledge Back In (Routledge, 2008) and (edited with Hugh Lauder) Educating for the knowledge economy? Critical Perspectives (Routledge, 2012). His research focuses on the role of knowledge in qualifications, and curricula. He has been an adviser/consultant on National Qualifications Frameworks for the ILO, OECD, the ETF, and national organizations in a number of countries including the UK, South Africa, Australia, Slovenia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.