SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL OF EDUCATORS - 2020-2025 STRATEGIC PLAN MID-TERM PROGRESS REPORT - EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTING AUTHORITY STATEMENTS

Oct 19, 2026

South African Council for Educators (SACE) presents a mid-term progress report for its 2020–2025 strategic period, detailing executive and accounting authority statements. The document outlines SACE’s statutory role as a national public entity and self-regulatory body focused on ethical, professional registration and teacher professionalization. It reports registration activity for qualified educators and student teachers, progress toward online registration, safeguarding measures against fraud, qualification verification via SAQA, and support for continuing professional teacher development. It also addresses ongoing ethical oversight and the handling of misconduct cases.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages34

Reading Time1 h 26 min

AccessFree to download

Executive authority statement

Accounting officer / accounting authority statement

Registration and qualification verification

Education 4.0 online registration and ecertification

Continuing professional teacher development

Provider approval and CPTD information system

Code of professional ethics and misconduct cases

South African Council of Educators 2020-2025 STRATEGIC PLAN MID-TERM PROGRESS REPORT EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY STATEMENT The South African Council for Educators (SACE) is a schedule 3A national public entity and professional self-regulatory body that was established in accordance with the SACE Act, no. 31 of 2000 as amended. By upholding ethical and professional standards, it seeks to inspire a respectable teaching profession both inside and outside the classroom. To instil confidence and trust, ensure commitment, respect, and assurance of qualified and beyond reproach members of the teaching profession in South African schools, educators sign an intangible social contract shared with the public, parents, and students through the standards of the teaching profession. SACE has continued to be dedicated to implementing the professional standards and advancing the field of teaching toward teacher professionalization during the 2020– 2025 strategic period. This plan will clearly state the requirements for entry into initial teacher education programs. Through this process, the teaching profession will undergo a fundamental change. Due to the transition of early childhood development from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education, one of SACE's top priorities is to define its specific role in the registration procedure for early childhood development professionals. The organisation is still committed to making sure that the objectives outlined in its Strategic plan for 2020–2025 are fully implemented and achieved. The process of mid-term assessment and review has been crucial in tracking development and identifying major obstacles to our plans. ______________________ Hon. AM Motshekga, MP Executive Authority ACCOUNTING OFFICER / ACCOUNTING AUTHORITY STATEMENT SACE has a legislative mandate to provide for mandatory professional registration that is accompanied by preconditions that certify a prospective registrant as fit-to-practice the teaching profession based on good conduct and authentic qualifications. Accordingly, since 2020/2021 financial year 125 899 fully qualified educators and 41 024 student teachers have been registered after being screened for fitness-to-practice against the South African Police Services (SAPS)’s crime record database and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s National Register of Sexual Offenders. While the verification of qualifications by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) is of utmost importance, it has not moved as Council wished due to inadequate financial resources. Notwithstanding this, it is mandatory that individual registration applicants with foreign qualifications evaluate and verify them with SAQA prior to their professional registration with SACE. In line with the tenets of Education 4.0, a move has been made to develop an online registration system for first-time applicants and those that transition from provisional to full normal registration status. While this effort entailed the institutionalisation of a process of ensuring that educators receive digital registration certificates, teachers and employers are warming up to digitisation process, albeit slowly. Notably, due to the reality of fraud risks that have been identified , internal controls and the human capacity to curb them have since been strengthened. The next two and half years will see the introduction of qualification verification through SAQA, processes of ecertification as well as heightened processes for registering Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners. SACE’s second mandate focuses on the promotion and management of the continuing professional teacher development for practising educators. This programme aims to ensure that educators, as lifelong learners, improve their professional competence and ultimately contribute to the quality of teaching and learning, as well as the learning outcomes. Equally, this programme ensures the ~~o~~

FAQs

What is SACE’s mandate during the 2020–2025 strategic period?

SACE’s mandate focuses on ethical and professional standards, mandatory professional registration, and the advancement of teacher professionalization, including continuing professional teacher development for practising educators.

How does SACE handle educator registration and qualification verification?

Educators are registered after fitness-to-practice screening against official records, with qualification verification by SAQA required, including for applicants with foreign qualifications prior to SACE registration.

What progress is described for online registration and ecertification?

SACE is developing an online registration system for first-time and transitioning applicants, strengthening internal controls due to fraud risks, and planning qualification verification and ecertification over the next two and a half years.

Oct 19, 2026

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