Media briefing on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation for Minister of Higher Education and Training B Nzimande

As the Minister of Higher Education and Training I have been asked by the President to be the coordinating Minister for the outcome on “A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path”. I have been requested to focus on the following outputs:

Output 1: Establish a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning

  • Develop a credible institutional mechanism and systems that provide information and analyses with regard to the supply of and demand for skills, including a career guidance service for the country.

Output 2: Increase access to programmes leading to intermediate and high level learning

  • Provide young people and adults with foundational learning qualifications.
  • Create “second-chance” bridging programmes (leading to a matric equivalent) for the youth who do not hold a senior certificate
  • Provide a range of learning options to meet the demand of those with matric but do not meet requirements for university entrance

Output 3: Increase access to occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas and thereby expand the availability of intermediate level skills (with a special focus on artisan skills)

  • Produce at least 10 000 artisans per annum by 2014

Output 4: Increase access to high level occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas

  • Increase the graduate output in engineering sciences to 15 000 per annum by 2014
  • Increase the graduate output in animal and human health to over 15 000 per annum by 2014
  • Increase the graduate output in natural and physical sciences to 8 000 per annum by 2014
  • Increase the graduate output in teacher education to 12 000 per annum by 2014

Output 5: Research, Development and Innovation in human capital for a growing knowledge economy

  • Increase the output of
    • honours graduates to 20 000 per annum by 2014,
    • research masters to 4 500 per annum by 2014,
    • doctoral graduatesto 1 350 per annum and by 2014
    • post-docs to 100 per annum by 2014
  • Provide increased support to industry-university partnerships
  • Increase investment in research and development, especially in the science, engineering and technology sector.

What are the problems we are addressing?

The challenges we face are huge. Many South African learners are ill-prepared to undertake further learning when they leave school and cannot access post-school education and training opportunities. They are neither well prepared to enter the labour market or be economically active and they are often not aware of the options that may be available to them.

There is approximately three million young people (based on 2007 Community Survey figures) who are not in education or training. Almost two million of these have not completed senior secondary education. There are about 600 000 who have a senior secondary education or equivalent. This is a waste of resource. It is also a social risk for the country. We therefore have to act and assist these young people and equip them with skills for social and economic independence.

Skill deficits and bottlenecks, especially in priority and scarce skills, contribute to the structural constraints to our growth and development path.

Education interventions to rectify skills shortages will require time to implement and take even longer to have an effect, particularly given the large number of young South Africans who do not complete secondary education.We therefore have to find ways to address these challenges sooner, but also in a more sustainable manner.

The proposed new growth path suggests that a radical review of the training system is necessary to address shortfalls in artisanal and technical skills and to ensure effective workplace training on a mass basis.

Our key goals are to

  • Achieve equity in the post-school education system;
  • Restructure the institutional landscape of the post-school education and training system;
  • Achieve diversity in the post-school education system;
  • Sustain and promote research, development and innovation;
  • Produce the graduates needed for social and economic development.

Where are we at with regard to these?

Government alone cannot address this challenge. Indeed it has an important role to play, and it must lead, but it needs to build strong partnerships with stakeholders and social partners to address this challenge.There is a sense of shared commitment and expectation in the sector of making progress toward a skilled and capable workforce to achieve an inclusive growth path.

In September the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) held a skills summit with the participation of the various social partners. The objective of this summit was to engage with social partners with particular emphasis on achievements of the outputs identified in this Outcome.All social partners and key stakeholders have signed a joint declaration at the end of the summit towards achievement of this outcome. This was an important milestone for us. I will soon be engaging with business on details regarding achievement of the targets set in these outputs. Specifically with regard to their role in making workplace accessible to young people

Work is underway in the department however. One of the major areas of focus is with regard to the training of artisans. In a briefing of this nature, it is impossible to outline all the work being done. Iwill give snippets of some of progress made.

In the area of establishing a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning and systems to provide information on the demand and supply of skills

Two implementation forum meetings have been held with the 11 delivery partner departments and provinces on 16 August and 17 September. It was agreed at these implementation forum meetings that the work would be managed via task teams and the DHET is currently setting up the inter-departmental task teams for each of the relevant sub-outputs.The work on the career guidance system and helpline service is well underway with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), and the career helpline service is already fully active and servicing clients. Work on the systems has also commenced with an internal audit of systems and the State Information technology Agency (SITA) has been consulted on the implementation of the GWEA (Government Wide Enterprise Architecture) framework for the Higher Education and Training management information system. The development of the required framework documents has also commenced.

In the area of increasing access to occupationally directed programmes thereby expanding the availability of intermediate level skills, with special focus on artisans

The shortages of artisans and other middle level skills, the challenges related to the training of the intermediate level skills are well documented. Many young people lack workplace training, having gone through theoretical training at colleges; they are unable to qualify for a trade test. For some, through the learnership programmes get over-exposure to workplace training with little theoretical training. As a result they do not pass the trade test, and are weak on the theoretical component of their qualification. In some instances the quality of the training that these young people go through leaves a lot to be desired.

  • I have initiated a process of bringing back the National Technical Education (NATED) programmes – or ‘N’ courses – which had historically formed an integral part of the apprenticeship system, but which had, since the 1980s, become largely stand alone courses without a clear purpose. Experience from the past teaches us that these are of no value if they are not complemented by workplace experience. The engagement with industry is meant to unlock this challenge and ensure that we give young people who enrol for these ‘N’ courses workplace opportunities, to enable them to attain a qualification, and also enter the labour market with ease.
  • A process is also underway to encourage the strengthening of the theoretical aspect of the learnership programmes. These programmes tend to focus on the workplace competencies, and less on the theoretical part of learning. It is for this and other reasons that we are strengthening and supporting the public further education and training (FET) colleges, who have capacity and experience in offering the theoretical component of occupational trades training.
  • The production of artisans is only one part of the occupationally directed programme. The expansion of FET is meant to increase enrolment in other areas to cater for other occupations in the middle level skill stratum.
  • The FET College sector has been identified as the most critical component by government to deal with the skills shortages that continue to inhibit the country’s growth and development.
  • The DHET has already begun to develop a partnership framework to support expansion of the FET college sector.The framework aims to bring industry and other social partners into a partnership and combine and harness resources from the National Skills Fund (NSF), sector education and training authorities (SETAs), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSI) and donors.This framework will be coordinated centrally and be underpinned by a strong focus on the development of sustainable models of delivery and managed growth. The framework is informed by strong support from industry and donors to work collaboratively with the DHET to enhance and sustain the skills pipeline.

Whereas we intentionally are going to revive, support and strengthen public FET colleges, we would also like to see a strong partnership between private and public FET colleges. Private colleges will also be supported if they align with our strategic objectives. The strategic trajectory of the Colleges is that their defining programmes should be defined as:

  • Substantive and either enable the learner to attain a full qualification (such as the NCV) or are offered as part of a national occupational qualification (as part of or complementary to a learnership/ apprenticeship contract)
  • The qualifications must have a relationship to workplace opportunities and enhance employability (and hence should, wherever possible, link to work experience)
  • The programmes must be nationally recognized, have clear articulation and progression arrangements and enable learners to continue learning (through breadth and depth related to the purpose of the programme)

Increase access to programmes leading to intermediate and high level learning

For many young people accessing the programmes that lead to the attainment of middle and/or high level skills is not an option.They have left school before completing a senior certificate. These young people have no alternative pathways to provide them with programmes that will lead to a good quality general and vocational education that will equip them to enter the workplace or follow a learning pathway.

Whereas FET colleges have a significant role to play in this regard, the current capacity will not be able to address this problem. We are strengthening the ABET centres to complement the FET colleges, while we engage with proposals to come up with a more sustainable and comprehensive system to deal with the challenge of those who exit school early.Significant progress has already been made with the Adult Matric programme.

Increasing the production of professionals and other high level skill

In 2009 I appointed a Ministerial Committee for the Review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). I have been advised on theshort, medium and long term needs for student financial aid in order to promote the twin goals of equity of access and providing free undergraduate education to students from working class and poor communities who cannot afford further of higher education.My Department is processing a government response to this advice to table in Cabinet soon.

The Committee identified both initial access to higher education and continuation of studies as two key areas that required attention. As you are aware, the Committee found that the rising cost of higher education and the insufficient allocation of loans to cover the full cost of study for students is a prime reason for many students dropping out of higher education studies. The crisis becomes that of the student burdened with debt but without a qualification. The high cost of higher education makes it almost impossible for students from poor and low-income families to access higher education and persevere with it, without financial aid. Evidence shows that on average, 70% of the families of the higher education drop-outs surveyed were in the category “low-economic status”. Many of the students coming from these families depended on their parents or guardians for financial support to pay their fees and/ supplement what they get from NSFAS to provide for essential living expenses, contributing to higher drop-out rates in HE.

Skills development is a key intervention that should be prioritised if we are to achieve high levels of growth and development. Working with my colleagues in government, Ministers of Science and Technology, Public Enterprises, Economic Development, Trade and Industry and others, we are committed to improve skills level of our citizens. We need to remove the artificial bottlenecks in the skills pipeline and ensure that equity and access for all is achieved.We urge and plead with the citizenry to play their part.

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