“Enhancing the culture of learning and teaching in our schools for better education outcomes and addressing challenges in accessing financial assistance for poor learners in higher education”
Chairperson, honourable members of the National Council of Provinces, ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed an honour to participate in this debate in this esteemed chamber on one of our government’s priority areas and to share with you recent and upcoming developments in the Department of Higher Education and Training.
A few weeks ago, the 2010 registration process which started off the academic year in our universities, universities of technology and colleges was completed. For our fledgling department, there were many lessons to be learnt from this period, particularly relating to the challenges facing students and institutions.
It is clear that there are no quick fixes and that many of these challenges cannot be addressed in the short term. We need to take into account that the system has grown significantly over the past 15 years, especially the intake of black and women students, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. While this is a welcome development, the infrastructure has not expanded in congruence to accommodate this growth.
Honourable members, I am pleased to share with you that we are undertaking a number of measures to ensure that some of the fundamental problems besetting the higher education system are addressed and overcome.
When we conceptualised this department, it was with the vision of a truly comprehensive, and differentiated post-school system, conjoining the education and training sectors. In order to achieve this goal, we need to make far-reaching changes to improve the provision of post-school opportunities for especially the youth but also adults.
For this evolving system to meaningfully contribute to the lives of individuals, to the economy and to broader society, we are striving to ensure that all the work of our department is underscored by addressing five key interrelated issues; HIV and AIDS, disability, class, race and gender.
Chairperson, the primary goal of this administration is to improve access and success for particularly the poor and rural students by moving from a racially elite system to a more inclusive system. Elements of this racial and class defined system include low participation rates, distortions in the shape, size and distribution of access to education and training and quality and inefficiency challenges in the system and its subsystems and in institutions.
While government has made great strides to redress the apartheid legacy, many thousands of young people still bear the brunt of entrenched policies and practices designed to preserve privilege. This obviously has to be changed.
While we worked to achieve a smoother registration period this year, there were a range of problems encountered ranging from financial and academic exclusions to problems with financial aid and accommodation shortages. A task team in my department monitored the 2010 registration process and was mandated to intervene in the event of upheavals on campuses.
Ahead of and during the registration period, we met with student formations and gained valuable insight about problems at institutions and in the sector which causes frustration and dissatisfaction amongst parents and students.
In line with our electoral mandate to ensure that no poor, academically deserving student is excluded from higher education, we also met with Higher Education South Africa (HESA) in January and agreed to work together to address immediate challenges as well as seek long term systemic interventions to ensure greater access particularly for financially needy students. We agreed that high achievers must be assisted to find their way into the education and training system.
At this meeting, HESA confirmed that institutions would implement the instruction from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to allow their beneficiaries to register without having to produce upfront registration fees. This arrangement shifts the burden of payment from financially needy students as the registration fees are covered through an upfront allocation to institutions by NSFAS.
Twenty three universities committed to take advantage of the upfront payment and to expedite the processing of such payments to the NSFAS. Unfortunately, only 12 institutions took up the offer for the 2010 academic year, to the value of R180 million.
Reports of the task team show, and through my own visits to institutions over this period we discovered that there were disparities in the application of the financial aid policy especially that of payment of upfront for needy students. The task team also found that there was lack of communication between various units that are responsible for registration matters; these include Finance, Faculties and Financial Aid Offices.
Officials of the ministry and department went personally to several institutions where there were reports of contraventions of this agreement in order to ensure that academically and financially deserving students were admitted. Our Ministry also intervened on behalf of a number of students from around the country who appealed to our office for help directly or via our dedicated hotlines.
We were happy to note that there were fewer disruptions on campuses this year as compared to previous years. Whilst we understand some of the frustrations of students, we condemn violence and the destruction of property during protests, as was seen at Tshwane University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology and the University of Zululand. We encourage engagement on issues of contention rather than wanton violence which serves no purpose towards resolving disputes.
We are determined to use the knowledge and experience gained during this registration period to ensure that there are better preparations for the 2011 academic year. This includes advance preparations by institutions for registration and ironing out problems relating to financial aid.
Chairperson, the much awaited report of the Ministerial Committee reviewing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme was recently handed over to me. The NSFAS review is aimed an incremental realisation of the right to free education for poor students at undergraduate level and what would be the best methods to achieve this.
My officials and I are currently studying the report and we plan to release the findings next month for public comment. I am confident that based on some of the recommendations of the committee, we will achieve an improved system of financial aid that will allow more poor, academically deserving young people to access higher education and training and also reduce the level of student debt weighing on institutions and students, which currently stands at R2,8billion.
Chairperson, the transformation of higher education, and in particular public higher education, should play a central role in responding to the dual challenges of equity and development. Despite many advances, it is no secret that the higher education landscape still reflects apartheid planning and the disparities between poor and privileged institutions. A departmental task team is now working on a review of the funding formula in order to achieve more parity in higher education. The issue of transformation will also feature high on the agenda of a national higher education stakeholder summit we will be hosting in April.
The summit will for the first time bring together management, the academic community, students, workers and government to interrogate amongst others, issues of student access and success, teaching, learning and curriculum transformation, the academic profession in South Africa, dealing with discrimination, funding and student fees and the place of universities in the post-school education and training system.
It is anticipated that this summit will be a catalyst for locating higher education’s role in national development, gain a common understanding of the meaning of transformation in higher education as well as being a first step towards finalising a social contract between the State and social partners in higher education.
Honourable members, the post-school learning system is dominated by a public perception that opportunities for personal advancement can only be met through access to university. Diversity in post-school options must be increased and vocational colleges promoted as a viable and an attractive alternative.
Linkages between formal vocational education and workplace opportunities must be strengthened. A high quality, integrated and responsive career guidance and information system will support the goals of the Department of Higher Education and Training, in relation to equity, access, success rates and overall development. Our 2010 to 2015 strategic plan and the budget speech will elaborate on how we intend doing this.
We plan to expand further education and training (FET) colleges to be a significant locus of delivery of vocational and continuing education and training with strong links to industry in order to meet critical skill shortages. Expanding and improving capacity at FET colleges is a vital part of the mission to create a comprehensive and differentiated post-school system in which universities and colleges are the key providers of the education and training needs identified in the economic sectoral fora of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). These institutions must produce the knowledge and skills South Africa needs.
Colleges are firmly part of the national post-school education and training system and the department will be working closely with provinces during the transition from a provincial to national competence to put in place a comprehensive suite of programmes and measures to make college learning more attractive.
As announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the funding of FET colleges is shifting from provinces to national government. The equitable share baseline is being adjusted by about R3,4 billion a year to reflect this shift. A new conditional grant is created through which funds will flow to FET colleges.
We will require flexible and sound working relationships between national and provincial government, particularly within MinMec, to ensure that we effectively and smoothly navigate the transition and achieve our common goal to strengthen the college sector and Adult Education and Training.
Chairperson, over the next year, we will be involved in an intensive process to assess and reshape the SETA landscape, address inefficiencies in the system, improve governance, and adopt the national skills development framework. The Department of Higher Education and Training will need to review the extent to which our skills development system contributes to the development of ‘decent work’.
Earlier this week, we launched the Quality Council for Trades and Occupation to recognise and accredit workplace training. This is a major development in our country to improve the quality of our skills development system within the national qualification framework.
We look forward to the support and guidance of this honourable house as well as all tiers of government in helping us build an accessible and successful post school education and training system we can all be proud of.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Higher Education and Training
25 February 2010
