Address by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela, on the occasion of the budget vote of the Department of Higher Education and Training
Honourable Chairperson; Honourable Members;
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Honourable Dr Blade Nzimande;
Members of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology, led by Honourable Chairperson, Mr Philly Mapulane;
Director-General of the Department, Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde; Chairpersons and CEOs of the entities;
Heads of our Post School Organisations and Institutions; Officials of the Department of Higher Education and Training; Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my honour and privilege to join the minister in presenting this Budget Vote of the Department of Higher Education and Training.
In his inauguration speech in May 1994, Nelson Mandela declared that “out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
“Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for glorious life for all.”
These words remind us of the noble commitment that we as a people made 27 years ago at the birth of our democracy. A commitment to usher in a “society of which all humanity will be proud”.
Honourable members, by all accounts, 2020 was a challenging year for the Post School Education System.The Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown continues to impact on teaching and learning at our institutions.
Universities had to move to emergency remote multimodal teaching and learning for much of the 2020 academic year, which had to be extended, with some institutions continuing until March 2021. The goal for the system was to save the academic year and save lives. All institutions have now successfully completed the 2020 academic year.
We supported the implementation of the plans through the allocation of a COVID-19 Responsiveness Grant (CRG) in 2020/21 that was utilised towards teaching, learning and assessment activities. Institutional Plans were aimed at among others, the acquisition of devices for students and staff, the upgrading of Learning Management Systems, ICT hardware, bandwidth, ICT security features, acquisition of appropriate software applications, the distribution of data to students and staff, and the implementation of catch up programmes as students return to campus.
We will continue to monitor the implementation of the COVID-19 PSET response to teaching and learning plans during the 2021 academic year and to support institutions for the 2021 academic year.
We will take every opportunity to learn from our response to the pandemic so that we are able to understand how hybrid and blended learning approaches to teaching and learning can be improved in the PSET sector, so that we intergrate these into the system.
In our effort to strengthen the TVET College sector, we established a Capital Efficiency Grant which was originally focussed on the maintenance of current infrastructure.
In addition to the roll out of the maintenance of TVET Colleges, priority construction of new infrastructure is continuing within a downscaled budget. We are pleased to report that of the 16 sites which we started in 2014, Thabazimbi, Nkandla A, Umzimkhulu, Graaff Reinet, Nongoma, Aliwal north and Bhambanani (Phase 1) have been occupied by their recipient Colleges. Msinga and Kwagqikasi sites are scheduled for completion within this quarter of 2021/22 with Balfour and Ngqungqushe in the 3rd quarter of this year. Greytown is scheduled for completion in the 4th quarter of this financial year.
There are a further 3 sites, which are Vryheid Engineering Campus, Giyani Campus and Nkandla B, which are underway within this financial year.
In addition, there is a cofunded project with Tshwane North and Tshwane South TVET Colleges and the Peoples Republic of China which will commence in the 3rd quarter of this financial year.
In our efforts to strengthen the Community Education and Training Sector, we have appointed all eligible employees in the CET sector who have been on annual contract on permanent employment, with the retention of their conditions of service. We have been working hard to implement the standardisation of pay and benefits for eligible academic staff in CET colleges with effect from 1 May 2021, which will result in equal pay for work of equal nature.
Furthermore, all CET Colleges are implementing the national sector plan as informed by the White Paper PSET and through this, the sector managed to reconfigure the landscape from 3276 learning sites to 1791 in pursuit of quality and efficiency.
We are pleased to report that through the partnership with the MICT SETA, Information and Communications Technology will be introducing 54 pilot centres identified in the CET sector plan, and a commitment of R40 million has been set aside ofr ICT laboratories.
One of the exciting initiatives within the Community Education and Training space is the construction of an agricultural skills centre at Reitz in the Free State.
R60-million has been set aside for this purpose. Over the years, the nature of higher education has changed, students face new and varied challenges in navigating higher education.
To respond to these complexities, we are working with stakeholders in the sector, to develop a student governance framework that will provide a framework for ideal student governance models in the university sector, and that will contribute towards functional and effective student governance in public higher education.
Honourable members, we now understand the challenges we face much better than we did during the inception and the first and second wave of this pandemic. In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, through our agency HIGHER HEALTH, we were able to implement COVID-19 protocols, screening stations, student volunteer programme, within our campuses.
We have directed HIGHER HEALTH to establish a COVID-19 Warrior Campaign, by ensuring that there are over 10 000 student volunteers who have been trained by HIGHER HEALTH, persevere with the advocacy work that they have been conducting across every campus.
We are also proud that HIGHER HEALTH has extended the 24-hour toll free dedicated student helpline to the CETs and we urge students to call the 0800 36 36 36 line for psychosocial support and counselling.
As the honourable members may be aware, sexual harassment and gender based violence on campuses in South Africa remains a social problem requiring greater intervention and support.
To this extent, we established a GBV Technical Task Team to guide the implementation of the DHET Policy Framework to Address Gender-Based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training, that was launched by Minister in July 2020.
Honourable members, these are some of the interventions that we have made over the period under review.
To conclude I wish to share with you the inspirational story of 24-year old South African, Mihle Mvelakubi. Mihle is a qualified bricklaying artisan, who studied at the former TVET College of Cape Town. As a student, he used his skills to open his own engineering company, Mvelakubi Civil Engineering Projects (PTY) LTD.
Today, his company provides bricklaying, tiling, plumbing and paving services. When asked what he hope to achieve, Mihle stated that “…one of their main aims is to create job opportunities in order to lower unemployment, and boost the economy of South Africa.”
One of his proud achievements was representing the South African team in the bricklaying trade at the 2017 World Skills International Competition in Abu Dhabi (UAE), where there was competition with 76 other countries. The story of Mihle is a powerful reminder of what freedom and democracy must mean for each and every young person in our country today.
Thank you.
