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Edwin Naidu
THE Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation has presented a comprehensive 6th Parliament Legacy Report on the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) with a clear message for those who will follow.
Although there has been much to celebrate over the past three decades, the Committee said more must be done to strengthen its oversight and legislative functions in the years to come.
Chairperson Nompendulo Mkhatshwa delivered the assessment report on 20 March at Northlink TVET College, Tygerberg Campus, in the Western Cape.
The Portfolio Committee oversees the DHET and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), which has over 120 reporting and non-reporting entities and more than 20 pieces of legislation governing its work from July 2019 to March 2024.
Despite the inadequate time allocated to the Committee and the constant changes in the Parliamentary programme impacting the oversight work, Mkhatshwa said the Committee could interact across the tertiary sector.
Through intervention, the Committee has observed improved stakeholder relations in universities and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) colleges. To its credit, the work done for the readiness for the 2024 academic year contributed to reducing student protests at the beginning of the year.
Mkhatshwa said the Committee welcomes the Department’s plan to develop and implement an integrated information management system for the post-school education and training sector. This will address the wastage observed over the term under review regarding students from multiple funders double-dipping and learners participating in multiple Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs), and enable better planning and use of financial resources.
Elaborating on the success of education under 30 years of democracy, Mkhatshwa said the Committee recalled key achievements and listed critical areas for improvement while providing succinct advice for the team that will form the 7th administration, which will be appointed after the elections on 29 May.
Looking back on the changes in higher education, Mkhatshwa reminded members that in 2004 and 2005, mergers and incorporations were implemented, resulting in 24 universities. This was preceded in 2001 by the merger of 152 Technical Colleges to 50.
In 2009, the Department of Education was split into the Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training. SETAs were migrated from the Department of Labour to DHET in the same year. In 2012, FET colleges (renamed TVETs) were migrated to DHET. By 2015, Adult Education and Training migrated to DHET (established as CET Colleges). The budget for education in 1994 was R193,1 million, rising to R113 billion in 2023, excluding skills levies.
In their recommendations to their successors when they take up their oversight roles in Parliament, Mkhatshwa said the Committee found that the critical challenges include tackling the sector’s slow transformation, which remains a concern, and inadequate policies and procedures to address Gender-Based Violence.
She said in its legacy report that the Committee was concerned about governance and management challenges, including institutions being placed under administration, some more than once.
Mkhatshwa also noted the increase in the use of institutional autonomy to evade public accountability. Another area of concern was the inadequate funding for the higher education, TVET and Community Education Training (CET) sectors, which was alarming, given the need to expand access to education and training.
Furthermore, she said the outstanding audits of some universities, TVET colleges, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), as the Office of the Auditor-General reported, were problematic as they limited Parliament’s ability to scrutinise expenditures and performance.
Other areas of concern, according to Mkhatshwa, were the growing student debt and the disparities in the concessions given by institutions, which are causes for concern. Unpaid student debt since 1994 is estimated at around R16 billion.
Mkhatshwa said the Committee was concerned that the National Skills Fund (NSF)-funded service providers siphoned off skills funds to address poverty, inequality, and unemployment through skills intervention.
Also criticised was the NSF’s lack of communication, consultation, and coordination regarding implementing the student accommodation pilot project at the start of the 2024 academic year, which has brought instability to some institutions.
In its broad range of recommendations, Mkhatshwa said the Committee urged the 7th Parliament to lobby the Standing Committee on Appropriations to consider allocating voted funds to the loan scheme for the missing middle and its sustainability, given that the current funding from the NSF and SETAs can only fund 47% of the missing middle students for a four-year programme, including funding for postgraduate students.
She said the Ministerial Task Team Review on the National Skills Fund has recommended reviewing the Skills Development Act to address governance challenges by appointing the Board as the accounting authority.
Mkhatshwa added that the 7th Parliament should monitor the development and implementation of gender transformation policies, especially GBV&F by TVET colleges and universities. The new committee must also report on the Department’s implementation of the Policy Framework to address Gender-Based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training System.
Furthermore, she noted that the 7th Parliament must monitor developments around the court review of the Independent Assessor Report on UNISA and progress in implementing the Ministerial Task Team Review of UNISA recommendations.
In particular, the committee must monitor Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), placed under administration in September 2022, to ensure that the University does not regress.
The committee was also tasked with following up on the minister’s recommendation to consider appointing an independent assessor to investigate governance challenges at UCT.
Mkhatshwa said the Department’s University Branch should ensure that universities develop processes to prevent employees from doing business with the universities without declaring their interest. There must be a follow-up on implementing the recommendations of the Colloquium on Institutional Autonomy Report.
She said the 7th Parliament must ensure that the Department and the stakeholders (UMALUSI and SITA) maintain a zero percent certification backlog.
The Department should take measures to professionalise the CET sector and ensure that CET colleges play a significant role in the PSET system.
The Committee of the 7th Parliament should ensure that the Department expedites the development of an integrated database for SETAs so that they can have the data of all the beneficiaries of skills development projects.
This database will also assist with detecting beneficiaries who are double-dipping in terms of learnerships and other skills intervention programmes offered by SETAs.
SETAs should improve their regional presence to be more accessible to the public. The Department should take action against SETAs struggling to achieve good audit outcomes, such as the Services SETA.
Mkhatshwa said action must be taken against those employees who resign before the conclusion of their disciplinary hearings. SETAs should blacklist all the service providers that have received funding for skills development projects and are not able to complete the projects or provide evidence that supports the spending on projects.
The Department should follow up with the relevant law enforcement authorities to ensure those implicated in the NSF forensic investigation report are convicted. The NSF should also update the 7th Parliament about the conclusion of disciplinary and other criminal cases against employees involved in the forensic report.
The Department should ensure that all the companies and their directors that are fingered in the forensic report are blacklisted from doing any business with the state.
Mkhatshwa urged NSFAS and the Department to ensure better communication, coordination, and consultation on the student accommodation pilot project. Adequate funding should be allocated to the Department to provide sustainable funding for the loan scheme for the missing middle and postgraduate funding.
INSIDE EDUCATION