ATC130927: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training on its oversight visit to Limpopo and Mpumalanga, dated 11 September 2013
Higher Education, Science and Innovation
Report of the Portfolio Committee on
Higher Education and Training on its oversight visit to Limpopo and Mpumalanga,
dated 11 September 2013
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training,
having undertaken an oversight visit to the higher education and training
institutions in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training
undertook an oversight visit to the University of Venda, University of Limpopo
(
Turfloop
Campus), National Institute of Higher
Education (NIHE) Nelspruit and conducted strategic sessions with Further
Education and Training (FET) colleges of Limpopo and Mpumalanga on 22 26 July
2013. This report would firstly,
summarise
all the
presentations made by various institutions during the oversight visit period;
secondly, it would articulate on the observations made by Members of the
Committee during their interaction with the various institutions; thirdly, a
summary of all the observations would be conceptualised; fourthly, key
resolutions made during engagements with the institutions would be outlined
and;
finally recommendations for
consideration and implementation by the Minister would be highlighted at the
end of the report.
2.
Background
In understanding the real challenges faced by the post-school
education and training institutions, the Committee embarked on a fact finding
mission to constructively engage with all FET colleges of Limpopo and Mpumalanga
as well as visiting higher education institutions in Limpopo. The importance of
a well governed and administered post school education and training sector
cannot be over emphasised as data provided conclusive evidence that large
numbers of young people were neither in employment, education nor training.
Regrettably access to training and employment opportunities was still limited
to few. Furthermore, the Green Paper on Post School Education and Training
supports the notion of skilling and empowering young people to participate in
developing the economy of this country.
The terms of reference of the oversight visit was based
on assessment of these post-school education and training institutions on the
following aspects:
·
Governance and
administration,
·
Administration of
the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary,
·
Graduation,
certification, pass and drop-out rates,
·
Partnership with
industries,
·
Student housing,
·
Resulting and
certification,
·
Policy on
Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) and articulation
of
FET colleges and,
·
Success and
challenges.
In addition to the above mentioned key concepts of the
oversight visit, the Committee invited stakeholders such as Councils, Student
Representative Council (SRCs), Labour Unions and Institutional Forums (IF) of
the respective institutions to present their concerns to the Committee.
3.
Composition of the Delegation
3.1.
The Parliamentary delegation
The multi-party delegation of the Portfolio Committee on
Higher Education and Training consisted of: Ms D Chili (ANC), Ms N Gina Whip
(ANC), Adv I
Malale
Chairperson (ANC), Mr S
Makhubele
(ANC), Prof S
Mayatula
(ANC), Mr C
Moni
(ANC), Mr S Radebe (ANC), Dr L
Bosman (DA) Prof
A
Lotriet
(DA), and Mr J
Dikobo
(AZAPO).
Support Staff:
Mr A Kabingesi:
Committee Secretary, Ms M Modiba: Content Adviser, Mr L
Komle
:
Researcher and Mr G
Mankay
: Committee Assistant.
3.2.
University of Venda
Management:
Prof P
Mbati
: Vice-Chancellor, Prof X
Mbhenyane
:
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Dr J
Zaaiman
: Deputy
Vice-Chancellor Operations, Prof A
Nesamvuni
:
Registrar, Prof J
Crafford
: Dean Mathematical &
Natural Science, Prof J
Odiyo
: Dean School of
Environmental Sciences, Prof A
Kadyamatimba
: Dean
School of Science, Dr B
Khoza
: Dean Health Sciences,
Prof P
Mulaudzi
: Dean Education, Prof A
Hansinh
: Dean School of Law, Mr M Ligudu: Acting Deputy
Registrar, Prof A
Olukoga
, Dr N
Nthambeleni
:
Executive Director National Research Foundation, Dr L
Kone
:
Specialist Community Development
Exxaro
, Dr J
Phahlamohlaka
: Competency Area Manager CSIR, Dr C
Hagenmeier
: Director International Relations, Dr G
Ekosse
: Research and Innovation, Dr C Ndebele: Director, Dr
M
Mulaudzi
: Director Library Services, Mr N
Dhumazi
: Director Finance, Prof T
Ngobeli
:
Director Institutional Planning & Quality Assurance, Dr H
Nesane
: Director Facilities Management, Mr L
Tshikudi
: Head Student Governance & Administration, Mr
R
Mulovhedzi
: Senior Helpdesk & Training Support
Officer, Ms R Erasmus: Associate Director Price Waterhouse Coopers and Mr J
Vele
: Director IT services.
Council:
Ms S
Mabusela
: Chairperson, Adv P
Ndou
:
Member and Mr J
Seoka
Member.
Institutional Forum:
Prof P
Mulaudzi
: Representative of Senate, Dr D
Ngobeli
: Representative of Management, Mr M
Lamola
: Academic Representative, Mr R
Mulovedzi
:
Representative of Administration Staff, Mr K
Morwe
:
Lecturer and Dr A
Kutame
: Member of Senate.
Unions:
Mr A
Ntshauba
: National Education and Health Allied Workers
Union (
Nehawu
), Ms E
Masala
:
Secretary Service Staff, Ms F
Mushavhanamani
, Mr A
Mutoti
: Chairperson Service Staff, and Mr A
Dama
: Paralegal
Nehawu
.
Student
Representative Council:
Mr A
Mathelemusa
: President, Mr
M
Mokobodi
: Minister of Education and Mr E
Tshihwilihwili
: Minister of Gender and Disability.
3.3.
FET colleges in Limpopo
Capricorn FET
college:
Mr
K
Madzhie
: Principal, Ms J
Thupane
:
Council Chairperson, Mr T
Matshitisho
: SRC President,
Mr A van der Merwe: Support Chief Financial Officer South African Institute of
Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Mr K
Riba
: Deputy
Principal Academic Services, Mr K
Pochana
: Manager
Curriculum and Mr
Makgalo
: Administration Staff
Representative.
Waterberg FET
college:
Ms
K
Dipela
: Acting Principal, Ms F
Vosser
:
Curriculum Manager, Mr W
Modisha
: Council
Chairperson, Mr S
Maredi
Deputy Chairperson Council
and Ms P
Mahlosana
: Deputy Finance Manager.
Letaba
FET college:
Ms M Botha: Principal, Mr C
Shikwambana
: Lecturer, Mr A
Manganyi
:
Deputy Principal Corporate Services, Ms L Williams: Governance Officer, Mr A
Ludick
: Acting Curriculum Manager, Mr P Makgoba: SRC President
and Mr L
Tukani
: Support CFO (SAICA).
Vhembe FET college:
Mr J
Tshifularo
: Acting Principal, Mr M
Mundalamo
:
Deputy Principal, Mr N
Rendani
: SRC President, Mr N
Dama
: Student Support Manager, Mr B
Hlekane
:
Deputy Principal Academic Services, Mr H
Mbedu
: Union
Representative and Mr T
Nekhwevha
: Union
Representative.
Sekhukhune FET
college:
Mr
T Kekana: Principal, Mr M
Mankgaba
: Lecturer, Ms G
Maja
: Librarian and Mr S
Makgalemele
:
Supply Chain Manager.
Mopani South East FET
college:
Ms
S
Sehlake
: Principal, Mr R
Mashalane
:
SRC President, Ms S
Chinamha
: Site Steward and Mr
A
Le Grange: Support CFO (SAICA).
Lephalale
FET college:
Ms A van
Vuuren
:
Acting Principal and Ms J
Mugwena
: Academic Staff
Representative.
3.4.
University of Limpopo
Management:
Prof M
Mokgalong
: Vice-Chancellor, Prof M
Sibara
:
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof P
Msweli
: Executive Dean
Faculty of Management and Law, Dr D
Mohuba
: Executive
Director Marketing & Communications, Dr M
Ngoepe
:
Director Quality Assurance, Dr J
Mbokazi
: Director
Polokwane Campus, Prof P Mulder: Head Institutional Planning, Dr K
Nhlane
: Acting Registrar, Mr R
Olander
:
Chief Financial Officer, Mr E
Ndlhovu
: Executive
Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr J
Moloto
:
Executive Director Human Resources, Prof M
Rampedi
:
Executive Dean Humanities and Prof H
Siweya
:
Executive Dean Faculty of Science & Agriculture.
Unions:
Mr L
Bopape
: Chairperson
Nehawu
, Mr P
Skosana: Treasurer
Nehawu
, Ms T
Mabokela
:
Deputy Chairperson
Nehawu
and Mr M
Madidimalo
: Secretary
Nehawu
.
Student Representative
Council:
Mr
J
Nkadimeng
: President, Mr V
Malema
:
Deputy President, Mr T
Mathebula
: Treasurer and Mr S
Mashele
: Secretary-General.
3.5.
FET colleges in Mpumalanga
Nkangala FET college:
Dr S
Qwabe
: Principal, Ms L
Malatjie
:
Council Chairperson, Mr M
Mokobaki
: Staff
Representative, Ms E
Masilela
: Support Staff
Representative and Mr H
Zitha
: SRC President.
Gert
Sibande
FET college:
Mr N
Balkrishen
:
Principal, Ms D
Thwala
: Council Chairperson, Ms H van
Zyl
: Deputy Principal Academic, Mr D
Ncongwane
: SRC President and Mr M
Mathebe
:
Union Representative.
Ehlanzeni FET
college:
Mr
S Mlangeni: Acting Principal, Ms N
Zwane
: Council
Chairperson, Mr L
Macebo
: Council Member, Mr A
Kubhayi
: Secretary-General SRC and Ms N
Khoza
:
Chief Financial Officer.
3.6.
National Institute
for Higher Education Mpumalanga (NIHE MP)
Prof B
Kgoapa
: Board
Chairperson, Dr H van
Zyl
: Board Member, Dr P
Maminza
: Executive Director Academic, Dr N
Mlondo
: Board Member, Mr G
Mathee
:
Board Member and Dr J Thrush: Executive Director.
3.7.
Department of Higher Education and Training
Dr E van
Staden
: Chief Director
University Education, Ms P Whittle: Director, Ms L
Mokwena
:
Director Youth Development Programmes, Mr C De Villiers: Director Examination
and Certification, Ms G
Umeh
: Deputy Director
Director-Generals Office and Ms P
Sekgobela
:
Assistant Director DGs Office.
4.
Summary of presentations
4.1.
University of Venda
a)
Admission Policy,
Qualification Verification Process, Policy on Articulation, Recognition of
Prior Learning (RPL) and Student Accommodation
Prof A
Nesamvuni
: Registrar led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
admission policy of the university clearly stated that no person shall be
enrolled for a module for any degree, diploma or certificate unless he / she
satisfied all the requirements of the university statute. The student was
registered when his / her application for admission as student has been
approved.
·
As
from 2012 academic year, measures were put in place and being executed to
verify qualification for admission purposes. The university entered into an
agreement with Higher Education South Africa (HESA), and the agreement enabled
the university to gain access to the downloaded grade 12 results (2009-2012)
database. The database enabled the university to check and verify submitted
statements of results and Grade 12 certificates.
From 2012 academic year going forward,
students were no longer required to submit statements of Grade 12 results as
they were downloaded by the university from HESA database.
·
In
terms of withholding of student certificates, it was confirmed that the university
withheld the certificates due to one of the following: outstanding fees,
disciplinary outcomes, outstanding library books and materials, outstanding
sports equipment as well as room keys. However, the university provided
statements of results in order not to disadvantage students when applying for
employment.
·
The
university had a total enrolment of 11897 students for the 2013 academic year
and 100% of them were blacks. Less than 10% of the university students were
from foreign countries with majority of them from Nigeria. It also had a total
of 57 registered students with disabilities.
·
UNIVEN
had a policy on RPL which provided alternative route into a programme of
learning for those who did not meet the formal entry requirements for
admission. The policy was applied differently by different schools with
approval of Senate and it was used mostly in the School of Education and Health
Sciences. In terms of articulation of students from FET Colleges, the
University was planning to develop a policy in collaboration with FET Colleges
to address articulation.
·
The
university continued to face severe shortage of student housing where only 2165
out of the total enrolment number can be accommodated in the residences. 40% of
the total beds were allocated to the first entering students and 60% of them to
female students. The university had one accredited off-campus residence that
accommodated 218 students. There were challenges with private accommodation
which the university did not have control over. Students were exploited by
providers while the conditions of the rooms were inhabitable with no safety and
security measures. The university benefitted from the Department of Higher
Education and Training infrastructure grant and a process was underway to build
new residences with 400 beds.
b)
Student Enrolment,
Graduation and Throughput Rate, Research Output and Development of New
Generation of Academics
Prof X
Mbhenyane
: Deputy
Vice-Chancellor Academic led the presentation which highlighted the following
key issues:
·
Of
the total university enrolment for the 2013 academic, 80% of students were
registered in undergraduate degrees, 5% in undergraduate Diplomas and Masters
and 1% in Doctoral studies. Majority of the university students were registered
in Science Engineering and Technology (SET) programmes 44%, followed by
Humanities and Law 21% and Business Management 19%. The total number of
disabled students was 101 (0.98%) of the total enrolment.
·
The
pass rate in undergraduate programmes was 82% above the national average of
75%. The graduation rate was 23% above the national average of 18%.
Approximately 30% of academic staff members had Doctoral qualifications. The
student lecturer ratio of the university was 1:35 students. The university had
various programmes for academic staff development and generation of future
academics. The university had 16 National Research Fund (NRF) rated researchers
and three research chairs, one awarded by Land Bank in 2009 and two by the
Department of Science and Technology / NRF worth R5 million annually.
·
The
university had a number of partnerships with industries for placement of
students for work integrated learning. Partnerships included MTN, Banks,
Tshikondeni
Coal of Africa, Sector Education and Training
Authorities (SETAs), Local and District Municipalities and the Provincial
Department. International partnerships included bilateral partnership with
northern hemisphere universities.
c)
Integrated Transformation Plan, NSFAS Allocation Process
and Staff Compliment
Dr J
Zaaiman
: Deputy
Vice-Chancellor Operations led the presentation which highlighted the following
key issues:
·
An
Integrated Transformation Plan for the university which was approved by Council
on 21 June 2013 was the culmination of thorough consultative meetings with
internal structures and members of council who made valuable inputs into the
document.
·
The
university claimed R281 million from National Student Financial Aid Scheme
(NSFAS) but received a total allocation of R261 million. An amount of R84
million was already allocated and R197 million was outstanding. The total
number of qualifying students who were registered was 8349 and 70% of the
registered students were funded by NSFAS.
·
The
new NSFAS central application process to be introduced in 2014 was not clearly
communicated to the university and this remained a serious concern.
·
The
total number of staff compliment of the university was 773 employees (349
females and 424 males), with 297 blacks, 22 whites, 5 Indians and 2
coloureds
. The university had a smaller professoriate and
only 34% of staff had PhDs.
·
The
university experienced growth in number of active researchers.
d)
Success and
Challenges
Prof P
Mbati
:
Vice-Chancellor led the presentation which highlighted the following key
issues:
·
The
university had a fully functional Council with its sub-committees that met
regularly and attendance was not a challenge since members were committed. The
internal audit of the university was outsourced to Price Waterhouse Coopers
(PwC) and reported regularly to the Audit Committee.
·
The
university had various planned budgeted projects for 2012 2015 of which 75%
of funding was allocated by the Department while the other portion would be
from Council controlled budget. The projects included; University training centre,
new Health Science building, new student residences of 200 beds at a cost of
R67 million, new School of Human and Social Sciences, new Disability Unit, new student
centre, campus clinic at a cost of R9,5 million, four soccer pitches and swimming
pool.
·
The
university required funding for the following infrastructure projects; IT
Centre at a cost of R60 million, Science Park at a cost of R45 million, Mining
Engineering Laboratory at a cost of R34 million, 24 hour study facility at a
cost of R24 million, House of Prayer at a cost of R12 million, lecturer hall complex
at a cost of R120 million, improved sporting facilities at a cost of R154
million and new School of Law and Legal Aid Clinic at a cost of R62 million.
·
The
conversion plans to a comprehensive university project was completed and
programme qualification mix was already approved by Council on Higher Education
(CHE). New professional degrees included; Mining, Agricultural and Water
Engineering. New Health Sciences programmes; Pharmacy, Optometry, Dentistry,
and Biomedical Technology. The difficulty towards a complete conversation was
hampered by required resources such as staff costs, infrastructure in terms of
specialised lecture venues, experiential laboratories and equipment.
·
A
R22 million contract was signed with Construction SETA on construction related
projects.
·
The
main challenges of the university included; no title deed for the land on which
the university was built, high student lecturer ratio, inequitable distribution
of resources across institutions by both the Department of Higher Education and
Department of Science and Technology (e.g. allocation of research chairs) and
additional infrastructure required such as office space.
e)
Council
Council members raised the following key issues:
·
The
relationship between management and Council was good and the Vice-Chancellor
provided good leadership on managerial side. Attendance by council members in
Council meetings was good and all Council sub-committees were fully functional.
Council members did not have financial interest in the university hence
conflict of interest was not a concern.
·
A
rigorous process was followed for appointment of service providers or awarding
of tenders to avoid conflict of interest. The university had a hotline for any
member of the university or society to report fraud practices.
·
The
main challenge of the university was funding for the R770 million
infrastructure
plan
. Currently, the university
experienced a serious challenge of infrastructure backlog ranging from shortage
of student housing, inadequate sport facilities and lecturer halls.
·
Council
was concerned that the current financial model
favoured
the previously advantaged universities and if not reviewed the previously
disadvantaged universities would continue to play catch-up for many years to
come. It also commended the financial support received from the Department of
Higher Education and Training as it enabled the university to improve on
infrastructure.
·
The
university did not have title deed of the land in which it was built. All the
technical work was done in fulfilling the requirements by the municipality and
the Provincial Department. However, the delays in obtaining a title deed
remained a serious concern for the university.
f)
Student Representative Council
Mr A
Mathelemusa
: President led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Relationship with
management:
The relationship between management and the SRC had improved unlike in the past
where SRC members did not follow proper channels to meet the VC. The VC was
accessible and listened to the concerns of student leadership.
·
Irregular admissions:
A
concern was raised around the negative publicity of the university in the media.
The recent reported case of students admitted
with irregular grade 12 certificates was a serious indictment to the
universitys admission policy. It was felt that the incident would compromise
the credibility of students of the university in the future when they seek
employment.
·
Resulting and
certification:
Late
release of students results remained a serious for the SRC and 30% of students
had not received their June examination results during the time of oversight.
Withholding of students results with outstanding fees owed to the university
was a concern for the SRC.
·
Student housing:
Inadequate student
housing in the university remained a serious concern. Of the total number of
11987 students registered for the 2013 academic year, only 2000 of them could
be accommodated in student residences. The SRC proposed that 40% of students
should be accommodated in student residences because off-campus residences were
not conducive for learning.
·
Infrastructure:
The
university
had a serious challenge of inadequate
infrastructure. Students with disabilities had serious challenges in accessing
some buildings in the university. The university did not have adequate sporting
and recreational facilities. The capacity of the university was built to cater
for 6000 students and that number had double in 2013.
·
Inadequate
procurement systems:
Tenders
in the university had been awarded to one service provider who was responsible
for renovation of student residence showers and fixing of potholes. It was
alleged that certain employees at the procurement office developed relationship
with certain service providers who were awarded contracts frequently.
·
Online registration:
The online
registration system of the university was poorly administered. The system was
difficult to use and did not allow students to choose subjects appropriately.
Less than 2% of the total number of registered students applied online.
g)
Labour Unions and Institutional Forum (IF)
The labour unions representatives raised the following
key issues:
·
Relationship with
management:
The relationship between management and union was positive. Management
consulted with the unions regularly on important decision that it implemented.
·
Conversion:
The area of concern
for unions was the conversion of the university to be a comprehensive
university offering wide range of academic programmes. Funding was the main
concern for the project as the university did not have adequate reserves to
manage the conversion.
·
Outsourcing:
Outsourcing of
services to private providers remained a serious concern for the unions. The
university outsourced work that could be done by service staff unnecessary and
that showed lack of confidence to employees.
·
Working conditions:
The student lecturer
ratio in the university was high and there was overcrowding in the lecture hall.
Lecturers were overworked due to lack of capacity and they experienced
inadequate administrative support.
Inadequate office space remained a serious challenge and internet
connectivity at times was poor.
·
Victimisation
:
There was a fear of
vicitimisation
among staff members when they raised serious concerns against management. It
was reported that two whistleblowers who reported corruption and irregularities
were suspended from the university. The
Lathola
Report on Human Resource Investigation was not given to the union for its
consideration.
·
Irregularities in
procurement:
Inflation
of prices by service providers remained a serious concern. Service providers
appointed by the university did shoddy work and were paid full amount for their
services.
4.2.
Strategic Session with FET colleges of Limpopo
a)
Letaba
FET college
Ms M Botha: Principal led the presentation which
highlighted the following key issues:
·
Letaba
FET college, previously known as
Mopani East FET
college
consisted of the central
office based in Tzaneen with three campuses namely; Giyani,
Maake
and Tzaneen.
·
The
college Council term of office ended on 31 July 2012 and no new Council was
appointed since the term ended to date. The college lacked the operation of an
effective Council. The Audit Committee was functional and operational as this
committee was appointed in terms of Treasury Regulations.
·
The
SRC of the college was operational and functional and met quarterly. The SRC
Annual General meeting was held each year.
·
None
oversight function of the Council in the activities of the college remained a
serious concern and the Department should prioritise the appointment of new
Council.
·
The
total number of staff in the college was 233 (109 male and 123 female
employees). Staff challenges included; non-filling of vacant posts,
insufficient campus structures for the delivery of curriculum, lack of
qualified lecturers in some fields and staff attitude towards working
environment and service delivery.
·
The
total number of headcount enrolments in the college for 2013 was 5094 and
majority of students were enrolled in the
NC(
V)
programmes (2617).
·
The
college was allocated R26 million for bursaries for the 2013 academic year.
Some of the challenges in administration of NSFAS bursary included; students
canceling their studies after being awarded bursary, late release of results,
late
payment of NSFAS and submission of irregular documents
by students.
·
The
college experienced inadequate pass rate in the
NC(
V)
programme especially in Engineering Level 2-3 owing to lack of qualified
lecturers in the subject.
·
The
college did not have student residences in any of its campuses and no dedicated
funding for student residences was allocated to the college since the merger.
Student
Representative Council
Mr P Makgoba: SRC President led the presentation which
highlighted the following key issues:
·
Lack
of student housing remained a serious concern
for
students
of the college. Students from
surrounding areas of the college were forced to daily commute to the college.
·
Absence
of Council made it very difficult for management to operate effectively. There
were certain decisions that management could not implement owing to lack of
Council.
·
Student
affiliation bodies gave instructions to the SRC on matters that affected
students and this made the work of the SRC complicated.
Unions
The union representatives raised the following issues:
·
Absence
of Council made it very difficult for management of the college to implement
decisions that affect employees.
·
The
management of the college did not implement decisions agreed with the labour
unions.
·
The
Department conducted an investigation in the irregularities of the college and
the report of that investigation had not yet been submitted to the college.
b)
Capricorn FET college
Mr K
Madhzie
: Principal led the
presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
term of the College Council expired on 31 July 2012 and it resolved to continue
so that the operations of the college should not be affected. Council had a
fully functional Audit Committee which consisted of external members.
·
The
SRC of the college was fully functional and it managed its own budget. The
election process of the SRC was supervised by the Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC).
·
The
college had serious challenge of infrastructure backlog. Shortage of student
housing was the main concern for students. Owing to inadequate infrastructure,
all Report 191 classes were conducted in the afternoon by the same lecturers
who lectured
NC(
V) students in the morning classes.
·
Leakage
of examination papers remained a serious concern for all colleges in the
province. Majority of leakages did not occur within the premises of the college.
In certain instances exam papers were sold at the gate to students. The culprit
was arrested and a case opened against him.
·
The
college had a total enrolment of 10408 students for the 2013 academic year. The
Polokwane Campus had 3942,
Seshego
Campus 4822 and
Senwabarwana
Campus 1644.
·
The
NC(
V) certification rate remained a serious concern
for the college especially in NC(V) Level 2-3.
·
The
college had a number of partnerships with nearby industries which included; Den
Kirk for Boiler Making, SETAs, Plumbing and Bricklaying Project with Polokwane
Municipality, New Venture Creation project and many other partnerships.
·
The
college was allocated R45 million for bursaries in
NC(
V)
programmes by NSFAS in 2013. The whole amount had already been claimed by the
college and there was a shortage of R1.8 million for 437 students. The
allocation for Report 191 bursaries was R18.8 million and R9.7 million was
already claimed.
Student
Representative Council
Mr T
Matshidisho
: President led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Teaching
and learning was disrupted by lecturers participating in strikes. Lecturers
affiliated to unions were not committed to teaching and spent most of their
time resolving labour disputes.
·
Staff
members assigned to assist students with bursary administration did not have
sufficient capacity which resulted in late submission of bursary application
forms to NSFAS which resulted in delay of transfer of funds by NSFAS to the
College.
·
Shortage
of student housing remained a serious concern for students. Payment of
transport and accommodation allowance for off-campus students was often
delayed.
·
Needy
students were required to pay upfront payment before they could be registered
at the college.
c)
Waterberg FET college
Ms K
Dipela
: Acting Principal
led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
college operated across two municipal districts namely;
Lepelle-Nkumpi
and
Mogalakwena
municipalities. The Central Office of
the college was situated in
Mokopane
.
·
The
term of office of the Council expired in July 2012 and Council requested from
the Minister for an extension of term of office to continue until new Council
members were appointed. Unfortunately, there was no response from the Minister
regarding this request and the Council continued.
·
The
operational budget of the college for 2013/14 was R55 million and capital
budget R26 million. The main challenges of the college were retention and
attraction of teaching staff and remuneration bands not competitive.
·
The
total enrolment for 2013 academic year was 3255 students. The retention rate in
2012 was 87% (61% nationally) and certification 55% (42% nationally) which were
the highest in Limpopo.
·
The
college had serious challenges with certification. The college received only in
2013
NC(
V) Level 2 certificates from Umalusi for the
period 2007-2010.
NC(
V) Level 3-4 certificates were
still outstanding as well as Level 2 certificates for 2012. This led to
students unrest / riots and students were unable to further their studies or
apply for jobs.
·
A
new campus attached to the college would be constructed in
Thabazimbi
.
·
The
college had a challenge of receiving errata during exams while students were already
writing exams.
·
The
bursary allocation for
NC(
V) programmes was R23.7
million for 2013 and R1.2 million for Report 191. The college managed to claim
100% of its final
NC(
V) allocation by the end of June
for the past two years. Late payment of transport allowance remained a serious
challenge for the college. The allocation could not cater for all needy
students as majority of them fell within the qualifying criteria.
·
Student
housing was a serious challenge for the college as it had space for only 18% of
the total enrolment.
·
The
college had partnership with Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) for
articulation of students. Other partnerships of the college included; SETAs,
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), National Skills Fund (NSF) and other
industries.
·
The
SRC and Unions of the college couldnt attend the strategic session of the
Committee owing to other commitments.
d)
Sekhukhune FET
college
Mr T Kekana: Principal led the presentation which
highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
total enrolment for Full Time Equivalent (FTE) students was 1800 in the college
and majority of them in the
NC(
V) programmes. The
drop-out rate in the 2013 academic year to date was 107 students and majority
of them in Engineering. The 2012 certification rate in
NC(
V)
programme was 33%.
·
The
college had number of partnerships with industries and government institutions
which included; ABSA, SETAs, Zimbabwe School of Mines, Xstrata, Anglo Platinum,
Impala Mine, Provincial Department of Health and many other institutions.
·
Work
placement was the policy of the college to support each and every student
within the context of the relevant training programme. The college had a
Placement Officer based at the Central Office to assist students. For the 2013
academic year, 50% of
NC(
V) and 40% of
Report 191 students had been placed.
Student
Representative Council
Mr
Lesigo
President: SRC led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Allocation
of NSFAS was not sufficient to assist all the needy students. Needy students
were required to pay upfront registration fee during registration period.
·
The
presence of political affiliations in the college disturbed the work of the SRC
owing to their demands.
·
Student
housing remained a serious concern for the college. The college could only
accommodate 350 students of the total 1800 enrolled students. The living
conditions in the student residences were not conducive to learning. The
college did not provide private accommodation and transport.
·
Pending
results and outstanding certificates remained a serious challenge for students.
Failure rate in Engineering Report 191 was too high. Employment of lecturers
without qualification was a concern for students.
·
There
was no equipment for disabled student and the environment of the college was
not use friendly for students with disabilities.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following issues:
·
The
college did not have adequately qualified lecturers in certain subjects
especially in Engineering. Lecturers were often recruited by big industries
which offered better salary packages as compared to the college. The college
was situated in deep rural areas which made it very difficult to attract
qualified lecturers.
·
Nepotism
remained a serious concern for the union in the college. Managers were abusing
their authority over workers and demands of workers were not
addressed
by
management.
e)
Vhembe FET college
Mr J
Tshifularo
: Acting
Principal led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
term of the college council expired in July 2012 just like all the other
colleges in the province. The college had a total enrolment of 12651 students
for 2013 and a new the
Tshisimani
Campus was opened
last year.
·
Delays
in the release of results by the department and high absenteeism during
internal assessments remained serious challenges for the college.
·
The
2012
NC(
V) certification rate was 21%, drop-out rate
10% and Report 191 certification rate was 25% and drop-out rate 8%.
·
The
leakage of examination papers occurred outside the premises of the college.
·
NSFAS
paid only 30% of the claims so far and this was a challenge for the college
since majority of students depended on the bursary for studying.
·
The
college had 125 currently existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with
SETAs and other partners. Industry limitation was a challenge for the college
since it was situated in a rural area.
Student
Representative Council
N
Rendani
: SRC President led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Shortage
of classrooms and ablution facilities remained a serious challenge for
students.
·
Pending
results for both
NC(
V) and Report 191 courses affected
students.
·
Inadequate
sport facilities in the college were a challenge for recreational activities.
·
Limited
internet access for students made it very difficult for them to complete their
assignments.
·
Misconduct
by lecturers included; sexual harassment, student
victimisation
and corruption during examination period.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following issues:
·
Management
had complete disregard of the unions in the college. The relationship between
unions and management was not good.
Victimisation
of union leaders remained a serious challenge. There was
factionalism within management of the college.
·
The
unions did not have confidence in the current leadership of the college.
Students in Engineering did not continue with their syllabus ever since the
lecturer was dismissed at the beginning of the year.
·
The
working conditions in the college were not good. The student lecturer ratio was
high and lecturers were overworked. Staff development was not prioritised by
management of the college.
f)
Mopani South East college
Ms S
Sehlake
: Principal led the
presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
College Councils term of office expired in July 2012. The SRC was fully
functional and the Deputy Principal for Corporate Service was not yet
appointed.
·
The
college was allocated R8 million for
NC(
V) programmes
bursaries and R4 million for Report 191 programmes. The college exhausted the
NSFAS funding and Report 191 students who were to register for the trimester
could not be funded. This was because the requested amount was reduced and the
communication came late to the college.
·
Outstanding
NC(
V) certificates and pending results remained a
serious challenge for the college. The public and other stakeholders were
unhappy since this dented the image of the sector.
·
The
College found out that there was a leak of examination paper on the 22 July
2013.
·
There
was a challenge of lecturers not attending classes during marking periods.
·
To
reduce absenteeism, the college installed ER finger security system for students
to clock.
·
The
college had various partnerships with Local Municipality, SETAs, Mines and
other big
corporates
.
Student
Representative Council
Mr R
Mashalane
: SRC President
led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Bursary
allocation was not sufficient to cater for all the needs of students. The
college did not have student housing to accommodate students from the
surrounding areas.
·
Absenteeism
among students was high and the SRC proposed that the college should have an
electronic fingerprint system to track students attendance.
·
Workplace
opportunities were limited for students owing to inadequate partnership with
industries.
·
Late
allocation of NSFAS bursary and outstanding results were the serious challenges
of students.
Unions
The labour representatives highlighted the following key
issues:
·
The
relationship between management and the unions improved in the college although
there were areas of concerns between the two parties. Unions were offered a
platform to engage with management on matters that affected employees.
·
Dismissal
of shop stewards by management remained a serious concern for unions.
·
Filling
of vacant lecturer posts in the college took too long and this affected
students.
g)
Lephalale
FET college
Ms A van
Vuuren
: Acting
Principal led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
There
was no College Council since July 2012 to date in the college. This restricted
college staff establishment. The absence of the governing body to assume its
roles and responsibilities remained a serious challenge for the college.
·
The
college had serious challenge of infrastructure especially shortage of
classrooms and student residences.
·
There
was a delay in transfer of NSFAS allocation to the college. Accommodation and
transport claims paid to students were not utilised as per intended purposes.
·
The
NC(
V) certification rate for 2012 was 26% while Report
191 was 25%. The
NC(
V) programme was not popular owing
to duration and local demand for Report 191. Human resource for academic and counseling
support to students remained a serious concern.
·
The
retention over the past year in different programmes was 86%. Students used the
NC(
V) as a stepping stone for Report 191 Engineering.
The throughput rate was fairly high in Report 191 construction programme owing
to demand.
·
Many
initiatives were under way and relationships had been formed with industries.
However, the support from the local municipality was not satisfactory.
·
The
college did not have student resident facilities or land to erect them.
Students used public transport which was not efficient. Accommodation was a
severe challenge in the precinct of the college. Four companies promised to
assist in building student residences in the college.
·
The
SRC students were writing exams hence they could not participate in the
strategic session of the Committee.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following key
issues:
·
Delays
in implementation of collective bargaining resolutions affected staff morale of
the college.
·
There
was a huge demand of artisans in
Lephalale
owing to
the construction of the
Medupi
Power Plant and the
mines in the precinct of the college. Lecturers were attracted to better
remuneration offers that were provided by industries leaving a huge vacuum of
qualified lecturers in the colleges.
·
The
absence of College Council since June 2012 remained a serious concern for the
college. The acting CEO handled almost everything in the college and this
affected her relationship with employees.
·
The
working conditions for lecturers remained a serious concern. The college was
understaffed and lecturers worked from 7am 9pm in the evening owing to
shortage of staff.
4.3.
University of Limpopo (
Turfloop
Campus)
a)
Governance,
Articulation, Academic Performance, Research Outputs, Partnerships, NSFAS and
Student Accommodation
Prof P Mulder: Head Institutional Planning led the
presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
university had a stable and functional Council and Sub-Committees which met regularly.
It also had a functional senate that operated within the university statute.
Management was appointed in terms of university organisational and academic
structure and relevant legislation.
·
Articulation
was determined by Higher Education Qualification Sub-framework (HEQSF). FET
college articulation was more applicable to Higher Certificate and Diplomas
which were mainly offered by Comprehensive Universities and Universities of
Technology. The university did not play a significant role in the articulation
of FET students. The university had a policy on Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) aligned to HEQF requirements and guidelines.
·
The
total enrolment for 2012 was 22441 students and 80% of the total enrolment was
undergraduates and 90% of students were black. In terms of cohort over five
years: 10% of the cohort was still studying, 19% dropped out and 71% graduated.
It was found that majority of drop-outs were experienced at first year level of
studies.
·
The
university had a policy on certification and the management confirmed that they
withheld certificates of owing students until they fully paid their outstanding
debts.
·
The
university reported that if students who qualified for NSFAS were paying on
their own, they would have generated an income of R444 million for the university.
However, the allocation from NSFAS for 2013 academic year left the university
with a serious shortfall. The university was expecting an additional R30
million.
·
The
university applied a top-slicing policy where each qualifying students
received R26 000 which already left students with an outstanding debts.
·
Student
accommodation was a challenge in the university. The university owned
residences had 9186 beds and 1000 privately owned beds for
Medunsa
Campus. . The occupancy rate was 44% of the total student enrolment.
Recent developments for new infrastructure
funding included;
Turfloop
campus R120 million and
Medunsa
campus R60 million.
·
The
university was considering a public-private partnership for building students
accommodation and a proposal was sent to the Minister for consideration.
b)
Student Representative Council
Mr J
Nkadimeng
: President led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Accommodation:
Student accommodation
was serious challenge in the university. There were 17000 registered students
in the
Turfloop
Campus with only 6000 beds to
accommodate them. The living conditions in the residences were not conducive to
learning. Off campus accommodation was in poor state. The living conditions for
students there were worse compared to on-campus accommodation. There were no
norms and standards set for off-campus accommodation. Safety and security of
students living off-campus residences remained a serious challenge. Students
were vulnerable to criminals owing to absence of security at off-campus
accommodation. There were reported cases of student deaths due to criminal
activities. The admission policy for student residence was exclusionary since
students were required to have a 100% pass in their subjects before they could
be accepted.
·
NSFAS:
Allocation of NSFAS
to needy students did not cover all tuition and accommodation fees leaving
students with huge debt owed to the university. The demand for NSFAS in the
university exceeded the current allocation since majority of students came from
underprivileged backgrounds. The new NSFAS central application system would
deprive many students an opportunity to study in the university. The proposed
system required all students to have mobile phones and some students came from
poor families and did not have mobile phones. Majority of students in Limpopo
came from rural areas with limited access to computers and the new system
required students to apply online or via post. The SRC proposed that the
current system should remain.
·
Withholding of
certificates:
Majority
of NSFAS beneficiaries graduated with huge debt owed to the university owing to
top slicing. This resulted in students not obtaining their certificates after
completion of their studies until they finally paid all outstanding debt.
·
Relationship with
management:
SRC
had cordial relationship with management of the university. The VC was
accessible to the student leadership of the university. However, management did
not consult the SRC on major infrastructure development within the campus.
Although the SRC opposed to fee increment, management imposed it.
c)
Unions
Mr L
Bopape
: Chairperson
Nehawu
led the presentation which highlighted the following
key issues:
·
Merger:
The merger of the
university with the
Medunsa
campus was a long and
challenging process which the management and unions played a very critical role
especially on harmonisation of condition of service and policies of the two
universities. The employees at the
Medunsa
Campus
were against the merger process with a university situated in a rural area.
This affected the migration process of employees from
Medunsa
campus to work at the
Turfloop
campus.
·
Irregularities in
overtime claims:
It
was alleged that certain staff at the
Medunsa
campus
earned three times more than their salary owing to irregular claims on
overtime.
·
Demerger:
The unions were not
updated regarding the unbundling process with the
Medunsa
campus. Although so much time and effort was put in coordinating the merger,
the unions welcomed the decision to unbundle the two universities. However,
additional funding should be allocated to facilitate the unbundling process and
ensure that neither party would be affected negatively by the process.
·
Nepotism:
There were serious
nepotism practices in the university. The employment and promotion policies
were not followed for certain individuals. Irregular appointment of interns to
permanent positions was a serious challenge in the university.
4.4.
Strategic Session with FET colleges in Mpumalanga
a)
Kangala
FET college
Dr S
Qwabe
: Principal led the
presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
college had a functional College Council with eight external members and their
term would expire at the end of November 2013. The college had an internal
audit that was functioning. The SRC of the college was also fully functional.
The college had a principal, two appointed Deputy Principals and a CFO.
·
The
college had 211 academic staff and 144 support staff. In relations to finance,
the college received an unqualified audit in 2012 and it had a budget of R166
million in 2012 and R191 million in 2013.
·
The
instruction from the Department that did not allow vacant posts to be filled
permanently had an adverse effect in the attempt for the college to fill vacant
posts.
·
The
total number of enrolled
NC(
V) students for 2013 was
2765 and 9256 for Report 191.
·
The
2013 total allocation for the
NC(
V) programme
bursaries was R20 million and all of it had been claimed. The total allocation
for Report 191 programme was R5.8 million.
·
The
2012
NC(
V) certification rate was 35%, throughput rate
77%, retention rate 68%, pass rate 72% and drop-out rate 9%.
·
The
college had one campus with a residence that can accommodate 400 students.
Student
Representative Council
Mr H
Zitha
: SRC President led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Articulation
of
NC(
V) Level 4 students to universities remained a
serious concern for students in the college. The SRC proposed that university
application forms should include
NC(
V) Level 4 as a
minimum requirement.
·
The
absence of NSFAS Financial Aid Offices (FAO) in colleges unlike universities
was a serious challenge. The student support services of the college did not
have adequate capacity to assist student with administration of NSFAS bursary
application forms.
·
Student
accommodation was a serious challenge for the college. Only one campus out of
the five campuses had student residence.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following key
issues:
·
There
was an overlap in the
NC(
V) and Report 191 curriculum
such that students repeated certain subjects and this required an urgent
review.
·
Lecturers
were attracted to better salary offers that were provided by big industries and
there was no retention strategy to address the exodus of lecturers to
industries. There was a need to skill lecturers in the FET sector so that they
have trade test certificate to be qualified artisans.
·
Administration
work of the
NC(
V) programme was time consuming and
affected the contact time with students. The
NC(
V)
programme had practicals and required more contact time with students and,
lecturers were spending more time in preparing portfolio of evidence for
students.
·
The
standard of the placement test for admission of students to the
NC(
V) programmes was too low.
b)
Gert
Sibande
FET college
Mr N
Balkrishen
: Principal led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
College Council was fully functional including the Audit Committee. The
Academic Board and SRC of the college were also functional. Good governance and
sound financial management practices were implemented in the college.
·
The
college had zero tolerance towards corruption and it had been receiving
unqualified audits since its merger in 2004.
·
The
PERSAL system for employees of the college was managed internally. This
enhanced efficiency of the college as vacancies were filled within a short
space of time.
·
The
2012 subject pass rate in the college was 85%, certification rate in
NC(
V) 56%, certification rate in Report 191 37%, retention
rate 88% and attendance rate 78%.
·
The
2013 student enrolment was 4473 for
NC(
V), 3447 for
Report 191, 2198 for skills and
learnersihps
and the
grand total was 10118 students.
·
The
2013 NSFAS total allocation for bursaries was R45 million with additional
bursary from other sources of R1.8 million. The bursary covered approximately
70% of the student population while the need was 90%. The college wrote off
student fees in excess of R2 million as bad debts annually.
·
The
college spent close to R100 million over the last three years on infrastructure
projects. Each campus had a Student Support Centre.
·
The
college partnered with
Pearsons
Publishers for the
development of E-textbook used on a tablet which was launched on 12 April 2013.
The college was the first in the country to use electronic textbooks.
·
Khuphula
was a web based portal for lecturers
to assist them to communicate efficiently as the campuses were situated far
away from each other.
·
The
college had various projects to assist students with experiential learning. The
projects included; desk refurbishment, fixing of potholes, school maintenance
and partnership with SETAs.
·
The
marketing strategy of the college was good in attracting learners. Every town
where the college is present had a huge billboard of the college. The
surrounding schools were often visited by the marketing department of the
college. However, former Model C schools did not allow the college to market
its products to learners.
·
Outstanding
certificates and results affected students negatively.
Student
Representative Council
Mr D
Ncongwane
: SRC President
led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
Inadequate
bursary allocation, shortage of student accommodation, late payment of NSFAS
bursary allocation, outstanding certificates and results were among the main
challenges of students in the college.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following key
issues:
·
There
was need for a model to integrate the
NC(
V) and Report
191 curriculum for the benefit of students.
Lecturers remuneration packages required an
urgent review since majority of lecturers were leaving the FET sector for
greener pastures. Disparities in lecturers remuneration should be addressed by
the Department.
c)
Ehlanzeni FET college
Mr S Mlangeni: Acting Principal led the presentation
which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The
college had a functional Council whose term of office would expire in December
2013. Other statutory committees were also functional such as Audit Committee,
SRC and Academic Board. For the past three and a half years the college had two
different acting Principals and, no appointment had been made yet for a
permanent Principal.
·
The
college had 6 campuses and only two were situated in urban areas. The campuses
of the college were spread across the whole Ehlanzeni District. The college had
a total of 7631 students across all its campuses. The growth in the number of
students increased pressure on the limited infrastructure of the college.
·
The
NSFAS bursary allocation for 2013 was R34 million and the college claimed R54
million. Additional funding was required to assist the shortage.
·
Leakage
of exam papers outside the college as well as non-existence of legislation to
regulate exam process remained a serious concern for the FET sector.
·
The
college had both formal and informal partnership with industries. Three out six
campuses of the college had student accommodation.
·
The
NC(
V) certification rate for 2012 was 43%, retention
rate 89% and for Report 191 the certification rate was 18%, retention rate 88%.
·
Student
unrest over issues that fell outside their mandate was a concern in the
college.
Student
Representative Council
Mr A
Kubhayi
: Secretary-General
SRC led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
High
failure rate among report 191 students remained a serious concern. The minimum
pass mark for mathematics of 30% did not assist students who wanted to
articulate to universities which required 50% pass mark for admission.
·
Students
belongings were lost in the private accommodation since the landlord used it as
a guest house during school holidays.
Unions
The labour representatives raised the following key
issues:
·
The
college experienced high attrition rate of engineering lecturers. The migration
process for employees of the FET sector was not adequately articulated by the
Department and this developed low staff morale.
4.5.
National Institute of Higher Education (NIHE) Nelspruit
Dr P
Maminza
: Executive
Director Academic led the presentation which highlighted the following key
issues:
·
NIHE
was a statutory public entity established under the Higher Education Act No 101
of 1997 as amended. NIHE did not offer tuition nor did it award degrees to
students. NIHE was an unlisted Schedule 3A public entity with its board and
accounted to the Minister. The board was proclaimed in June 2006 with Prof B
Khoapa
as the Chairperson till this far. The CEO of NIHE
was Prof C
Mokgadi
. The internal audit of NIHE was
outsourced to KPMG and it had been receiving unqualified audits since its
inception. NIHE never had an over expenditure since its inception.
·
NIHE
partnered with University of South Africa (UNISA), University of Pretoria (UP),
Vaal University of Technology (VUT) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
·
NIHE
research projects included; feasibility study on the establishment of a
university in Mpumalanga, provision of Engineering Education in Mpumalanga and
analysis of the Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET).
·
The
Siyabuswa
Campus (former Ndebele College of
Education) was launched on 26 February 2013 and offered Bachelor of Education (
B.Ed
) foundation phase programme. The students were
registered as University of Johannesburg (UJ) students. NIHE spent R26 million
in refurbishment of the
Siyabuswa
Campus in five
months and all the 99 registered students were accommodated at the Campus.
Students at the
Siyabuswa
Campus were awarded full
bursaries from the European Union (EU) bursary allocation (R3.2 million). NIHE
was allocated R16.8 million grant from the Department for 2013/14.
·
NIHE
supported the establishment of the new university in Mpumalanga by visiting
various sites identified as the new university campuses.
·
The
autonomy of the partner institutions operating in the province implied that
NIHE could not determine and prescribe on the programmes offered by them.
·
NIHE
did not have an SRC since it did not offer tuition programmes to students nor
did it have a union for its employees.
5.
Observations
The following formed part of the key observations:
a)
University of
Venda
·
The
university had a serious challenge of infrastructure backlog which resulted in
overcrowding of lecturer rooms. Only 10% of the student population was
accommodated in student residences. Students with disabilities struggled to
access certain buildings within the university. Inadequate sport and
recreational facilities remained a serious concern for students.
·
It
emerged that 21 students were admitted with irregular National Senior
Certificate (NSC) during the 2013 registration period. However, the students
involved were later expelled from the university. An internal investigation was
underway to determine staff involvement in the scandal. A new directorate was
underway to improve quality assurance in the university.
·
It
emerged that 150 hectares of the 235 hectares of land of the university was
tribal land. Progress in obtaining title deed for the entire land of the
university was very slow and affected the universitys infrastructure expansion
project.
·
The
university operated with R500 million
budget
per annum
and it was concerned with the conversion process to be a comprehensive
university since this was an unfunded mandate. However, a coordinator for the
conversion process would be appointed.
·
The
Committee was concerned that the university did not have an RPL policy yet. RPL
was mostly used for access to university programmes than empowering experienced
candidates with formal qualifications.
·
The
university acknowledged that it had a serious challenge of late release of
student results and a new IT system would be introduced to improve student
academic affairs.
·
It
emerged that the dismissal of union leaders was not linked to whistle blowing
as claimed by the unions. However, they were involved in
organising
unprotected strike and a report on this matter was available.
·
The
university was in a process of appointing a new head of supply chain management
and a new SCM policy was underway to curb the reported irregularities in
procurement of services.
·
Inadequate
labour forum where matters affecting employees were discussed with management
resulted in fear of reprisal among employees of the university.
·
The
university under utilised its law centre by requesting for legal opinions from
expensive outsourced law firms.
b)
FET colleges in Limpopo
The following formed part of the key observations:
·
The
term of office of all College Councils in Limpopo expired at the end of July
2012 and some colleges operated with de facto Councils. In some FET colleges
the Principal exercised the role of the accounting authority. This was a serious
breach of law as the FET colleges Act No 16 of 2006 did not make provision for Council
to continue with its fiduciary duties after its term expired.
·
The
Department was in the process of appointing Deputy-Principals for the Colleges
but there was an irregularity in the appointments where some Deputy-Principals
were appointed at post level 11 while others were on level 12.
·
Absence
of College Councils made it very difficult for management of colleges to
exercise their duties efficiently. Employees were also affected since labour
resolutions could not be implemented by management.
·
FET
colleges in Limpopo had a serious challenge of baseline infrastructure backlog.
This contributed to lack of student housing in almost all the colleges in the
province. Sport and recreational facilities were a major concern for student
life in the province.
·
The
NC(
V) and Report 191 certification pass rates were
low. One of major concern raised was the absence of adequately qualified
lecturers especially for scarce skills programmes.
·
Articulation
of FET
college
students to higher education remained a
serious concern owing to poor pass rates of subjects.
·
Colleges
were losing qualified lecturers to nearby industries which offered better
remuneration packages and provided good working conditions.
·
Delays
in the issuing of outstanding
NC(
V) certificates since
2007 frustrated students who were unable to seek employment or continue with
their studies. Pending results especially in the Report 191 Engineering
resulted in colleges promoting all students to the next level without verifying
the outcome of the examination results. The Committee was extremely concerned with
this practice since it was illegal and would have a devastating effect on
students once they discovered that they didnt pass.
·
Delays
by the Department in filling of Deputy Principal vacant posts affected the
colleges operations. The instruction from the Department for colleges not to
fill outstanding vacant posts also caused unnecessary understaffing.
·
Leakage
of examination papers affected Report 191 Engineering programme mostly and the
leakages happened outside the college premises. It was alleged that private
colleges were partly responsible for the leakage of exam papers since their
exams were not administered concurrently with public FET colleges
·
Late
payment of NSFAS transport and accommodation bursary allocation contributed to
student drop-out.
·
It
emerged that the delay in the appointment of council members was partly
contributed by the verification process of the credentials and suitability of
candidates to fill the Council posts.
·
It
was noted with serious concern that certain colleges demanded upfront payment
from poor students during registration period before they could be admitted.
·
It
emerged that the Acting Principal of Vhembe FET College had been acting in the
position for the past seven years without permanent appointment done. One of
the reasons given was that there were no candidates who were suitably qualified
for the post. The Department promised to fill the outstanding Deputy-Principals
posts before the end of the year.
·
It
was noted with serious concern that Deputy-Principals were appointed at
different post levels where some were at level 11 while others were at level
12.
·
The
Committee was concerned with the serious allegations of students bribing
lecturers to get better marks and allegations of sexual misconduct by certain
lecturers at Vhembe FET College and requested the Department to investigate the
matter.
·
It
emerged that Mopani South East FET College exhausted its NSFAS allocation since
it admitted more students than it initially budgeted for.
·
Irregularities
in credit transfer of Maths and English students who passed grade 12 for
NC(
V) programme was a serious challenge in the province.
·
Inadequate
labour management forum affected the relationship between management and unions
in almost all the colleges in the province.
·
Owing
to late payment of transport and accommodation allowance by NSFAS, colleges
allocated the money late during the year to students who used it for other
purposes.
·
Colleges
in the province did not have international partnerships for student exchange
programmes. The Committee advised colleges to develop strong links with other
international colleges to enhance their capacity.
c)
University of Limpopo
The following formed part of the key observations:
·
The
university used withholding of student certificates as debt recovery method. It
was raised with concern that this method disadvantaged students from under
privileged families and affected their prospects for future employment.
·
It
emerged that 70% of the student population relied on NSFAS for studying at the
university. The NSFAS allocation was not adequate to meet the demand for
financial assistance given the background of most students in the university.
In mitigating this challenge, the university used the top slicing model to
assist as many students as possible while the final allocation per student was
not sufficient to cover all the tuition costs. This left students with huge
debt owed to the university upon completion of their studies.
·
Articulation
of FET college students to the university was a challenge since the university
was not a comprehensive university and most of its programmes were not linked
with the curriculum of FET colleges.
·
The
university acknowledged the challenge of shortage of accommodation and it was
in a process of building new residences to address this challenge. The
university provided transport for off-campus students to limit the risk of
being exposed to criminal activities.
·
Under-preparedness
of students contributed to the high drop-out rate especially among first year
students. The university has foundation and extended programmes to assist students
to succeed with their studies.
·
There
was a rapid expansion of private accommodation adjacent to the precinct of the
university. It also emerged that there were certain staff members of the university
who provided private accommodation for students and this might lead to conflict
of interest. It was noted with concern that there were no minimum norms and
standards for off-campus accommodation and students lived in conditions not
suitable for learning.
·
It
emerged that certain service providers appointed by the
university
for infrastructure projects
did shoddy work and were paid for their
services.
·
Absence
of women in senior leadership or management of the university remained a
serious concern which hadnt improved since the last Committee visit to the
university in 2011.
d)
FET colleges in Mpumalanga
The following formed part of the key observations:
·
The
Committee commended the creative initiatives by Gert
Sibande
FET
college
in empowering students with experiential
learning projects which benefited society at large. The pass, retention and
certification rates of this college was the highest in the province and second
highest nationally. Good governance and leadership of this college was exemplary
and other colleges were requested to follow the model of Gert
Sibande
FET
college
. A student
from this college obtained seven distinctions while she came from a
disadvantaged family.
·
Unlike
in Limpopo, all the colleges in Mpumalanga had fully functional Councils and
Deputy Principals posts were filled. However, the term of office of these
Councils would expire at the end of the year and the Department was urged to start
the process of appointing new council members as soon as possible.
·
The
issue of outstanding results and certificates affected all FET colleges in this
province.
·
It
emerged that there was no parity in remuneration of lecturers at the same level
in different colleges. There was a high attrition of qualified FET engineering
lecturers owing to unattractive remuneration packages. High failure rate in
engineering programmes is attributed to attrition of qualified engineering
lecturers and colleges not able to retain them with the current salary bands.
The attrition forced colleges to rely on unqualified lecturers who are not
exposed to industry
·
The
Committee warned Gert
Sibande
FET
college
against writing off student debt as it might have negative financial
implications for the college in the near future.
·
It
emerged that examination moderation process was poorly coordinated by the
Department as result, errata in the exam papers was sent after students had
finished writing their exams.
·
The
Department assured FET colleges that the current review of the
NC(
V) programme would assist in addressing the challenge of
the overlaps with the Report 191 curriculum.
·
It
emerged that a circular was distributed among universities to recognise NC(V)
Level 4 as an entry requirement to higher education therefore students were
encouraged to apply with their NC(V) certificates.
e)
NIHE Nelspruit
The following formed part of the key observations:
·
It
emerged that the future of NIHE was not clearly articulated by the Department
in relation to the establishment of the new University of Mpumalanga. NIHE
fully supported the envisaged establishment of the new university. However, the
conceptualisation of the mandate and role of the new university versus the
current existing higher education programmes coordinated by NIHE was not
articulated. The term of the board of NIHE would expire at the end of the year
and board members were uncertain of their future role at NIHE.
·
NIHE
was commended for its good governance and management of the
Siyabuswa
Campus refurbishment project that was completed within five months.
·
It
emerged that the 2014 student cohort that would be admitted at the
Siyabuswa
Campus would form part of the new university and
the Department of Basic Education allocated 142
Funza
Lushaka
bursaries for the new university.
6.
Summary
It could be argued that higher education institutions
faced similar challenges which included shortage of student accommodation,
infrastructure backlog, inadequate NSFAS bursary allocation to meet the demand
of financial assistance and high student debt. With regards to universities in
Limpopo, the Committee observed animosity in the relationship that existed
between management and unions based on unresolved labour disputes which
required a labour management forum to resolve. It was good to note that both
universities in the province had functional Councils and other governance
structures of the universities. It was also noted that the research outputs of
both the universities had increased though there were still some challenges
with completion rate of post-graduate students owing to inadequate supervision.
The pass and graduation rates in both institutions were in line with the
national average and that was commendable.
Withholding of students results as a debt recovery method
was a serious concern for the Committee which advised the universities to
devise another strategy to recoup debt owed by students. The main challenges of
the University of Venda which required further engagement were the conversion
process to be a comprehensive university and funding for the infrastructure
projects estimated to be close to R2 billion. The unbundling process of the
University of Limpopo was fully supported by the stakeholders of the university
and their request was additional funding to ensure smooth running of this
process.
The Committees strategic sessions with FET colleges in
Limpopo and Mpumalanga was the first of its kind with these institutions and
highly appreciated by them. The outcomes of these strategic sessions provided
an insight to the serious challenges that were affecting the growth and development
of FET colleges as credible institutions of learning for young people of this
country. The sessions also provided an opportunity for Colleges to draw good
practices from those that were doing well despite the challenges they faced. The
FET colleges in Limpopo had common challenges which included; absence or
existence of de facto Councils, vacant Deputy Principals posts, shortage of
student accommodation, poor
NC(
V) certification rates
and late payment of NSFAS travel and accommodation allowance. The FET colleges
in Mpumalanga were relatively doing well in terms of governance, administration
and
NC(
V)
pass
rates. Shortage of student housing, workload of the
NC(
V)
programme, outstanding certificates and pending results were the main concerns
raised by FET colleges in Mpumalanga. The future of NIHE in relation to the
establishment of the new University of Mpumalanga remained a serious concern
for the institute, other than that; the institute was under good governance and
leadership.
7.
Resolutions
The Committee made the following resolutions during its
interactions with various higher education and training institutions:
·
The
SRC and Unions of Waterberg FET
college
that did not
participate in the strategic session of the Committee should meet with the
Committee at a later date to be confirmed.
·
The
University of Venda Council should send a detailed presentation to the
Committee on allegations of irregularities in the procurement of tenders for
maintenance and other services.
·
The
Departments examination moderation unit for FET colleges should make a
presentation to the Committee on irregularities in the examination process.
·
The
Department should brief the Committee on the future roles of NIHE with the
establishment of two new universities in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.
8.
Recommendations
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training
requests that the Minister of Higher Education and Training ensures that the
following recommendations are considered and implemented, and to provide a
feedback within a period of three months after adoption of this report by the
House.
a)
University of
Venda
·
The
Minister should make funding available for infrastructure development and staff
costs for the conversion to comprehensive university.
·
Both
the Minister of Higher Education and Training and Science and Technology should
review the process of allocating resources to universities especially research
chairs. A concern was raised about some institutions having more than 30
research chairs while others have one.
b)
Appointment
of Councils
·
The
Minister should prioritise the appointment of new Councils for all FET colleges
in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In Limpopo, colleges operated with de facto Councils
and some did not have Councils at all.
·
The
term of office of the Councils in Mpumalanga is coming to an end at the end of
November 2013. The Minister should start the process of appointing the new
Councils to avoid similar case of Limpopo Colleges.
c)
Staffing
·
The
Minister should rectify irregularity in Deputy-Principals posts levels and
ensure that all Deputy-Principals of all the Colleges are appointed at the same
level. Furthermore, the Minister should ensure that all the 14 vacancies of
Deputy-Principals in Limpopo are filled within a reasonable time.
·
All
the Colleges experienced high turn-over of engineering lecturers to the
industry due to uncompetitive remuneration packages. The Minister should
urgently develop and implement a retention strategy for scarce skills lecturers
especially for engineering lecturers.
·
Colleges
were sitting with unfilled vacancies because there was a moratorium on
permanent appointment of lecturers until the migration process of College staff
from provincial competence to national was completed. Potential persons were
not willing to be appointed on contract terms. The Minister should consider making
exceptions of lifting the moratorium on permanent lecturers in critical areas
like engineering.
·
Due
to shortage of staff, lecturers were forced to teach in both
NC(
V)
and Report 191 programmes and did a lot of administrative work which reduced
contact time with students. The Minister should consider making funding
available for Colleges to appoint required support staff to relieve lecturers
of administrative work.
·
Students
were left without lecturers during marking sessions because lecturers were used
to mark examination scripts. The Minister should ensure that contact time for
students is not compromised during marking sessions.
d)
Curriculum
Review
·
Unfunded
mandate of Report 191 and
NC(
V) curriculum review:
Curriculum review was funded through donors and the funds were depleted which
stalled continuation of curriculum review. The Minister should submit a funding
bid to the National Treasury for funding curriculum review.
·
The
Minister should ensure that curriculum for the
NC(
V)
and Report 191 is reviewed to address the current overlaps.
·
The
Minister should review the placement tests which were reported that they do not
accurately measure the academic competence of students.
e)
Infrastructure
·
Infrastructure
at all Colleges in Limpopo was inadequate for the growing enrolment numbers
which affected quality teaching and learning. The Colleges in Limpopo noted that
they did not benefit from the R2.5 billion announced by the President in 2012
for expansion and renovations of FET College infrastructure. The Minister
should ensure that funding is made available for infrastructure development at
the Colleges. Furthermore, the Minister should ensure that resources are
equitably distributed across the Colleges.
·
Funding
Norms for Colleges: Report 191 programmes were not funded comparable to
NC(
V). Colleges that enrolled more Report 191 students
received inadequate budget while those enrolling more
NC(
V)
students received a more generous budget. The Minister should review the
current funding norms for FET Colleges to ensure that Colleges that are located
within the industry where Report 191 qualifications are in demand are not
disadvantaged.
·
Funding
of Colleges to cater for students with disabilities in terms of infrastructure
and general academic support should be made available.
·
The
Department should allocate additional funding for new student residence
development and refurbishment owing to severe shortage of student accommodation
in higher education and training institutions in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
f)
Outstanding certificates
·
Delay
in the release of students certificate: Students who completed their
qualifications at Colleges did not get their certificates on time owing to the
delay by the Department. This puts students who secured employment at risk as
the employers threatened to terminate their employment contracts because of
non-submission of certificates. While acknowledging the progress made in
releasing the certificates, the Departments should prioritise this matter.
·
The
promotion of students before the release of results should be urgently attended
to.
·
The
IT system should be aligned to ensure that credits of exempted subjects
(English and Mathematics) appear on the statement of results.
g)
Examination
·
The
Minister should consider introducing legislation that would deem illegal or a
criminal offence to sell examination papers. This legislation should be
accompanied by sanctions which would deter would be culprits from engaging in
such practices.
·
The
Department should review its distribution process of examination papers to
prevent further leakages in the future.
·
Engagement
with private colleges should be prioritised since they were linked with the
allegations of paper leakages.
·
Delay
in sending errata on examination papers: Colleges received examination errata
in the morning and in some instances the errata arrived when the students had
already finished writing the examination. The Minister should ensure that there
is a swift communication from the Department to the Colleges in regard to
errata on examination papers. Furthermore, the Minister should ensure that
there is a proper moderation of examination papers.
h)
Financial
assistance
·
Uncertainties
around the new NSFAS central application system: The Colleges were not yet
informed about their role in the in this process. The Minister should ensure
that NSFAS communicate with institutions to clarify roles in regard to the new
application system.
·
Mopani
South East FET College exhausted its bursary allocation in the first semester
and the Report 191 students who were due to register for the third trimester
would be without financial aid. The Minister should intervene in this case to
ensure that students who were to benefit from the financial aid are not
disadvantaged.
·
The
Minister should intervene at all FET colleges where NSFAS beneficiaries were
forced to pay non-refundable registration fee.
·
The
allocation of NSFAS bursary was inadequate to meet the demand in the higher
education institutions and FET colleges in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The
Department should allocate additional funding to these institutions to address
this challenge. Furthermore, the Minister should assist the University of
Limpopo with additional funding for NSFAS as all students who qualified for
financial assistance in the current financial year received R26 000 due to
top-slicing which will result in outstanding debt and withholding of
certificates after completion.
i)
Placement of students
·
Placement
of students for work integrated learning at some colleges was still a challenge.
The Minister together with the SETAs should assist with placement of students
in rural Colleges to secure placement.
j)
Vhembe FET College
·
The
Minister should urgently intervene in Vhembe FET College to ensure that there
is a good working relationship between management, students and unions.
·
The
Minister should prioritise the appointment of the College Principal.
k)
Articulation of FET students to universities
·
Though
the Department reported that a communiqué was sent to all universities to also
consider
NC(
V) as a requirement for admission, it
seemed that students from the colleges are still marginalised. The University
of Venda reported that it used RPL to admit students from FET colleges for
certain programmes while the University of Limpopo did not even consider them.
The
NC(
V) was not treated at par with
Matric
certificates
for admission purposes. There is a need to seriously engage universities on
articulation of FET students as the current piece meal strategies of
communiqués and memorandum of agreement between individual universities and
colleges is not helping as these MOUs continues to exclude students from
colleges which are not in the agreement.
l)
Future of NIHE
·
The
Department should clarify the future role of NIHE in the establishment of the
University of Mpumalanga
Report to be considered.
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