Minister of Higher Education and Training Budget Vote Speech

Summary: 

Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mr Mr Blade Nzimande, gave his Budget Vote Speech on the 22 July 2014
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Introduction

In his State of the Nation Address on 17 June 2014 President Jacob Zuma indicated, among other things, that this government will continue to invest in education and skills as that is the key to economic growth and development. Education remains, as the President stated, ‘an apex priority for this government.’

Since the establishment of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) we have made important advances, particularly policy interventions aimed at transforming the education system to overcome the legacy of apartheid and colonialism and to confront racial, gender, class and other forms of inequality.

We have also expanded the enrolment in all post school institutions, especially for blacks and other previously disadvantaged people. Universities have seen a year on year increase in the enrolment since the establishment of this Department in 2009. The expansion has been most pronounced in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges (formerly known as FET colleges) where head-count enrolments have increased by over 130%.

We are aggressively paying a particular focus on TVET Colleges as the most preferred post schooling option to acquire critical skills that our economy need. We are building more TVET Colleges across the country and more money will be directed to elevate their stature and programs offerings. Our top priority is to expand them while improving their quality.

Our turnaround strategy to improve the functioning of colleges is starting to bear fruit and will continue. On the 2014 MTEF period, we have allocated R19.2 billion to ensure that TVET college enrolments continue this expansion. Currently, post-school education and training institutions are unevenly distributed across the country, with rural areas being particularly poorly served. To correct this distribution, R2.5 billion has been committed by the Department towards the refurbishment of two existing TVET college campuses and the building of twelve new campuses.

All TVET college Principals and Deputy Principals have successfully been transferred to my Department from the Provincial Education Departments with effect from 1 April 2013. I have also appointed Councils to all colleges. To finalise the process of shifting responsibility for the colleges to the national government, the transfer of lecturers and support staff is being finalised through Collective Agreements in the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) and Further Education and Training Colleges Bargaining Unit (FETCBU).
We have also established three new universities in Mpumalanga province, Northern Cape and the one in Gauteng ( the first of its kind in African Continent) to offer Health Sciences. The DHET has further established the new National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences to respond to the declining trends from Universities in producing more Social science graduates.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has expanded to include students in TVET colleges and the amount disbursed annually has grown rapidly, by approximately 270% since 2008. We will continue with this trend of funding to absorb as many poor and deserving students as we can.

A turnaround strategy in the colleges is in place and is improving the quality of learning and management. In the university sector, we are prioritising the development of infrastructure for the historically disadvantaged institutions, support for teaching and learning and the production of the next generation of academics. 

In consultation with the wide range of stakeholders, we developed the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training which I released in January. This is a comprehensive strategy for transforming the post-school system and its various components and most of the new initiatives over the past five years are aligned to it. We are therefore developing a comprehensive national plan to implement the White Paper.

Social inclusion

My department has initiated a process of publishing the Social inclusion policy framework for public comment. All public educational institutions reporting to DHET will have to abide by good practices contained in the policy. Vexing issues such as racism (NWU the recent case in point), discrimination base on gender, HIV and AIDS and class will be confronted through this policy. 

Furthermore, the department will develop a disability policy framework for the post-school sector. The framework will set norms and standards for the treatment of students and staff with disabilities in all aspects of university or college life, including academic life, culture, sport and accommodation.

Adult Education and Training

South Africa has millions of youth who leave school with a senior certificate or without this Certificate, and therefore cannot access opportunities for further education and there are millions of adults who wish to study further. Currently our Public Adult Learning Centres caters approximately 300 000 individuals, which is inadequate.

In responding to the above, the Further Education and Training Colleges Amendment Act, No. 1 of 2013 provides for the creation of a new institutional type, to be known as Community Education and Training Colleges. The department is going to establish these Community Colleges and will be modeled through grouping together clusters of adult learning centres and strengthening their infrastructure, staffing and programmes. A draft national policy on community colleges will soon be gazetted and I urge all stakeholders to interact with it and give feedback to us.

Universities

Over the next five years it is my intention to consolidate the work done since 2009 to ensure that the higher education system is effectively integrated into the post school education and training system.

In line with the vision outlined in our White Paper, the university education system will continue to expand. It is expected to grow from a head-count enrolment of 953 373 students in 2012 to approximately 1.1 million students in 2019. This is well on the way to achieving our target of 1.6 million students in public universities by 2030.

Aside from expanding enrolments, we also need to focus on quality and student success. Our universities will focus on improving their graduate production from 165 995 graduates in 2012 to approximately 217 000 in 2019. The growth rate in graduates is thus expected to be significantly higher than the growth rate in enrolments.

To support better efficiency and success, we are expanding foundation programmes to ensure that under prepared school leavers are better equipped for university. We are also increasing investment in teaching and learning development. In the current financial year, R609 million has been allocated to Teaching Development Grants to strengthen teaching and improve learning outcomes. The Council on Higher Education is implementing a Teaching and Learning Capacity Enhancement Programme that will complement our initiatives.

I recently published the Policy for the Provision of Distance Education in South African Universities in the Context of an Integrated Post-School System, which will contribute significantly towards the expansion of higher education. The use of innovative technologies and the use of open education resources are two areas that will receive attention.

The department has maintained a strong focus on strengthening the production of school teachers over the last five years and has made major gains in this regard. In 2013, approximately 14 700 new teachers graduated compared to 6 885 in 2009, an increase of 113% in new teachers per annum. In the next five years we will expand the focus from basic education teachers to include the production of teachers for the whole system including early childhood development, TVET colleges, the planned community colleges and teaching at our public universities. Our projections are that public universities will produce in excess of 23 000 new teachers annually by 2020.

We are also working to address the shortage of academics and improve their qualifications. Our aim is to ensure that we increase the number of university academics with PhDs from 39% in 2012 to 47% in 2019, and at the same time ensuring that they develop their teaching capability and their productivity in research and innovation. R180 million in Research Development Grants to universities are mainly being channelled mainly towards the development of junior and emerging academic staff through Masters, Doctoral, post-doctoral programmes.

The growth of the higher education system needs to be supported by quality infrastructure. Over the MTEF period of 2012/13 to 2014/15, R6 billion was allocated towards infrastructure projects across the existing 23 universities with an amount of R2.3 billion committed for the current financial year. A total of R1.6 billion from the R6 billion was allocated for student housing development.

National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS)

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) remains the cornerstone of our commitment to support poor and working class students to gain the benefits of a higher education. Since its inception, NSFAS has assisted over 1.4 million students. The department’s allocation to NSFAS for 2014/15 amounts to R6.139 billion. This includes R3.914 billion for loans and bursaries to universities, R2.107 billion for bursaries for Technical and Vocational Continuing Education and Training (TVET) colleges and R116.2 million for administration. This is supplemented further by R2.416billion made available through NSFAS recoveries, the National Skills Fund (NSF) scarce skills bursaries, through Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) bursaries and from bursaries such as the Department of Basic Education’s Funza Lushaka programme, bringing the total funding available for loans and bursaries for the 2014 academic year to R8.850 billion.

Linking education and the labour market

The department places great emphasis on linking education and the workplace. This will include the development of a clear strategy to turn every workplace into a training space. We are now finalising Workplace-Based Learning Programme Regulations, with the purpose of making it easier for SETAs to fund the workplace-based learning.

SETA offices are now being opened in rural areas and townships as well as in TVET colleges to bring them closer to the people they are supposed to serve. By the end of this financial year, all TVET colleges will have a SETA office.

The department is embarking in a process of reviewing the current SETA landscape, within the context of the White Paper and this process will be completed by 31 March 2016. The White Paper directs that SETAs’ roles be streamlined to focus on obtaining accurate data about workplace skills needs, as well as facilitating cooperation between education and training institutions and workplaces.

Since the launch of the Strategic Integrated Projects of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC), my Department has been working to determine the skills needed to build and maintain the massive new infrastructure plans of government. This has required a wide range of investigations across all the sectors associated with the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) to find out the skills needs and anticipated shortages.  The Department will be launching a report on the anticipated skills shortages for the Strategic Integrated Projects in September 2014.

It is against this backdrop that I will present this 6th Budget Vote for the DHET. For the 2014 MTEF, the department’s budget increases at an annual average rate of 6.8%, from R34.3 billion in 2013/14 to R42 billion in 2016/17. The amount of R36.9 billion for 2014/15 is an increase of R2.5 billion (or 7.4%) on the 2013/14 allocation, excluding funds from the skills levy. The skills levy, which is channelled through the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and the National Skills Fund (NSF), is expected to increase at an annual average rate of 9.5% from  R12.3 billion in 2013/14 to R16.1 billion in 2016/17

22 Jul 2014

Honourable House Chairperson
Minister of Higher Education and Training
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Honourable YN Phosa
Director-General and Staff of the Department
Heads and Executives of all our Post-School Entities and Institutions
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen and Comrades

Introduction

Honourable Chairperson, it gives me great pleasure to address this House today on Budget Vote Number 17 of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). This first budget of the 5th Parliament consolidates the good story that was clearly articulated by the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency JG Zuma in both his 2014 State of the Nation addresses and elaborated further by Honourable members of this House during the State of Nation debates.

The Minister of Higher Education and Training has through his budget speech today, given much impetus on the good story about the post-school system that we are desiring for this country. Whilst the next five years of this government will seek to consolidate the gains of the last 20 years of our Democracy, the department has equally redefined the trajectory of the Post School Education and Training system going forward.  This new trajectory is aimed at ensuring that our Education and Training system breaks the vicious cycle of unemployment, inequality and poverty.

Honourable Members, we will continue building the system guided by the imperatives of our second phase of the transition and further guided by the National Development Plan and the White Paper on Post School Education and Training.

Our road to 2030 will be a radical one, but it will be achieved in steps, the first of which will be the 2014/19 Medium Term Strategic Framework, which articulates the mandate given to Government, a mandate that has at its apex the priority of education and training.

Honourable Chairperson, let me now focus and unpack a few key strategic objectives of the department as they relate to Artisan Development, Youth Development Programmes, Career Development and the Apply Now Campaign, improving access to post school education and training for people with disabilities and our endevours to eradicate the impact of the dual epidemics on HIV and TB in order to promote a sense of healthy well-being within our sector.

Honourable Members
Fellow South Africans

I am pleased to announce that we have now put in place the building blocks for the rebuilding of our artisanal training system in the country. Our renewed focus on intermediate skills, especially artisan related skills is aimed at aggressively supporting Government’s push for infrastructure development and industrialisation as key drivers of economic growth.

In February this year, I launched the ‘Decade of the Artisan’ advocacy programme borne out of the successful ‘Year of the Artisan’ programme in 2013 where we managed to reach every corner of this country conversing with our young people on the importance of taking up artisanship as a career of choice.

Our target is to produce 19 000 competent artisan candidates by the 31st of March 2015 and This drive is geared towards achieving the National Development Plan target of producing 30 000 competent artisans annually by 2030, and with resources allowing we will be able to achieve the NDP target earlier than directed.

In order to achieve this, we will bolster the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, whose remit will include operationalisation of the National Artisan Moderation Body. We are strategically positioning our Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) Colleges to play a decisive role in the production of high calibre artisans.

Honourable Chairperson

There are also interesting developments in the area of renewable energy which the department has decided to support. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in partnership with an initiative called Green are establishing the South African Renewable Training Energy Centre (SARETC) at the Bellville Campus of CPUT, the first of its kind in the county and the continent.

Our department, through the National Science Foundation (NSF) has allocated R105 million over the three year period (2013/16) for infrastructure and initial running costs. This initiative, Honourable Chairperson, takes queue from the bold announcement on energy renewal made by the President during the State of the Nation Address.

As part of enabling SETAs to contribute to and complement national efforts aimed at reducing unemployment and alleviating poverty especially amongst the South African youth, I requested both the Manufacturing and Engineering Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and the Energy and Water SETA to develop a solar geyser installation programme and train the youth of Mitchells Plein and Khayelitsha here in the Western Cape province and thus shield them from the high temptation of drug usage, crime, idleness and destructive acts to themselves and their communities. I am happy to report that training of 500 learners will commence this week giving credence to our commitment of green skills for sustainable communities.

Honourable Speaker,

In 2013 I launched World Skills South Africa and subsequent to this, the department initiated a process to establish and operationalise a formal governance structure for World Skills South Africa. The World Skills competition offer aspiring artisans a platform to demonstrate their knowledge and skills whilst at the same time compete with their peers from more than 70 countries of the world.

In the interim the SETA CEO Forum Artisan Development Sub Committee is overseeing preparation for the next World Skills Competition in Brazil to be held from 11 – 16 August 2015. This Sub Committee is the most appropriate structure to utilise as the occupations involved in the world skills competition are artisan related. The South African National competition will take place from 28-31 January 2015 in Cape Town and this will be preceded by Regional Competitions, hosted by TVET Colleges, in which 23 Trades from 7 different SETA’s will participate. Employers from the various sectors are pledging their support through providing sponsorships, training of participants and equipment for the competition.

Let me take this opportunity and inform the House that last week on the 14th  of July 2014, I met with the Vice-President of Samsung Dr Ji Ho Song and his delegation and I took them through a number of our TVET programmes and visited selected institutions in the Western Cape. We are forming a partnership with Samsung and they have made an undertaking to sponsor the South African national winners in IT Software Solutions, IT Network Systems and Web Design to attend a 3 weeks of International Competition training in South Korea in September this year.

Honourable Chairperson,

Last year, I visited two mining communities in the North West province on an outreach programme and made a commitment to the vulnerable youth who urged me and showed willingness to acquire skills in order to better their lives and those of their families. I am happy to report that together with the Mining Qualifications Authority, we have trained 1000 young people in portable skills and entrepreneurship around a number of our mining communities.

The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) allocated an amount of R25 million for training in bricklaying, plumbing, electricity (house wiring), life skills, business and entrepreneurial skills. Some of the youth were trained in level 1 and 2 Mining in which they will be opportuned to permanently join the nearby mines. One of my special guests today in the public gallery is Mr Richard Mbulelo who trained in electricity basic house wiring and advance entrepreneurial skills and who gave a moving testimony that the programme has indeed enabled him to be confident as a young South African.

These programmes were implemented in various municipalities such as Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipality, Matlosana Municipality, Sekhukhune District Municipality, Merafong Municipality and Bojanala Municipality.

At the programme launch and certification event in both Klerksdorp and Carletonville, I made a call to mining houses to join government in the skilling of young people and I am happy to report that Anglo Gold Ashanti has since trained an additional 315 young people in Level 1 & 2 mining courses. Dilokong Chrome in Limpopo has also commenced with the training of portable skills to 50 unemployed young people. This particular mine has committed to place some of these young people in infrastructure development programmes and the remainder will be absorbed in the municipal infrastructure programme.

Honourable Members,

An area that has been neglected in the Post School Education and Training system has been the provision of education and training for people with disabilities in our Universities and Colleges. As the Minister has indicated and in line with the White Paper, we intend developing a comprehensive policy and an implementation framework for people with disabilities.

The Minister of Higher Education and Training has mandated me to oversee this process and in this regard a Ministerial Committee on the development of the policy framework for disability has been established. Our Director General is in the process of calling for nominations for members of the Ministerial Committee.

The intention really is to develop a framework that will set out norms and standards for the integration of student and staff with disabilities in all aspects of university and college life. This approach will attempt to prescribe directives for reasonable accommodation of persons in the education and training system that have disabilities.

We are very serious Honourable Members and committed to the cause of improving access to post-school education and training for persons with disability.

Honourable Chairperson, one of my very important tasks is to oversee the initiative to develop and strengthen the HIV, TB, STIs prevention, treatment-care and support interventions in the entire post school sector. We are doing this in response to the South African National Strategic Plan on HIV, STIs and TB, 2012/16.

The Higher Education AIDS led by Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia is our vehicle to implement comprehensive health care programmes within all the South Africa’s public higher education institutions and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college campuses catering for close to 2 million young population of students and staff.

Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS Programme (HEAIDS) has also begun implementing comprehensive programmes that respond to the impact of the dual epidemics (HIV, STIs and TB) in the higher education and training sector through the launch of our own Strategic Plan called the “Higher Education and Training Strategic Framework on HIV/TB/STI” that I launched on the 1st of December 2012.

Since I announced the extension of the HEAIDS Programme into the further education and training (FET) college sector in December 2012 as a landmark victory, all our programmes have been extended to students in the TVET sector that have never received such support in the past.

I am proud to announce that through a recent 2014 independent national survey, it has been shown that the Campaign has been able to get a total of 40% first time testers to be screened for HIV, STIs and TB in the sector, whilst a total of 75% were motivated to test and gained knowledge on HIV/TB/STIs and other health care services due to the massive advocacy and awareness done through the HEAIDS First Things First Campaign.

This means that the young people in our country are able to access HIV prevention, treatment, care and support hence a healthy and prolonged life style for them, their families.

Honourable members, we have an obligation to engage our youth if we are to build a strong, skilled and capable workforce and in this regard HEAIDS is currently implementing youth dialogues in communities around the dual epidemics, a programme I launched at the University of the Witwatersrand towards the end of the 4th administration. 

Honourable Chairperson,

We remain committed to the course of sending graduates to study abroad in order to grow our own skills base as a country. During the debate on the State of the Nation address, I outlined our plans and gave clear figures of students who are off-shore and those that we intend sending abroad this year. One of my special guests today in the public gallery is Ms Tshepang Mashiloane who is part of the group of 15 students who will be departing for Russia in September this year to study towards her Master’s degree in Vocational Education. We have resolved, Honourable Members, to take up scholarship offers that are strong and worthwhile for our country but we will equally be spending from our own purse in so far as sending capable students to excellent and world class universities is concerned.

Honourable Members, in June 2012 we launched the Apply Now campaign with an aim of creating awareness of career options and application procedures to be followed for post-school education and training. The intention was to reduce long queues and some of the chaos that generally take place at most of our universities at the beginning of each academic year.

I am pleased to announce that the campaign has been a resounding success and in this coming year I will be conducting Student Representative Council (SRC) roadshows where I will meet university and college SRCs to engage on many matters of concern as well as how we can work together to minimise students protests especially at the beginning of each academic year.

In so far as career development is concerned, we hosted our 5th Annual Mandela Week Career Festival at the Sedibeng TVET College in Gauteng last week which is our flagship programme in partnership with our entities and stakeholders aimed at providing career information, advise and guidance to learners in rural and under-served areas.

You may be aware, Honourable Members, that we have begun a process of coordinating central applications to our universities through the Central Application Clearing House process and I’m happy to announce that we will be establishing the central application service which will provide a one-stop shop for application to universities and ensure that learners need only to make one application, indicating their preferences, so that these applications can be forwarded to their preferred institutions but as well direct applications to institutions that are not fully subscribed. Honourable members, this system is expected to go on-line by 31 March 2018 and by 31 March 2019 for the remainder of the post-school system.

Honourable Chairperson, we are set to move South Africa forward and we remain unperturbed in our resolve to change the lives of our people for the better.

Honourable Chairperson, let me conclude by thanking the President for yet again inviting me to his executive and the support he continues to give us, my outmost thanks goes to the Minister of Higher Education and Training for his guidance and support, I would also like to thank the Director-General of the department, his deputies and all staff for the work accomplished and for the work still to be done. I also wish to thank the Chief of Staff in the Ministry, my head of office and staff for their tireless work and willingness to work beyond the call of duty. Finally, I would not have been able to serve in this calling without the unflinching support of my family, my friends and my comrades.

Honourable Chairperson,

We remain committed to the ideals of the Freedom Charter; equally we are convinced that our programmes are in line with the principles of the National Development Plan more especially with regard to economic growth and skilling the nation. Through our Post School Education and Training, we will no doubt move South Africa forward.

I thank you.