Department of Higher Education and Training on envisaged University of Mpumalanga and Northern Cape; Unbundling of MEDUNSA from University of Limpopo; Outstanding certificates and results in FET colleges

Meeting report

Presentation on Progress of the New Universities
Dr Diane Parker, acting Deputy Director General: Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), began with a quick presentation that covered progress at the new universities in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, and Kimberley, in the Northern Cape.

Ds Parker stated that the proclamation of the universities as legal entities was still an ongoing issue, but in the meantime, the Minister had appointed an interim council. For the land assembly, the Department had had to ensure that all pieces of land were secured so that each university had a physical address, and all the associated parties had signed off on the confirmation. For the start up of each university in 2014, it had been decided that the first intake would be small in order to ensure that the infrastructure had the necessary capacity.

The following were the start-up programmes for each institution:  
The Northern Cape university would offer a Bachelor of Education in MST (Mathematics, Science and Technology), Information Technology and Retail Business Management in 2014, and from 2015 would offer iconic academic programmes such as Heritage Studies, Archaeology, Restoration Architecture and Indigenous Languages (Koi San).   The Mpumalanga university would start in 2014 with a Bachelor of Education (Foundation Phase), Bachelor of Agriculture (Extension) and Diploma in Hospitality, and from 2015 would offer Agriculture and African Languages Teaching as iconic academic programmes.

Dr Parker explained that the Heritage Studies programme that was to be taught at the Northern Cape university was very under-developed subject in South Africa, and there were many people working in museums who lacked the necessary skills and knowledge for the exhibitions. As for Architectural Restoration, also at Northern Cape, the programme did not exist at any other institution in the country. There was a ten-year development plan created in order to promote the institutions’ successful establishment and continued growth.  Following the first year, there was lots of room for further growth and improvement.

Mr Ludwig Hansen, consultant for the DHET, presented the development design framework for the new universities. The following were some of the development plans and characteristics of each of the campuses and locations:

Kimberley, Northern Cape
Offers a fantastic opportunity for a full student life experience; a strong relationship between the university and the community; constant engagement in the plans and high levels of coordination;
the university did not see itself as a separate entity from the city; Kimberley was deemed to be full of heritage, which was to be added upon by the university; Kimberley had offered the existing infrastructure and buildings which were being converted for the use of the new university; the university had made agreements with the city for access to the amenities for the students; the key aspect was integration; a pedestrian walk programme had been was implemented in the city for the convenience and safety of students; and there was no privatization of the infrastructure, the public was to have access.

A launch was planned for 24 September 2013.  A small part of the campus was to be completed in order to demonstrate in an exhibition format what the school was to look like, and its quality.

Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
The process at this location was expected to need more time for planning.  The DHET was working with the local council and district municipalities during the planning process.  Connectivity at this location was not as direct and immediate as in Kimberley – there was less integration and coordination.  There was a focus on connectivity, but some interchanges were required in order to do so.  The infrastructure plan required road changes and new entrances.  Environmental responsibility had been maintained and no go zones created where there would not be any construction.  The Department was currently looking at how to cluster the academic programmes, due to large land size.  The development plans were focused on how to use the available resources effectively and sustainably.  Architectural competitions had begun.

The launch was scheduled to take place in October

Discussion
Prof A Lotriet (DA) asked if there was a contingency plan in case things did not go well for either university? Where would the lecturers come from?  What were the student’s fees? Would they be affordable? In terms of the Northern Cape University, she wondered how the university was to be presented in order to make it more appealing than the one in Bloemfontein.  What were the languages of instruction at Northern Cape going to be?  Was there any communication between the new university and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) that was also being built in the Northern Cape?

Dr Parker replied that there was a detailed risk management strategy that had already been developed. It covered all of the potential areas that might be at risk. It also acknowledged that some risks were bigger than others and took this into account within the plan.  The DHET was currently looking at a mixture of human resource requirements. A recruitment process was to be initiated in order to find lecturers. With regard to the appeal of the new university over Bloemfontein, Dr Parker replied that an interest was shown on a daily basis, which indicated the need for this location. Advertising to students and recruitment could be done only once the university was established as a juristic person. The issue of student fees was linked to the issue of the feasibility study. There was a draft of the feasibility study ready for the interim council’s approval; once adopted by the council, it would become available for the Members. As for languages, in the Northern Cape, the issue of Afrikaans was still in the decision-making process. From SKA’s perspective, the types of programmes that the university offered should be technology-related.  However, there were a number of different aspects for development that had been outlined, which meant that many different options were possible.

Mr B Bhanga (COPE) asked if zoning was only to be done now?  If it was, he was concerned that the timeline was not sufficient for zoning to be completed. Was the land already zoned in the Northern Cape?  He was concerned that the new universities were going to become a duplication of the existing ones.  Were the universities to be used as substitutes for teacher training colleges? Why were mining studies not included in the list of programmes for Mpumalanga, as it was largely a mining area? What were the branding models? Was any consultation done for branding, naming and management?

Dr Parker replied that these particular programmes were chosen over others, like mining, because the initial start-up required programmes that needed minimal infrastructure and minimal resources. This ensured that they could be easily implemented, with a high potential for success. This was not to say that the programmes that had been chosen were of little importance, as they were also in great demand.  In regard to the name, it was to be finalised by the Minister in the short term, and then gazetted. There had been many requests received from stakeholders as to what the name should be, and these had been sent to the Minister.

Mr Hansen said that for 2014, the infrastructure that was to be used was pre-existing buildings. As such, no new construction was necessary for the start-up programmes at either location. In the Northern Cape, zoning had already been completed correctly before the project was initiated. As such, construction in the Northern Cape was ready to be started with confidence.

Mr S Makhubele (ANC) asked what had determined the intake level that had been presented. What was the purpose of one-year diplomas?

Dr Parker replied that the intake level for 2014 had been based on the capacity of the infrastructure and the institution. The start-up intake had therefore been based on short-term factors, but the universities were designed in such a way that there was flexibility and growth potential in the future.

Ms N Gina (ANC) asked how lecturers for the Heritage programme were to be selected. She also wondered what the difference between the two new universities was. What was the plan for advertising to the students?

Mr C Moni (ANC) asked what had influenced the choice of the programmes that were going to be offered.  He asked this because both provinces were mining provinces, but engineering and geology were not part of the proposed programmes of study.

Dr Parker replied that the programmes chosen were based on where there was an apparent need and gap in the system. The national plan indicated that there was a need for teachers and as such, education was integrated as an important programme for each university.

Prof S Mayathula (ANC) asked if there were any criteria for the courses included in the planned programmes.

Dr Parker replied that there was an academic group in place for each of the programmes identified. Each group was working on the academic plan for each individual programme.

Mr Bhanga said he feared there was too much room for error, as the deadlines felt rushed.

Prof Lotriet agreed with Mr Bhanga, and said that there was a feeling that so much could go wrong given that there were only five months remaining until the start up in 2014. She was wondering if there would be any additional support systems for the students, such as libraries.

Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, Director General of DHET, replied that planning the establishment of these two new institutions had been done over a three-year period. As such, many of the issues that were predicted to go wrong had been addressed within the contingency plan. The problem areas had been significantly decreased by the decision to have small start-ups, rather than massive ones.  All support mechanisms for students were already included, and nothing had been left to chance.

Progress on unbundling of University of Limpopo; Establishment of a new Health and Allied Sciences University, incorporating the Medunsa campus
Dr Parker described the progress on the merger of the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa) and the University of the North that had resulted in the establishment of the University of Limpopo (UL).

A roadmap had been developed that outlined the sequence of processes for the unbundling of Medunsa from the University of Limpopo. There had been an engagement between the Minister and the UL Council.  A Government notice had been published, which invited interested persons to provide comments on the merger.  Stakeholder engagement had been planned in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).  The legal framework for the establishment of a new university was in place.  An academic model, suitable for a comprehensive university, had been researched and developed.  A feasibility study, based on institutional and resource gaps between the current Medunsa and the proposed new university model, was under way.

The following activities were planned for the merger: protocol guidelines to determine the transnational and future management arrangements for the university would be drafted in September 2013; the joint technical team was to finalise its report and submit it to the two Ministers by end of august 2013; the establishment of the new Health and Allied Sciences university was expected by January 2014; separation was to be finalised during 2014; and interim governance and management structures for the new university were to be put in place with its establishment in 2014.

Discussion
The Chairperson mentioned that were current attempts to employ people at Medunsa, and asked how that related to the merger.

Dr L Bosman (DA) said that more information was needed regarding the facilities, the funding and the educational system. He was aware that the protocols and guidelines were already established, but there needed to be regular updates on what the outcomes were.

Presentation on Resulting and Certification in Further Education and Training Colleges
Ms Nadine Pote, Director: Examinations, DHET, provided a brief overview of how national examinations worked (see document).  

A vast backlog of certificates had accumulated since 2007 as a result of the following challenges within the system: the instability of data sets submitted by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA); delays in rectifying errors; the submission of subject results instead of consolidated candidate records,  on the basis of which qualifications could be issued; and the allocation of insufficient human resources for the examination system.

Ms Pote said that between 2007 and 2012, the Department had come 66% of the way to issuing all outstanding certificates, but there still remained some unresolved certificates.  She was unable to say how many of the affected students would get their certificates, as some had dropped out or left.  Reports received from examination centres indicated that irregularities had occurred during the examination cycle. For example, question papers had been found in the possession of candidates prior to or during the writing of exams, crib notes closely resembled the question paper layout, and there had been technical errors, such as students not inserting their ID numbers on the answer scripts. The document outlined specifically the number of students implicated and affected by these irregularities. Preliminary findings had determined that leakages had taken place in the external environment. As a result, the following measures had been implemented: sanctions were to be imposed on implicated students; cases had been opened with SAPS where relevant, and which facilitated the prosecution of guilty parties; principals of the implicated centres had to submit a report and plan to eliminate further issues; a distribution model for question papers was in the process of being revised to ensure better control over question papers; the DHET had met with the Association of Private Providers of Education, Training and Development (APPETD) to ask them to play a more active role in eradicating examination irregularities in their sector; two media releases had been issued, informing the public about the extent and nature of the delayed results; a DHET/Unisa task team was continuing to explore possible ways of minimising irregularities; the Department was in the process of reviewing its policies to criminalise any involvement in the leakage of question papers;  the use of the unique identifier on question papers was to be expanded to identify the province, public or private college

The final investigation report and a request for the release of the remaining results was to be submitted by 21 June 2013.   Engineering studies candidates were allowed to register for the next level, to ensure that students with outstanding results were not negatively affected

Ms Pote strongly emphasised in her presentation that a more responsive IT system was needed in order to make the process more efficient, as data was currently entered manually.

Discussion
The Chairperson said there was a challenge within the Department for the storage of data that came from all the centres.  A strategy was needed to deal with this.  The distribution of the papers to the centres also needed to be looked at, and an IT solution was needed so that manual delivery systems were no longer needed.

Prof Lotriet asked for clarity on the issue of almost 7 000 rejected records.  Did that cover all the students, or were there still any outstanding ones? Why was the blockage being addressed only now, if it had begun in 2007?

Ms Pote replied that there were no further numbers beyond those in the presentation.

Dr Bosman asked what happened before 2007.  What records were there that indicated students had completed their courses, in case they lost their certificates? What had happened to the students who were held back to 28 May 2013, since courses had started on 8 May? Had they been accommodated?

Ms Pote replied that letters had been provided for those who were awaiting certificates and were seeking further education.

Mr K Dikobo (AZAPO) asked what had happened to the students.  Was it still known where they were?

Mr Qonde replied in a general manner, stating that the response of the Department was to ask for a new IT programme that would be able to maintain the integrity of the process.  Such a programme was said to be very costly, but the Department was trying hard to make the funds available.

The Chairperson reminded the Committee that during a previous debate on legalisation, it had been agreed that where there was a section on sanctions, there also had to be consequences. For example, in higher education, the consequence for someone not following the rules would be expulsion. He hoped, however, that students would not be expelled due to a system problem. He wanted to see the matter of certification resolved immediately.

Mr Dikobo asked whether, if the department was to get a new IT programme now, they would be “double-parking”, as SITA was also doing the same work.

Presentation on National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in Further Education and Training Colleges
Ms Lebogang Mokwena, Director: Youth Development Programmes, gave an overview of the process involved in determining the bursary allocations per college.

In 2013, the bursary allocation was R1.988 billion, compared to R1.764 billion in 2012. These bursary allocations were based on available funding, programme costs and student enrolments. There had been a 16% increase in the actual number of full-time equivalent (FTE) enrolments, in comparison to the projections. The enrolment projections for 2013 had been 263 722 students, whereas the actual FTE enrolment number was 314 807. This had negatively impacted the bursary allocation, as it lowered the amounts allocated.   The administrative processes, as well as the possible reasons for difference in projections and actual numbers, were outlined in detail (see presentation document). A key issue for the bursary programme was the under-estimation by colleges of the need for additional funds, and a mismatch in numbers.

Ms Mokwena provided the following list of challenges with regards to FET Colleges and the administration of the bursary scheme: poor financial management and controls; insufficient and inadequately qualified staff; failure to apply the qualifying criteria; poor communication about the eligibility criteria; and no compliance with the requirements for the establishment of proper financial aid governance structures.

Discussion
Mr Makhubele asked how the Department could ensure that those who were in need of financial aid actually received it?  Were there any measures to ensure that the colleges used the money for what it was intended?

Mr Qonde replied that the first measure to be taken was to convert the guidelines into regulations that included legal consequences.

Mr Dikobo asked the Department how they dealt with instances where the projections were lower than the actual numbers.  How did the Department discover that there were some fraudulent numbers?  When were students informed that they had qualified for a bursary?

Mr Qonde replied that a qualified chartered accountant was employed as a chief financial officer in order to run audits on the bursary programme and the use of the money by colleges. With regard to the students, they were supposed to be informed immediately whether they qualified for a bursary, or not.  However, the colleges did not always adhere to these practices.

Adoption of minutes
The presentation was adjourned and the Committee moved on to the adoption of minutes. The minutes of 22 May 2013, 5 June 2013 and 12 June 2013 were adopted, with minor grammatical changes.

The meeting was adjourned.