Department of Higher Education and Training 1st quarter 2013 Expenditure

Meeting report

Department of Higher Education and Training 1^st quarter 2013 briefing
Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, Director General, Department of Higher Education and Training, noted that his Department (DHET or the Department) had five programmes and within these had 23 pre-determined targets. In the quarter under review, 57% (13) were achieved and 43% (10) were partially achieved. The Committee was given the assurance that the partially achieved targets were being given the necessary attention and that they would be finalised by year end.

Each of the five programmes was introduced by the programme head, who indicated, following the attached presentation, how many targets were achieved and how many were partially achieved. The key achievements and challenges faced in each of the programmes were identified (see attached presentation for full details)

The Heads of Programmes cited challenges around the need for enhanced security due to the renovations of the building, having to prevent the leaking of exam papers, various allegations that led to forensic investigations by the Public Protector’s Office, the publishing of the first internal newspaper, and dealing with problems related to the training of lecturers, registration of candidates and artisans in the skills development programme.

Key achievements under Programme 1 included the fact that there was 100% compliance to Supply Chain management logistical policies and standards. Also all payments were processed within five days. 100% of the targets in programme 2 were achieved. The Quarterly performance report on the Annual Performance Plan was approved by the Director General. Substantial progress was made with the establishment of the two new universities, in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. New intakes would proceed in 2014, with Mpumalanga providing for 140 students and Sol Plaatjie for 135 students. Full bursaries and tuition costs would be awarded for those students.

Substantial progress was also made with the strengthening of the Foundation Phase Teacher Education Programme. There was strengthening also on the training of managers, lecturers, personnel and artisan candidates.

Mr Theuns Tredoux, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Higher Education and Training, stated that the total expenditure against the voted funds accounted for 45.2%. He conceded that this sounded high as normally an amount of 25% would be expected for this first quarter. However, this amount must be seen in relation to the fact that the transfer payments that the Department managed for programmes 3 and 4 were paid in this quarter. The direct charges, which accounted for 20.4%, were on target. In total, the amount of 38.7% in general was on par with the activities and spending trends. Even though the Department did face some constraints there were measures in place which would ensure that service delivery was not affected negatively. Therefore it would seem that, despite the many challenges, the budget was in pretty good shape and remained on target. 

Discussion
Prof A Lotriet (DA) referred to Programme 3, on University Education, and wanted more detail on the two universities, when their establishment would be gazetted and their details published.

Ms Shai Makgoba, Director, Department of Higher Education and Training, stated that the dates for the gazetting were namely 22 August for Mpumalanga and 23 August for Sol Plaatjie.

Prof Lotriet enquired how far the DHET had gone with the establishment of the Higher Education Institute for Humanities. Recommendations had been sought on this but she needed to know where these had led.

Ms P Whittle, Director, DHET, said that the call for comments had elicited a number of comments that were being analysed, and based on this, the regulations were being revised for Ministerial approval and would be gazetted. After that approval, the process to have the National Institute firmly established would proceed. 

Prof Lotriet enquired how many certificates were still outstanding.

Mr Z Mvalo, Acting Deputy Director General, DHET, said that thirty audits were undertaken annually. 14 audits had been conducted in that quarter. The issue of certificates had been addressed in this quarter, and the review would soon be completed. There were provisional figures but he did not want to reveal them, although he could state that the results showed a backlog with the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). He would, however, share the figures once the review was complete.

Mr L Bosman (DA) said that the first irregularities report in respect of exam papers and problems in the Department had been produced, yet all the information had not been available at the previous meeting. He would therefore like to know what had happened, if people were prosecuted with regard to the leakages, and what was done to prevent similar situations in future.

Ms Shai Makgoba addressed the outcome of the investigation into the irregularities of the examinations. She reported that 157 candidates were confirmed to be involved in irregularities. In terms of the policy they would be prohibited from participating in national examinations for 11 months thereafter. Cases were also opened with the South African Police Service (SAPS), which were followed up. Arrests were made of people who were found in possession of the leaked papers.
Mr Bosman commented that the 57% achievement on targets was not particularly good, and enquired if these targets applied only to the first quarter, or were longer term.

The Chairperson followed up on this, noting that although there were allegations that in Mpumalanga there were people said to have leaked question papers, SAPS had said that they did not know under what criminal offence to charge them. The Chairperson made the point that if no statutory charges existed for the leaking of papers, the legislation must be amended, but if there were already provisions in a relevant statute, then the Committee should be advised, to pass it on in turn to the relevant SAPS office.

Ms Makgoba said that the charges should be of possession of stolen goods.
 
Mr S Makhubele (ANC) said that the presentation was very vague on some aspects and was difficult to understand. In some areas the targets were clear, but in others they were not. For example, slide 5 page 3 stated that 16 exhibitions and events were held, but there was no indication as to how many were targeted. The next bullet pint stated that requests for payment were handled within five days, but did not show what the targets were. The real issue, to his mind, was comparing targets with achievements. The same comment applied to the 215 managers and 67 managers and lecturers that were trained. The Committee was unable to judge the performance of the Department without such comparatives.

Ms Makgoba said that this had been an oversight. The managers’ target was 60. With regard to the lecturers, the target was 150, and 215 lecturers were trained.

Mr Makhubele noted that nothing had been said about the college councils even though it was a very serious issue when the Committee did its oversight. It had been found that some were operating without the directive from Department, some were terminated, there was no policy development, implementation, nor accountability. The Committee needed to be updated in that regard as well.

Mr Qonde noted that in regard to the college councils, one of the experiences was the growth f poor governance practices, which had been a critical challenge. The Department undertook to set up college councils that would be credible enough to live up to the objectives of good governance in every aspect. When the department received applications, after advertisements, the Department did a thorough investigation of every individual to ensure that those accepted onto the college council were people of note, good standing, and who had skills that would be of use to Further Education and Training (FET) colleges. The Minister had to sign off the process and this should be completed in the next few weeks. No delays were foreseen. He added that industry should form part of college councils and this should give effect to college partnerships and participation in the curriculum re-design, to address the gaps in curriculum and programme offering that had hindered the FET colleges. Good responses were received. A Chief Executive Officer of Toyota served on one of the councils. That process would ensure that relevance, structure and credibility were brought to the FET Colleges and the Council would play a more meaningful role in that regard.


Ms N Gina (ANC) said that her focus would be on the accreditation of whatever was going to be offered by the universities. She wanted clarity in this regard, as the report on this had still been confused.

Mr Qonde responded that at the moment the Department was still engaging with the relevant universities that were offering those programmes. The Department would solicit their agreement on the accreditation for offerings into the new colleges. The process was still outstanding and about to be finalised. It related mainly to the agricultural science programmes. The interim council was assisting with the process as it unfolded.

Ms Gina also needed more information on the training of lecturers, what the impact of that training was and whether she could be given an assurance that the training was indeed relevant.

Ms D Chili(ANC) asked how long the training was.

Dr Bheki Mahlobo, Chief Director, DHET responded that one of strategies that the Department had embarked upon was building capacity to deliver effectively and efficiently on programmes. On an annual basis, after examinations, the DHET identified in which subject areas there was worst performance, and then would review the curriculum content, and then deal with how lecturers accessed it. Subjects were reviewed as some did become obsolete. The training revolved around content and assessment. The duration of the training varied. If the performance was exceptionally low then that kind of training was reserved for when the college was closed, and lecturers would be called in to undertake intensive training perhaps for five days. Otherwise, training would be offered on Fridays and Saturdays. This would vary from one session to the other, but there would be specific content training, in particular discipline and assessment. The impact on the capacity in the system and whether there was value for money could be only judged when there were improvements and in the certification training.

Mr Qonde also wanted to elaborate, saying that whilst the Department itself did not have actual tools to measure the impact of training, it would rely on continuous monitoring and evaluation, as also feedback after programmes of training.

Ms Gina asked about applications to the new universities, and whether the students would be informed how they must apply, as this was not clear.

Mr Qonde responded that the application to the new universities would be advertised by the interim council quite soon, and also the other facility that would be used in the central application system. There were numerous enquiries but in order to ensure a proper take off,  the technical teams were working on the matter, and would be advertising before the end of September.

Ms Gina added that although a letter was tabled, it was not clear whether this was for internal publication only, or for public publication. One of the main points of contention was that the public was not kept abreast of developments in DEHT. As the newsletter was going to be online, she was not sure if the newsletter would form part of this trend or would it address this concern.

Prof S Mayathula (ANC) said that if this report was up to end June, certain of the targets had surely to be carried over – for instance Skills Development – and he wondered how the implications were explained, and said that better understanding was needed when the report was presented.

Mr Qonde replied that the targets that were reported on were those that are reflected on the Annual Performance Plan and were aligned to the financial year, but based on quarterly performance. This report was based on the period 1 April until 30 June 2013. The questions that were asked would be addressed by the DHET heads.

Ms D Chili (ANC) said that when the Committee did oversight visits at the sites of the new universities the existing professors in other institutions were concerned about their positions when the university opened.

The Chairperson said that if the institutions thought they would be incorporated into the new universities, there should be no fear for their positions, as competent staff they could be easily incorporated if they were competent.

Mr Makhubela said that colleges would state that they went beyond allocations, meaning that they would request additional funding, but he wondered if there were unforeseen circumstances that could pose challenges; for example a settlement at the Walter Sisulu University. The Department must inform the Committee should it become aware of concerns.

The Chairperson asked for more information on the investigations. The Committee was aware that PriceWaterhouseCoopers had been asked to do an investigation, although the content of that report was not known. One professor suggested that if certificates were to be awarded, this would amount to maladministration. He asked what the nature and character of the report was likely to be, and whether it would assist the Committee in dealing with known challenges in Limpopo. In the same visit, seven FET colleges had also raised concern that their council should expedite the process.

Mr Qonde replied that it was correct that the National Institution of Higher Education (NIHE) was to be set up by the Minister as a function within the Higher Education Act. There were three main constituents, the Board of NIHE, the staff, including management, and supporting institutions with programmes and students. The legislation compelled the Department to consult and engage with the NIHE, informed by the various components, and determine the position in the event that any new universities were to be established. As the process was unfolding it would not be correct to anticipate the outcome. Genuine consultations were being held. The University of Limpopo was of concern, and it was for this reason that the DHET had asked for an investigation. This had revealed problems in financial management amongst other things. This was not attended to by the Council or by management, and on that basis, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report had made some strong recommendations to the Minister.

Prof Mayathula said that, although this was now September, there were no announcements on the NIHE.

Mr Qonde replied that there was no need to be worried. When the two universities started, this did not mean that the NIHE would cease to exist. A process would be followed. The Labour Relations Act was also very clear in that regard.

The Chairperson thanked the delegation but urged the DHET to improve on reporting against the Annual Performance Plan, in order also to achieve better results from their audit. An improved reporting culture should be sustained and upheld

Adoption of Minutes
Minutes of previous meetings were adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.