TVET colleges and universities: enrolment / registration 2015; NSFAS on 2015 loans/bursaries allocation to students, with Minister present

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

18 February 2015
Chairperson: Ms Y Phosa (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) met with the Committee to brief Members on the process of registration and enrolment at universities and Technical and Vocational Education Training Colleges (TVET) for the year 2015. The Department indicated that students enrolling to study scarce skills for the first time in 2015 totaled 204 450, a 6.39% increase from 2012. Scarce skills areas were engineering, life and physical sciences, animal and human health and teacher education. In total, overall enrolment in scarce skills areas for 2015 was 1 020 190, a 2.28% increase from 2012. The Department’s projected target had been 1 002 110.

The Department’s Central Applications Clearing House (CACH) was currently in its third year of operation and the service was growing consistently every year. The service had expanded from a service for prospective university students to a post-school education and training service. Students who did not find placements at a university needed to explore all other possible programmes. To date, the CACH centre had handled 17 122 calls, compared to 10 908 calls in 2014.

The higher education sector had been affected by a wave of student protests in 2014, forcing some institutions to suspend classes or to close campuses, as some protests had become violent and led to the destruction of property. Some of the institutions affected were the University of Limpopo, Vaal University of Technology, University of KwaZulu Natal and the Tshwane University of Technology, to name a few. Issues which had led to strikes included admissions, access to student accommodation, academic and financial exclusions, as well as expectations that university education should be free for poor students. In intervening, the Department had conducted a series of workshops in October 2014 for the Student Representative Councils, student political formations, and management and institutional forums. These workshops had provided an opportunity for leaders of these formations to interact with current issues and to provide inputs for the way forward.

Some of the challenges the Department faced included outstanding fees and financial exclusions, lack of funds for enrolment, the issue of BTech funding by NSFAS and issues around student accommodation.

The National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) said that TVET colleges had been allocated R6 179 574 for the 2015/16 financial year, a 6% growth from the 2014/15 financial year. The bursary allocation for TVET colleges consisted of tuition fees, transport and accommodation allowances. This funding was channeled through NSFAS, which paid TVET colleges on a claim basis. NSFAS’s new model was student-centred. This meant that the allocation of funds was managed by NSFAS, and the students knew about their funding status before registration commenced. The students applied only once for a course of study. However, the old model still affected 85% of the student population.

Some of the major achievements were that over the years the enrolment and registration planning process had improved, and this had contributed to colleges being better prepared for the registration process. TVET colleges that had pre-enrolled in the last quarter of 2015 had experienced fewer and shorter queues. TVET colleges with good Information Technology (IT) systems for enrolment and good bandwidth were able to process registrations faster, and the training of officials at campuses enabled accurate and prompt reporting on the registration process, and challenges were attended to faster. Some of the challenges, however, were that some colleges had reported long queues and disruptions during registrations, there had been IT system failures, and some colleges were requesting registration fees from students.

Members asked why there were such long delays for the money to reach the intended recipients. Was it because of capacity constraints at NSFAS, or was it a lack of management? If so, what were some of the consequences for the people who failed to do the work as required? Had the Department entered into any agreements with NSFAS on timelines and agreements with the Department for the disbursement of funds? What plans did the Department have in place to address this? What was causing student indebtedness and frustration at the TVET colleges, and how was the Department resolving such issues? What were the implications for the 63% retained in the TVET sector before monies were made available to the institutions? How would this affect the channeling of funds to where the students were? How far was the Department in developing an online library which would service the entire sector? Was the CACH system worth the amount which the Department was spending? Was it providing value for money? Did the Department have a plan in place to strengthen the relationship between universities, NSFAS and the TVET colleges? Why was the pilot not being extended to all institutions of higher learning? What did NSFAS do with the unclaimed funds -- were these reallocated to where there was a need? Did the Department have rules and guidelines to regulate college expansions?

 

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks
The Chairperson welcomed the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mr Blade Ndzimande, to the meeting and thanked him for making time to attend, despite the busy Cabinet schedule. She also welcomed the Deputy Minister, Mr Mduduzi Manana, and officials from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), as well as those from the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

She indicated that during the Committee’s oversight visit to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), it was found that over 200 returning students were not funded by NSFAS. However there had not been any negative reports on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, and the Committee hoped that in all the colleges, registration was under way and running smoothly. She indicated that the Minister would not be staying for the duration of the meeting due to Cabinet commitments, but his attendance was well appreciated.

Minister’s introductory remarks
Minister Ndzimande thanked the Committee for the invitation. Engagements with the Committee were always fruitful and meaningful. It was unfortunate that the meetings with the Committee always took place on a Cabinet day. This was a matter that Cabinet itself had raised as a concern. The leader of government business needed to work with Parliament to find a solution to this problem. There was a suggestion that the Minister should attend Committee meetings once every quarter, or once every two months, in negotiation with Parliament. Another suggestion was that Parliament change the day of the meeting, but scheduling was also a very difficult task. He took the Committee engagements very seriously and would answer any burning issues Members might have.

He said that the university education presentation would provide an overview of enrolment planning for first-time students in 2015, including the scarce skills areas highlighted as important within the system. The presentation would also look at the status of registration at universities, and the work done by the Central Applications Clearing House (CACH). CACH was significantly growing in its use by students and prospective students. CACH was also being used as another platform for career guidance to students.

Some of the key challenges being experienced in the system were related to NSFAS, resulting in many student protests over the registration period. The NSFAS budget from the Department for 2015/16 was R6 449 billion, and comprised R4 094 billion for university studies and R 2 025 billion for TVET colleges. Other notable allocations include R1 billion from the Department of Basic Education (Funza Lushaka),    R200 million from the Department of Social Development for social workers, and R200 million from universities’ own funding. NSFAS had also been allocated R562.9 million for bursaries for scarce and critical skills from the National Skills Fund. Despite the challenges at NSFAS, students were given full funds for the study of scarce skills, without any compromise. The Department believed that it was important to support students in these areas, not meaning that other students were not important to government priorities. The total budget available for NSFAS for the 2015/16 academic year was R9.5 billion. The presentations would be dealing with this in greater detail.

Discussion:
Ms J Kilian (ANC) asked the Minister about the rising cost of tertiary education. The Minister had indicated that a commission of enquiry would be appointed to look into the matter. What progress had been made in this regard so far? Linked to this was the problem around insufficient NSFAS funding, and late payments from NSFAS to institutions -- how was the Department addressing this matter? What was at the root of such problems?

Dr B Bozzoli (DA) said she was glad to hear that engagements with the Committee were of benefit to the Minister. However, this was not the point of Committee meetings. Committee meetings were for the Minister to answer to Members. She spoke about the R1 billion which the Department had made available in 2014, which was a once-off allocation. Could the Department not find another R1 billion as a stop gap measure, to soften the current student protests? She asked whether the Department could not provide a breakdown and analysis of student debts. What were some of the measures through which these debts could be addressed? The amazing achievements made by NSFAS over the last year needed to be acknowledged. She asked whether the Department was looking at allowing universities to ease up on their targets, to avoid disappointments around funding. The enrolment targets which universities needed to meet were very stringent.

Mr M Mbatha (EFF) spoke about the relationship between the price of education and government’s inability to provide guidance on the price of education. There was a growing tendency among institutions of higher learning to adjust prices without providing value for money, and in most cases the conditions of each geopolitical area needed to be considered. Institutions around urban areas could not be charging the same amount as institutions in rural areas. There was a relation between fraud at NSFAS and parents who could not afford tuition but whose applications were rejected by NSFAS. This was a serious matter and the Department needed to intervene. There was also a growing amount of black indebtedness, which was a growing concern, especially since the budget for NSFAS seemed to be stagnant.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) said the country spent R130 billion on welfare and R50 billion on education, and this had to change. People needed to be productive and stop relying on social grants -- they needed to be empowered and trained.

Minister Ndzimande responded to the question around the rising costs of higher education. He said that a Ministerial Task Team had been appointed, led by the now Deputy President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, which had completed its work on reviewing the funding formula for universities. The Department had not looked at the funding formula for a very long time, and the landscape around universities had changed quite significantly. There had also been quite a number of mergers in the sector. He indicated that in December 2014, the Minister had had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Higher Education South Africa (HESA), and one of the things which had been agreed on was that there needed to be a comprehensive look into what the cost drivers were in higher education.

He indicated that the Department spent 1.4% of the GDP on higher education, which was even below the continental average. A decision had then been taken that the country needed to work towards at least reaching a continental average. A number of factors needed to be looked at when dealing with the continental average, such as the higher education inflation, which was higher than normal inflation within a country. The issue of fees would also be looked at, and all relevant stakeholders would be engaged. NSFAS would address the issues around late payments to universities, although the Department insisted that NSFAS pay the institutions on time. However, sometimes even the institutions themselves submitted their claims to NSFAS late, and also did not provide information timeously. A student who applied for NSFAS needed to be informed about the outcome of the application within 24 hours, but this was not always the case. Students would then go on strike. NSFAS needed to increase its resources, especially human resources, in order to address the many challenges it had. The Department was continually working with NSFAS.

The Department was always looking for more funds for NSFAS, but he did not want to create an expectation that the Department would find more money, because this was not guaranteed. The private sector needed to be encouraged to partner with the sector. One big supporter of the sector was the Deputy President, who was committed to reaching out to the private sector to secure funds. He asked that the issue raised on student debt be addressed after the presentation by the Department.

He asked whether Dr Bazzoli was suggesting that the Department should not push universities too hard when she suggested that university targets be “relaxed”. This would be difficult, because there was a huge demand for space in the higher education sector. The challenge in the post schooling system was diversification; universities were the primary route which students were exploring. The system could also not only be funded through student fees. There needed to be various sources of funding.

He said the Department was looking into the issue of fraud. He agreed with the Member that government needed to move away from being a welfare state and focus its efforts on being a developmental state. Government could not afford to be a welfare state. The task of government was to increase jobs and other opportunities for sustainable livelihood.

Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, Director-General, DHET, said the Department would address the issue of student debt during its presentation. With regard to the review of the funding formula, work was currently taking place. A technical task team had been established with a view of interrogating the recommendations which had emerged from the Ministerial Committee which had undertaken a study in this area. The Committee had presented its analysis to the task team, and a model would be adopted. A final report would be presented to the Department by March 2015.

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) said she appreciated the work which the Department was doing. In his opening remarks, the Minister had indicated that classes at TVET had commenced on 19 January 2015, but during an oversight to Tshwane North College, the Committee noticed that classes had not yet started owing to a lack of lecturers and textbooks. The college was very close to the Department’s offices. Who was responsible for ensuring that textbooks were delivered on time and that lectures commenced on time?

The Chairperson thanked the Department for completing its terms of reference for forensic investigations. She asked that the information from the investigation be shared with the Committee. Did the Department have an intervention strategy to address the challenges at the Midlands TVET College? She indicated that in 2014, the Minister had alluded to money amounting to R2 billion which had been impounded from the Sector Education and Training Authority’s (SETA’s) savings. How would this money be used? Could it be used for addressing current student debts?

Minister Ndzimande replied to Dr Bozzoli, and explained that by saying he benefited from the engagements with the Committee, it did not take away from his responsibility to account to the Committee. The interactions with Members were very enriching and encouraging.

The responsibility for monitoring colleges lay with the Department, but there were still some capacity challenges within the Department. The Department was still relatively new, and migration took time -- the Department would have staff transferred to it only in April 2015 for a proclamation which had been made in November 2009. The Department needed provincially-based staff in order to be closer to the colleges. With regard to the terms of reference for the forensic investigations, he said the information would be shared with the Committee. The Department was indeed worried about the developments at Midlands College. The Department had been faced with enormous challenges there, but it was prioritising bringing stability to the college. The Department was also experiencing some challenges in getting money from SETAs. He said unspent money should be used to build capacity within the system, while some of the money could also be used to support scarce skills.

Presentation: University Registrations and Enrolments, 2015
Dr Diane Parker, Acting Deputy Director-General: University Enrolments, DHET, outlined the structure of the presentation. She explained that the Department negotiated enrolment figures with university cycles. Planning for the 2014 to 2019 academic years had been negotiated. The Ministerial Statement on Student enrolment planning 2014/15–2019/20 for universities indicated targets for the system and individual institutions for the cycle. First time-entering students in scarce skills for 2015 totaled 204 450, a 6.39% increase from 2012. Scarce skills areas were engineering, life and physical sciences, animal and human health and teacher education. In total, enrolments in scarce skills areas for 2015 were 1 020 190, a 2.28% increase from 2012. The Department’s projected target had been 1 002 110.

She explained that registration closing dates varied across the system, from the 23 January to 31 March 2015. There were three types of registration -- year courses, first semester courses and second semester courses. Institutions had not currently finished registration, so registration numbers were not yet available. In 2015, the Department’s Central Applications Clearing House (CACH) operated in January and February, from Mondays to Sundays, from 8am to 8pm. The system was available via a toll-free number, via SMS and via the CACH website.  

Dr Parker spoke about the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s application process, and explained that NSFAS’s new loans and bursaries management system had become operational on 7 October 2013 and was being tested in six universities and five TVET colleges. However, some of the challenges faced by NSFAS needed to be highlighted, the main challenge being that despite the significant budget increases between 2011 and 2014, the demands on NSFAS still exceeded the funds available. During the 2014/15 financial year, NSFAS had allocated R3 914 893 to universities, and this had been increased in 2015/16 to R4 094 978. TVET colleges were allocated R2 107 739 in 2014/15 and R2 204 695 in 2015/16. In total, NSFAS allocated R6 299 673 to universities and TVET colleges for the 2015/16 financial year.

Other challenges included the continued increase in institutional fees, “top slicing” of institutions, inconsistencies in allocating NSFAS funding across the system (each university had a different process), weak recoveries by NSFAS, a weak NSFAS funding strategy, ineffective administration of donor funding, the lack of an effective NSFAS communication strategy, and fraudulent and corrupt activity.

With regard to student unrest, she said the Higher Education sector was affected by a wave of student protests in 2014, forcing some institutions to suspend classes or to close campuses, as some protests had become violent and some had led to the destruction of property. Some of the institutions affected were the University of Limpopo, Vaal University of Technology, University of KwaZulu Natal and the Tshwane University of Technology, to name a few. Some of the issues which had led to strikes included admissions, access to student accommodation, academic and financial exclusions, as well as expectations that university education should be free for poor students. In intervening, the Department had conducted a series of workshops in October 2014 for the Student Representative Councils, student political formations and management and institutional forums. These workshops provided an opportunity for leaders of these formations to interact with current issues and to provide inputs for the way forward. In addition, a joint meeting was held in September 2014 between the Department, the University Council Chairs Forum – South Africa (UCCF-SA), Higher Education South Africa (HESA) and the South African Union of Students (SAUS). All parties had agreed that student protests or demonstrations that resulted in the destruction of university or private property, and infringed upon the rights of others to peacefully assemble, would not be condoned or tolerated. It was acknowledged that most of the protests were linked to the inadequacy of NSFAS funding. Universities were therefore urged to consider developing, in consultation with relevant structures, a protest policy.

However, there were still challenges remaining. These included outstanding fees and financial exclusions, lack of funds for enrolment, the issue of BTech funding by NSFAS and issues around student accommodation. With regard to enhanced teaching and learning support for new entrants, institutions would establish writing centres as a central component of the language development programme. There would also be a dramatic expansion of tutorial and mentoring programmes, while the “Apply Now!” campaign would also assist prospective students to avoid late applications. The Enterprise Architecture for the Central Applications Service would be developed during 2015 for piloting in 2017 and implementation in 2018.

Presentation: TVET colleges – Registration and Enrolment Process for the 2015 Academic Year
Dr Bheki Mahlobo, Acting Deputy Director-General: TVET, DHET, explained that TVET colleges submitted their enrolment plans, inclusive of programme offerings and enrolment figures through the submission of strategic, annual performance and operational plans, to the Department. The 2015/16 TVET college strategic plans had been approved by the Minister in 2014. The 2015 TVET college calendar and enrolment schedule had been distributed to colleges in the last quarter of 2014. He explained that bursary applications were integrated into the college application process. The 10% advance payments for bursaries to colleges were all paid in January 2015. Bursary allocations for 2015 amounted to R2.2 billion.

In total, TVET colleges were allocated R6 179 574 for the 2015/16 financial year -- a 6% growth from the 2014/15 financial year. The three province with the highest budget allocations were Gauteng, with R1 447 412, KwaZulu Natal, with R1 096 460, and the Eastern Cape, with R889 347. The three provinces with the lowest allocations were the Northern Cape, with R100 138, North West, with R333 423 and the Free State, with R412 975.

He explained that the programme budget allocation for TVET colleges was determined in terms of the norms and standards for funding. The bursary allocation for TVET colleges consisted of tuition fees, transport and accommodation allowances. This funding was channeled through NSFAS, who paid TVET colleges on a claim basis. With regard to registration for 2015, new students received counseling for career choices. The Department also provided training support for provincial officials during registration and the enrolment process. Classes had commenced on 19 January 2015. With regard to the monitoring of registration at TVET colleges, a total of 146 college campuses had been visited during the registration period, with priority being given to colleges requiring support.

Some of the major achievements were that over the years, the enrolment and registration planning process had improved, and this had contributed to better prepared colleges for the registration process. TVET colleges that had pre-enrolled in the last quarter of 2015 had experienced fewer and shorter queues. TVET colleges with good Information Technology (IT) systems for enrolment and good bandwidth had processed registrations faster and the training of officials at campuses had enabled accurate and prompt reporting on the registration process, and challenges had been attended to faster. Some of the challenges, however, were that some colleges had reported long queues and disruptions during registrations, IT system failures had been reported and some colleges had requested registration fees from students. A draft policy had been developed for the verification of college enrolments, which would be conducted by external college auditors. This complied with the Auditor-General’s requirements.

Presentation: Allocations to Universities and TVET Colleges 2015 - NSFAS
Mr Nathan Johnstone, Board Member, NSFAS, relayed an apology from Professor Themba Mosia, who was unable to attend the meeting. He reminded the Committee that the mandate of the organisation was set out in the NSFAS Act 56 of 1999. Some of the challenges faced by NSFAS included students with historic debt, not all qualifying students being assisted, unfunded programmes such as the BTech, implementation of the new student-centred model and student protests.

Mr Msulwa Daca, Executive Officer, NSFAS, said that in 2014 R8.7 billion was paid to TVETs and universities, with R1 156 745 paid in the new model and R7 530 413 paid in the old model. The new student-centred model had been piloted at 11 institutions -- six universities and five TVET colleges -- so the old model still affected 85% of the student population. The new model was student-centred, which meant that the allocation of funds was managed by NSFAS, and the students knew about their funding status before registration commenced. The student applied once only for a course of study.

With regard to preparations for 2015, he said that by 19 December 2014 all allocations had been confirmed to universities and a 30% upfront payment had been made to universities. Maximum funding per student had been capped at R67 200. The Department was yet to confirm allocations to TVET colleges, but a 10% allocation had been made to all TVET colleges. NSFAS had also made provision for dedicated funding to students with disabilities. In total, NSFAS had been able to secure R9.5 billion in funding from various sources, which included the Department of Higher Education and Training (R6.3 billion), the Department of Basic Education (R1 billion), the Department of Social Development (R200 million), the National Skills Fund (R800 million) and Sector Education and Training Authorities (R500 million). University allocations from NSFAS amounted to R5 033 922 561, and TVET college allocations amounted to R2 204 000 003.

With regard to communication with the various institutions, he said that NSFAS had communicated with HESA and the Department on 2015 readiness, and meetings had also been held with student leaders and various organisations to discuss issues such as the TVET administration process, university administration processes, the DHET final year programme, B Tech and the administration of SETA funding. Some of the other stakeholders with whom NSFAS had held engagements were university vice-chancellors and staff, TVET college principals, the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Social Development and the National Skills Fund. Other interventions by NSFAS had included roving teams to visit both pilot and non-pilot institutions during registration, continuously engaging potential sources of funding, and reaching agreement with the Department of Basic education to allocate Funza Lushaka funding much earlier.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked the Department and NSFAS for the presentations.

Mr E Siwela (ANC) said it was good that NSFAS was able to disburse monies to students, but during some oversight visits the Committee had learned that students sometimes received money as late as December. This was a cause for concern. Why were there such long delays for the money to reach the intended recipients? Was it because of capacity constraints at NSFAS, or was it a lack of management? If so, what were some of the consequences for the people who had failed to do the work as required? Did the Department enter into any agreements with NSFAS on timelines and agreements with the Department for the disbursements of funds? He referred to the University of Limpopo, and said students there were receiving funding from different sources, such as the European Union, Funza Lushaka and NSFAS. However, students who received their funding from the Department in Mpumalanga and the European Union, received NSFAS funding as well. How was the Department addressing this to ensure equity among students? It was quite commendable that the Department had been able to visit 201 campuses -- what lessons had the Department learnt from these visits? What happened to TVET students who were found to be not coping with learning at these institutions -- what form of assistance were they given?

Ms M Nkadimeng (ANC) said that during the Committee’s oversight, it had been reported that there were results still pending, and students could not register to the next level because of this. What plans did the Department have in place to address this? It was important that students received their results in time so they could register in time. She acknowledged that government had significantly increased funding to NSFAS since 2011, and good progress had been made to assist students in finding accommodation and in resolving transport issues. She also commended the ruling party for its commitment to realizing free education at all levels, but more work still needed to be done.

Ms Kilian said it was necessary to say that the steps were being taken to eliminate systemic problems which the higher education sector usually faced at the beginning of the year. She acknowledged that not all problems could be dealt with immediately, but it was great to see that the Department was committed to working towards eliminating problems. It was commendable that money allocated to NSFAS had been increased. What was causing student indebtedness and frustration at the TVET colleges, and how was the Department resolving such issues? What were the implications for the 63% retained in the TVET sector before monies were made available to the institutions? How would this affect the channeling of funds to where the students were? With regard to the enrolment of semester programmes, she asked for clarity on how the bursary allocations were made to the students? Did the students receive partial funding or were they immediately indebted when they dropped out? She acknowledged that textbook procurement was the responsibility of the institutions -- how far was the Department in developing an online library which would service the entire sector?

Prof Bozzoli said the uptake by CACH was quite unimpressive. It seemed as though the system was coming up slowly. She expressed concern about the rollout and the expense of the scheme. Was the system worth the amount which the Department was spending? Was it providing value for money? She asked that the Department provide the Committee with an exact figure of how many colleges had experienced disruptions. The growth of enrolments in business studies, rather than in engineering, at TVET colleges was worrying. The whole point of TVET colleges was to boost skills in science and engineering. How was the Department addressing this? She was concerned that no one from NSFAS had spoken in detail about the challenges faced by NSFAS, while the Department’s presentation had pointed these out clearly. The new student-centred model was not the only solution to the problems faced by NSFAS. NSFAS was one of the biggest contributors to the riots which were currently taking place at various institutions around the country. She asked that NSFAS respond to the challenges which had been highlighted in the Department’s presentation.

Mr Mbatha agreed that NSFAS was one of the biggest issues which universities were complaining about. Delays in the payment of allocations in every quarter were a serious concern. Did the Department have a plan in place to strengthen the relationship between universities, NSFAS and TVET colleges? Also, officials across all the provinces were not spending enough time at the TVET colleges to monitor how things were going and assisting where possible. NSFAS needed to ensure that Further Education and Training colleges were assisted to clarify the systems and to better understand how they functioned. In turn, the colleges would then be in a better position to explain to the students what was going on. The lack of guidance from NSFAS in these instances was a concern, and this needed to be addressed.

Ms Mchunu said NSFAS’s new student-centred model was better than the old one in many respects. The new system was better at screening student applications, utilizing information from the South African Revenue Services (SARS) and the Department of Home Affairs, and thereby producing more authentic applications. Why was the pilot not being extended to all institutions of higher learning? It was a challenge that not all colleges were able to claim all funds. She suggested that guidelines be put in place to guide colleges on the processes. What did NSFAS do with the unclaimed funds -- were these reallocated to where there was a need? Did the Department have rules and guidelines to regulate college expansions? Many colleges experienced financial constraints because of a lack of adequate regulation from the Department.

Mr Qonde thanked Members for their questions and comments. On the different nature of bursary funding at institutions, he said NSFAS was regulated by the NSFAS Act regarding the conditions for the awarding of the funds. Allocations to students were attached to these conditions. Therefore, if other bursary funders were paying for other conditions which NSFAS did not cover, it was not NSFAS’s responsibility to regulate them.

On the question on outstanding results, he said that what happened was that students wrote supplementary exams, and the challenge was about consolidating these results with the other mainstream results through the IT system. The Department had therefore made a presentation to Cabinet so that Cabinet could allow the Department to deviate from the SETA provision of IT support for examinations. The system also had a number of flaws. A tender had been advertised and was being evaluated by technical officials within the Department, as well as SETA.

On colleges which were experiencing some problems, he said these were the ones which everyone knew about. The Department was addressing these problems through monitoring and through engagements with all colleges and stakeholders.

On the question on business studies and engineering, he agreed that the matter was one which needed some serious attention, and a study had been undertaken by the Department on registration patterns throughout the country, province by province, in relation to the demand and supply of skills. In these engagements, the Department had come up with a number of interventions, but the problem was with the offering of mathematics and science at basic schooling level. Engineering studies required mathematics and science. The Department had therefore developed foundation phase programmes at universities for first-time entering students to minimise the risk of failure. To date, there were 17 522 involved in these programmes at university level.

In respect to colleges, the Minister had commissioned an investigation into the offering of mathematics and science foundation programmes at TVET colleges so that students who had not done well in these subjects in Grade 12 were able to be assisted through these programmes, and were enabled to take up study in scarce skills areas. Several colleges were offering academic support programmes in mathematics, science and languages, with a view to improving the overall performance of students. This was not a matter which would be resolved immediately, but there were interventions in place to address them. The Minister had also met with the Deans of Faculties of Education at all universities to work out strategies and mechanisms to uplift the teaching of mathematics and science in the schooling system. This was an ongoing process.

Dr Mahlobo responded to the question around the Department’s monitoring of registrations, and the lessons which the Department had learned. In most cases, the Department had found that it would not be the whole institution which was experiencing problems, but a particular campus. Therefore the capacity of campus leadership needed to be strengthened. The distance between campuses and central offices was also a challenge, which is why there needed to be a stronger focus on the leadership at campuses. Secondly, the colleges which had done well were those which had planned collectively as a team. In instances where there had been different institutional cultures within one institution, this had led to serious gaps between the central office and its campuses. Also, the Department had learned that without proper TVET IT systems, the process of registration was not a smooth one. Lack of capacity to deal with the IT system also contributed significantly to the challenges at colleges. Most rural colleges’ IT connectivity was a serious challenge and as a result, the pace at which these colleges managed registration was very slow.

With regard to students who were tested at the entry point, the rationale for the testing was to identify cognitive gaps and to address them, particularly around fundamental subjects such as mathematics and English. This profile would then be used by the lecturers who would, when teaching, address these gaps. Therefore no student, based on the results, would be turned away. The rationale for testing was to determine the students’ capacity to handle the programme which they were choosing, and students received advice on this.

On the question about the 20/80% split, he said the Department had realised the inadequacy of the current funding framework for TVET colleges. One such weakness was the inability to provide for capital infrastructure funding and to this effect, the Minister had set up a team to review the funding framework, including adult education. The Minister would therefore be advised by the task team on how to deal with the problems inherent in the system.

On the 63% which would be withheld for the compensation of employees, he said this would not be a problem because the amount had never been allocated to colleges in the first place. Provinces had been playing an agency role. The conditional grant was being transferred directly to provinces while on the other hand, the Department was transferring directly to colleges for their own operational costs and textbooks, among other things.

On the question around semester courses and NSFAS, he responded that the allocation for NSFAS was based on the calculation of all fulltime equivalents. Therefore allocations to the institution were for all the relevant courses, so if a student had succeeded in the first semester course they did not need to reapply. Academic excellence needed to be matched by financial need.

On the question of the expansion of the campuses, he said expansion of the colleges was regulated by the Continuing Education and Training Act. It was the responsibility of the Minister to declare or establish institutions, with their components. If for any reason a campus needed to be increased, the Minister had to approve this. However, the absurdity which the Department was inheriting was that colleges expanded without asking the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for approval, and the MEC was then forced to close down such an institution. This had serious consequences for the community, and politically.

Dr Parker responded to the question on the electronic library and said the Department had a national project under way with the Department of Science and Technology. The first phase was to look at the issue of electronic journals and databases, and looking at how these could be made available to all higher education institutions, as well as science and technology institutions. The second phase would be to look at how to start thinking about basic texts which would be made available to all institutions, no matter where they were. This would expand to also include the TVET system. The key challenges to this were around the issue of migrating electric journals on a national level. However, the Department had set up high level negotiating teams to address this. The other issue was around funding. A funding review framework was being looked at. The Department was definitely looking into the idea of a national digital library. Another aspect, however, concerned the IT system capability and the IT infrastructure at all institutions. It was therefore an ongoing process for the Department to evaluate the IT systems of institutions and their capabilities.

On the uptake of CACH and whether the system was worthwhile, she explained that CACH was the first phase of the central applications service, and evidence had shown that this system was absolutely necessary in the country. The numbers had increased significantly since the first year. CACH had also assisted in limiting the number of walk-ins, because students did not have the means of getting information on alternative admission programmes. CACH also significantly assisted medical students, where there were a number of matric students with very good marks applying for very limited spaces. When these students get rejected, particularly poor students who applied only to one institution, they had nowhere else to go. CACH therefore collected this information from the universities and from individuals, to try and find placements for these students. The average number of students which had received assistance from CACH was between 6 000 and 10 000. Therefore this system could not possibly be a waste of money.

Mr Daca responded to the question by Dr Bozzoli about why NSFAS had not elaborated on its challenges and explained that he was under the impression that both presentations would be given collaboratively. In its presentation, NSFAS had wanted to give the Committee a balanced view, focusing on the achievements as well as the interventions which NSFAS had taken to address the challenges. NSFAS had met with the principals at TVET colleges to try and address the challenges around the distribution of funds to qualifying students. The presentations from the Department and NSFAS therefore needed to be read together. One of the key challenges faced by NSFAS was that NSFAS was unable to assist all students. At Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), NSFAS would be assisting about 20 000 students, but over 2 000 students would still not be assisted. At some of the historically disadvantaged universities, more than 80% of the student population was dependent on NSFAS funding.

On the issue on late payments he said NSFAS was working with colleges to address this. Part of the reason was that colleges did not submit their claims on time. The money not used was reallocated -- no money goes back to NSFAS. NSFAS had a cap of R 67 000 for university students, but the cap for allowances varied at TVET colleges. Some of the lessons NSFAS had learned were that as part of the administration at colleges, TVET staff needed to be reoriented about how the system functioned. NSFAS would be holding a workshop with all TVET principals. On the new student-centred model, he said NSFAS had seen what the system could do on a small scale and would now be looking at how to extend the system more broadly. This would be done over a period of years.

Ms Kilian referred to NSFAS’s funding from “other funders,” which stood at R50 million for 2015/16. Was the amount not lower than what was estimated in 2014?

Ms Nkadimeng said the NSFAS upfront payments were appreciated, but there were still colleges which were insisting that NSFAS qualifying students pay registration fees. How was this being addressed?

Ms Mchunu said NSFAS’s disbursements of funds to students were poor. NSFAS did not seem to understand that they were dealing with needy students from disadvantaged areas who needed the funds for their studies. Students were battling financially, and NSFAS needed to be of more assistance. The ongoing strikes and riots at institutions of learning needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The Department disbursed funds to NSFAS on time, so the problem was with NSFAS and its failure to distribute the funds to students on time. The riots and student protests were a bad reflection on government.

The Chairperson agreed with the Member and asked whether NSFAS had any plans to improve the late transfer of funds to students. She asked that NSFAS provide the Committee with its funding strategy. Other than Nedbank, what other banks were in partnership with NSFAS, and which other banks had been approached by NSFAS? Was the Nedbank partnership still on?

Mr Johnstone responded to the question on fundraising, and indicated that the Board had followed up on NSFAS’s funding strategy and strategy document. He would personally follow up with NSFAS management to see why the strategy document had not been made available to the Committee. The understanding was that the Committee had requested the document and NSFAS had been told to provide it. In terms of engagements with the private sector, he said there had been some progress. NSFAS management had had a number of engagements with the Association for Savings and Investment Africa, the collective body for all the financial service providers. Engagements were around the possibility of partnerships. On the Nedbank engagement, he said the Board had been informed at the end of January 2015 that Nedbank would take over the administration of their own bursaries. NSFAS had not had engagement with other individual banks.

Mr Daca responded to the question on “other funders.” He said these numbers might change, but these were the funders which NSFAS was sure were on board. NSFAS had received information that there were indeed some colleges which were still demanding registration fees from NSFAS qualifying students, and NSFAS was engaging these colleges. It should be noted that some students would need to pay upfront fees at colleges if they were not bursary students.

On the transfers from SETAs, he said NSFAS has gone through the first year of its agreements with SETAs, but this had been a rough year. Now NSFAS was working to establish a new relationship. On the Nedbank arrangement, he explained that Nedbank was giving students R10 million, administered through NSFAS. However, Nedbank had indicated that they want to administer their own bursaries to students they had selected and qualified themselves. Nedbank had donated money to NSFAS and this money had been used to fund students in the banking sector.

The Chairperson indicated it was a concern that Nedbank had pulled its funds out from NSFAS. This was worrisome, because this could be seen as an indication of NSFAS not being able to manage donor funding.

Dr Bozzoli agreed with the Chairperson.

Mr Daca reassured Members that this was not the case. Nedbank had simply developed enough capacity internally to administer the funds itself.

The Chairperson thanked NSFAS, and officials from the Department for their presentations.

The meeting was adjourned.
 

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