DHET Jan-June 2016 performance; National Certificate (Vocational) certification backlog eradication: SITA report

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

31 August 2016
Chairperson: Ms C September (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The meeting began with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) giving an insight into its performance from January to June 2016. The DHET developed a six programme plan to achieve its set targets. The period under review, was preceded by a wave of student protests in the second half of 2015/16 financial year. Issues ranged from free education to ending the outsourcing of workers at universities. The Director General was very critical of the students who caused the destruction of public infrastructure at institutions of higher learning to press home their demands. He made an appeal to the general public to unite and speak against this rising trend. The strategic plan leading up to 2019/20 focused on providing targeted interventions such as a sound legislative framework, teaching and learning support, infrastructural development as well as a strong stakeholder network and the Department was making steady progress towards the achievement of these goals. The Deputy Directors General in charge of each of the programmes took their turn to speak giving details of the set targets achieved and those outstanding.

Members in their interaction with the DHET raised matters such as the subject of mathematics; salaries budgeting; vacant positions at DHET; the possibility of speeding up the report on the financial status of universities before 31 December 2016; restructuring of the TVET campuses; the possibility of students at TVET colleges having access to Wi-Fi; where decolonisation fitted in to the Planning, Policy and Strategy programme; the reasons given by colleges that did not submit their required reports; the culture of vandalism and burning of property had to be discouraged and necessary security put in place to forestall such occurrences; what DHET was planning to do to curb non-compliance by colleges; further explanation on DHET’s underachievement on artisans; the absence of the Ministry at quarterly performance meetings which the Chairperson promised to pursue further.

SITA in its presentation showed it had succeeded in clearing the vast majority of the outstanding backlog. As at August 2015, there were 236 821 outstanding certificates with 129 516 candidates affected but by 27 August 2016 only 973 certificates are outstanding affecting 835 candidates. This is a progress of 99.59% of processed certificated from August 2015 till now and a progress of 99.36% with respect to candidates processed. The Committee was very impressed with SITA and many commendations were given to it.

Meeting report

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) January - June 2016 performance
DHET Director General, Mr Gwebs Qonde, stated that the period under review was preceded by a wave of student protests that characterised the second half of 2015/16 financial year as a result of Issues which ranged from free education to ending the outsourcing of workers in universities. These protests had highlighted some of the fundamental issues confronting the post-school education and training system such as transformation, funding and student accommodation shortfalls. He was of the view the people of South Africa need to collectively work towards finding solutions to the legitimate voices of students regarding fees, housing and curriculum. He said the reality is the need for additional spending on higher education, is one amongst bigger issues confronting the post school education and training (PSET) system. He also spoke about the need to emphasise that violent protests were not an acceptable way of articulating these challenges. The strategic plan leading to 2019/20 focused on providing targeted interventions such as a sound legislative framework, teaching and learning support, infrastructural development as well as a strong stakeholder network and DHET was making steady progress towards the achievement of these goals. For the targets in the 4th quarter of 2015/16, DHET achieved 23 (70%) of the 33 planned targets (albeit one was achieved outside the timeframe). For 1 Quarter 2016/17 it has 38 performance indicators encompassing 70 outputs, 96% of the outputs are due in the subsequent quarters. However, progress will be reported on a quarterly basis leading to 31 March 2017.

University Education programme
Dr Diane Parker, DDG: University Education, said the purpose of the programme is to develop and coordinate policy and regulatory frameworks for an effective and efficient university education system and provide financial support to universities. Of the 12 targets for 4 quarter 2015/16, 10 of the targets representing 83% were achieved as planned. The two targets not achieved are: The annual report on the achievement of enrolment targets approved by the Minister by March 2016. The Minister approved the report on 12 August 2016. The second target was the revised Higher Education Act promulgated by end of March 2016 which is still in the parliamentary process. There are 29 targets for 2016/17. At the end of June 2016, progress had been made towards the achievement of targets planned for the subsequent quarters:
• The Policy on Creative and Innovation Outputs was published in Government Gazette No. 39666 of 8 February 2016 for public comments. Comments were received until 31 March 2016 and have been analysed and necessary changes incorporated into a final draft.
• Engagement with the Council on Higher Education (CHE) is in process. There are no challenges. The target for this was 31 March 2017.
• A draft policy on minimum requirements for programmes leading to Qualifications in Higher Education for Practitioners and Educators in Early Childhood Care and Education was published in Government Gazette No. 39886 of 31 March 2016 for public comments. Public comments have been received and these are currently being analysed. There are no challenges. The target is for 31 March 2017.
• A Task Team report on Internationalisation focused on Joint Degrees was completed in 2014. An EU funded team developed a report on internationalisation of higher education in 2015. A draft policy is currently being developed on the basis of these two reports. The draft policy is expected to be finalised for publication for public comments by September 2016.
• The Task Team report on Community Service for Graduates was finalised in March 2015. The Minister approved a process for the development of a policy. Meetings have been held with the Department of Labour (DoL) and Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) to discuss the Task Team report and chart a way forward for the development of a policy. A Cabinet memorandum has been drafted to seek advice from Cabinet due to challenges this scheme might encounter.
• A Draft Policy on Differentiation in Higher Education was published for public comment. Public comments were received and analysed. The process for developing the policy has been linked to the National Planning Process for Post-School Education and Training (NPPSET). A NPPSET meeting was held to discuss differentiation and a new draft concept document has been developed. A draft concept document on the Ministerial Statement has been developed and is now being consulted on. Discussions will be held with DHET’s Senior Management and Universities South Africa's (USAF) Teaching and Learning Strategy Group. • A Revised Language Policy for Higher Education report of the Panel on African Languages was finalised in July 2015. A national seminar was held in November 2015 on the report. A process for the development of the policy was agreed upon and a working group was established by the Director General to develop the policy. A revised Language Policy for Higher Education was drafted by the Directorate for discussion with the Working Group. The Working Group met on 24 June 2016 to discuss the ToR and the draft policy. The target will not be met by the due date, due to the unanticipated need to take the draft to Cabinet before it can be published for public comment.
• Following the publication of the Ministerial Report on University Funding, a Task Team and Reference group were appointed to develop a revised policy and funding framework. The draft Policy and Revised Funding Framework was approved by the Minister; however, it had to be submitted to Cabinet before being published for public comment. A Cabinet memorandum has been developed and the initial Socio Economic Impact Assessment Model (SEIAS) is underway. It was hoped that Cabinet would consider the policy and framework before the end of June 2016, however this did not materialise. The delay in the memorandum being served to the Cabinet will mean that the draft policy cannot be published in time to enable the target date for the final policy to be met.
• A workshop in the form of a Think Tank towards the development of Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework Level-5 Higher Certificates was held in September 2014. Following this workshop, a Position Paper on the Higher Certificate Foundational was developed and presented to the Minister in February 2015. A university was approached to assist DHET to develop a business plan to implement the Higher Certificate: Foundation as a mechanism to improve student performance. The draft formats of three of these certificates were presented at the Mid-Term Enrolment Planning Review Workshop in March 2016. A small inter branch Working Group has been established.
• The Higher Education AIDS programme has been evaluated by a panel of HIV/AIDS experts from government, civil society, TVET and universities on 10 June 2016. The Branch is in the process of developing a report.
• 20 Universities have submitted their 2015 Annual Reports on financial health of universities as at 30 June 2016. Extensions were granted to three universities to submit by 31 July 2016 and two universities to submit by 31 August 2016. The University of Limpopo has requested an extension to submit in September 2016. The reports will be analysed in terms of financial health indicators in the next quarter. However, the directorate is still on track to complete by the target date.
• Annual reports on effective use of the 2015/16 Foundation Provision Grant were received from 11 universities by the deadline of 31 May 2016. Late reports were received during June 2016 from a further 11 universities. Reports from 4 universities: Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Sefako Makgatho University (SMU), Stellenbosch University, University of Venda and University of Zululand (UZ), were still outstanding as at 30 June 2016. Analysis of the progress reports has started and report summaries have been drawn up.
• An analysis of Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) data on 2014 foundation students has been undertaken and feedback provided to universities. Progress reports on the foundation provision grants were not received from all universities. However, the target is still on track to be completed by the target date.
• 19 Universities have submitted progress reports on 2015/16 Teaching Development Grants. Reports are being analysed. Communication with 5 universities who submitted incomplete or unsatisfactory reports is on-going. The majority of universities have provided unsatisfactory reports, even though clear guidelines, templates for reporting, and clear timeframes for the submission of reports, were communicated to all universities. Five universities; CPUT, UZ, SMU, University of Venda and Stellenbosch University have not yet submitted their reports. The Branch is following up on outstanding reports. All institutions, except Walter Sisulu; Fort Hare and Venda Universities have submitted their annual progress reports. The Branch has analysed the reports and is in the process of developing the draft report on the effective use of Research Development Grants. All institutions have submitted their research output subsidy claims. A call has been sent to universities requesting applications from experts to serve on field-specific research output evaluation panels.
• 16 Universities have submitted annual progress reports on the effective use of the infrastructure and efficiency grants by the deadline of 31 May 2016. 8 were received in June 2016. Reports from 2 institutions have not been submitted by 30 June 2016.
• An annual report on effective use of new universities earmarked grant and audit verification on the New Universities project has been submitted. A monitoring and oversight meeting was held at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) on 10 May 2016. Second and third quarter monitoring and oversight meetings have been planned for August and November 2016 with both new universities. Regular contact meetings are held to monitor progress with infrastructure and approve processes. There were no challenges experienced and the target is still on track to be completed by the target date.
• The report on the achievement of ministerial enrolment targets will be developed after the HEMIS data has been audited and verified in October 2016. Progress will be monitored after October 2016.
• 116 private higher education institutions, out of a total of 119, have submitted their annual reports towards Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEI’s) compliance. Three reports are still outstanding and two institutions have requested an extension. All reports are in the process of being analysed. In this quarter, the analysis of 20 reports was finalised.
• 14 Reports on the implementation of the Staffing South Africa’s Universities Framework (SSAUF) programme have been received from universities, and are being analysed. 12 Reports are still outstanding. The Directorate is following up on outstanding reports. However, both reports are on track to complete by the target dates.
• A new programme for Council Capacity Development has been approved by Universities Council Chairs Forum of South Africa (UCCF-SA) and DHET. A planning meeting was scheduled in July 2016. The Council training workshops (maximum of three) will be conducted, before end November 2016, after which a report will be compiled and submitted.
• Progress towards implementation reports on student support services in Higher Education has been developed. The content is being finalised. The dates for the development sessions have been submitted to the Ministry for approval and confirmation. It is expected that they will be carried out before the end of September 2016.
• The HEMIS Directorate assisted universities with preparations for their audit of the 2015 student and staff submissions by checking and responding to queries on validation errors. Branch also met with University of  Mpumalanga (UMP) auditors to take them through the audit directives. By the end of October 2016 all audited data will have been submitted and verified. At that stage the HEMIS data for 2015 will be ready for analysis, and the process for developing the report will start.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme
Mr Firoz Patel, DDG: Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), said the purpose of the programme is to plan, develop, implement, monitor, maintain and evaluate national policy, programmes, assessment practices and systems for TVET. Of the 4 planned targets for 4 quarter 2015/16. 3 (75%) of the targets were achieved. The achieved targets are to develop governance and policies for TVET Colleges, produce a monitoring and evaluation report on Vocational and Continuing Education (VCET) institutions and develop a protocol on the secondment of sector specialists to work in TVET Colleges and lecturers exposed to the work place. The target to develop a macro infrastructure and maintenance plan for Community Education and Training Centres (CETCs) was not achieved. The assessment of the 9 CETC sites has been conducted. In addition, the refurbishment requirements for 5 of the sites have been concluded. The information is being evaluated and will inform the development of the infrastructure and maintenance plan. There are 11 targets for the 2016/17 financial year and as at 30 June 2016, progress towards the achievement of the targets had been made.

Skills Development programme
Mr Zukile Mvalo, Acting Deputy Director General: Skills Development, DHET, said the purpose of the programme is to promote and monitor the national skills development strategy and develop a skills development policy and regulatory framework for an effective skills development system. Of the 10 planned targets for 4 quarter 2015/16, 6 (60%) of the targets were achieved by 31 March 2016. There are 9 targets for 2016/17. For the quarter under review, there were 3 targets with different levels of achievement. The SETA monitoring report on skills development was approved by the Director General on 15 June 2016, National artisan learner’s trade test pass rate at INDLELA was targeted for 52% and 50% was met, also an average lead time from trade test application received until trade test conducted at INDLELA was targeted for 120 days.

Community Education (CET) and Training programme
Ms Nadine Pote, Chief Director: National Examinations and Assessment, said the purpose of the programme is to plan, develop, implement, monitor, maintain and evaluate national policy, programme assessment practices and systems for community education and training. There are 7 targets for 2016/17 and as at 30 June 2016, there had been progress towards the achievement of the targets. A draft monitoring and evaluation policy has been developed. It is at a consultation stage with the Regional Offices. Regulations for the establishment of the satellite Community Learning Centres (CLCs) approved by 31 December 2016 had not been initiated and development of regulations will start in the second quarter.

Administration programme
Ms Lulama Mbobo, DDG: Corporate Services, explained the programme provided overall management and administration of DHET. There were no targets in 4 quarter 2015/16. For 2016/17 there are 5 annual targets and as at 30 June 2016, progress towards the achievement of these targets showed that approved funded positions filled were at 93.04% and the vacancy rate was at 6.96%. 12 of the 21 cases reported were finalised. Of the 12, only four representing 19% cases were finalised within the 90 days and on average the processing of advertised positions from recruitment requisition received until appointments is within 173 days. For creditor payment days, currently, it takes an average of 29 days to pay creditors. However, this is not without challenges. For the approved ICT procurement plan, this target relates to the development of the 2017/18 ICT Procurement Plan which has not commenced. The 2016/17 ICT Procurement Plan is currently being implemented and will form the 2017/18 Plan.

Planning, Policy and Strategy programme
Mr Firoz Patel, also Acting DDG: Planning and Monitoring, said the purpose of the programme is to provide strategic direction in the development, implementation and monitoring of Departmental policies and the human resource development strategy for South Africa. Of the 7 targets in 4 quarter 2015/16, 3 (43%) were achieved as planned as at 31 March 2016. For 2016/17, there are 9 annual targets and as at 31 June 2016 there was progress towards the achievement of these targets.

Financial report
Mr Theuns Tredoux, DHET Chief Financial Officer, said the overall spending rate by the end of fourth quarter was 99.9% (including Direct Charges). The spending rate on compensation of employees is at 98.9%, personnel expenditure is at 98.9% and examiners and moderators at 100.0%. The limitations on funds for operational expenditure, including the funding of examiners and moderators caused DHET to apply a virement across programmes to ensure that no overspending was incurred. This was supported through cost containment measures implemented by the Director General. Reprioritisation was required to accommodate key priority areas within the baseline allocation. This resulted in the shifting of funds between different units, items and a realignment of the current salary bill. A total amount of R10.916 million was reprioritised for the financial year. The final outcome of 2015/16 is an unspent amount of R84.584 million as a result of the slow filling of vacant funded posts due to the large volumes of applications, posts advertised as part of the TVET and CET function shift process and the concomitant saving on machinery and equipment, retained funds from TVET Colleges to cover the uncertainty of the actual cost that emanated from the function shift, performance assessment of staff in TVET colleges for 2014/15 that were not received on time, pay progression for staff that moved from provincial education departments was not stated in all instances and a moratorium placed on the filling of vacant posts in the TVET sector.

The spending trends per economic classification showed that there was a main appropriation of R56 544 955 000 which was adjusted to R57 680 138 000 and there was final appropriation of R57 036 571 000 while the actual expenditure was R56 951 987 000 with a deviation of R84 584 000 and 99.9% of total funds spent.

The overall spending rate by 1 Quarter 2016/17 was 39.1% (including Direct Charges). The reason for this high spending trend was due to the uneven transfers made to universities and TVET colleges as well as to NSFAS. Average spending for normal operational activities including compensation of employees was 22.5% and the average spending on goods and services was normal for this time of the financial year. The spending rate on compensation of employees is 22.7%, personnel expenditure 22.7% (spending on this item is lower than the projected expenditure due to provision for performance awards and the improvement of conditions of service for SMS, plus the filling of vacant positions that became vacant through attrition did not take place as projected. Examiners and moderators gulped 16.4%. Spending on this item is annually at high risk and will mainly be influenced by examinations later in the year. This item is also directly influenced by the number of enrolments in TVET colleges. The first quarter spending per programme showed that a total of R66 827 874 000 was allocated to the programmes while the actual spending was R26 104 044 000 showing a variance of R40 723 830 000 and this represented 39.1% of the total funds spent.

Discussion
Mr C Kekana (ANC) talked about the study of Mathematics as a subject at schools and asked if DHET had any ideas for making the subject easier to learn and more accessible. He believed if this were done, it would go a long way to solving about 95% of the unemployment problem in South Africa.

Ms M Nkadimeng (ANC) asked DHET to explain what the unavailable information was that made it miss its targets on skills development. She asked why there were vacant posts available which had not been filled. She asked DHET of its plan to ensure that the payment for the CETs is effected on programme 4.

Dr B Bozzoli (DA) asked about the possibility of speeding up the report on the financial status of the universities before 31 December 2016 because she felt that deadline was a little unrealistic since it will be a holiday month. On the restructuring of the TVET campuses, she asked that more details be provided.

Mr M Mbatha (EFF), referring to the Administration programme, asked DHET how it planned to avoid budgeting on minus with its current recruitment drive. On the ICT programme of DHET, he suggested it would be much better for the students at the TVET colleges to have Wi-Fi access since this was part of service delivery. He therefore asked DHET of its plans to ensure this was made available. Referring to the Planning, Policy and Strategy programme, he wanted to know where decolonisation fitted in. He also referred to the DG as a reformed politician, though on a lighter note.

Mr Y Cassim (DA), referring to the Administration programme, asked for a progress update on the status of the two vacant DDG positions at DHET. On the Planning, Policy and Strategy programme, he observed that the 4 targets not achieved were due to policy frameworks and reports and these reports did not have time lines. He wanted to know the updated timelines for the targets since they were not met initially. Finally, he expressed his dissatisfaction at the non-availability of the Minister and his Deputy and stated he hated “sounding like a broken recorder” because he had taken up the matter of the non-availability of the Ministers more than once. It was a resolution of the Committee that whenever DHET was to make presentations on performance, the Minister should be present so he could answer any political questions that might arise because in his opinion the DG may not be able to answer such questions.

Mr E Siwela (ANC) wanted to know if there were any reasons given by the colleges which did not submit their required reports.

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) commended DHET for meeting over 70% of its planned targets and she was impressed with the good work done by them. She however listed security as a major concern especially with students burning down public infrastructure during protests. She added that though protests are legitimate and students have the right to demand better service delivery, the culture of vandalism and burning of property had to be discouraged and necessary security put in place to forestall such occurrences in institutions of higher learning.

Mr C Kekana disagreed with Mr Cassim on his comments about the DG not being able to answer political questions. He stated that the DG is well briefed and is very capable of answering any questions that might arise from the Committee but agreed that the Minister should attend such meetings or delegate the Deputy Minister to do so if need arises especially since the Ministers attend cabinet meetings on Wednesdays which coincides with the day the Committee meets.

The Chairperson asked DHET what they were planning to do to curb non-compliance by the colleges. On artisans, she wanted a further explanation on what DHET was trying to explain about its underachievement there. She responded about the absence of the Ministry and said she was not expecting the DG to answer on behalf of the Ministry but she was going to engage with the Office of the Minister to address the absence of the Minister, even if it meant changing the date or day when quarterly progress reports were presented. She pleaded for understanding with Committee members and promised to get back to them.

The Director General in his response to Mr Mbatha stated he is purely a technocrat with no political aspirations. On the restructuring of TVET campuses, he said one of them had been completed while the remaining two were at 70% completion. In respect to the operations of these campuses, there was no base money for these campuses and over R300 million had been committed to them over a period of two years. For the remaining campuses, tenders had been put out since 17 June 2016 and are now in the process of evaluation. On the appointment of a service provider, he stated this was already at an advanced stage. Talking about Wi-Fi at TVET colleges, the project began with universities and it was already done at all universities. The project is on at all TVET colleges across the country and R190 million had been set aside for this. The safety at the institutions is not a matter that is being taken lightly. There is massive mobilisation of everyone to discourage violent protests and the institutions are being supported in their security clusters to curtail this. Mr Qonde again stated it is the responsibility of the public to speak out against this vandalisation of public property at the institutions.

Dr Parker replied about the report on the financial status of the universities, saying this is deduced from the reports submitted to DHET at the end of the quarters and she could not guarantee that this report would be released earlier because some universities have asked for permission to send in their reports a little later. Talking about mathematics, she said she was very passionate about mathematics and currently working with partners to see how this could be developed. Capacity development programmes are also put in place at the universities for mathematics teachers.

Mr Mvalo replied about artisans noting that 2013 was declared the Year of the Artisan and that campaign led to the declaration of the Decade of the Artisan advocacy programme which began in 2014 and will run till 2024. This campaign is being led by the Deputy Minister and the project is aimed at enticing young people to becoming artisans and making them see how “cool” it is to be an artisan. This programme has yielded some results so far with over 7 130 registrations recorded. Recognition of prior learning is an area which is being explored and it has yielded results. He identified the area of construction and manufacturing as the areas with a large proportion of artisans.

Mr Patel replied that decolonisation had been dealt with at the Higher Education Transformation Summit and it was important for a proper debate to be held so that those who do not understand the term can understand. Speaking on the dates for the disability inclusion and articulation policy, 31 March 2017 had been set as the date for the Disability policy, 30 September 2017 for the Inclusion policy and 30 September for the Articulation policy. He also stated that the colleges which have not submitted their reports are in the Eastern Cape and disciplinary measures have been put in place to ensure that they adhere to the rules.

The Director General further talked about decolonisation and stated that this is captured in the transformation agenda of DHET which is all encompassing. For him, the most important matter is putting the institutions on a more competitive level on the global and continental stage.

Mr Tredoux, talking about compensation for employees at the TVET colleges, said there was some form of uncertainty and DHET had to set aside some amount of money for this, and as the year progressed it was discovered that this fund was too much and so DHET diverted these funds back to the institutions as part of the subsidy granted to them. Some positions were identified where it was necessary to have capacity and a lot of applications were received for these positions and some internal applications were also received. Due to the academic calendars of the institutions, they are paid three months of subsidy in April and then the other balances are paid in tranches spread evenly across the rest of the year.

Ms Lulama responded to a question of payment to Community of Expert Practitioners (CEP) lecturers. She stated that there was a new programme for this. Regional offices have also been established and alternative sources of funding are being sought. Offices are also being sought for DHET.

Mr Mbatha wanted to know when funds are being transferred to universities. He wanted clarity on this.

Mr Tredoux stated that from January to March they are self-funded and on 1 April they get funds for three months and in May get another three months and then on a monthly basis till November. This is because there is a limit to the amount of money that can be withdrawn by DHET from Treasury.

Elimination of Certificate Backlog by State Information Technology Agency (SITA)
The SITA Board Chairperson introduced his delegation and handed over to the CEO of SITA.

Mr Setumo Mohapi, SITA CEO, gave an update on the progress made in reducing the backlogs. As at August 2015, there were 236 821 outstanding certificates with 129 516 candidates affected but by 27 August 2016 only 973 certificates are outstanding affecting 835 candidates. This is a progress of 99.59% of processed certificated and a progress of 99.36% with respect to the candidates processed. A total of 162 887 were issued by Umalusi. During April 2016 a program glitch was discovered, the program calculations included certified level 4 candidates and it was not supposed to. This resulted in Outstanding Certificates being overstated by over 6 600 and candidates affected being overstated to about 8 300.

An outstanding certificate may not necessarily result in a certificate being issued by Umalusi for example due to the candidate withdrawing from or failing exams, multiple outstanding certificates may result in a single certificate being issued by Umalusi.

The last portion of the outstanding certificates is being addressed by DHET and SITA through manual intervention per record due to differing types of errors on the records, which is time consuming resulting in the resolution process taking longer than expected. Some of the errors include: Incorrect dates against subjects; subjects on master file differ from subjects on published document; raw marks not on master document; subject totals differ from different documents.

A breakdown of the details of certificates issued was provided. Generally, it has taken no more than five working days between printing being authorised and the certificates being delivered to the learners and the colleges. On the errors resolved monthly, there was an increase in comparison between May16 and June 16 due to records being identified that were deactivated incorrectly. A ‘reactivation’ script was executed and the outstanding records are being addressed as part of the ongoing process. A breakdown of the Error 1812 showed that a total of 27 4837 were reported and resolved as at 9 September 2015 while these were reduced to 170 by 27 Aug 2016. Progress against the high level flight plan showed a steady reduction in the number of backlogs from February till Aug 2016.

The DHET, Umalusi and SITA processes in respect of ‘mop-up’ (capturing of marks, submission of portfolio of evidence and mark changes) and addressing candidate requests, irregularities, pre-requisites and queries form part of ongoing operations and will span beyond the project and in order to avoid future backlog. Ongoing collaboration between DHET, Umalusi and SITA, imperative lessons learnt and delivery practices from the backlog project will be leveraged, for example user functions will be enhanced to enable user autonomy in correcting data matters, resolution of system software functionality deficiencies as part of the backlog project resulted in improved controls thereby limiting recurrence of past errors. Prioritise resolution of additional software glitches soon as it arises, implementing knowledge transfer through, for example compiling key system documentation and key standard operating procedures.

The presentation also showed comments made by a few people who have been impacted positively since they joined SITA. SITA is also evolving to E-government and this will enable it identify the roles and responsibilities of different members of a context ecosystem, allowing SITA to build incremental integrated value at different levels of the business and technology stacks.

Dr Mafu Rakometsi, Umalusi CEO, acknowledged the progress SITA had made in clearing the backlogs and also commended them on the communication they had maintained. On the issue of marks been reduced or increased for students, he stressed that for Umalusi to issue such students with their certificates, there must be substantial proof from SITA as to why such students have variations in their marks. He was of the opinion this is necessary to ensure that the credibility of the issued certificates is not eroded. He also spoke about the management of data discrepancies. He was worried about creating new backlogs and spoke of the need to try to avoid this scenario.

The Chairperson commented that the comments by Umalusi had left some form of confusion.

Mr Patel stated he was confused and not sure of where he was with the position taken by Dr Mafu Rakometsi because the DHET had given SITA the mandate to clean up its information system and the report was that out of 236 000 outstanding certificates, the number had been brought down to 970 and Umalusi needs to agree with this. He was not sure if Umalusi was questioning the issued certificates or not and, if it was, then DHET would have to sit down with both of them and look into it.

Ms Nadine Pote, Chief Director: Examinations, DHET, stated that where data discrepancies were noted, it would take it up with Umalusi and present tangible evidence for such candidates. In terms of the consolidation process, SITA does not implement the whole process and it has been requested that this be looked into to eliminate discrepancies.

Discussion
The Chairperson stated that it was unacceptable for SITA, Umalusi and the DHET to have divergent views because it was expected that they had all sat down and agreed on all issues before appearing before the Committee. The interest of the Committee is if progress was being made or not.

Mr Mbatha was of the view that it was good that Umalusi had issues with SITA because it would help both partners in dealing with the issues that have led to a backlog in the past. He did not treat the comments of the CEO of Umalusi negatively and encouraged that the protocols be worked upon so that the quality of the certificates is not compromised and are free from any external or internal influences.

Dr Bozzoli was of the opinion it was good for Umalusi to be highly critical of SITA because there was a need for checks and balances. She however congratulated SITA for a job well done and the progress it had made so far in clearing all existing backlogs in the system. She also wanted a clarification on the candidates not evaluated which stood at 21 000. Lastly, she asked about the effectiveness of the system put in place by SITA with regards to the possibility of having future backlogs.

Mr Cassim wanted to know how SITA would deal with the possibility of having new backlogs and the target turnaround times. He noted that one of the obstacles which resulted in the backlogs was centres with outstanding payments and this affected the students since it was beyond them. He wanted clarification as to what was being done to address that.

Ms Mchunu commended SITA on a job well done in reducing and eradicating the backlogs in the system. She wondered if the system issued subject certificates to candidates and asked for clarification on this. She asked for SITA’s plans on the way forward to avoid the recurrence of backlogs in the future.

Mr Siwela also commended SITA for the progress they had made compared to the last time they appeared before the Committee. He stated that it was ok for SITA to have challenges but it was comforting to know that SITA had already identified some of these challenges and will deal with them.

Ms Nkadimeng applauded the work being done by SITA. She encouraged them to continue with the good work till they reach the zero backlog mark.

Mr Kekana also commended SITA especially considering the “big fight” the Committee had with it the last time they appeared before the Committee. He reminded SITA that initially they identified the problem of backlog as that of an IT one and installed a new system to address this. He therefore encouraged SITA to ensure that this new system is continually updated and measures put in place to ensure that no new backlogs are accumulated.

The CEO of SITA commented that there was nothing inconsistent with the comments of Umalusi as regards some data discrepancies. He stated that this information was available at the end of presentation. He also agreed that a lot more could have been done especially from a management point of view. He commented about the old problems encountered by SITA and stated that there was ongoing consolidation and more of the certificates were being produced and everything will be done to ensure that these certificates are not questionable. On the ongoing projects, a lot of plans were put in place to deal with the problems that were encountered and that SITA has believers and doers who believe in the dreams and vision of SITA.

Mr John Vernon, Acting HOD: Education, said that a lot of the processes had being formalised and in terms of user functionality, the system had become more user friendly.

Dr Mafu Rakometsi commented on the points he had raised, saying that in the SITA presentation the issues he raised were well articulated and he once again commended SITA. He told the Committee that wherever he disagrees with SITA he would take it up with SITA outside of the Committee.

The Director General said complaining about the problems will not solve the problems but working in close relationship with their partners in SITA and Umalusi will. He said so far he is impressed with the working relationship between SITA, Umalusi and DHET.

The Chairperson in her concluding remarks said the Committee would want to get into the substantial issues when next SITA appears before the Committee and not just talk about the backlogs.

The meeting was adjourned.

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