New SETA landscape: progress report; CHIETA report; Umalusi certification fees; TVET college construction tender; Committee recommendations response

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

22 November 2017
Chairperson: Ms C September (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee was briefed on issues related to entities of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), ranging from sector education and training authorities (SETAs) and universities, to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.

The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) presented their strategic plan, stating that this entailed doing as much as possible to provide a continuous supply of skilled workers to meet the requirements of the chemical industry. This would be done by building partnerships with educational institutions and the industry, as well supporting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and big corporations. The lack of resources at TVET colleges and the poor quality of the mathematics and science curricula had prevented them from having access to the skills needed to develop the industry. However, they had been able to increase the number of artisans, and 93% of their budget was directed towards helping learners. The Committee was generally satisfied with the CHIETA performance. but questioned why the CEO was still in an acting capacity, and asked what was being done to solve issues related to the quality of education.

The outline for the SETA landscape, which also contained the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDP), was presented. A key recommendation of the NSDP was the merger of various SETA entities. Committee members said this was a welcome initiative, as it would lead to efficiency and reduce expenditure.

The DHET reported on the certification backlog at Umalusi, the quality council responsible for the Department’s national certification. It said that as of September 2017, a total of 236 982 certificates had been processed and released, and the backlog had been cleared.  Umalusi had 659 certificates which would be issued when outstanding fees owed by the beneficiaries were paid.

The Committee was briefed on the selection of service providers for the construction and refurbishment of 13 TVET colleges. November 30 was when the final bids would be received. Members were concerned that it would have taken 18 months for a service provider to be appointed before any construction could take place, which was too long a period.

The Department provided an update on the state of affairs at the University of Zululand (UniZulu), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). The crises at some universities, which had all been affected by the fee protests of recent years, threatened the academic programme. Unizulu had been shown to have been corrupted, badly managed and unanswerable even to Parliament. In the case of MUT, the striking fact was that it was extremely unusual for a university to ask for an administrator — another admission of complete failure of authority. MUT was faced with allegations of irregularities. Issues identified at CPUT included the leadership crisis, and student protests associated with vandalism of infrastructure, especially at the Cape Town campus. The Department observed that the university leadership had surrendered its statutory authority to the "anarchists" and would have to decisively reclaim that authority to restore order. WSU had recently been rocked after R14.1m had been paid into a student’s account. A forensic investigation had been instituted.

Meeting report

Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA): Progress report

Ms Kedibone Moroane, Executive: Research and Skills Planning: CHIETA, outlined the nine sectors which comprise the chemical industry and acknowledged that it was a sector which had a high demand for scarce skills and required educated people. It provides 1.1% of employment in South Africa and contributes 3.5% of South Africa’s GDP. In 2016, the sector employed 165 782 people, and there had been a continuous increase in the number of people employed in the chemical industry since 2012.

Some of the challenges which CHIETA as an institution, and the chemical industry in general, faced were career guidance, the poor quality of education -- especially in the areas of mathematics and science -- the lack of resources and infrastructure possessed by technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, and the skills shortage. To address these issues, CHIETA aimed to collaborate with Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the industry to enhance the skills of existing workers and also develop skills for future workers in a manner which addressed sectoral needs. This would be possible by establishing partnerships.

In the area of performance, CHIETA had been able to train more artisans and place more certified artisans into the chemical industry, while establishing partnerships with TVET colleges and providing support for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), as well as big corporations. According to the annual performance plan (APP), there was a strong focus on attaining transformational imperatives, ensuring funding alignment towards priority areas, establishing effective partnership delivery models with the industry and providing training, as well as supporting cooperatives and SMMEs.

The CEO concluded by stating that the CHIETA had obtained an unqualified audit for the 16th straight year and had obtained an award from the Auditor General as a result of their positive performance.

Discussion:

The Chairperson commented that the domain of governance was not mention in the report.

Mr Trevor Channing, Executive: Governance and Risk, said CHIETA had a full board with no vacancies, and a bid had been submitted to have a new board, since the term of the old one was coming to an end. CHIETA used the chamber structure of having sub-committees, and this helped to carry out functions and ensure interaction with interest groups, industry players and the government.

The Chairperson inquired why there was an acting CEO at CHIETA.

Mr Zukile Mvalo, Deputy Director General (DDG): Skills Development, DHET, said they were in the process of appointing a new board which would operate from 1 April 2018 until March 31 2020, and they wanted the appointment of a permanent CEO to correspond with the new board in March. It had therefore been advised that an acting CEO should be appointed in the meantime.

Dr B Bozzoli (DA) asked if they could be assured that the board members were actually experts in the field of chemical engineering, because the case with most sector education and training authorities (SETAs) was that they did not have experts on their boards. She asked how they were able to assess if their actions were to international standards, especially with regard to the provision of education and training. She commented that the SETA offered programmes which were not always certified, so how were they benchmarked and why was so much money spent on such programmes? Mechanical engineering seemed to be one of the few domains where employment was growing, but there were fewer artisans available, so she suggested that more money be spent on artisan development rather than on initiatives like career guidance.

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) commented on the number of learners enrolled in the training programs. She wanted to know how many interns there were at CHIETA, and how many were absorbed into employment. She was concerned that CHIETA might not be focusing on its core mandate.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) said that 35% of TVET graduates were unemployed, which was disappointing. He wondered if CHIETA had partnerships with parastatals which might help to absorb such graduates, in order for them to obtain practical skills. He asked which private companies worked in partnership with CHIETA, because government and private sector cooperation was very important.

Mr A van der Westhuizen (DA) said the core mandate of CHIETA was to provide education and training, and asked how South Africans had become qualified in their areas of focus because it seemed they had over-achieved their targets. He asked what kind of qualifications were being issued, and whether South Africa was getting value for the money used to train these individuals. Did the figures tell the whole story?

Mr M Wolmarans (ANC) was impressed with the presentation and asked if it would not be advantageous to start the process of appointing a new board now so that by the time they got into functioning, things would be easier.

Mr R Mavunda (ANC) said South Africa had a shortage of teachers, and the learning sector was where teachers were needed the most, and he wondered what role CHIETA had in promoting teacher recruitment. He asked how often CHIETA undertook career expos and expressed the need to focus more on building the skills of artisans.

The Chairperson said that in future, a more visible presentation should be made available to the Sommittee. She asked CHIETA to relate what they had done in relation to the State of the Nation Address, because the figures presented were not in relation to overall outcomes. Why had there been a fall in demand for semi-skilled individuals? Was there an overlap of programmes with other SETAs, because this would be wasteful expenditure, and a possible merger of SETAs should be considered?

CHIETA response

Ms Moroane responded that CHIETA worked with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) to ensure certificates were accredited. They also worked in close collaboration with employers and stakeholders to ensure benchmarking and quality assurance. In addition, they obtained feedback from companies to ensure the skills they provided were in line with the industry’s needs. CHIETA was highly focused on achieving its mandate.

Regarding internships, 13 interns had been absorbed into CHIETA, but the majority of interns were employed by different institutions. CHIETA had established two apprenticeship projects, including one in partnership with SASOL, which was aimed towards improving the quality of welders who would work at the Medupi power plant. A partnership had also been established with Coastal College to help train students in different domains.

CHIETA carried out interventions at different levels, such as SMME development, which complemented the training of people who started businesses and became self employed, as well as becoming the employers of other beneficiaries. In the area of mathematics and science, she acknowledged they did not play a role in recruitment, but they assisted in the retention of good teachers, as this formed part of their mandate. Moreover, the interventions were focused on integration as well as on sectoral performance.

Mr Manene Samela, Executive Board Member: CHIETA said the establishment of partnerships had been beneficial, especially in terms of training teachers in the Eastern Cape and by working with universities and TVET’s. With TVET’s, the idea was to help provide access to industry for the learners.

Mr Channing said that the skills of the board members were relevant to the chemical engineering and energy domains. Targets were set through a consultative process, and were not unilaterally outlined. Career guidance was important, because pupils needed to understand the importance of their career choices. Regarding the interns, there was a 50% conversion rate, and 93% of the budget went to learner-oriented programmes, so CHIETA was working within their mandate.

The Chairperson said they should provide more detail about their finances the next time they appeared before the Committee.

 

Sector Education and Training (SETA) landscape:  Briefing

Ms Melissa Erra, Director: DHET acknowledged the SETA landscape was an ongoing process which was set to elapse in 2018. Currently, the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and the SETA landscape”s overarching principles involved creating an integrated post-school system and locating the school system within a wider context.

The objectives of the NSDS included determining occupational demand, ensuring that quality councils made sure that qualifications and curricula were in place, and longer term planning and funding to build capacity and framework collaboration with educational institutions to increase enrolment. Some of the key proposals of the NSDP included reducing the number of SETAs by merging those which were in the same value chain -- such as AgriSETA and FOODBEV -- so as to ensure financial viability and improve efficiency. It was also proposed to align the functions of SETA and CQTO in the area of quality assurance, as well as improve governance and accountability by improving longer-term planning. It was suggested that the public service contribution of 30% should be more effectively enhanced, as well as the establishment of the National Skills and Employment Council to steer strategic policy.

Umalusi: Certification fees

Mr Theuns Tredoux, Chief Financial Officer (CFO): DHET, said the Department had inherited a backlog of certificates and had worked with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and Umalusi to clear outstanding certificates for TVET colleges from as far back as 2007. As at September 2017, a total of 236 982 certificates had been processed and released, and the backlog had been cleared.  Umalusi had also cleared outstanding certificates, and had 659 certificates which would be issued when outstanding fees owed by the beneficiaries were paid to Umalusi.

TVETs: Construction tender

The advert for the tender for the appointment of service providers to construct and refurbish 13 TVET college campuses had been published in May 2016. The tender process entailed the compliance stage, technical evaluation, functional evaluation, price and black economic empowerment (BEE) evaluation. There had been 389 bids received, with 99 being deemed responsive, but eventually only 41 bids had scored above 50% after the functional evaluation. November 30 was the stipulated date for when the final bids would be received.

Oversight of Universities

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)

DDG Mvalo said that at CPUT, some of the notable issues identified were the absence of a permanent Vice Chancellor, as the former VC had been found guilty of gross misconduct and had resigned before disciplinary sanctions could be imposed. Ongoing student protests at the District Six campus had started in August and continued till October. After a meeting between the DHET and CPUT management, the latter blamed the ongoing protests on a “third force”. According to CPUT management, they had taken concrete steps to solve student queries, such as the cancellation of student debt from 2013, 2014 and 2015, leading to a deficit of R1.4 billion; allowing students who owed fees to receive their certificates and qualifications; the non-exclusion of academically deserving students on financial grounds; and the insourcing of campus workers. According to the DHET, CPUT management had surrendered their authority to the protestors, and had to take decisive steps to remedy this situation and protect the reputation of the university.

Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT)

Issues identified by the Portfolio Committee at MUT had included the appointment of a new Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Council. It had also been recommended that an independent assessor be appointed to assess the problems at MUT.

University of Zululand (UniZulu)

The Vice Chancellor (VC) and Chairperson of the UniZulu Council had refused to appear before the Portfolio Committee, which had asked that Rule (167) of the National Assembly be invoked to compel them to fulfil this obligation. According to the DHET, the VC was not suitable to hold such an office, and had noted that student governance had been unstable because of repeated disruptions in the election of an SRC, as well as the absence of a Dean of Students until August 2016. The DHET had identified that polarised relations existed between UniZulu and other stakeholders, and staff were being victimised by university management, creating a climate of fear at the university. Moreover, there was an allegation over the disappearance of R11.5 million, as well as other acts of corruption, and the DHET was awaiting the final audit report to react to these accusations. UniZulu had stated that it was in the process of replacing Council members whose term of office had expired and was taking steps to improve on their governance challenges.

Walter Sisulu University (WSU)

At Walter Sisulu University, the irregular disbursement of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances was the main issue identified. The DHET recommended that a forensic investigation be undertaken in relation to the administration of NSFAS funds. WSU stated they had reached an agreement with NSFAS and Intellimali, for Intellimali to institute a forensic investigation and in November, the findings of this investigation had been deemed inconclusive.   

 

Discussion

Ms Mchunu told the DHET that Members wanted the report to tell them what was going on at MUT. She appreciated the response of the DHET on the situation at UniZulu, but was afraid collusion might arise between the Vice Chancellor -- who was deemed unsuitable for the position -- and the Council, and asked what steps could  be taken to prevent such an occurrence. She asserted that justice was not being done to UniZulu, because the matter kept coming up.

The Chairperson was of the opinion that the DHET was afraid to approach the UniZulu matter comprehensively because maybe the authorities there knew something about them, and were attempting to use blackmail.

There had been a lot of maladministration in relation to the SETA Landscape, pointing out that SETA was important for the development of South Africa by providing skills, and it was important to remedy the situation which persisted there. She expressed her hope that SETAs would be put under one umbrella to ensure efficiency.

Dr Bozzoli said the SETA proposal did not seem definite, and the Committee would like something more substantial. The universities’ report was depressing, especially the situation at MUT, where an independent assessor had been called in to analyse the matter. She asked when a timeline could be provided for when the UniZulu forensic report would be ready.

Mr Wolmarans was worried about the TVET construction process, because it had taken two years after the advertisement for construction to begin, which was too long. The price negotiation process had taken too long, and he asked whether all nine campuses had to be delivered simultaneously. He added that he did not see SMMEs being supported in this case.

Mr Kekana reiterated that stakeholders needed to work together and have a set of objectives, and asked how the partnerships with the TVETs manifested themselves.

Mr Mavunda believed the accusations of “third force” involvement at the CPUT protests were not tenable, because the third force had not been explained. What had inspired these allegations? If one was to take these allegations seriously, then more information should be provided so law enforcement and public authorities could become involved.

The Chairperson said the responses provided had not been sufficient, and the Committee would have to discuss them again in future. She wanted there to be certainty at the SETAs, because the uncertainty affected poor people the most. She criticized the uncertainty created by the high number of acting CEOs. The MUT issue had not been properly answered, and a forensic report had been called for. She wondered when the new CPUT Vice Chancellor would be appointed, and said that the UniZulu matter could not be carried into 2018. With regards to the Intellimalli report, the Chairperson was disappointed and said the DHET had to do more to address this, adding that the Minister and Deputy Minister should provide guidance in this instance.  

Mr Mvalo said that it was not strange for MUT to appoint an independent assessor, as it showed they wanted to resolve all the issues which were taking place.

The meeting was adjourned. 

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