Community Education and Training update; Quarter 1 performance; High Level Panel recommendations: DHET briefing

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

15 August 2018
Chairperson: Ms C September (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Portfolio Committee met with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to receive the first quarterly performance report for the 2018/19 financial year, and to receive feedback on the progress made in addressing challenges that had been pinpointed in the Community Education and Training (CET) system.

The DHET had set 21 targets for this quarter, all of which had been achieved. The focus of those targets was on institutional governance, infrastructure development and maintenance, the eradication of the certificate backlog, the academic performance of students and the conduct of college exam centres during national examinations and assessments. Challenges in the CET that were noted by the Department included the declining enrolment rate, shortages of learning material and unstable attendance by students and lecturers, unqualified and inappropriately placed lecturers, financial management, infrastructure problems and conditions of service.

The Chairperson commented that many of the concerns raised by the Members had been raised in previous quarterly reports. Though there were recurring issues, major progress had still been accomplished, even though the Department was a young one with big goals. The Members raised some concerns, such as why the public colleges had the issue of a backlog of certificates. The Department was asked why the filling of essential and non-essential posts had yet to be completed. A Member asked if indebted students would be given relief from their debts and if so, which students would qualify for this relief..

Meeting report

DHET: First Quarter Performance Report

Dr Hersheela Narsee, Acting Deputy Director General: Planning, Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) described progress made against the Department’s first quarter annual performance plan (APP) targets, covering the period from 1 April to 30 June 2018.

The 2018/19 APP had a total of 110 targets, of which 75 pertained to direct outputs of the DHET. For the first quarter, 21 targets had been set, and all had been achieved. These quarterly targets had focused mainly on oversight and reporting, particularly in relation to policy intervention, in the areas of:

  • Institutional governance –Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and Community Education Training (CET) colleges, and Sectoral Educational Training Authorities (SETAs);
  • Infrastructure development and maintenance at TVET colleges;
  • Certification backlog eradication;
  • Academic performance of students; and
  • The conduct of TVET college examination centres during national examinations and assessments.

Dr Narsee said that consequently the presentation covers key issues identified in monitoring reports produced during the quarter under review in respect of Programme 1: Administration; Programme 2: Planning, Policy and Strategy; Programme 3: University Education; Programme 4: TVET; Programme 5: Skills development; and Programme 6: CET. All of these programmes would be addressed, as well as the financial programme. Programme 3 had no specific deliverables for reporting for the quarter under review. She added that any targets that had not been achieved in the fourth quarter of 2017/18 would be fully reported on during the presentation of the annual report.

Dr Narsee handed over to Dr Diane Parker, Deputy Director General: University Education, DHET.

Programme 3: University Education

Dr Parker said that there were no specific targets due for completion in this programme, as the majority of the targets were linked to reports based on oversight in respect of earmarked grants. The Department had received the audits from the universities only at the end of May. There were two targets in the fourth quarter which had not been achieved, but were set to be achieved by the end of 2018. These were:

  • The finalisation of the national plan for Post School Education and Training (PSET). The draft of this had been finished at the end of October last year, but its finalisation had been negatively affected by the uncertainty of the upcoming fees commission, and the changes in the Ministry.
  • The policy framework on collaboration between professional bodies, government departments and quality councils. The draft had been developed by June last year through the European Union (EU) dialogue, but this too had been negatively impacted by changes in executives and legal issues pertaining to which body had the right to set up this framework.

Programme 4: TVET

Ms Gelda Magnus, Acting Deputy Director General: TVET, said that the purpose of this programme was to plan, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate national policy, programme assessment practices and systems for TVET. There were a total of 25 targets for the 2018/19 financial year. The area of focus was oversight on examinations, infrastructure development and TVET college sector performance. For this quarter, nine oversight reports were due for completion, and that had been achieved. 

She referred to the certification backlog in two parts. Outstanding certificates for National Certificate (Vocational) (NC (V)) for candidates who sat for examination between November of 2007 and March of 2016 had been certified in January of this year, and should be completed by the end of August. For the period between November 2016 and March 2017, there had been only 587 of the total 144 068 NC (V) certificates that remained outstanding due to supplementary examinations and/or irregularity matters.

Ms Magnus then referred to the conduct of public TVET college examination centres during national exams and assessments. The report reflected that the national examinations had been conducted in line with national policy during the 2017 academic year. The integrity of national exams had not been compromised. However, a total of 47 irregularities had been detected during March of 2017, of which five were administrative and the rest were acts of dishonesty.

With regard to the implementation of the information technology (IT) examination services system, a service provider had been appointed to develop a new examination system. Phase 1A was in an advanced stage, with user acceptance testing taking place. Phase 1B, which was the core modules of resulting, was about to move into the piloting/testing phase. The process of integrating the system with other systems like Umalusi, the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) and Home Affairs was currently under way. Requirement workshops were currently being conducted with the respective entities.

Ms Magnus said that for the roll-out of nine TVET college campuses, the project plan had been finalised and the roll-out of programmes had commenced on 1 June of this year. The contractual processes for the sites at Nongoma, Balfour, Msinga, Lusikisiki, Graaff-Reinet, Aliwal North and Sterkspruit had been completed. With regard to newly built TVET campuses in Thabazimbi, Bhambanani and Nkandla, the budget for enrolments, accommodation and capital costs had been allocated for the next three years.

Reflections of the report which focused on the implementation of a national infrastructure asset management system for TVET colleges showed that workshops on the development of national database (registration of assets) had been conducted with all colleges. An inspection tool had been developed (bulk and essential services survey) to collect data on the condition status of assets. The outcome of this survey would be the development of maintenance needs and costing thereof by colleges. A national infrastructure asset maintenance management standard had been developed. It prescribed many standards with which TVET colleges needed to comply, and colleges were expected to develop annual infrastructure maintenance plans based on predetermined standards. College plans for 2018/19 would focus on preventative maintenance.

Ms Magnus continued with the projections of budget estimates and the implementation for infrastructure needs. The report reflected that colleges were currently being trained to complete maintenance plans and develop cost estimates. Maintenance budget estimates were determined after the colleges had implemented their maintenance plans, and workshops had been conducted on this. The full sector-wide cost estimate would be developed after the training process.

On the implementation of the South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET), she said that a lecturer development strategy had been developed with areas of focus being support systems and professional development.

Lastly, Ms Magnus reflected on system performance. Regarding the issuing of certificates to qualifying candidates within three months, the results for examination cycles conducted during August, September and November 2017 had been issued and approved by Umalusi. The issued results did not cover centres, and where students were found to be irregular during the conduct of the examination cycle, investigations had been commissioned. Upon completion of these, Umalusi would decide on the release of the blocked results. On the compliance of TVET college examination centres with national policy, assessments on compliance had been conducted as planned for the 2018 academic year. All the centres were found to be compliant with the policy, though minor irregularities had been observed.

Programme 5: Skills Development

Mr Zukile Mvalo, Deputy Director General: Skills Development, said the purpose of the programme was to promote and monitor the implementation of the National Development Strategy, and to produce a skills development policy and regulatory framework for an effective skills development system. Eight targets had been set for the 2018/19 year, with the areas of focus pertaining to oversight on skills development, efficiencies in artisanal trade testing, success in artisan development (measured through the pass rate) and an informational management system for artisan development.

 For the first quarter, three targets had been planned. The report on the implementation of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS 3) had been completed. The Department sought to have an average of 80 days to process qualifying trade test applications for trade testing, and in the quarter under review it took an average of 80 days to process qualifying applications. The Department envisaged maintaining this throughout the year to ensure that the annual target of 80 days or less would be achieved.

A single national information management system for artisan development was under way. A business case for data load specification had been developed as the first step of the planned system development process. Currently the design of the database was under construction. The Automated Artisan Trade Test System (AATTS) would greatly contribute to standardised trade testing for all trades and improve their quality, and would accelerate the certification processes and the creation of a databank of artisan information, including trade test centres, a certificated learner register, moderators, assessors, and trade test/trade assessment instruments.

Mr Mvalo reflected on the system performance. The target for the national artisan learners’ trade test pass rate had been set at 61%, but the actual rate had been 57%. Various factors had an impact on the pass rate, such as most of the candidates lacking the requisite competencies. As Indlela was not a training provider, it met the candidates only when they enrolled for trade testing and during trade testing. The development of the AATTS would drastically improve the quality of alignment between training and trade testing, and would enable the National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB) to carry out timely interventions in terms of performing quality assurance audits at all accredited training centres and trade test centres, especially those that were underperforming.

Programme 6: Community Education and Training (CET)

Dr Bheki Mahlobo, Acting Deputy Director General: CET, said the purpose of this programme was to plan, develop, implement, monitor, maintain and evaluate national policy, programme assessment practices and systems for Community Education and Training. There were six oversight reports set as the annual targets for the 2018/19 financial year. The oversights focused on governance in CET colleges, teaching and learning, CET college sector performance, infrastructure maintenance and the monitoring of the implementation of structures.

For quarter under review, one oversight report had been due for completion – the report on CET college sector performance in the 2017 academic year, which had been completed. The report reflected on the 394 community learning centres visited, and focused on teaching and learning as well as lecturer development. It had been found that attendance registers were not up-to-date and there was poor student performance. Ineffective time management was present, with late starts and early finishes of classes due to a lack of preparation by the lecturers. 36% of lecturers were unqualified and some of the qualified lecturers were misplaced. Most of the qualified and generalist lecturers needed professional training.

Dr Mahlobo said that the implementation of governance policies at CET colleges had been monitored on a quarterly basis as preparation for the planned annual report on CET governance. During the first quarter, the branch had issued a circular to determine the extent to which CET colleges were implementing the 29 policies that were developed by the Department. Only eight of the nine colleges had confirmed their implementation status. The Western Cape CET College had indicated that the Council had not yet adopted the policies. A quarterly report in this regard had been compiled as planned.

Other significant achievements during the quarter included the training of councils, management and student representative councils from all nine CET colleges in corporate governance and leadership, and the roll-out of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) project to build the capacity of CET colleges in setting up effective and efficient financial management systems and internal controls.

Programme 2: Planning, Policy and Strategy

Dr Narsee said that the purpose of the programme was to provide strategic direction in the development, implementation and monitoring of departmental policies, and in the human resource development strategy for South Africa. Eleven annual targets had been set for the 2018/19 financial year, which focused on open learning in Post School Education and Training (PSET), the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), social inclusion in PSET, Career Development Services (CDS), international relations, skills supply and demand, information management systems, and collecting statistics on PSET.

Development of open learning material was in progress for the National Occupational Certificate: electricians, National Senior Certificate for Adults (NASCA) and the Advanced Diploma for TVET college lecturers. The Department had appointed the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to develop the national open learning system.

Dr Narsee said that with regard to RPL, the processing of appointments of members of the reference group was at an advanced stage. RPL workshops had been held during the quarter with diverse stakeholders. The branch had also dealt with requests for RPL guidance and support on a case by case basis. A register to recognise RPL providers had been established.

Several CDS activities had taken place. The career help Khetha radio programme was broadcasted by 13 radio stations in all 11 official languages. The annual Career Stakeholders’ Conference had taken place on 28-29 June. The Career Help website had recorded an average of 5 224 users per month, and the helpline had been in operation and served around 1 762 clients per month.

The Department had had various activities undertaken in pursuit of strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations with priority countries. A report of these activities had been compiled as planned. Key activities included a meeting between the Minister and the New Zealand High Commissioner in May, and a meeting between the Minister and the High Commissioner of Pakistan in June.

She referred to skills supply and demand, and said that a report was produced every two years and informed planning for the provisioning of education and training. During the quarter under review, the structure, relevant tables and graphs to be part of the report had been agreed to, and the first draft had been compiled as planned.

Statistics on PSET were produced annually, which reflected the achievement of the goals of the PSET system. During the quarter under review, a project plan for the collection of data would be used in the compilation of the statistics report on PSET at the end of this year had been approved. It outlined the data collection process with time frames, and progress on the project would be reported on a quarterly basis.

Programme 1: Administration

Ms Lulama Mbobo, Deputy Director General: Corporate Services said that the purpose of the programme was to provide strategic leadership, management and support services to the Department. There were ten targets for the financial year, with the areas of focus being the filling of funded vacancies, management of disciplinary cases, Information Communication Technology (ICT), the payment of invoices and the management of audit findings.

For the quarter under review, the focus had been on the implementation of ICT corporate governance in the Department. A report had been developed as targeted, and the following achievements were notable; the alignment of the ICT Strategy (connectivity to all TVET colleges), the automation of business processes (submission work flow, leave applications, supply chain activities, etc.), the development of a new examination system and an e-Recruitment system.

There were three targets in the fourth quarter that had not been achieved. There were disciplinary cases that had not yet been finalised. There was the filing of 219 advertised posts, 50 of which had been filled, which meant there was a vacancy rate of 6.5%. The payment of creditors within 30 days had not yet been reached, and currently there was an invoice tracking system that was being tested. The Minister had interviewed two persons for the DDG post, and a third would soon be interviewed. The Department aimed to fill this post by the end of September.

Financial Information

Mr Theuns Tredoux, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), DHET, reported on the financial information of the first quarter, and gave an overview of allocations, which involved voted funds of R73.021 billion, and the skills level of R16.929 billion.

The voted funds had been distributed as follows: Universities: R38 559 million; National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS): R20 334 million; Public Entities: R269 million; TVET Colleges: R4 288 million; CET Colleges: R110 million; Other transfers: R60 million; Compensation of Employees: R8 957 million; Earmarked funds: R69 million; and operational costs: R366 million.

During the first quarter of the financial year, the Department had total drawings amounting to R34.694 billion. Of this available amount, R32.695 billion had been spent, resulting in an under-spending during the first quarter of R1.9 billion. The under-spending amounted to 5.8%, compared to the Treasury limit of 8%. There had been four reasons linked to the under-spending:

  • delayed earmarked grant transfers to universities due to the finalisation of allocations (R1.2 billion);
  • delayed capital grant transfers to TVET colleges due to a review of disbursements (R637 million);
  • reduced compensation of employees due to unfilled vacancies (R97.3 million); and
  • goods, services and equipment, mainly due to outstanding invoices (R52 million).

Mr Tredoux said university education remained the biggest spending programme, at R29.711 billion, followed by TVET colleges at R2.261 billion and CET colleges at R555 million. Transfer payments (R34.807 billion) and the compensation of employees (R1.957 billion) were the biggest spending items on the budget. With regard to transfer payments, all block grant subsidy payments to universities, TVET colleges and public entities were on schedule.

Addressing challenges in the CET system

Ms Amelia Poolman, Director: Financial Management, explained that the DHET, through the CET branch, committed in its APP to monitor the CET colleges on a quarterly basis, and based on the analysis and interventions, produced a system performance report on an annual basis. This approach allowed the Department to identify red flags and to have a systematic approach to dealing with short and long term matters. To date, two reports had been produced. The challenges presented were informed by the reports in the context of the Department’s role, support, oversight and issues raised by the Portfolio Committee in previous meetings.

One of the challenges in CET colleges was the declining and fluctuating enrolment rate. Enrolment was erratic across the nine colleges. Enrolment in literacy programmes was rapidly declining. There was a high demand for the General Education and Training Certificate (National Qualifications Framework 1) and Senior Certificate/National Senior Certificate rewrites. In the 2015 academic year, there had been 285 000 enrolments, in 2016 there were 272 431, in 2017 there were 262 156, and in the first quarter of 2018 academic year there had been 243 231. She said that stigma, socio-economic reasons, unattractive programme offerings and poor advocacy were the causes of this decline. The National Development Plan (NDP) target of one million CET enrolments by 2030 was compromised, and the relevance of the programme needed to be determined. The Department sought to intervene with the piloting of CET concept-pilot centres to offer a matric/different skills programme, strategic partnerships, putting in place a proper advocacy plan and by the set up of academic boards to facilitate programme diversification in colleges.

The following issues in respect of teaching and learning had been identified:

  • inefficient time management in teaching and learning;
  • poor lesson planning, preparation and presentation;
  • the instability of student and lecturer attendance; and
  • a shortage of Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM).

She said the Department would strengthen the monitoring by regional offices. In addition, there would be approved Community Learning Centre timetables, and provision of LTSM-Kha Ri Gude materials. It would make compulsory, and facilitate, central printing of the nationally developed materials for Adult Education and Training (AET) Level 2, finalise Levels 3 and 4 materials and the implementation of national policy on LTSM, and produce a catalogue on them.

Ms Poolman said that monitoring and evaluation was conducted at 394 Community Learning Centres (CLCs) across the nine CET colleges. The report had revealed that there were three categories of lecturers in the system -- qualified and correctly placed, qualified and not correctly placed, and unqualified lecturers. This was a characteristic of the inherited system, and was also caused by unattractive conditions of service. There was a high turnover of qualified lecturers, labour unrest in colleges and poor performance by students. The DHET had road shows with CET lecturers, and filled critical lecturer posts following proper processes. It had created a policy on lecturer qualifications, verification and placement against correct Relative Education Qualification Value (REQV) levels, as well as a CET lecturer development policy.

With regard to financial management systems and internal controls, she stated that CET colleges did not meet the requirements of section 38(j)(1) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The Department had contracted the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) to help build the financial capacity of colleges. The project was aimed at assisting the Department and CET colleges by providing support in setting up effective and efficient financial management systems and internal controls in colleges. The recruitment and placement of senior financial advisors in CET colleges has started and was progressing well. In instances where suitable candidates could not be found in the applications received, headhunting was currently being pursued. In the interim, CET colleges had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with TVET colleges for the procurement of goods and services for CLCs (LTSM included).

Another challenge was the issue of infrastructure. The majority of CLCs across the nine CET colleges operated from mainstream schools, mainly primary schools. The challenge was the unsuitable learning environment for adults, as well as threats of evictions and hostile treatment. Progress made had been the approved organogram for the branch, which made provision for a dedicated unit to deal with infrastructure planning and needs assessment. There was now involvement of councils and college managements in identifying closed schools, unused and under-utilised infrastructure. Skills and CET branches were working together to explore the usage and access of skills centres for CET provision.

Ms Poolman said that disparities in conditions of service still continued. Funding bids had been prepared for consideration through the National Treasury’s Medium Term Expenditure Committee (MTEC) process for additional funding. The priority for the Department was to standardise a consistent application of the conditions of service throughout the CET college system. There had been progress in the form of continuous engagements with stakeholders, the lecturer leadership and unions to keep them updated about the developments and the strides the Department had made on the issue.

Finally, she said that the Portfolio Committee had made it clear in the past that the Department must resolve the challenges in the Western Cape. A dedicated meeting had been convened in 2017, where both the South African Adult Educators Union (SAAEU) and the Department, through the CET branch, presented to the Committee. Progress which had been made was that the Western Cape CET College, the regional office and SAAEU had had six meetings to date. Most issues had been resolved, including timetables for CLCs, transparency on budget issues, standardised contracts, roles and responsibilities of centre managers, processes of recruitment, selection and appointment, and recognition and involvement of the SAAEU in the Council. The remaining challenge was the contract appointments and the claims systems, which were not Western Cape specific but were systemic challenges to be resolved within the process of the standardisation of conditions of service.

Discussion

Quarterly performance report

Dr B Bozzoli (DA) asked if academics in the professional field had been involved in the professional implication consultation. She sought clarity on whether indebted students were now being relieved of their debts, and if so, which of them were eligible. She referred to TVET, and asked if colleges had the skills to manage the revamped examination system and if they had funds to implement infrastructure maintenance standards. When was the target for the upgrading of curricula set for? She commented that the high failure rate in skills training was a problem, and wanted to know if students who were not prepared were being allowed to sit the examinations and assessments. She asked if the Members could receive the report done on the 394 CET colleges visited. Where did the students who participated in open learning complete the matching practical training? She sought more details on the R600 million budgeted for infrastructure improvement in TVET colleges.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) asked why the TVET sector could not produce certificates timeously, why there were problems in NSFAS, and why the higher education sector could not produce people to solve their system problems. He commented that the private sector did not experience such problems. He asked why there were so many TVET principal and manager vacancies.

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) said that the filling of vacant positions was still of concern. The DHET had remained unable to achieve what it had set out to do. Efficiency was needed. She asked why the Department continued to use a strategy that involved the internet when connectivity had been a problem. It had been reported that the new data system would not be used because of heavy data rates. She asked for a progress update on TVET infrastructure. Were there consequences for the Western Cape’s refusal to adopt and adhere to set policy? Would there be appropriate CET programmes and curricula for RPL students, and were there any TVET colleges that aligned the courses offered with the skills that were most in demand? She referred to the under-spending in the first quarter and asked what impact it had had on the running of institutions.

Mr R Mavunda (ANC) asked for further details of the 47 irregularities that had been detected in the March examinations.

The Chairperson reminded the Department that some of the issues that were being raised had also been raised in previous quarterly reports. There were audits still outstanding, and the filling of positions was not yet complete. She added that the increasing rate of students in higher education committing suicide needed to be addressed, as well as the eradication of the certificate backlog and the decline in the enrolment and graduate rates. The Chairperson asked if it was the same institution (UNISA) that was negatively impacting the DHET’s progress in the ICT registration process. She asked about the delays in transferring subsides to universities. She said that the expansion of infrastructure was again being discussed. She commented that there was continuous under-spending on the compensation of employees, and recommended that the Department find a more efficient way to transfer grants. These were recurring issues.

Challenges in CET system

Dr Bozzoli asked for the reports the Department had compiled that related to the challenges and progress found in CET, as she felt the presentation had skimmed over important information. She asked why, if a huge number of enrolled students where participating in GETC (NQF1) and SC/NSC rewrites, it fell under the responsibility of the DHET and not of that of the Department of Basic Education, as these were matric repeats. She said that the DHET was not equipped to handle this effectively, and that it was a structural issue.

Ms Mchunu agreed with Dr Bozzoli. She said that this needed engagement between the DHET and the DBE. There was a need for institutions that accommodated matric second chances. She asked if there had been any discussion with the DBE on the infrastructure at schools. There was a huge problem with unemployment, and she asked if the Department should be offering unemployed graduates a place to upskill so that they could fend for themselves and be a part of the economy.

Mr Mavunda asked what the quality of the output of the lecturer development was, and how the performance of lecturers was assessed.

Mr Kekana asked whether the Department was able to help upgrade unqualified lecturers who had the relevant experience. He said that it was difficult for older adults who were employed to leave their work to obtain a certificate.

The Chairperson said that the Committee had asked the same questions from previous quarterly reports. Oversight visits to night schools, like in the Western Cape, had not been possible in the past, and she asked what would be happen about that. The Department of Public Works had said that there were a number of schools which it wanted to shut down, and she asked if the DHET had been able to discuss with the DPW how these campuses could be improved and utilised fully. She commented that this Department was only four years old, and that some of the demands were too big to have been expected to be accomplished in the past three and a half years.

Response from DHET

Quarterly Performance Report

Mr Tredoux said that he would provide a breakdown of the Skills Levy for the Members. It was dealt with differently, because it was a direct charge. The full amount was paid over to the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and NSFAS. The unspent funds on colleges and universities did not impact on the normal running of those institutions. The earmarked grants were subject to certain requirements, and if those particular conditions were not met, the money would not be transferred and could be transferred only when this had been approved, to avoid the dumping of funds. The Department had been given till the end of August for the transfers to be sent to the various institutions. The DG and Minister were working to ensure that money would not be placed where it could not be spent, but rather to reallocate money appropriately and timeously.

Mr Mvalo said there was not a pre-trade testing requirement, as that would escalate costs. Though the pass rate target had not been reached, the target of how many artisans had qualified was reached. He added that with RPL learners, there would be an assessor who looked over the applicant’s body of work and assessed whether the applicant was committed to be trade tested.

Ms Poolman said that the CET council had adopted the policy of compliance by the second week of July, so that was why it had not been included in the first quarter report.

Dr Mahlobo said there were colleges that offered programmes to fill skill demands, but those programmes were not based on the demand of the sectors. There were a few small colleges which did work with SETA to fill those demands. Capacity and accreditation was an issue. Going into this month, there had been about 52 colleges that had been identified as where capacity had to be expanded, based on the demands of the community. The DHET was concluding the establishment of the academic board which reported to council. Finalising of the conditions of service would be a gradual process; translation had yet to be completed.

Ms Mbobo said that the Department was in the process of head-hunting for positions which had received applications, but none had filled the necessary requirements. The DHET aimed to not leave any college without a principal. The vacancy rate was always a moving target, and its value was constantly changing between quarters. There was a target of 180 days to fill a post, and at the moment the average was at 181 days. Besides the e-recruitment system, the DHET was standardising systems and was focused on filling the positions at higher levels first.

Dr Parker said that academics were always included on boards. At the moment, the process of relieving the debt of indebted students was focused on those who fell under NSFAS. Linking enrolment to skills in demand was not a direct process, but this was being worked on, following how universities planned this. On the delayed transfers of earmarked grants, in the university sector it did not affect the running of institutions. Dr Parker said that it was indeed UNISA that was responsible for the enrolment decreases. Previously there had been an open door policy, but there were now requirements for application.

Ms Magnus said that the glitches found in the IT system for exams were the cause for the new system development, which was in the testing phase. An exam management programme was being designed, and moderators from institutions would have to participate in those workshops so that those institutions could utilise the revamped examination systems. Administrative irregularities in national exams involved things like exams not being kept in a safe, while acts of dishonesty were student-related, like when students were found with crib notes. It was not common that exam leaks involved the set national papers. When investigated, it was found that usually the leaked papers were the previous years’ exams, or were forged. In the most recent exam cycle, there had been one leak which was being investigated currently. She said that the DHET was developing the standards for infrastructure maintenance. It was the first year that there was funding for this, so the Department wanted to ensure that the budget was used appropriately. Curricula updates were not a target for this year, but there were revisions in process. The Department sought to stabilise enrolment numbers. There was a comprehensive report on the outstanding audits, and this would be passed on to the Members.

Dr Narsee said that open learning was linked to existing institutions, and many of the TVET colleges. She said that high-in-demand skills acted as a signal for institutions, which took this into consideration when setting course curricula. Using CDS encouraged learners to take up education in those skills and jobs that were highly sought after.

Challenges in CET system

Dr Mahlobo said that there had been 52 learning centres identified whose capacity had to be evaluated and developed. The DHET would like to base the programmes offered at each of those on the skills demands and the economy in their respective communities. There were a number of centres that already operated like this. An issue faced was that the lecturers at these institutions needed to be retrained and reskilled in order for these programmes to be offered without impairing quality of services. The Department had engaged with the executives of the DBE to resolve the issues of infrastructure. It had received lists of campuses in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, but some of them were a long distance from the communities that would utilise them. This made them unsuitable, as the DHET did not want to add transport costs to the budgets allocated.

Dr Mahlobo said that there was no performance assessment regime, and should this be a requirement, then it would have to be added as a section to the conditions of service.

The meeting was adjourned.

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