Certificate backlog: update by SITA & Umalusi, with Minister

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

20 October 2020
Chairperson: Mr P Mapulane (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee met with the Department, Umalusi and SITA virtually to engage on the progress report on the eradication of the certification backlog. In previous engagements, the Department had set a target of June 2020 for an 80% eradication of the certification backlog – the infamous Day Zero. The certification backlog refers to candidate records that have met all certification requirements but a certificate is not issued after 90 working days after release of results.

DHET cited Covid-19 outbreak as a significant factor that affected its progress to meet Day Zero. The Department cited other variables that contributed to the slow progress, from data processing to printing of the certificates. Both the ICT system, still being developed by a service provider, and TVET and CET college examination centres were contributing factors to the slow progress.

As at 14 October 2020, the certification backlog was reduced by 85 193 certificates. The team continued to make progress despite Covid-19. Although the 80% target by June as set in February had not been met, the backlog has diminished with approximately 10 000 certificates processed per month across qualifications. From a baseline of 125 277 in February, a 68% backlog reduction has been recorded by 14 October 2020.

SITA informed the Committee that it had experienced challenges mostly with data analysis and programme related matters. Backlog Day Zero planned to be two weeks before go-live of a qualification on the new system .  However the revised target for the go-live will now be end December. SITA was confident that it can achieve 95% backlog reduction by March 2021.

Umalusi explained that it was involved in the end process. To manage the issuing of the certificates, Umalusi depended on DHET. Umalusi did not have control over the quality of data sets that are completed.

Members welcomed the briefings but were not happy with the progress to date. They stressed that Day Zero kept changing, meanwhile there were many South Africans who cannot get jobs because they did not possess their certificates. Even one outstanding certificate is displeasing. The Minister agreed with the Members' concerns.

Members asked about the Minister’s strategy to eradicate the certification backlog and if that strategy yielded results; status update on the IT system; contract extension of service provider to conclude the IT system; role of each entity and the challenges in working together; Umalusi’s role in consolidating records; why the National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) programme was not being refreshed; mitigation of irregularities emerging in the quality assurance of the National Certificate (Vocational) or NC(V) and General Education and Training Certificate (GETC); and if there was consequence management for failing to adhere to the 90-day policy for the delivery of certificates to graduates.
 

Meeting report

Opening remarks
The Chairperson welcomed the Minister to the virtual meeting. He apologised for the delay in the meeting due to technical issues.

Minister’s Remarks
Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education and Training, said that this was one of the matters that remained his priority and he was concerned about this backlog. Whilst there is progress, it is not enough. He agreed that one outstanding certificate was too much.

The problem may be in different parts of the system but DHET must take responsibility for this. It cannot be passed on to someone else. What is the point of educating people if you cannot certificate them at the end? He has tried to make this point to DHET that it must take responsibility.

There are other bigger problems within the TVET Colleges such as exams, but it is DHET that has entered into a contract with South Africans for higher education in the country.

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) briefing on backlog
Ms Violet Tshetlo, DHET Chief Director: Examinations, said that in the context of Covid-19 – the pandemic had an impact. The implementation plan target was a 80% reduction rate by June 2020. Beside the pandemic impact on the progress, there were some variables that were beyond the Department’s control from the processing of data to printing. Progress would only be made when the certificates have been printed and released to the college into the student’s hands. DHET could not procure the paper used for printing of the certificates due to the lockdown period. There is only one service provider that is utilised for this due to the delicacy of the paper required for the certificate. A key challenge is the current IT system cannot adequately condone and reconcile candidates’ achievement records across different examinations when students meet qualification requirements over multiple examination cycles.

As for scope, first-issue certificates are conceptualised as a certificate where a candidate has met full certification requirements in one examination cycle including subject statements. The NC(V) Levels 2 to 4 date back from November 2007 to March 2019. The GETC: ABET Level 4 dates back from October 2001 to June 2019; whilst the NATED Report N1-6 dates back from November 1992 to 2019.

As for progress, as at 14 October, the certification backlog has been reduced by 85 193 certificates. The team continued to make progress despite Covid-19. Although the 80% target by June as set in February 2020 was not met, the backlog has diminished with approximately 10 000 certificates being processed per month across qualifications. From a baseline of 125 277 in February, a reduction of 68% has been recorded on the certification backlog by 14 October 2020.

The interventions that were presented to the Committee in February remained in place to address the challenges experienced in reducing the backlog of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Education and Training (CET) qualifications. DHET on-boarded three members to assist in manually going through each of the records reported in the SITA outstanding certificates reports and query lists from Colleges. In addition, approximately 10 more staff from the business study unit will be repurposed to assist in this exercise.

Auditing TVET College certification processes and the collection of outstanding certificates lists of certificate queries revealed a high proportion of outstanding certificates have already been sent to colleges or that the candidates are not eligible.

State Information Technology Agency (SITA) briefing on backlog
Mr Vernon John, SITA Senior Manager, said that where SITA experienced challenges was with data analysis and programme related matters. The new system was initially planned to go live two weeks before the backlog was cleared, however the revised target will now be end December. SITA is confident that we can achieve about 95% reduction by March 2021.

In that 95%, we will be able to resolve anything that is system related but not everything will be resolved by the system. Records that cannot be resolved by the system will be resolved through business decisions. First prize will be Backlog Day Zero to be achieved before the new system is implemented.

Mr John noted the key interventions undertaken including: identifying candidate records that were already certificated but listed as outstanding due to system indicators being incorrectly set; likewise, some candidates indicating that they are deserving a certificate but are not; DHET, Umalusi and SITA agreed to process candidates where multiple mark changes were applied after initial resulting.

Over the next period, SITA has planned interventions:
- to investigate the feasibility of using the SITA modern big data analytics platform to analyse data, which is now in a production-ready state and requires activities such as configuration, data population and confirmation / implementation of business rules.
- enrich user and technical functionality to process outstanding candidate records quicker based on data and system root cause analysis, including setting the candidates to indicators such as active and inactive
- further enhance the NATED outstanding reporting programme to reduce administration in preparing management reports and quicker resolution of candidate records.

In conclusion, as much as progress was impacted by Covid-19, the adjusted roadmap shows that SITA plans to achieve 95% reduction by 31 March 2020. SITA understands that the outstanding certificates have an adverse implication for candidates and is therefore committed to resolving any system or data matters preventing candidates from receiving their certificates.

All the work that needs to be done to eradicate the backlog will be done. SITA will continue looking into more technologies that can be utilised at no cost to DHET. Its commitment to end March is still very much intact.

Umalusi briefing on backlog
Mr Mafu Rakometsi, Umalusi CEO, said that Umalusi can safely say that progress has been made in eradicating the certification backlog, which is attributed to DHET and SITA partnering with each other to achieve the reduction. When people do not receive their certificates, people's lives are disrupted; families are destroyed as well as careers. To manage the issuing of the certificates, Umalusi depends on DHET. Umalusi processes datasets on receipt  – there is no backlog on datasets received. Umalusi does not have control over the quality of datasets received. Its focus is on rejected transactions at certification. It cannot comment on the backlog because it comes in at the end of the process.

Mr Gerhard Booyse, Umalusi Manager: Certification, noted the interventions that Umalusi undertook to assist in the backlog eradication. Umalusi continued to process datasets and it provided reports of records of candidates that can potentially be consolidated who have passed subjects over multiple examinations. Consolidation was done based on identity numbers.

DHET and Umalusi statistics cannot be compared because the compilations are from different baselines. DHET reports on first-issues and includes data not yet submitted to Umalusi. The reports by Umalusi supports the backlog eradication by assisting DHET on the identification of outstanding records.

Discussion
Mr B Nodada (DA) said since the Minister had been appointed; what strategy did he put in place to eradicate the certification backlog and if that strategy has resulted in any progress. He had posed an Oral Question to the Deputy Minister in the House in July 2019, where it was indicated that Day Zero would be March 2020, which obviously misled Parliament.

Mr Nodada referred to the dysfunctionality of the examination ICT system. Funding of that ICT system was cut in the Covid-19 adjusted budget. What is the plan to ensure the system has been corrected? There was an indication that the service provider had requested an extension to address the certification IT problem. How long is the requested extension? When will the completion be to ensure the migration between SITA and DHET takes place?

What role do the three of you play to ensure there is full production of certificates. Within those roles, where is the challenge? Is it DHET, Umalusi or SITA?

What is the role of Umalusi in consolidating records? Umalusi has records of all learner achievements since November 1992. How many of these records are available to DHET and how many need to be certificated?

Why is the NATED programme not being refreshed? What has been done to resolve irregularities emerging in the quality assurance of the NC(V) and the GETC?

The certification backlog challenges have been repeated time and time again. Again today, DHET has regurgitated these. A 90-day policy within which to supply graduates their certificates was put in place. Clearly DHET is in breach of meeting that policy. What are consequences for the people meant to meet that policy? What consequence management for this entire backlog mess? People promise employers to deliver their certificates within 90 days but that is not met due to the Department not meeting its 90-day policy.

Dr S Themebkwayo (EFF) said that the Chief Director of Examinations was aware he was to present to the Committee but he did not refresh past 14 October 2020. Had that been done, updated information would have been presented to the Committee. It was noted that there will be tracking system for graduates to track their outstanding certificate. Can this model be extended to past students who are in need of their certificates? In this way, they will also be able to see how far their certificates are in the system.

SITA is here to assist DHET with all the challenges and it is doing so at no cost to the Department. DHET needs to step up on this.

Umalusi has a problem with DHET about rejected transactions and outstanding certificates. Is there a way to establish a better and faster way of the three of you working together: DHET, SITA and Umalusi?

Ms D Sibiya (ANC) said that Umalusi CEO has promised the matter will be resolved by next year. Perhaps, we should just wait for 2021. Many promises have been made but the Committee has no choice but to wait.

Mr T Letsie (ANC) said it was saddening DHET was subjecting people to poverty and unemployment by not giving them their certificates. People cannot seek employment without their certificates. There are certificates dating back 28 years ago since 1992 that people have been waiting for their certificates.

Recently, Statistics South Africa released the quarterly employment stats and the picture is pretty clear. With that said, the presentations today was not inspiring confidence. This Day Zero data keeps on changing and the excuse is Covid-19. He refused to accept this as an adequate reason.

DHET procured a new IT system, but what is the progress in implementing this system? Can the Committee at least establish some key performance indicators (KPIs) with this service provider? It is getting paid but it is not delivering or sorting out the problem.

DHET is also failing TVET Colleges because there are a number of senior posts in TVET Colleges that remained unfilled. It could be that some of the challenges result from the lack of leadership in these colleges.

DHET promised to implement consequence management for Department staff responsible for these certificates and examinations. There is no report on whether this has been done or not.

In Pretoria, SITA made a presentation to the Members and targets were tossed to and fro, but none of those targets that SITA set for itself has met. It makes it virtually impossible to believe if these targets will be met in March. Hence, he concurred with Hon. Thembekwayo that there must be a system that communicates directly to the recipients of the certificates so that they know what is going on. Many of these students are discouraged job seekers, even the President referred to the fact that there are many discouraged job-seekers in the country and this certificate backlog is not helping our people.

Lastly, the presentation of DHET showed a month by month improvement. During lockdown level 1, where it is meant to accelerate the issuing of certificates, it will issue much less certificates. This tells one that the personnel working on these projects are not taking the job seriously and DHET needs to them sign KPIs.

Ms N Mkhatshwa (ANC) said that it was great seeing how the leadership of the entities seem to understand the gravity of this matter. Hopefully, this understanding will translate to action.

She commended SITA for looking into various technologies or alternatives – this was appreciated. However, the “looking into” also needs to come to fruition and even be clearly indicated to the Members.

How much communication is directed to the society as well? Government entities and Departments need to include our society and people to come on board to contribute towards improving or coming up with new systems. Some institutions are able to communicate with the prospective employers if the student that is applying has completed their qualification or not when that student has not received their certificate due to owing the institution.

How often is the troubleshooting done by the entities and DHET to ensure that challenges are picked up and resolved along the way to Day Zero to ensure that it was not delayed any further? If we are not able to achieve the 95% by next year March, the people responsible must face consequences as well or be eradicated.

The Chairperson said that when during the Committee oversight visit to SITA in January, they saw the machine that store all the information. SITA indicated that it was moving away from it to a state of the art machine. What is the progress in moving away from that legacy system and the timelines for when the changeover would happen?

He was impressed with the SITA Executive Caretaker, Mr Luvuyo Keyise, who had demonstrated understanding of what needed to be done on an ICT level to eradicate this problem. He implored the Executive Caretaker to resolve this problem by the time his tenure comes to an end. DHET alone cannot resolve this problem and there has to be a collaborative effort by the SITA and the Department.

Day Zero has now moved to March 2021. Whilst one can understand the contributing factors such as Covid-19, this target has been a moving target over the years. Members would like to see 95% being achieved by March 2021. This target is not going to be moved again.

He was not impressed by the presentation by the DHET Chief Director who referred to the service provider. When the Committee met with DHET in February, the challenge with the service provider was raised but it is still the same challenge. He would like to appeal without asking for the service agreement and contract between DHET and that service provider, that this matter is dealt with. Today marks the 13th engagement on the certification backlog. Even one outstanding certificate cannot be accepted because this obliterates the graduate from accessing the labour market. One wonders what happened to the graduates who have not received their certificates since 1992.

Umalusi response
Mr Rakometsi replied that Umalusi is at the end of the food chain when it comes to certification. Our hands are tied until it receives the correct data. Unfortunately, South Africans see Umalusi has the incompetent entity in this matter.

Umalusi has never committed to any date as it would be impossible to do so because it sits at the end of the food chain. It can only issue a certificate when the data submitted is without error.

In conclusion, the Umalusi Council takes this matter seriously. At all Council meetings this matter is on the agenda and discussed. This matter is also escalated to the CEO Committee. Further, Umalusi attends the DHET Director General Monday meetings. It also attends quarterly meetings with DHET.

The Committee Chairperson echoed that the Committee understands the position of Umalusi in this process. In fact, there is no backlog on Umalusi’s side.

Prof John Volmink, Umalusi Council Chairperson, submitted that there was progress but it was not good enough. We can and should do better. We cannot have Day Zero as a moving target. The eradication of the certificate backlog must happen.

To the extent that Umalusi is in the position to do better, it will do better. He would go back to the Council and EXCO and apply its mind and take ownership together with the other entities to ensure that at the 14th Committee meeting on this matter, there will be no further changes to the deadline.

SITA response
SITA Executive Caretaker, Mr Luvuyo Keyise, replied that SITA had indeed failed to meet its target and it does take accountability for not meeting the target. Due to its contribution, it takes serious accountability for this matter.

SITA is committed to fostering a better working relationship and perhaps there should be monthly meetings with the Minister so that decisions can be made. The teams can meet on a weekly basis but the executive should provide reports to the Accounting Authority.

SITA's role is more related to the legacy commission. On the new IT system timeline, SITA is willing to assist DHET on the implementation of the new system. Currently, SITA’s role is on the migration of the data. Even if it means that SITA has to play its role for free, this should be done. The big data analytics system that SITA has made available to DHET was at no cost to the Department.

DHET response
Ms Tshetlo replied that what has been committed by DHET in its partnership with the service provider is to engage with it to ensure that the system DHET is paying for will be worth the money.

The Chairperson interjected and said Ms Tshetlo needed to be concise and to the point.

Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, DHET Director General, had listened and acknowledged the seriousness of this matter. The engagement with SITA was a fortnightly engagement, but Covid-19 disrupted that. Hopefully, that can be revisited as well as the suggestion to meet with the Minister on a monthly basis.

Mr Qonde replied that DHET appreciated the extra resources from SITA to ensure that both human and technical capacity was adequate.

Mr Qonde replied about the development of the new IT system. The DHET Director for IT Systems for  Resulting and Certification, Mr Stanford Mphahlele, is the project manager for the system procured from the service provider. Currently, Mr Mphahlele and his team were troubleshooting the system to ensure that all loopholes were addressed and a report was scheduled to be presented soon. DHET is committed to addressing this matter.

Minister response
Minister Nzimande replied that what was presented today was partly his strategy. Having occupied his current position from 2009 to 2017, he was ashamed that he could not deal with this problem even then. There is progress now – that is noted.

We must look at the entire pipeline because the biggest problem is the TVET college examination system and the ICT system is not up to the standard required, which continues to exacerbate this problem. At the moment, he was working with SITA to have platforms that can assist in minimising these challenges and to have sub-platforms even within the TVET colleges that feed into that SITA platform.

On the TVET examination system, in the medium term, DHET would be able to gain significant momentum only once the ICT system has been developed, as well as eradicating the challenges in the exam system.

The Chairperson said that Mr Letsie had suggested inviting the service provider to come before the Committee and account. If the service provider appointed to develop the system is failing, then the entire system will fail. It is through this system being developed by the service provider that Umalusi will be receiving accurate and complete data to carry out the issuing of certificates.

He appreciated the suggestion by the Minister to relook at the entire TVET examination system. There are too many exams written in that system. The Committee will hold DHET, SITA and Umalusi accountable for the 95% target achievement. Before then, the Committee will convene another meeting to ascertain progress. The Committee will check how many meetings have been held between DHET and SITA and if the executives report to their respective Ministers on progress.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and everyone present and declared the meeting adjourned.



 

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