Question NW572 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

Reply:

The Department of Higher Education and Training has embraced the digital transformation journey and has prioritised utilising technology to improve the quality of teaching and learning which will ultimately improve institutional efficiency and student success.

1. The extent of online education has not been quantified by different institutions in the PSET sector. However, the Department has introduced multiple initiatives including amongst others:

(a) Investment in the development of a National Open Learning System (NOLS) that aims to:

• progressively harness open learning principles in all PSET institutions;
• provide students in the PSET system with an efficient open learning system with viable options for learning;
• use ICT as an enabler for teaching and learning in PSET; and
• make high quality, shared teaching and learning resources increasingly available as Open Educational Resources (OER).

b) Commissioned a research project with an international partner (GIZ — German Agency for International Cooperation) on the current use of technology in South African TVET colleges.

c) Funded the South African National Research Network (SANReN) which was mandated to connect all 50 TVET Colleges with more than 300 sites covering the length and breadth of the entire country (TCCP) including rural institutions. 90% of TVET students are from poor homes. The project is 80% complete. Learning sites that were connected have provided very positive feedback, with high-speed connectivity achieved across vast and deep rural and mountainous regions of the country

2. On the question of building capacity to expand access through online education is work in progress, the DHET has developed a National Guideline on using technology to enhance teaching and learning. All Colleges were capacitated on the use of the National Guidelines during 2021/2022.

The Department further initiated a project on blended learning which aims to build lecturer and tutor capacity in blended learning of mathematics and statistics education, tutoring and support. Currently, there is no formalized programme to capacitate lecturers and tutors for blended tuition. The objective of the project is to conduct workshops and work with Inter-university and Faculty communities of practice that consist of lecturers and tutors who will focus on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge to advance their ability to educate optimally will be established.