Question NW609 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training

Reply:

The Draft Amended Policy on the Funding of Public Universities, November 2015 and the Revised Funding Framework: The Allocation of Government Grants to Public Higher Education Institutions, November 2015 were developed and submitted to me for approval to publish for public comment. Given the concerns in the system around student and university funding at the time, I made a decision that the drafts should be tabled at Cabinet before being released.

The draft documents were tabled in Cabinet on 22 November 2016. Cabinet advised that since the documents dealt with operational matters within the sector, specifically changes to the way in which the funds already within the system would be distributed to institutions, that it would not be necessary to publish them in a Gazette for public comment. Cabinet advised that the Department should consult directly and fully with the university sector on the policy and framework.

Consultation and engagements are scheduled to commence in April 2017. The full draft documents are currently being shared with the sector through Universities South Africa (USAf). Based on engagements, a final draft incorporating sector inputs will be developed and agreed upon in collaboration with USAf. The final draft will be aligned with any relevant decisions emanating from the Report of the Presidential Commission on Higher Education and Training, currently underway. The final draft documents will be submitted to the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for advice. Once the advice is received, the amended policy and revised funding framework will be submitted to me for approval and publication as the final Policy in the Government Gazette. The target date to finalise this process is the end of December 2017.

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DIRECTOR – GENERAL

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QUESTION 609 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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