Question NW647 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training

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11 April 2018 - NW647

Profile picture: Van der Westhuizen, Mr AP

Van der Westhuizen, Mr AP to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training

(1)Whether she has found that the directive entitled Rules and Guidelines for the Administration and Management of the Department of Higher Education and Training Technical and Vocational Education and Training College Bursary Scheme for 2018 on 15 December 2017 was issued too late for institutions to properly plan and budget for the 2018 academic year; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) What (a) caused the delay in issuing the directive, (b) is the latest date by which such a directive should ideally be issued in the future and (c) steps will she take to ensure that such important directives will be distributed in time in the future?

Reply:

1. The policy directive entitled Rules and Guidelines for the Administration and Management of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training College Bursary Scheme (hereafter referred to as the Bursary Rules and Guidelines) for 2018 was issued late in 2017 for TVET Colleges to plan and budget for the 2018 academic year with absolute accuracy ahead of the January 2018 intake of students. The Department revises and updates the Bursary Rules and Guidelines annually to ensure efficient administration of bursaries and to provide greater clarity to Colleges about bursary administration processes. This revision, however, is not a radical shift from year-to-year. Considered amendments are made based on feedback requested from Colleges in the course of the year to improve the administration of the College Bursary Scheme.

2. (a) Over and above the individual written College submissions which were received by the Department for the review of the Bursary Rules and Guidelines, the South African College Principals Organisation (SACPO) requested the Department to convene a consultative meeting of all relevant stakeholders to discuss certain matters that students often challenge in the application of the rules and guidelines. SACPO was of the view that colleges needed to discuss this collectively and then make inputs rather than individually.

The Departmental officials, College Principals, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), Student Representative Councils (SRCs), South African Further Education and Training Students Association (SAFETSA), and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) attended the consultative meeting referred to above, which was the first of its nature for this purpose. Following this extensive consultative process, the Department was requested to clearly delineate the RULES as separate from the GUIDELINES in the Bursary Rules and Guidelines policy document. As a result of these amendments, which required careful consideration and approval within the Department, the 2018 Bursary Rules and Guidelines document was released on 15 December 2017. Shortly after the release of the 2018 Bursary Rules and Guidelines, the Presidential announcement of fee-free higher education and training for students from poor and working class families followed, which had further implications for administration of the bursary scheme in TVET Colleges. The amendments to the 2018 Bursary Rules and Guidelines that resulted from the fee-free education announcement, were approved in February 2018.

b) In terms of the annual plans, the Department first has to solicit inputs from all relevant stakeholders for the review, and this process usually culminates in the release of the updated Bursary Rules and Guidelines before the end of September each year for the following academic year.

c) The Department does not foresee a situation similar to the one that occurred in 2017. The Department plans to initiate the review process in May 2018 to ensure that there is sufficient time to finalise this important policy directive by no later than 30 September 2018.

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