Questions & Replies: Higher Education
2010-08-13
THIS FILE CONTAINS 25 REPLIES.
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QUESTION 2211
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20/08/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 23 OF 2010)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
(a) How many lecturers currently employed at the 53 further education and training colleges (i) have (aa) doctoral, (bb) masters, (cc) honours and (dd) bachelors degrees and (ii) do not have a university degree and (b) what are the relevant details regarding the rationale to employ lecturers who do not have a university degree?
NW2718E
REPLY:
a) The information contained below is for lecturers employed in the 50 further education and training colleges and not 53 FET Colleges as requested. This data is collated from the summary of REQVs.
(i) (aa)Doctors degree : 38;
(bb)Masters degree: 200;
(cc) Honours degree: 720;
(dd)Bachelors degree :2647and
(ii) number of lecturers who do not have university degree is 4062, of which 3569 have diploma qualifications
b) There are two types of lecturers that are under-qualified in FET Colleges, but they offer effective teaching and learning. The following are the categories:
· Lecturers with National N Diploma (Trade Test and N6 Diploma)
These lecturers have acquired the relevant qualification in different field of trades. They have knowledge required to teach trade subjects, but have no professional training as lectures and teachers
· Lecturers with ordinary Teachers Diploma
These lecturers have had professional being as teachers /educators but do not have disciplinary knowledge to teach trade related subjects.
In August 2009, the Department published a gazette for public comment that sets out the policy framework for lecturer training and development in the college sub-sector. Although the framework is not yet finalised, the department intends to build on this framework to set the minimum qualifications requirements for employment as a lecturer in the FET sub-system. The issue of lecturer training, development and support is part of the FET summit process, because the department had already identified it as of the challenges in this sector.
QUESTION 2117
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 13/08/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 21 OF 2010)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
1. Why has only one university made it onto the Times Higher Education World University Ranking;
2. whether he has any plans in place to ensure that South African universities appear in the top 100 rankings; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NW2557E
REPLY:
1. Comparative practices related to league tables like the Times Higher Education World University Ranking is limited in its biased use of a range of indicators in an attempt to measure and compare universities. There are many differences between universities and the context in which universities are developed; continue to develop and function - including the financial, historical, social, political and cultural changes - makes information obtained in this way controversial. South Africa is on a specific development trajectory and imperatives considered as being key to South African universities might be excluded from the list of criteria against which institutions are judged.
A snapshot evaluation of these rankings shows a bias towards universities which are larger and well-resourced, where English is the language of the academy and modelled along Westernised notions of what a university is or ought to be. Strikingly, there is little or no recognition for the humanities and creative arts.
2. As the South African Government, our objective is to ensure that the quality of our universities is constantly and consistently measured against our own set of criteria (including international best practices). We have in place the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), which is the permanent committee of the Council for Higher Education mandated to ensure a robust quality system for the university sector. The HEQC executes this mandate through a vigorous process of academic programme accreditation as well as institutional audits. The process is aimed at continuously improving and strengthening our university sector.
QUESTION 1969
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 30/07/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 18 OF 2010)
Mrs G M Borman (ANC) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
Whether all the Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges have received their final examination results for 2009; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW2205E
REPLY:
Yes. All FET Colleges have received their final examination results for 2009.
The Department of Higher Education and Training uses two key policies when resulting candidates for the National Certificate (Vocational), namely the National Policy on the Conduct, Administration and Management of the Assessment of the National Certificates (Vocational) gazetted in September 2007 and the Policy for the National Certificates (Vocational): Qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) gazetted in March 2006.
In terms of national policy, an NC (V) candidate must complete all the required assessment components for each National Certificate (Vocational) subject to ensure a complete result in each subject. In instances where an examination centre has marked a candidate absent on the mark sheet for the Internal Continuous Assessment (ICASS) and/or the Integrated Summative Assessment Task (ISAT), the policy states that the absence of a mark in either of these components will result in the student registered for the particular subject receiving an "incomplete" result. A high number of NC (V) candidates were marked absent on official mark sheets for either or both the ICASS and ISAT components. Such candidates are therefore deemed by the Department of Higher Education and Training to have been officially resulted.
The Department of Higher Education and Training will be visiting all 9 provinces during September 2010 to provide guidance and support in the resulting process to facilitate an improved understanding of the process and how to interpret the results generated.
QUESTION 1948
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 26/07/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 17 OF 2010)
Mr G G Boinamo (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
(1) Whether his department has measures in place to identify all (a) unregistered and (b) illegally operating colleges; if not, why not; if so, (aa) how many (i) unregistered and (ii) illegal colleges have been identified, (bb) where were they located;
(2) whether the department has taken any action against these unregistered and illegal colleges; if not, why not; if so, in each case, (i) what action has been taken, (ii) what criminal charges have been brought and (iii) how many cases of false registration of students were identified at each college?
NW2336E
REPLY:
1. (a) No, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) does not have such measures in place. DHET reacts to complaints, reports, allegations from students, parents and the general public with regard to unregistered Private FET Colleges. This is the same process by which law enforcement agencies obtain information about criminal acts.
(aa) (i) and (ii) Investigations sparked by complaints have exposed sixty two (62) private institutions that are not registered as FET colleges and as such are operating illegally.
(bb) The colleges found operating illegally were located in the following provinces: Gauteng (39), Western Cape (6), Eastern Cape (6), Limpopo (4), KwaZulu-Natal (4) North West (2) and Mpumalanga (1).
2. (i) The DHET issued defaulting private education institutions with letters warning that they were not registered and were therefore acting in contravention of the FETC Act (2006). The DHET works closely with the South African Police Service and other law-enforcement agencies, in responding to reports of private education institutions that are alleged operating illegally.
(ii) and (iii) Police recently arrested owners and management of eight (8) private colleges and charges of fraud were brought against them. The cases are being finalised by the courts and this process could reveal the numbers of students who were illegally enrolled. DHET advises identified students to institute lawsuits for refund against institutions that have been found to be operating illegally.
QUESTION 1946
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 26/07/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 17 OF 2010)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
(1) How many student protests were held at each tertiary institution campus (a) in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007 and (iv) 2009 and (b) during the period 1 January 2010 up to the latest specified date for which information is available;
(2) (a) which student organisation led the protest in each case, (b) what were the reasons for the protest action in each case and (c) how long did the protest action last in each case;
(3) whether teaching and academic work was affected by any protest action; if so, (a) how and (b) what are the further relevant details in each case;
(4) what (a) damage to property or (b) violence was reported in each case? NW2334E
REPLY:
1. My Department has always monitored student protests, but not kept records or data on what transpires on individual university campuses. Since the beginning of 2010, my Department established an internal registration monitoring process to ensure that the DHET is informed about unrest at institutions. I have consulted with the university leadership (administrators as well as students) as to the causes of student protest and how these can be addressed by individual institutions taking into account their contexts.
2. Anecdotal evidence suggest that the genesis of student protests does not necessarily reside in any one organisation. Instead, students express their dissatisfaction through the voice of its leaders in Student Representative Councils (SRC). The SRC is enshrined in legislation, through the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997), section 26 (2) (e), as an integral organ to the institutional governance landscape. The main causes of student protests relate to exclusions, whether academically or financially. How students articulate this (and other causes) differs across institutions (and even across campuses within one institution) as the institutional context will determine the degree of dissatisfaction amongst the student body.
3. Universities have, as part of their rules and regulations as stipulated through Institutional Statutes, formal procedures for managing protest action, and these are implemented where necessary. Institutions manage student protests when they arise to specifically prevent the disruption of academic work and examinations. My Department, where necessary, works with the institutions to ensure that disruptions are kept to a minimum, and to prevent further disruptions. Institutions have the responsibility for dealing with time lost during protest action.
4. Reports about damage to property are sometimes received from institutions, or reported in the media. In this case, individual institutions would have to supply reports about specific incidents on their campuses.
QUESTION 1944
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 26/07/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 17 OF 2010)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
With reference to his reply to question 881 on 17 May 2010, (a) what are the names of the donors of the R1,5 million that was spent on the Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education Transformation of 22-23 April 2010, (b) what amount did each donor contribute and (c) on what date was each donation made?
NW2332E
REPLY:
a) The Summit was jointly funded in kind by the Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD) and the Joint Education Trust (JET)
b) The total cost of the summit amounted to R1 700 933.17. Funds were provided as follows:
CEPD: R1 201 026.07
JET: R499 907.10
c) As it was a contribution in kind, no actual monies were transferred to the department. Donors managed the payments to service providers over a period of time.