ATC130927: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training on the Strategic and Annual Performance Plan 2013/14 of the quality council for trade and occupations (QCTO) and National Skills Fund (NSF), Dated 11 September 2013
Higher Education, Science and Innovation
Report of the Portfolio Committee on
Higher Education and Training on the Strategic and Annual Performance Plan
2013/14 of the quality council for trade and occupations (QCTO) and National
Skills Fund (NSF), Dated 11 September 2013
The
Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, having considered the
Strategic and Annual Performance Plan (APP) 2013/14 of the QCTO and NSF reports
as follows:
1.
Introduction
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training
considered the Annual Performance Plan and Medium Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF) Budget 2013/14 of QCTO and NSF on 14 August 2013. This report captures a
summary of the presentations made by both entities to the Committee, focusing
primarily on the Annual Performance Plans and Budget for 2013/14 financial year
which were presented in conjunction with the Strategic Plans that were tabled
in Parliament on 08 April 2013 for consideration and reporting by the
Committee. The report further captures observations and recommendations made by
the Committee during deliberations on some of the key aspects of the
presentations.
2.
Background
The Strategic and Annual
Performance Plans of public entities were extremely valuable sets of
information to the Committee in exercising its oversight role. Engaging with
public entities on these documents was very critical in scrutinising
allocations of public funds and monitoring their utilisation. The annual
performance targets of the entities were also scrutinised to ensure that they
were in line with the Departments mandate of expanding access to post school
education and training opportunities for the young people of the country.
Moreover, effective oversight and transparency were requirements for effective
accountability which was the responsibility of the Committee. This was the
overarching role of the Committee to invite public entities to account before
it.
Portfolio Committee on Higher Education &
Training:
Present:
Ms D
Chili
(ANC),Ms N Gina (ANC), Mr S
Makhubele
(ANC), Prof S
Mayatula
(ANC), Mr C
Moni
(ANC), Mr S Radebe (ANC), Ms D
Sibiya
(ANC), Dr L Bosman (DA), Prof A
Lotriet
(DA), Mr N
Bhanga
(COPE), Mr A Mpontshane (IFP) and
Mr J
Dikobo
(AZAPO).
Apologies:
Adv I
Malale
(ANC) (Chairperson).
Support Staff:
Mr A Kabingesi (Committee Secretary), Ms M Modiba (Content Adviser), Mr L
Komle
(Researcher) and Ms T
Majone
:
Committee Assistant.
The following were present:
National
Skills Fund:
Mr M
Macikama
: Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Mr W Minnie Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr E
Mashabane
: Director Strategic Projects, and Mr F
Strydom
: Director Sector Skills Programmes.
Quality
Council for Trades and Occupations:
Prof P
Lolwana
:
Chairperson, Ms J
Mashabela
: Chief Executive Officer
(CEO)
,Ms
N
Madilonga
: Chief
Financial Officer (CFO).
Department
of Higher Education and Training:
Mr M
Lumka
: Chief Director
Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Coordination, Ms M
Erra
: Director, Ms V
Patuleni
:
Assistant Director and Mr B
Bingwa
: Intern.
3.
Summary of presentations
3.1.
Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO)
Ms J
Mashabela
: CEO led
the presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The QCTO was established in terms of the Skills
Development Act 97 of 1998 and was listed as Schedule 3A Public Entity on 31
December 2010 but became fully operational from April 2012. The QCTO was then
able to appoint permanent staff, CEO and six Deputy Directors.
·
The mandate of the QCTO included; design and
development of occupational standards and qualifications, establishment and
maintenance of occupational standards and qualifications and promoting
objectives of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
·
Hiring of permanent staff was a key focus with
particular attention to corporate services and governance staff in order to
provide operational support needed for core business to operate. The Council
would be able to fill only 32 of the 46 posts on organogram at its current
funding level. Development of process and procedures for the development of
qualifications would be completed in the current financial year while
development of policies would receive significant attention.
·
In terms of marketing, the public was made aware of
the QCTO through road shows and extensive engagement with stakeholders.
·
The Councils governance structure and its sub-committee
were constituted and functional.
·
Programme 1 Administration:
The risk management strategy would be implemented and risk register
updated quarterly while supply chain management policies, procedures and
systems would be developed and implemented. The Council did not have its own IT
system and had since appointed IT Director. It also developed its own website
which was hosted by IT Solutions owing to the fact that it did not have its own
office space, but was in the process of advertising a tender to procure its own
offices.
·
The target for filling of outstanding posts was 46.
The website of the entity was functional and 4 exhibitions would be held this
year.
·
The QCTO delegated some of its work and acted as an
overseer.
·
The National Treasury approved all the applications
for roll-over funds.
·
Programme 2 Occupational Qualifications Management:
The sub-framework policy would be finalised and approved by Council in
the year financial year. The estimated number of qualifications that would be
recommended to the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) was 70 and
monitoring and evaluation reports 25. Council would develop 11 policies and the
assessment and moderation system would be implemented by September 2013.
Budget: The total revenue of the QCTO including additional revenue from other
sources was R50 million for the 2013/14 financial year. The total allocation
from the Department was R21 million and other funding came from NSF, Surplus
and SETA grant. In terms of expenditure, R17.2 million went to compensation of
employees, R10.7 million to goods and services and R1.2 million for capital
expenditure. The overall expenditures amounted to R30.1 million.
3.2.
National Skills Fund (NSF)
Mr M
Macikama
: CEO led the
presentation which highlighted the following key issues:
·
The mandate of the NSF as per Skills Development Act
(SDA) included; funding of National Priority Projects, funding projects for the
achievement of the SDA and fund activities of National Standard of good
practice in the SDA.
·
In terms of
bursaries; R650 million undergraduate bursaries was allocated through
National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to benefit 12 500 students and
R106 million postgraduate bursaries was allocated through the National Research
Fund (NRF) to benefit 1000 students a year.
·
FET colleges were allocated R800 million capacity
building grant for expansion of National Certificate Vocational NC(V) and
Report 191 intake to benefit 40 000 students. R1.5 billion was allocated
towards FET
colleges
infrastructure development of 12
new campuses.
·
In terms of the New Growth Path (NGP) 35 projects
were funded at a cost of R255 million to benefit 10 000 students per year.
·
Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) training
projects were allocated R173 million to benefit 4000 learners per year.
·
Rural Development training projects were allocated
R270 million to benefit 8000 learners per year.
·
In terms of University Infrastructure Development,
the University of Pretoria (UP) was allocated R382 million towards expansion of
medical and veterinary facilities, University of Johannesburg (UJ) was
allocated R213 million towards development of work-integrated learning
facilities for engineering students and Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(CPUT) was allocated R106 million towards development of renewable energy
training facilities.
·
Other Skills Infrastructure Development included;
National Institute for the Deaf (R44 million), Human Resource Development
Council of South Africa (60 million), National Skills Authority (R60 million)
and Credible Planning Mechanism & Integrated Post School Education System
(R166 million).
·
NSF planned to improve its operational efficiency by
improving projects monitoring and evaluation. Establishment of NSF
operationally as Schedule 3A Public Entity was under way.
·
Finance: The operational budget of the NSF was R191
million for 2013/14. The annual revenue amounted to R2.2 billion. The net
surplus in the account of NSF was R7 billion and the money
was
committed to projects over the period of four years. Under-spending in the
compensation of employees was due to vacant posts not yet filled.
4.
Observations
Quality
Council for Trades and Occupations
4.1.
The Committee noted the following concerns:
·
65% of the entitys budget went to compensation of
employees.
·
Under-spending of R5 million from the previous
financial year owing to under-performance in the core business of the entity.
·
Utilisation of an external service provider to host
IT services of the entity since it was accommodated by the Department.
·
Delays in hiring of permanent staff in order to
provide operational support needed for core business to operate.
·
Absence of critical policies especially in supply
chain management and human resources.
·
Inadequate turn- around time for submission of
qualifications to SAQA.
·
Inadequate process for evaluating and accrediting
qualifications owing to lack of capacity.
·
Mismatch in the financial statements presented to
the Committee.
4.2.
The Committee noted the following progress:
·
Additional 21 permanent staff that would be appointed
in the monitoring and evaluation unit of the entity.
·
Functional Council with its sub-committees.
·
Development of part qualifications aimed at
providing opportunities to young people with no
Matric
qualification and assist employees with occupational qualification to progress
in the workplace.
·
Extensive engagement with stakeholders and
exhibitions for marketing of the entity to the public.
·
The QCTO advertised tender for lease of a new
building to accommodate.
National
Skills Fund
4.3.
The Committee noted the following concerns:
·
The Annual Performance Plan 2013/14 document of the
entity submitted to the Committee was not signed by the Executive Authority.
·
The NSF was listed as a Schedule 3A public entity in
October 2012 and yet it operated within the Departments office space.
·
The utilisation of consultants in the process of
listing the entity as Schedule 3A public entity.
·
Funding of university infrastructure development to
higher education institutions did not cater for the previously disadvantaged
institutions.
·
Inadequate projects monitoring and evaluation
capacity.
·
Delays in filling of outstanding posts critical for
the core business of the entity.
4.4.
The Committee noted the following progress:
·
Allocation of R1 billion to assist NSFAS shortfall
for the 2013/14 financial year.
·
The R4 billion capacity building grant committed to
FET colleges.
·
Commitment to assist in key national priority
projects.
5.
Conclusion
The QCTO was established primarily to design,
develop and maintain occupational standards and qualifications. However, the
commitment by the Department to ensure that this entity discharged its core
mandate effectively was of great concern to the Committee. Funding remained a
serious challenge to the QCTO since its establishment and this caused delays in
fulfilling its mandate. The entity was now fully funded to carry out its
mandate. There was commitment from the employees of the QCTO to make the entity
a recognised Quality Council that played a significant role in the post school
education and training sector. However, capacity constraints prevented the
entity from achieving this objective.
The Committee was concerned that the NSF did not
have a roadmap to operate as a fully-fledged Schedule 3A public entity. The
Committee commended the commitment of the NSF in funding national priority
projects. However, the main concern of the Committee was the contribution of
these projects in alleviating poverty and unemployment. The monitoring and
evaluation of these billions allocated to projects remained a concern for the
Committee.
6.
Recommendations
The
Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training requests that the Minister
of Higher Education and Training ensures that the following recommendations are
considered and implemented, and
provide
feedback within three months of adoption of this report by the House:
a)
Filling of vacant positions
The QCTO should ensure that all the vacant positions
are filled as planned as there is budget for that.
b)
Support
·
Policy development remains a serious challenge for
the QCTO. The Department should consider providing additional support to the
entity especially in developing key organisational policies on supply chain
management and human resources.
c)
Monitoring and evaluation
·
The NSF committed vast amount of monies to different
priority projects and yet its monitoring and evaluation unit was not fully
capacitated. The Department should assist the NSF in establishing its strategic
analysis and projects initiation unit.
d)
Establishment of the NSF as a Schedule 3A entity
·
The Department should assist the NSF in developing a
roadmap towards establishing it as a fully-fledged Schedule 3A public entity.
e)
University
Infrastructure Funding
·
The Committees observations of the recent oversight
visit to the University
of
Venda & Limpopo pointed
that there was a dire shortage of infrastructure for student housing and other
facilities in these institutions. The NSF University Infrastructure Funding
should also prioritise
these previously disadvantaged
institutions with dire need.
Report to be considered.
Documents
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