BUDGETARY REVIEW AND
RECOMMENDATION REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND
TRAINING ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING
AND ITS ENTITIES FOR THE 2013/14 FINANCIAL YEAR, DATED 22 OCTOBER 2014
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education
and Training, having considered the performance and submission to National
Treasury for the medium term period of the Department of Higher Education and
Training, National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), South African
Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Council on Higher Education (CHE) and Quality
Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) reports as follows:
1. INTRODUCTION
Section
42(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act No 108 of 1996,
bestows oversight of executive action function to the National Assembly (NA).
One of the functions of the oversight listed in the Oversight and
Accountability Model of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is to ensure
that policies announced by government and authorised by Parliament are actually
delivered. Furthermore, the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters
Act, 2009 (Act No. 9 of 2009) requires that the National Assembly, through its
committees, conducts annual assessment of the performance of each national
department with regard to the medium term estimates of expenditure. This report
accounts for work done by the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and
Training during assessment of the performance of the Department of Higher Education
and Training and the entities it oversees. The report further makes financial
and non-financial recommendations for consideration by the Minister responsible
for the Vote and the Minister of Finance.
1.1. Mandate of Committee
Parliament
derives its mandate from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The
Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has been established as an
instrument of the National Assembly in terms of the Constitution, legislation,
the Joint Rules of the NA and the resolutions of the House to facilitate
oversight and the monitoring of the Executive. The Portfolio Committee, thus, facilitates
public participation, monitors and exercises oversight function over the work
of the Department of Higher Education and Training; confers with relevant governmental and civil society organs on
higher education and training matters; processes and recommends legislation,
international protocols and conventions relating to higher education and
training; participates in national
and international educational conferences; and participates in any activities and programmes aimed at the development
and delivery of quality public post-school education to all South Africans.
The
Portfolio Committee oversees the work of the Department of Higher Education and
Training and all entities reporting to it, whose aim is to develop and support
a quality post-school education and training sector; and to promote access to
higher and vocational education and training and skills development training
opportunities. The public entities and
institutions reporting to the Department include; Quality Councils, National
Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), universities, TVET colleges, Sector
Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), public Adult Education and Training
(AET) centres and National Institutes
for Higher Education (NIHE).
1.2. Description of core mandate of the Department of
Higher Education and Training
The
mandate of the Department originates from the Constitution of the Republic of
South Africa, all post-school education and training related legislation passed
by Parliament, and the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTEF) of government
which requires post-school education and training to be transformed and
democratised in accordance with the values of human dignity, equality, human
rights and freedom, non-racism and non-sexism.
The
vision of the Department as articulated in the revised Strategic Plan 2010/11-2014/15
and Annual Performance Plan (APP) of 2013/14 is of South Africa in which we
have a differentiated and fully inclusive post-school education and training
system that allows all South Africans to access and succeed in relevant
post-school education and training institutions, in order to fulfil the
economic and social goals of participation in an inclusive economy and society.
The following forms the key functions of the Department:
·
Providing easy pathways
across the various learning sites.
1.3. Purpose of the BRR Report
The
Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act (No 9 of 2009) sets out
the process that allows Parliament to make recommendations to the Minister of
Finance to amend the budget of a national department. In October of each
financial year, the Portfolio Committee compiles a Budgetary Review and
Recommendations Report (BRRR) that assesses service delivery performances given
the available resources; evaluates the effective and efficient use and forward
allocation of resources; and makes recommendations for consideration by the
Minister of Higher Education and Training and the Minister of Finance.
1.4. Method
In preparation for the 2014 BRRR process, the Portfolio Committee considered
key policy documents that inform the work of the Department, among others, the
Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)
2009-2014, the New Growth Path Framework (NGPF), the Financial and
Fiscal Commission (FFC) report on status and effectiveness of higher education
funding in South Africa, Higher Education South Africa (HESA) report on funding
in South Africa context and key challenges the National Development Plan (NDP),
the revised 2010/11-2014/15 Strategic Plan of the DHET, 2012/13 and 2013/14 Annual
Performance Plans (APPs) and 2013/14 Annual Reports of the National Student
Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA),
Council on Higher Education (CHE) and Quality Council for Trades and
Occupations (QCTO), 2012/13 and 2013/14 reports of the Auditor-General of South
Africa (AGSA). The Portfolio Committee also considered the 2013 report of the
Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) on the assessment of performance
of national and provincial departments.
The Portfolio Committee had a briefing session with the AGSA on the
2013/14 audit outcomes of the department and the post-school education and
training institutions that included the Schedule 3A Public Entities of the Department,
universities, 15 TVET colleges audited and the National Institutes for Higher
Education (NIHE). Furthermore, the Portfolio Committee considered Section 32
reports of the National Expenditures for the 2014/15 first quarter as published
by National Treasury, the Strategic and Annual Performance Plan 2014/15 of the Department
and other relevant sources of information.
The limitations of the report is that it does not include inputs by civil
society and other stakeholders since no public hearings were conducted. However,
the Portfolio Committee invited Higher Education South Africa (HESA), Higher
Education Transformation Network (HETN) and the South African College Principals
Organisation (SACPO) to send their written submissions and to be part of the
briefings. The Portfolio Committee received no submissions from the invited
stakeholders and they tendered apologies for not availing themselves to the
briefings.
2. OVERVIEW OF THE KEY RELEVANT POLICY FOCUS AREAS
2.1. Key Government policy documents that are relevant,
such as State of the Nation Address (SONA), Development Indicators, Budget
Review, and Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) for 2013/14 and 2014/5
The
Department of Higher Education and Training’s mandate originates from
government priorities as pronounced in the Strategic Priority 4 of the Medium
Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2009-2014, to strengthen the skills and human
resource base. There are two broad strategic goals for post-school education
and training namely, (i) to broaden access to post-secondary education and
improve higher education throughput by 20 percent by 2014, including access by
people with disabilities; and (ii) ensuring that training and skills development
initiatives in the country respond to the requirements of the economy, rural
development challenges and social integration. Furthermore, the work of the Department
is informed by the policy goals and targets as articulated in the National
Development Plan (NDP).
The NDP proposes the following targets for the
post-school education and training by 2030: 1.6 million enrolments in universities, 75 percent throughput rate
for degree programmes, 5 000 doctoral graduates per year, 30 000 artisans per year and 1.2 million
enrolments in the TVET college sector.
2.2. Outcome-based approach- Delivery Agreement targets
for 2013/14
Over
and above the NDP, the work of the Department is also informed by Delivery
Outcome 5 of the 12 Delivery Outcomes of Government, namely; a skilled and capable workforce to
support inclusive growth path. This Outcome consists of three separate delivery
agreements and outputs. The Department’s medium term strategic plan and
performance deliverables are aligned to the objectives of this Outcome.
The
targets planned for 2013/14 were as follows:
2.2.1. Output 1:
Establish and maintain a coherent career management and career information
system. Under this output the Department planned to maintain a coherent career
management and information system and to have two modules as well as to
increase the number of people reached by career guidance service through radio,
exhibitions, helpline and web portal.
2.2.2. Output 2:
Increase access to programmes leading to intermediate and high level learning,
including the raising of skill levels of both youth and adults to access
training. The targets planned for 2013/14 were; to increase number of learners
enrolling in AET level 1-4: 278 000; increase number of headcount enrolments in
TVET colleges’ programmes: 650 000; increase number of TVET college students
who are awarded bursaries: 222 817; develop and approve National Senior
Certificate for Adults (NASCA) learning and teaching support materials and to
increase number of colleges offering higher education programmes.
2.2.3. Output 3:
Increase access to occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas and
thereby expanding the availability of intermediate level skills, with a special
focus on artisan skills and other mid-level skills. In 2013/14, the target was
to increase the number of artisan candidates entering learning nationally and
the number of candidates found competent nationally and to increase number of
graduates receiving work integrated learning (WIL).
2.2.4. Output 4:
Increase access to high level occupationally-directed programmes in needed
areas such as engineering, health sciences, natural and physical sciences, as
well as increasing the graduate output of teachers, the target was to increase
graduates from universities in these fields: 9 974 Engineering Sciences, 8 015
Human Health and Animal Health and 5 387 Natural and Physical Sciences and
10 673 initial Teacher Education.
2.2.5. Output 5: Increase
research, development and innovation in human capital for a growing knowledge
economy, with a particular focus on post-graduate degrees, deepening industry
and university partnerships, as well as increased investment into research
development and innovation, especially in the areas of science, engineering and
technology. The target for the 2013/14 was to increase graduates as follows: 44
301 postgraduates; 24 019 Honours, 4 978 Masters, 1 785 doctoral; research
publications: 10 807 and ratio of research output units per instructional / research
staff 1.30.
2.3. Overview of revised Strategic Plan and Annual
Performance Plans 2013/14
In three of the five programmes
of the Department, there were no major changes made to planned targets and
indicators, except for minor refinements to ensure adherence to the specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) principle. Revision of the APP occurred in Programme 3:
University Education and Programme 5: Skills Development. The revision in
Programme 3 was to deal with the misalignment between the targets for any
particular academic year and date on which these could be reported. The targets
indicated in the original APP in the 2013/14 column specified the target for
the 2013 academic year. However, this could not be reported in that financial
year and it will only be audited and verified by October 2014. In order for the
reporting of verified data on planned enrolment targets is aligned to the
financial year, the APP had to be adjusted. In the revised APP, all targets are
the expected Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) audited
enrolment / graduate data for the 2012 academic year, reported and verified by
October 2013.
Unrealistic targets
for scarce skills graduates were indicated in the Minister’s Performance,
Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) agreement. As reported in the 2012/13 Annual Report
and in the PME monitoring reports, specifically the targets for engineering,
and human and animal health graduations were not achievable and needed to be
adjusted. These targets were adapted to be in line with actual expected outputs
for the 2012 academic year that could be reported in the 2013/14 financial year
Programmes.
Changes to
performance indicators during the year under review for Programme 5, Skills
Development were necessitated by the gazetting of the National Skills Fund
(NSF) as a Schedule 3A public entity by the Minister of Finance with effect
from 1 April 2012. For this reason, during the year under review, the Minister
of Higher Education and Training approved addendum to the 2013/14 APP
effectively changing the compilation of performance indicators for this programme.
As such three performance indicators together with the associated strategic
objectives were removed from the original APP.
3. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS KEY FINANCIAL AND PERFORMANCE
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
3.1. 2013 BRRR RECOMMENDATIONS
This
section briefly summarises the 2013 recommendations and subsequent progress and
challenges in 2014/15.
3.1.1.
Summary of key financial and non-financial performance recommendations made by
the Committee and response by the Minister of Higher Education and Training
During
the 2012/13 annual reporting, the Portfolio Committee recommended that the Department
develops, implements and monitors an action plan to address the audit findings
by the AG and internal audit. The Department reported that it developed a
detailed plan and implementation was monitored and reported to the
Director-General and Minister. Progress on implementation was not in all instances
satisfactory and other challenges were not fully addressed by the relevant
managers. It was very concerning that many of those findings were recurring
from previous financial years and even during the year under review. This showed
that leadership did not implement consequence management against employees who were
not ensuring that the action plan was fully implemented in their job
descriptions.
Concerning a recommendation to submit a bid to
National Treasury for additional funding for the department operations and
entities, the Department did submit requests for additional funding during the
2014 MTEF process and, the bids were not approved except for the South African
Qualifications Authority (SAQA). The additional allocations for SAQA for the
verification of government employees qualifications were as follows: 2014/15:
R3 million, 2015/16: R4.5 million and 2016/17: R5.5 million. The Department had
follow-up discussions with National Treasury for additional allocation for 2015
MTEF.
Concerning
the filling of all funded vacant positions and the development and implementation
of retention policy, the Department developed a draft policy on staff retention
and it was in consultations with unions in the previous financial year. The
challenge was that Departmental compensation of employees had been capped by
cabinet and consequently, the Department would not reach a situation within the
current baseline allocations to fill all vacancies.
The Portfolio
Committee also recommended that the Minister should review the current College
Funding Norms in order to develop an integrated funding model that would ensure
that TVET colleges were funded equitably, and that they that were located
within the industry where Report 191 qualifications were in demand and were not
disadvantaged by the funding norms. The Department had demonstrated its
commitment and the process was underway to put measures in place for the review
of the TVET College Funding Norms and Standards to be supportive of the current
thrust to increase access to education and training programmes at TVET
colleges.
Regarding
the establishment of Financial Aid Offices (FAO) with dedicated staff to
administer NSFAS and TVET college donor funded bursaries, the Department
created a Deputy Principal (Registrar) post on the proposed organogram for TVET
colleges, which would be responsible for, among others, enrolment management. Furthermore,
linked to the enrolment management was financial aid and it was within this
proposed new structure that TVET colleges should create / consolidate
functional financial aid units, with dedicated staff that reported to the
Registrar.
In
relation to outstanding certificates emanating from TVET colleges owing
certification fees to the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further
Education and Training (Umalusi), it was reported that all public TVET colleges’
certificates outstanding for this reason had been issued. This occurred after
engagement between the Department and Umalusi towards lifting the backlog on
TVET colleges owing; and the Department instructed TVET colleges to effectively
settle their debts with Umalusi. It is commendable that with effect from April
2013, all public TVET colleges were exonerated from paying certification fees
since the funding for this function was now built into the grant allocation to
Umalusi by the National Treasury. In future, only private colleges would
continue paying for certification fees.
The Portfolio
Committee recommended that funding should be made available for curriculum
review for Report 191 and National Certificate Vocational NC(V) programmes. The
Department reported that no review was conducted due funding not being
allocated for this function and there was no means of reprioritising within the
current funding baseline. The Department was equally concerned that given the
ongoing feedback from employers and industry stakeholders which indicated that
aspects of the NC(V) curriculum needed revision or strengthening, particularly
to make it more relevant to industry needs. The Report 191 programmes were
outdated in most instances.
It was
noted with serious concern that the review of programmes that made the sector
the backbone of technical and vocational education and training to support
long-term competiveness of country’s economy was not funded. The NDP clearly
stated that the sector suffered from a poor reputation due to the low rate of
employment of college graduates. Teaching, learning and student performance were inadvertently and
adversely impacted as a result and, the fact that graduates were considered
unsuitable for placement in work places in certain instances.
3.1.2. Evaluation of the response by the DHET and
Minister of Finance
The
Minister responded to one recommendation, namely, progress with shifting the TVET
college function from provinces to national government had been slow. Ideally,
funding for TVET colleges and Adult Education and Training (AET) should follow
the function shift. As a result, funds needed to be shifted from the provincial
equitable share to the Department of Higher Education and Training. The
response for the National Treasury was that they shared the Portfolio Committee’s
concern that the function shift was slow and, Treasury was working with the
department to speed up the process through engagement with provincial
treasuries and education Departments. The shifting of the TVET college function
was at a more advanced stage than the other shifts since most of these funds were
already ring-fenced through the TVET colleges’ conditional grant and the Department
paid subsidies directly to TVET colleges.
Although
the response of the National Treasury appeared to provide little assurance
regarding the ring-fenced funding through conditional grants. However, this a disjuncture
between funding and the is creating challenges to TVET colleges, for example,
during the year under review an amount of R32 million was underspent on
conditional grants by the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) of Limpopo,
North West, Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape. TVET colleges could not appoint permanent
lecturers and this had implications on teaching and learning.
3.2. 2014/15 Committee Budget Vote 17 Report
Summary
of selective 2014/15 Committee Budget Vote 17 Report Recommendations:
The
Portfolio Committee after considering the strategic plan, annual performance
plan and budget of the department, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme
(NSFAS) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in July 2014 recommended as
follows:
·
The Portfolio Committee
observed that the mandate of the Department was not commensurate with the
current budget allocations and recommended that for the Department to execute
its mandate effectively, additional funding is required overall specifically
for, construction of the 12 TVET college campuses, migration of TVET college
employees and Adult Education and Training employees from provincial to
national competence and to address infrastructure backlog at universities;
·
In relation to vacant posts,
it was recommended that the department should prioritise filling of all outstanding
funded vacant posts especially the two vacant posts of the Deputy-Director
General (DDG) for University Education and Skills Development;
·
In relation to effective and
efficient monitoring and support for TVET colleges, it was recommended that; the
department should establish regional offices in all provinces. It was further
recommended that the Minister should intervene on urgent basis to ensure that
all funding for TVET colleges is allocated to and managed by the department;
·
In ensuring that students
from disadvantaged family background access post-school education and training
institutions, it was recommended that more funding was required specifically for;
funding full cost of study for all needy students both in the short and medium
term and for the one student one laptop campaign; and
·
In relation to the CHE, the Portfolio
Committee observed that the current MTEF was not adequate for the CHE to carry
out its mandate effectively and recommended an increased budget over the medium
term to enable the entity to effectively execute its mandate. It was also
recommended that CHE should embark on a cost containment measures in particular
cutting costs on catering and workshops.
4. OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
4.1. Financial Performance 2013/14
The Department had a total budget of R46
billion of which R12 billion or 26 percent fell under direct charge payments
for the National Skills Fund and the SETAs. Exclusive of direct charges, the department
had a total budget of R34 billion, R 33, 9 billion, which is 99 percent of the
R34 billion went to Transfers and Subsidies, with the majority being transfers
to universities in Programme 3 and the remainder allocated to Programme 4
Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (VCET).
4.1.1.
Appropriations per Programme (2013/14)
Programme |
Adjusted appropriation |
Final appropriation |
Actual Expenditure |
Variance |
% Spent |
|
R'000 |
R'000 |
R'000 |
R'000 |
% |
Administration |
189 659 |
203 729 |
203 044 |
685 |
99.7 |
Human Resource Development, Planning
and Monitoring Coordination |
47 440 |
43 827 |
43 535 |
292 |
99.3 |
University Education |
28 300 740 |
28 299 507 |
28 299 279 |
228 |
100.0 |
Vocational and Continuing Education
and Training |
5 691 008 |
5 686 806 |
5 686 388 |
418 |
100.0 |
Skills Development |
105 053 |
100 031 |
99 723 |
308 |
99.7 |
Direct Charges (SETAs and NSF) |
12 090 186 |
12 090 186 |
12 090 186 |
0 |
100.00 |
Total |
46 424 086 |
46 424 086 |
46 422 155 |
1931 |
100 |
4.1.2.
Adjustments for 2013/14
Adjustment was made for the increase in
improvement of conditions of service in respect of TVET college personnel to
the value of R11 509 000.
4.1.3.
Final total and programme expenditure
Exclusive of the direct charges, the Department
spent R34.3 billion or 100% of the total available budget by the end of the
fourth quarter. The Department did not spend a total of R1.9 million and this
under spending was mainly due to savings on funds provided for posts on the
staff establishment of the Department that became vacant during the year and
could not be filled as projected and concomitant savings that resulted from
this; Legal and Legislative fees for claims not received for court cases as
projected and fewer cases outside Pretoria; under-spending on Ndinaye building
which was not occupied during 2013/14; Institute for National Development of
Learnerships Employment Skills and Labour Assessments (Indlela) security system because of
transitional arrangements and extent of the project, as well as cost
containment measures put in place to ensure that the Department would not
overspend on its budget. The Department also spent / transferred R12 billion
under Direct Charges
Programme
1 Administration: The Department spent R203
044 000 or 99.7% of the available budget of R 203 079 000.
Programme
2 Human Resource Development, Planning and Monitoring Coordination:
The department spent R43 535 000 or 99.3% of the available budget of R43 827
000.
Programme
3 University Education: The Department spent R28
299 279 or 100% of the available budget.
Programme
4 Vocational and Continuing Education and Training: The
Department spent R5 686 388 000 or 100% of the available budget.
Programme
5 Skills Development: The Department spent R99
723 000 or 99.7% of the available budget.
4.1.4
Virements
In
relation to programme spending, the Department made virements amounting to R14
million from programmes 2, 3, 3, 4 and 5 to programme 1. The virements were as
follows: R3 623 000 from Programme 2 to Programme 1; R1 233 000 from Programme
3 to Programme 1; R4 202 000 from Programme 4 to Programme 1 and R5 022 000 from
Programme 5 to Programme 1. The virements were made to address excess
expenditure on costs for the International Attaché, communications, personnel
administration, Audit Fees, State Information Technology Agency (SITA) accounts
and property management in Programme 1 as well as for examiners and moderators
claims in Programme 4. The Department reported that funds were shifted between
programmes within compensation of employees in order to accommodate possible
over-expenditure in the compensation of employees on some of the programmes.
Funds were also shifted between programmes within compensation of employees, in
order to accommodate possible over-expenditure on compensation of employees on
some of the programmes.
The
virement was approved by the Director-General in accordance with the Public
Finance Management Act (PFMA) and reported to National Treasury and the
Minister.
4.2.
Auditor-General’s Report
4.2.1.
Financial Audit:
The Department received an unqualified audit
with matters of emphasis.
4.2.3.
Audit on pre-determined objectives:
Usefulness and reliability of reported
performance information: The AG did not raise any material findings on the
usefulness and reliability of the reported performance information.
4.2.4.
Compliance with laws and regulations:
a) Strategic planning and
performance management
Effective, efficient and
transparent systems of risk management and internal controls with respect to
performance information and management were not in place, as required by
Section 38(1)(a) (i) of the PFMA. The Department did not have appropriate
systems to collect, collate, verify and store performance information to ensure
valid, accurate and complete reporting of actual achievements against planned
objectives, indicators and targets, as required by the FMPPI.
b) Annual financial
statements, performance report and annual report
The financial statements
submitted for auditing were not prepared in accordance with the prescribed
financial reporting framework, as required by Section 40(1) (a) of the PFMA.
Material misstatements of the impairment of receivables and commitments
identified by the auditors in the submitted financial statements were
subsequently corrected, resulting in the financial statements receiving an
unqualified audit opinion.
c) Human resource
management and compensation
Employees were appointed
without following a proper process to verify the claims made in their
applications, in contravention of public service regulation 1/VII/D.8. Funded
vacant posts were not filled within 12 months, as required by public service
regulation 1/VII/ C.1A.2.
d) Procurement and contract
management
Employees performed
remunerative work outside their employment in the Department without written
permission from the relevant authority, as required by Section 30 of the Public
Service Act of South Africa, 1994 (Act No. 103 of 1994).
4.2.5.
Internal control deficiencies:
a) Leadership
Management
developed action plans to address previously reported root causes and recurring
findings. However, some of these action plans had not been effectively
implemented by year-end. There was inadequate consequence management for action
plans not implemented to address internal control deficiencies previously
reported by the external and internal auditors. Programme-level policies and
procedures for collating, recording and verifying reporting on the achievement
of planned objectives, indicators and targets were only developed at year-end
and were therefore not implemented during the year. There was a lack of integration between
various branches within the Department to ensure the review and verification of
reported performance information. Information submitted by reporting branches
was not adequately verified by the consolidation branch. The Department was
unable to perform all the required verification and monitoring functions over
its entities due to funding and human resource capacity constraints. As a
result, the reliability of reported achievements by its entities and
institutions consolidated into the achievements reported by the Department was
not always verified.
b) Financial
and performance management
Management did
not ensure that the annual performance report was adequately supported and
evidenced by reliable information. The branches did not perform the required
checks to ensure the validity, accuracy and completeness of the reported
achievements in the quarterly and annual performance reports for most of the
reported information. Furthermore, no checks were performed on the consolidated
quarterly and annual performance reports to ensure the integrity of the
information reported to the accounting officer.
The Department did not adequately monitor compliance with relevant laws
and regulations, as evidenced by the recurring findings, especially in the
areas of human resource management and supply chain management.
4.2.6.
Other risks / concerns identified
A performance
audit of the adult basic education and training (ABET) programme was conducted.
The audit focused on the economic, efficient and effective use of resources in
the ABET programme. The audit is currently in the reporting phase and the
findings will be reported in a separate report. An investigation was undertaken
by an independent consulting firm regarding the supply chain management process
followed for the procurement of a security system during March 2012 to May
2013. Non-compliance with departmental policies and procedures was confirmed.
The employees involved were subject to disciplinary processes. One employee was
subsequently suspended without pay for three months. An investigation was
undertaken by an independent consultant regarding the bidding process followed
for a technical and vocational education and training infrastructure project
during December 2013 to April 2014. A second phase of the investigation was
instituted based on the results of the first phase. The expected date of the
outcome of the second phase is unknown.
4.2.7.
SETAs audit outcomes 2013/14
a) Financial
audit:
The audit outcomes of SETAs
for 2013/14 were as follows; Unqualified with no findings 17, Unqualified with
findings 1, Qualified 3, Disclaimer none and outstanding audit none. The Culture Arts
Tourism Hospitality & Sport SETA, Local Government SETA and Public Service
SETA received qualified audit opinions with the following matters of emphasis:
CATHSSETA:
·
Irregular expenditure incurred was not
identified and disclosed by the entity. This was as a result of inadequate
systems to identify non-compliance with relevant legislation;
·
The SETA recorded
project administration expenses in discretionary project expenditure as
disclosed. The AG could not obtain sufficient evidence regarding the project
administration expenses. This was as a result of inadequate supporting
documents to year-end journals; and
·
The AG could not obtain sufficient evidence
that property, plant and equipment disclosed existed and was complete. This was as a result of the entity not maintaining a
proper system of internal controls over property, plant and equipment.
LGSETA:
PSETA:
The following SETAs namely; Agriculture SETA,
Construction SETA, Chemical Industries SETA, Energy & Water SETA, Education
and Training Development Practices SETA, Fibre Processing & Manufacturing
SETA, Food & Beverages SETA, Mining Qualifications Authority, Safety and
Security SETA, Service SETA, Transport Education and Training Authority and
Wholesale & Retail SETA received an unqualified audit opinion only because
they corrected all the misstatements identified
by the AG during the auditing process.
b) Audit
on pre-determined objectives
The following SETAs namely; AGRISETA, CETA, CATHSSETA, LGSETA,
PSETA, Services SETA and TETA included information on their performance against
predetermined objectives that was not useful and/or reliable.
c) Compliance with laws and regulations:
The AG identified material non-compliance with legislation in the
following SETAs namely; AGRISETA, CETA, CATHSSETA, EWSETA, INSETA, LGSETA, MERSETA,
PSETA, SASSETA and Service SETA in one or more of the following areas:
Services SETA
incurred R63.9 million in irregular expenditure, which was 43,8 percent of the
total amount of R146 million irregular expenditure incurred by the national
portfolio. The amount of irregular expenditure incurred by Services SETA has
decreased compared to R141.4 million incurred in the prior year. The nature of
the irregular expenditure is as a result of non-compliance with supply chain
management legislation and the skills development act SETA grant regulations.
97 percent of the irregular expenditure incurred was identified by the
auditee’s own processes of internal controls.
d) Internal
control deficiencies:
The following
internal control deficiencies were identified that gave rise to the findings on
compliance with legislation:
4.2.8.
Universities audit outcomes 2013
AGSA involvement with universities started in 2011 and is currently
limited to; providing guidance to auditors on the audit of compliance with
legislation and predetermined objective and attendance of audit committees more
on an observer role than an active participatory role. The new regulations for
reporting issued in June 2014 have more stringent requirements for planning and
reporting on performance.
Financial audit
The audit outcomes of universities were as follows: financially
unqualified with no findings 17, financially unqualified with compliance
findings 6, qualified audit none and reports not yet submitted due to extension
for submission of financial statements none.
4.2.9.
TVET colleges audit outcomes 2013:
a) Financial
Audit:
The AGSA audited 15 TVET colleges for the
period under review. The audit outcomes of TVET colleges were as follows;
financially unqualified with no findings none, financially unqualified with
findings 1, qualified audit 6, adverse / disclaimer 7 and reports not yet
submitted was 1.
b) Compliance
with legislation
The AG identified
non-compliance with legislation in the following areas:
c) Audit
on pre-determined objectives
The AGSA does not audit TVET colleges on
pre-determined objectives since these institutions are not compelled to report
on them.
d) Internal
control deficiencies
The following transversal
internal control deficiencies were
identified at TVET colleges that resulted in a regression of audit outcomes:
·
Inadequate finance skills: Sustainability of South African
Institute of Chatered Accountants (SAICA) Support Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Project - with the high level of vacancies at CFO level, limited skills
transfer has taken place;
·
Inadequate risk management and
governance structures: various FETs have no risk management, internal audit
functions and no audit committees in place;
·
Weaknesses in IT systems and controls;
o
Some TVET colleges do not have proper IT systems in place to
collate financial information. This threatens the reliability of data produced.
o
Decentralised systems – across campuses. No integration –
finance, payroll and student data resulting in complex consolidation processes.
o
No formally documented and approved business continuity plan
(BCP) and a disaster recovery plan (DRP). College might not be able to continue
critical business processes reliant on IT systems
o
Backups not stored at
a secure offsite storage facilities
·
Weak procurement policies and non adherence to procurement
policy recommended by DHET during the financial year;
·
Lack of policies and
procedures to enable and support understanding and execution of internal
control objectives, processes, and responsibilities by all staff;
·
Lack of policies and procedures to detect conflict of
interest of council members and/or employees;
·
Poor records management resulting in loss of audit trail;
·
Inadequate/no monthly processing and reconciliation controls
for student debtors, fixed assets registers, bank and cash and trade payables;
·
Non-compliance with the guidelines for the administration
and management of the DHET FET college bursary scheme;
·
Material impairement or write off’s of students debtors
without following due processes to recover the money; and
Land
not registered in the names of the TVET colleges and some are registered in
name of private owners.
4.3. 2015/16 MTEF financial allocations
Summary of the funding requirements for the 2015/16 MTEF
The
Portfolio Committee is seriously concerned about the inadequate funding of the
department. Since its inception, the department has not been adequately funded
and the mandate of producing “a skilled
and capable workforce” is not commensurate with the current MTEF budget
allocations. Of significance to note is that the Auditor-General of South
Africa (AGSA) and the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) pointed to the fact
the current financial position of the Department needs an urgent intervention. The challenges identified by the AG include;
non-achievement of 2013/14 predetermined objectives as a result of inadequate human
capacity and budgetary constraints to execute the mandate of the Department
effectively.
The
department currently oversees 26 universities with 256 learning sites, two
National Institutes for Higher Education (NIHEs) which provide higher education
programmes in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga (the Department intends to close
them by 2016 to allow students to complete their programmes), 50 public TVET
colleges with 264 campuses, 3 150 public Adult Education Training (AET)
centres, 150 registered private AET centres, 119 private registered higher
education institutions, 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs),
four Quality Councils (QCs) and National Student Financial Aid Scheme. In
addition, the Department needs additional staff, expanded infrastructure and
increased budget allocation to effectively and efficiently support and monitor
this broad sector. The Department is now required to implement the objectives
of the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training which will require
additional funding going forward.
For
the 2015/16 METF the total budget input requirements for the Department amounts
to R54, 3 billion. This is to cover the department’s operations, funding
requirements for NSFAS, shortfall in examinations, implementation of the NASCA,
TVET college infrastructure, National Artisan Moderating Body, organogram of
the department, SAQA digitisation and quality assurance of records, expansion
of the post-school sector.
4.4. Concluding comments on financial performance
The
department was able to spend 99 percent of the allocated budget for the 2013/14
financial year. It experienced financial constraints in all the programmes as
evidenced in virements to offset the funding shortfalls in Programme 1. The
department managed to reduce spending on some goods and services. The current
budget baseline does not allow for reprioritisation within the department. Additional
funding is required to assist the department in delivering its mandate
effectively.
5. OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE DELIVERY
PERFORMANCE
5.1. Service delivery performance for 2013/14
5.1.1. Annual Performance Plan
During
the year under review, the Department’s strategic goals included, among others,
to increase the number of skilled youth by expanding access to education and
training; to adequately capacitate individual institutions to effectively
provide or facilitate all learning; to increase the number of students
successfully entering the labour market upon completion of training; and to
expand research, development and innovation capacity for economic growth and
social development.
There
were five budget programmes during the year under review with a combined total
of 127 planned targets. Of the total of the planned targets for the year, 82
(65%) were achieved and 45 (35%) were not achieved. Some of the targets not
achieved during the year under review were reported to have been achieved
during the first quarter of the 2014/15 financial year.
5.1.2. Programme Performance
a) Programme 1: Administration
The purpose
of this programme is to conduct the overall management of the department and
provide centralised support services. There were four sub-programmes under this
programme, namely Ministry, Department Management, Corporate Services and
Office Accommodation. The programme had 22 targets planned during the year
under review out of which 17 were achieved and five not achieved. Key
achievements included, improved ICT governance maturity level which moved from
level 1 in 2012/13 to level 3 in 2013/14, reduced vacancy rate from 11 percent
in 2012 to 7.11 percent in 2013/14 and adherence to filling of posts within
four months as required.
The
significant failures in this programme which have been audit findings from
previous financial years were; non-verification of qualifications of new
employees, non-adherence to the Public Service Regulation 1/V11/C.1A.2 of
filling the vacant posts within 12 months, late payments of invoices to service
providers, non-adherence to performance management development system policy
and early warning system of identifying fraud cases. This is an indication that
an action plan developed to address the 2012/13 AG’s findings was not
adequately implemented.
b) Programme 2: Human Resource Development, Planning and
Monitoring Coordination
The
purpose of this programme is to provide strategic direction in the development,
implementation and monitoring of the department’s policies. Key deliverables of
the programme during the year under review included, among others, 100 percent of
public institutional data integrated into a single management information
system, development of a National Career Advice Portal as an integrated
education and training career development information system, research bulletin
approved and published. The programme had 19 targets spread across the six sub-programmes.
In total, there were 19 targets planned of which 13 were achieved and 6 were
not achieved. The recurrence of non-achievement was recorded on the target of
research bulletin approved and published and an investment report on education
and training. These two targets in particular were also not achieved within the
set timelines during 2012/13 financial year.
c) Programme 3: University Education
The
purpose of this programme is to develop and coordinate policy and regulatory
framework for an effective and efficient university education system.
Furthermore, it provides financial support to universities, the National
Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and the National Institute for Higher
Education (NIHE). The programme had 34 targets of which 23 were achieved and 11
were not achieved. The AG did not raise any material findings on the usefulness
and reliability of the performance in this programme.
The Department
planned to achieve 179 105 number of first time enrolments (FTEN) at
universities, the actual achievement was 169 767, 10 026 fewer first
time enrolments in the 2012 academic year than targeted (5.58% below expected
target). Unusually, the actual achievement was lower than 2011 academic year
FTEN. Of serious concern is the failure to achieve the target on the number of
first time entering students at universities owing to inadequate NSFAS funding.
This is significant to emphasise given the commitment that government made to
expand access to post-school education and training institutions.
In
the Delivery Agreement for Outcome 5 signed by the Minister with the President,
the Department of Higher Education and Training committed to increase graduate
outputs to high level occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas such
as engineering, health sciences, natural and physical sciences, as well as
increasing graduate output of teachers. The NDP’s vision in terms of graduate
outputs for 2030 is to produce 400 000 new university graduates each year
and that many of the new graduates between now and 2030 must be in critical and
scarce skills categories such as engineering, actuarial science, medicine,
financial management, and chartered accountants. Is it significant to note that
the Department achieved and exceeded the predetermined graduate outputs targets
in Engineering Sciences, Human Health and Animal Health Sciences, Natural and
physical Sciences and Initial Teacher Education, except a one percent decrease
from 2012/13 to 2013/14 in Human Health and Animal Health Sciences.
d) Programme 4: Vocational and Continuing Education and
Training
The
purpose of this programme is to plan, develop, evaluate, monitor and maintain
national policy, programmes, assessment practices and systems for vocational
and continuing education and training, including Technical and Vocational
Education and Training (TVET) colleges and post-literacy adult education and
training. During the year under review, the programme had 39 planned targets
out of which 19 were achieved and 20 not achieved. Of the five programmes of the Department, Programme
4: VCET has underperformed with more 50% of its targets not met. It is noted
with serious concern that the programme that is responsible for meeting the
Outcome 5 output 2 and 3 of increasing access to programmes leading to
intermediate and high level learning, including the raising of skill levels of
both youth and adults to access training; and to increase access to
occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas thereby expanding the
availability of intermediate level skills, with a focus on artisan skills and
other mid-level skills has not performed well. The low pass and certification
rates in all the GETC, NC(V) and Report 191 (NATED) programmes is a serious
concern since it’s not meeting the government goal of increasing
the number of students successfully entering the labour market on completion of
training owing to low pass and certification rates.
e) Programme 5: Skills Development
The
purpose of the programme is to promote and monitor the National Skills
Development Strategy (NSDS III) and develop skills development policy and
regulatory framework for an efficient skills development system. This programme
contributes to the Delivery Agreement Outcome 5 Output 3: to increase access to
occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas and thereby expanding the
availability of intermediate levels skills, with special focus on artisan and
other mid-level skills. The programme had four sub-programmes with 13 targets
spread across the sub-programmes during the year under review. Out of the 13
targets set, 10 were achieved while 3 were not achieved. The Department could
not develop and pilot a secure trade testing system. The Department also could
not compile a draft scarce and critical skills list. The programme has exceeded
targets in the key strategic priority areas namely; artisans candidates
entering learning nationally, artisan candidates found competent nationally and
number of graduates received work integrated learning (WIL).
5.1.3. Key reported achievements
During
the financial year under review the department was able to establish and launch
two new universities namely; Sol Plaatjie University (SPU) in Kimberley,
Northern Cape and the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.
Interim Councils for the two new universities were appointed to govern each
university. The universities admitted their first intake of students in
February 2014. The Department further established the National Institute for
Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) on 5 December 2013 and approval for the
Joint Technical Task Team Report on the establishment of a new Health and
Allied Sciences University that will incorporate the Medunsa Campus of the
University of Limpopo was authorised.
Concerning
the ICT maturity level, the department’s ICT maturity level has moved from
level 1 in 2012/13 to level 3 in 2013/14. The department was able to reduce the
vacancy rate from 11 percent of the funded posts to 7.1 percent in 2013/14 and
kept it under 10 percent as required by the Public Service Regulations, 2001.
The Department
was able to integrate 100 percent of public institutional data for 2010, 2011
and 2012 into a single management information system (MIS) including 50 TVET
colleges, 23 universities and 21 SETAs. The White Paper for Post-School Education
and Training was launched in January 2014 and specific direction is given to
the development of open learning in the post-school education and training
sector. Other areas of significant achievements include; R2 billion in
infrastructure efficiency allocation were allocated to institutions and
improved monitoring and oversight systems were put in place; the Policy on
Professional Qualifications for Lecturers in Technical and Vocational Education
and Training was finalised and published
in the Government Gazette for implementation, Ministerial Committee Report on
the Review of Funding for Universities was approved and published in the
Government Gazette, The Draft Policy on Professional Qualifications for Adult
Educators and Community Education and Training College Lecturers was widely
consulted and finalised after analysis and consideration of public comments and
advice from the CHE.
Some
significant achievements were recorded in Programme 4 which include; the target
of 650 000 headcount enrolment for TVET colleges was exceeded as
670 455 students enrolled in a variety of college programme offerings and
290 106 learners took up various National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
Level 1-4 programmes in AET centres. In relation to the Skills Development Branch,
the department established a Work Integrated Learning and Partnerships Unit
within the Branch which facilitates placements of TVET college graduates in
conjunction with SETAs. A total of 27 346 TVET college and Universities of
Technology (UoTs) students were placed by SETAs for workplace experience, a
total of 27 670 students were registered into artisan training against a
target of 26 000 and a total of 18 110 completed and qualified as
artisans, against a target of 12 000.
5.1.4. Key reported challenges
Regarding
the challenges that might have impacted on achievements of certain
predetermined objectives for the 2013/14, the Department highlighted on the
following:
In
almost all the programmes of the Department, the main challenge that contributed
the underperformance in certain predetermined objectives was restricted operational
budget available for all sections to carry out their monitoring and evaluation
functions. This will be a continuous challenge if there is no urgent
intervention. The Department was not able to fill all the funded vacant posts
and the retention of staff is a challenge. The National Student Financial Aid
Scheme (NSFAS) has also experienced funding challenges as confirmed by the
number of student protests at universities and TVET colleges. The system
remains under immense pressure owing to the expectations of students that are
all academically deserving and financially needy. The new Health and Allied
Sciences University that will incorporate the Medunsa Campus of the University
of Limpopo, has not been established as a legal entity owing to the need for continued
stakeholder engagement. Insufficient human and financial resources within
Programme 4 internally affected service delivery. The security upgrades at
Indlela could not be attended to owing to unavailability of funds.
5.1.5 Non-financial Audit outcomes and steps taken to
address adverse audit findings
·
During the year under
review, the department fully constituted all TVET colleges that were not under
administration with college councils and there is an undertaking to train them
in institutional and corporate governance during the 2014/15 financial year.
·
In dealing with student’s
under-performance and certification rates in VET qualifications, the Department
reported that there was a focused intervention in Mathematics which includes
lecturer training in the use of learning tools to develop the cognitive skills
of learners in mathematical operations. Furthermore, plans are already in place
to establish mathematics and science hubs at TVET colleges in order to build
expertise required for these critical learning areas.
·
Indlela is in the process of
developing a national recognition of prior learning (RPL) model that will ensure people who are
RPL candidates first complete a portfolio of evidence as required by the full
scope of the trade and based on the evaluation of that evidence be given access
to a trade test. A total of 265 candidates are involved in the pilot project
and the model will be completed by 31 March 2015 for national roll-out within
the TVET college system.
5.2. Service delivery performance for 2014/15
In
line with in-year monitoring of ensuring that policies announced by government
and authorised by Parliament are actually delivered, the Portfolio Committee
considered the Department’s first quarter (April-June) report of the 2014/15
financial year. During this quarter, the Department had five targets planned, two
in Programme 3: University Education and three in Programme 5: Skills
Development.
a) Programme 1: Administration
There
were no specific targets planned for this quarter. However, the status regarding targets that
will be reported at the end of the financial year was reported. For this programme,
the Department developed a Departmental IT Governance Framework aligned with
Corporate Governance of ICT Policy developed by the Department of Public
Service Administration (DPSA), vacancy rate was kept below 10 percent and the
average period of four months to fill funded posts was achieved. The challenge
experienced was related to the period it takes to award a bid from the date of
receiving the draft bid specifications from programme managers. The department
seems to have a challenge to reach the 90 days set target.
b) Programme 2: Human Resource Development, Planning and
Monitoring Coordination
The Department
reported a notable progress towards achieving end year planned targets made in
this programme. During the quarter, 50%
data integrations have been initiated for Adult Education and Training
(AET) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2013 Annual
Surveys. Furthermore, the Minister has approved and signed the Standard for the
Publication of Post-School Education and Training Statistics Report in South
Africa as well as Data Dissemination Standards which was published in the
Government Gazette on 12 June 2014 as Gazette No. 37733 of June 2014. A draft Career Development Policy has been
developed and will be presented to the National Career Development Government
Forum for consultation.
c) Programme 3: University Education
There
were two targets planned for this programme during this quarter. The
deliverables for this programme during this quarter were 24 university teaching
development plans (3 years) for each university produced and approved by the
Director-General and university development plans (23) compiled in line with
Research Development Grants criteria approved by the Director-General by 30
June 2014. These two targets were not fully achieved at the end of the quarter.
In addition to the targets planned, the Department reported progress on other
deliverables. The Department successfully established a third new university in
South Africa since 1994, the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University which
will open its doors in January 2015, 23 university teaching development plans
(3 years) were submitted and approved (target was 24 universities), 24 Research
Development Plans were submitted and evaluated by a review panel in terms of
criteria and all the plans have been recommended for approval.
d) Programme 4: Vocational and Continuing Education and
Training
There
were no specific predetermined targets planned for this quarter. The Department
reported that there were 359 119 unaudited headcount student enrolment in
Report 191 trimester and semester based programmes and year-long NC(V)
programmes. A draft National Policy on Community Colleges to facilitate the
community college establishment process has been developed for gazetting, and nine potential sites have been identified for the
establishment of these colleges and, operational cost projections for the
establishment after declaration and piloting of community colleges have been
developed with a view to submitting it to the National Treasury through a
bidding process.
e) Programme 5: Skills Development
This
programme had three predetermined targets planned for this quarter and
deliverables included 3 000 artisan learners registered nationally,
2 000 artisan candidates found competent nationally and five audits
conducted at SETAs or QCTO accredited trade test centres. The Department
achieved all the targets planned and exceeded the targets on; artisan learners
registered nationally and artisan candidates found competent.
5.3. Other service delivery performance findings
5.3.1. Oversight visits
This
section of the report provides a brief summary of key service delivery issues
from the two oversight visits conducted by the Portfolio Committee in September
2014.
The Portfolio Committee conducted an
oversight visit to the NSFAS head office on the 17 September 2014 and another
visit to institutions of higher learning and TVET colleges in North West
Province, specifically visiting the North-West University and Vuselela TVET college
on 23 September 2014. At an empirical level, the objectives of oversight visits
in particular were; to assess these higher education and training institutions
in terms of government goals on increasing access to and success to post-
school education and training and to assess accountability to good governance
principles as well as transformation. The Portfolio Committee specifically held
strategic sessions with stakeholders of TVET colleges and universities.
The
following are service delivery findings from the oversight visits
a) NSFAS
·
The Portfolio Committee
commended the efforts put by NSFAS in developing the new model aimed at
improving the management and distribution of student loans and bursaries to
needy students. Nonetheless, Members were concerned that most of the challenges
highlighted by NSFAS with the new model were not coming from students.
Furthermore, it was noted that students from rural areas particularly those
coming from no-fee schools will find it challenging to make use of the new
model using sophisticated technology through mobile phones.
·
The Portfolio Committee
expressed its concern with the late payment of claims submitted by higher
education and training institutions to NSFAS as this impact negatively on both
students and institutions.
·
It emerged that NSFAS is owed
more than R2 billion by its eligible debtors and the loan recovery systems
implemented by the entity are slow and ineffective. The Portfolio Committee
noted that NSFAS has a serious budget shortfall and more emphasis should be
placed on recovering debts owed by former student to supplement the budget
shortfall.
·
Despite the increase in
funding from R440 million in 1999 to R9 billion in 2014, the demand for
financial aid exceeds the current supply. The Portfolio Committee is concerned
that 50% of eligible students were unfunded by NSFAS owing to an inadequate
budget. The increase in student protests across higher education institutions
even where the new model is piloted was highlighted as a major threat to
stability in higher education. Furthermore, the new model does not make
provision for top slicing and this infuriated some needy students as they are
not funded for the 2014 academic year particularly in institutions where the
new model is piloted.
b) North-West
University
·
The management has been aware of initiation practices at the
university’s residences and, there was no plan in place to prevent these
practices since they were viewed as “traditional” and started back before the
merger of the institution.
·
It was noted with concern that though the former Potchefstroom
Campus University’s year book of 1947 forbid the initiation practices at
student residences, these practices continued to be practised unabated at the
Potchefstroom campus.
·
The university inherits students who have been initiated into
such demeaning practices at school level and often maintain such practices when
they get to universities.
·
The university has been in
existence for 10 years since its merger. The merger has been considered one of
the successful mergers in the higher education sector. However, despite this
milestone and significant academic achievements, the university has not managed
to create a new institutional identity and organisational culture that has
eradicated all forms of unfair discrimination and to advance redress for past
inequalities.
·
The Portfolio Committee
emphasised its concern on the utilisation of the federal management system in
the university that renders a campus autonomy model. It was noted that this
model is not ideal to accelerate transformation in a university that has been
battling with incidents of racial discrimination since its merger.
·
The Department was commended
for providing infrastructure development funding to increase access to and
success in scarce skills related programmes like human and animal health,
science, engineering and technology and African languages. However such efforts
should not lead to the neglect of the humanities related programmes.
c) Vuselela TVET college
·
The Portfolio Committee was concerned with the low
certification and pass rates in the NC(V) programmes of the college which are
below the national average. Furthermore, the Portfolio Committee appealed to
the college to put measures in place to improve academic performance of
students in all programmes.
·
It was noted with concern that the Deputy Principal and Chief
Financial Officer posts were not yet filled and, the absence of these key
personnel impact negatively on management of the college.
·
The Portfolio Committee was seriously concerned that the
college did not claim from NSFAS an outstanding amount of R12 million for
transport and accommodation allowances for both NC(V) and Report 191 students.
Furthermore, the Portfolio Committee noted that the unclaimed funds can only
few students for the allowances when applying the new NSFAS Guidelines 40 and
10 kilometres radius of accommodation and transport allowances respectively;
while the number of successful applicants is 3 000. The College resolved
not to allocate the allowances.
·
It was also noted that NSFAS does not adhere to the rule of
paying claims from the colleges within 30 days after receiving them.
·
Notwithstanding the good
intention of the new NSFAS Guidelines of ensuring efficient allocation of
funding, the Portfolio Committee was concerned that the guidelines cause
serious suffering and hardships to students given that the College could not
allocate transport and accommodation allowances to student due to tight
progression, accommodation and transport allowance rules.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
seriously concerned with the high level of theft and break-ins at the Matlosana
Centre for Artisans and Learnerships. The lawlessness threatens government
development goals of producing artisans to grow the economy. The management of
the college was requested to put preventative measures to protect the assets
used by learners at Matlosana campus or find alternatives to resolve this
challenge. The proposal to relocate the campus is not economical and it will
deny the communities around the campus the right to further education and
training.
·
It emerged that the college
has a high wage bill that puts severe financial strain on its budget and, and
the managers are in salary level nine (9) while managers at the same positions
in other colleges are at level eight (8). The Committee welcomed the
undertaking of the Department to conduct a study on the job evaluation to
ascertain whether salaries paid to employees in certain positions are
commensurate to the outputs.
5.3.2. Relevant external research assessing performance
of the department
This
section presents a summary of the findings of the Department of Planning, Monitoring
and Evaluation (DPME) after having assessed the performance of the Department
for 2013/14 financial year.
The Department
was assessed on four key performance areas, namely, Strategic Management,
Governance and Accountability, Human Resource Management and Financial
Management. On key performance area 1 Strategic Management, the department was
assessed on three areas, strategic plan, annual performance plan and monitoring
and evaluation. The Department has a monitoring and evaluation management
information policy but does not have standardised mechanisms and procedures to
collect, manage and store data. The Department was found to be partially
compliant at score level two on strategic plan and monitoring and evaluation
and non-compliant, score level 1 on annual performance plan.
On
key performance area 2 Governance and Accountability, the department was
assessed on 10 areas and was found to be fully compliant at level 4 and doing
things smart in five areas that include; functionality of management
structures, assessment of accountability mechanism, assessment of internal
audit arrangements, delegations in terms of Public Service and Administration
and delegations in terms of the PFMA. It was also found to be fully compliant
at level 3 on assessment of policies and systems to ensure professional ethics.
However, it was found to be non-compliant in four areas that include; service
delivery improvement charter, promotion of access to information, prevention of
fraud and corruption and assessment of risk management arrangements.
There
were 11 performance areas and standards under key performance area 3 Human
Resource Management. The department was partially compliant at level 2 on seven
performance areas namely; human resource planning, organisational design,
payroll certification, application of recruitment and retention practices,
employee wellness, implementation of level 1-12
performance management and development systems (PMDS) and implementation
of senior management service PMDS. A full compliance at level 3 was achieved on
two performance areas, assessment of human resource development and
implementation of senior management service PMDS for Heads of Department (HOD).
There was non-compliance score level 1 on two performance areas, management
diversity and management of disciplinary cases.
Under
key performance area 4 Financial Management, there were seven performance areas
and standards, five out of seven were fully compliant at level 3, demand
management, acquisition management, logistics management, management of
unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The Department was
found to be fully compliant at level 4 and doing things smart on one area of
management of cash flow and expenditure versus budget. There was only one area
of partial compliance, which is payment of suppliers.
The Department
has reported during the annual reporting period that measures were put in place
to address the identified grey areas identified by the AG and the DPME and that
include; adherence to PMDS policy, payment of invoices within the prescribed
timeframes, poor capacity to deal with risk management.
5.4. Concluding remarks on service delivery performance
While
the underperformance is noted with great concern, the Department has to be
commended for making significance strides in fulfilling its mandate as per the
government policy directives with limited resources. From the service delivery
analysis, it is clear that the mandate of the Department is huge and the
current human resource capacity and financial budget allocation is inadequate
to support this mandate. The Department can perform better if it could be well
resourced.
6. FINANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
6.1. COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS AND RESPONSE
6.1.1. Technical issues
Of
the four annual reports 2013/14 of the entities that appeared before the
Portfolio Committee during this reporting period, the Portfolio Committee noted
that all the annual reports were presented in accordance with Treasury
regulations and the level of information presented was user friendly and of
good quality except for the NSFAS annual report. The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that that the predetermined
objectives of NSFAS were not developed in accordance with the National Treasury
SMART principles, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound
(SMART) and the quality of reporting was vague.
6.1.2. Service delivery performance
The following formed
part of the Committee’s key observations:
a) Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
i) Programme 1: Administration
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that of the total 22 targets set for the period under review, 17 were
achieved and 5 targets were not achieved.
·
The delays in the filling of
the Deputy Director-General (DDG) for University Education and Skills Development
were highlighted as a serious concern and a breach of the Public Service
Regulations.
·
It was raised with concern
that the verification process prior the appointment of employees in the Department
was not implemented as required by the Public Service Regulation 1/VII/D8.
Furthermore, the Portfolio Committee encouraged the Department to use the
services of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) for the
verification of qualifications of its employees.
·
The vacancy rate at the Department
for the year under review is 7% of the funded posts. The Portfolio Committee
appealed to the Department to fill all outstanding posts to improve the human
resource capacity of the Department to monitor and evaluate its entities.
ii) Programme 2: Human Resource Development, Planning and
Monitoring Coordination
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that of the total 19 targets set for the period under review, 13 were
achieved and 6 were not achieved.
·
The delays in the
publication of a research bulletin and investment report on education and
training remains a serious challenge in this programme. The AGSA raised a
similar finding in the previous financial and the Department repeated the same
deviation in the year under review.
iii) Programme 3: University Education
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that of the total 34 targets set for the period under review, 23 were
achieved and 11 were not achieved.
·
In relation to the number of
first time enrolments (FTEN) at universities, there were 10026 fewer FTEN in
the 2012 academic year than targeted. The Portfolio Committee was seriously
concerned with this decline as the demand for higher education particularly for
African students remains high.
Furthermore, it was noted that additional funding for NSFAS is required to
expand access of FTEN in higher education institutions (HEIs).
·
The inadequate funding for
postgraduate students particularly for B Tech and Honours programmes was
highlighted as a serious concern for the development of a new generation of
academics. The decline in the honours graduates was also attributed to
inadequate funding by NSFAS of this programme. Furthermore, it was noted that
poor students particularly at Universities of Technology (UoTs) were forced to
abandon their pursuit of postgraduate qualifications owing to inadequate
funding of the B Tech programme.
·
It was noted with concern
that seven universities do not have statutes which specify five Ministerial
appointees. The Portfolio Committee was concerned that these universities were not
complying with an amendment in the Higher Education Act as amended which makes
provision for the five Ministerial appointees to be in councils.
·
The increase in the
incidents of student protests in HEIs accompanied by violence, intimidation,
damage to university property and infrastructure in the 2014 academic year was
highlighted as threat to stability of the higher education sector. These
protests disrupted teaching and learning and universities are still facing a
challenge of infrastructure repairs which is very expensive.
·
The deficiencies in the
management and administration of NSFAS bursaries and loans by HEIs was
highlighted a major concern which also contributed to widespread of student
protests for the 2014 academic year.
·
The Portfolio Committee welcomed
the forensic audit that will be conducted by the Department on management and
administration of NSFAS bursaries and loans.
·
The envisaged appointment of
a Ministerial Task Team on implementation plan of the objectives of the White Paper on Post School Education and
Training was commended by the Portfolio Committee.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with the alleged exclusion of students in the Funza Lushaka Bursary
on basis that they did not study African languages at school level.
·
It was noted with concern
that as much as the higher education sector is expanding, the throughput and
graduation rates remain low.
iv) Vocational and Continuing Education and Training
·
The Portfolio Committee
noted with concern the poor performance of this programme which is tasked
particularly at increasing access to programmes leading to intermediate skills
for young people with no post school qualifications. During the year under
review, the programme had a total of 39 planned targets and achieved only 19.
·
The articulation of students
particularly from TVET colleges to HEIs was highlighted as a serious challenge.
The absence of an approved policy to regulate implementation of articulation
affects the movement of TVET college graduates with N6 qualification to access
Diploma programmes in Universities of Technology (UoTs).
·
The Portfolio Committee
noted with concern the delays in the appointment of college councils during the
year under review. The Department reported that only 27 of the 50 TVET college
councils had been fully constituted. It was emphasised that the role of the
Accounting Authority in these institutions is of high importance given their
poor management and administration of funds as reported by the AGSA in its
2013/14 audit outcomes of colleges.
·
The failure by the Department
to build the six new TVET college campuses as declared by the President in the
State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2013 was highlighted as a serious concern.
Although the Department deviated on achieving this target owing to delays in
procurement processes, the Portfolio Committee did not welcome that
justification.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with new rules and guidelines for the administration, management and
awarding of bursaries to TVET college students. According to the guidelines,
students who reside within a radius of 10km from the college should not be
considered for an award for a travel and accommodation allowances. Furthermore,
students whose home address is within a radius of 40km within the college are
not considered for accommodation. The concern of the Portfolio Committee with
these guidelines is that students who live in areas with high crime rates
cannot be expected to travel a distance of 9km to the college. This affects
student attendance and the processing of claims of these allowances.
·
The backlog of 13 218
outstanding NC(V) certificates because of data errors for eligible students in
TVET colleges was highlighted as a serious concern. Although the Department
reported that it is in a process of addressing this backlog through effective
management of the certification process, the justification for these delays was
highlighted as a major concern since this backlog dates back to 2007. The Department
promised to resolve this backlog by end of November 2014.
·
Student under-performance
and certification rates in NC(V) and Report 191 was highlighted as a serious
concern of the Portfolio Committee. The Portfolio Committee appealed to the
department to implement focused interventions to deal with poor performance of
students in the college sector as government is investing huge resources for
expansion of this sector.
·
The under-spending on
conditional grants for TVET colleges by provinces was highlighted as serious
concern that requires urgent intervention by the Department going forward.
·
The Portfolio Committee
welcomed the distribution of a circular for improvement of financial management
and performance in TVET colleges. Furthermore, it also welcomed the
distribution of the training manual for council members to all colleges.
v) Skills Development
·
The Portfolio Committee
noted with concern the poor performance of this programme that is tasked with
promoting the alignment of skills development outputs to the needs of the
workplace and to the broader growth needs of the country’s economy. For the
period under review, the department achieved 10 out of the 13 targets.
·
It was noted with concern
that the targets set for the training and development of artisans is not
commensurate with required growth for the economy.
·
The AGSA raised an audit
query in relation to the management of security at Indlela by the department.
The Portfolio Committee was seriously concerned that the same finding was
raised in the previous financial year and the department was tasked at making sure
this finding does not recur. The department reported that R28 million is
required to improve security measures at Indlela and the building is currently
managed by the Department of Public Works. The Portfolio Committee appealed to
the department to prioritise the appointment of a security service provider to
increase security at these premises.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with inadequate targets for learnerships and skills development
programmes by SETAs as compared to the financial reserves of R12 billion in
their accounts.
b) National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that the widespread of student protests accompanied with destruction
to university infrastructure and property were largely related to NSFAS
queries. It was noted that although NSFAS is responsible for disbursement of
funds to these institutions, the entity should ensure that institutions submit
claims on time and processing of these claims is speedily implemented.
·
The irregular expenditure
incurred by the entity for the year under review was highlighted as a serious
concern that requires urgent intervention by the Accounting Authority.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that the leadership of the entity did not exercise its mandate effectively
to prevent non-compliance to supply chain management (SCM) polices which
resulted in the AGSA raising serious matters of emphasis.
·
The poor achievement of
targets set by the entity in the year under review was highlighted as a serious
concern given the important role of NSFAS in expanding access of poor students
to PSET institutions.
·
The exponential increase in
human resource capacity (162 to 299 employees) of the entity owing to the
implementation of the new student centred model was a concern for the Portfolio
Committee. The Portfolio Committee appealed to the entity to reduce its costs
on compensation of employees.
·
The student loan value of
the entity for the year under review is R7.4 billion. The Portfolio Committee
was seriously concerned with the loan recovery strategy of the entity to
improve monthly repayments of loans.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
seriously with the poor management and administration of NSFAS bursaries and
loans particularly at TVET colleges. It was noted that there are students whose
claims have not yet been processed and they do not have books at this period of
the academic year. The Portfolio Committee appealed to the entity to be
pro-active and be more involved in student affairs.
·
In relation to the
unqualified audit opinion received by the entity, the Portfolio Committee
appealed to the entity to improve its financial performance to obtain a clean
audit in the current financial year.
c) Council on Higher Education (CHE)
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with the delays in the filling of outstanding vacancies in the
entity. The staff turn-over in the period under review was also noted with
concern.
·
The entity conducted eight
workshops as compared to its target of 1 for the period under review. The
Portfolio Committee was concerned that this might impact negatively on the
stringent budget of the entity.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with certain private higher education institutions that offer
unaccredited qualifications to students.
·
The Portfolio Committee welcomed
the replacement of the B Tech programme with the advanced diploma that will
make it easy for students in (UoTs) to articulate to postgraduate programmes.
·
In relation to its finances,
the entity was requested to collaborate with the AGSA particularly on
interpretation of financial reporting so that it may not have the similar
finding in the current financial year.
d) Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO)
·
The poor achievement and
underperformance of targets by the entity in the period under review was
highlighted as a serious concern that requires urgent intervention.
·
It was noted with concern
that majority of the stakeholders in the trades and occupations sector are not
aware of the mandate and operations of the entity.
·
The Portfolio Committee
acknowledged that the entity is still new and it will take time to build
sufficient capacity and systems in place to execute its mandate effectively.
Nevertheless, the Portfolio Committee appealed to the entity to ensure its
quality assurance is impeccable so that it can be able to manage quality
assurance of occupational qualifications.
·
The Information Technology
(IT) systems of the entity were not yet fully function in the period under
review. The Portfolio Committee appealed to the entity to improve its IT
maturity level given the backlog of qualifications it has to quality assure.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned that the strategic plan of the entity was developed before it was
established and the targets set were unrealistic. The Minister did not approve
the Annual Performance Plans (APP) 2014/15 of the entity and the Portfolio
Committee was concerned with this challenge.
·
It was noted that SETAs have
a backlog of 15 000 unaccredited qualifications that will have to be evaluated
and quality assured by the QCTO. Given the existing human resource capacity of
the entity, the Portfolio Committee was concerned that these qualifications may
not be appropriately managed by the entity.
e) South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)
·
The entity was commended for
receiving a clean audit opinion for the period under review.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with the number of pre-1992 post school qualifications that have not
yet been digitised.
·
The delays in the filling of
outstanding fully funded vacancies in the entity was highlighted as a serious
concern.
·
The Accounting Authority was
requested to develop a strategy to address poor attendance of board committee
meetings.
·
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with R6.2 million under collection reported by the entity in the year
under review.
·
The Portfolio Committee
appealed to the entity to ensure that articulation is realistic at systematic
level.
·
The reported incidents of
fake qualifications produced by employees in the public sector was highlighted
as a serious concern for the Portfolio Committee. SAQA was requested to improve
verification of qualifications in the public sector.
·
It was noted that though the
quality assurance role is assigned to the three Quality Councils (QCs), SAQA
should improve its relationship with these QCs.
f) General finding
The Portfolio Committee noted with concern the
under achievement and poor performance in certain targets set by the Department
and some of entities for the year under review. The recurring findings reported
by the AGSA in the 2013/14 audit outcomes of the department and some of its
entities was noted with concern. It should also be noted that this under
achievement in some targets was as a result of capacity and budget constraints.
Of significance to note is that the Department is allocated only 1 percent of
the total higher education and training budget to run programmes, operate and
manage the remainder of the 99% that is not under the control of the Department
because they are transfer payments.
6.1.3. Financial performance including funding proposals
The Portfolio Committee
noted that the Department and the entities have improved on their financial
management especially in addressing irregular, fruitless and wasteful
expenditures. It was also pleased that though the QCTO and NSFAS had irregular
expenditures during the year under review, the amounts were significantly
reduced. The Portfolio Committee appealed to the Department to develop an
action plan to rectify the findings raised by the AGSA in particular on
financial misstatements and underspending on different programmes. The Department
was requested to improve to a clean audit in the forth-coming financial year.
7. SUMMARY OF REPORTING REQUESTS
Entity |
Reporting Matter |
Action
required |
Time-Frame |
DHET |
All
AG’s audit findings on TVET colleges. |
DHET should monitor implementation of action plan
developed. |
DHET
to report progress to the Portfolio Committee on quarterly basis. |
NSFAS |
Lack
of documented and approved internal policies and procedures to address
reporting requirements and review of the presentation of the annual performance
report by management. |
Policies and procedures to address reporting
requirements should be developed, implemented and monitored. |
NSFAS
to report progress to the Portfolio Committee, see Portfolio Committee
programme. |
|
Reliability
of information presented. |
NSFAS should develop and independent verification
system to collect, collate and verify and store performance of data. |
NSFAS
to report progress to the Committee, see Committee programme. |
|
|
NSFAS should submit a report with action plan to
correct the findings raised by the AGSA in the entity’s Annual Report 2013/14. |
Within
30 days after adoption of the report by the House. |
|
The predetermined objectives of NSFAS were not
developed in accordance with the National Treasury SMART principle; specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) and the poor quality
of reporting. |
NSFAS should review its strategic plan and annual
plan to develop SMART strategic goals and targets especially for the current
financial year and going forward. |
NSFAS
to report progress to the Committee, see Committee programme. |
QCTO |
Institution’s
record not permitting the application of alternate audit procedures to
satisfy the AG as to the reliability of the targets. |
QCTO should develop a documents and records management
system. |
QCTO
to report progress to the Committee, see Committee programme. |
|
|
To
submit a service delivery improvement plan. |
Within
30 days after adoption of the report by the House. |
8. CONCLUSION
The Department reported on
its fourth Annual Report since its inception and received a fourth consecutive
unqualified audit opinion from the AGSA.
It is important to note that the primary objective of the Department is
to expand access to and improve success within the post school education and
training system. The Department is also responsible for Outcome 5 of the
Government’s Performance Monitoring and Evaluation system “A skilled and capable
workforce”. During the financial year ending 31 March 2014, the department
made significant progress towards the achievement of its strategic goals as set
out in the 2010/11 - 2014/15 Strategic Plan.
In order to confront the
developmental challenges faced by the country, the Minister published the White Paper on Post School Education and
Training during the year under review
with the aim of creating a framework that defines the Department’s focus
and priorities that enables it to shape its strategies and plans for the
future. The White Paper will drive and deepen transformation of the entire post
school education and training sector to improve the lives of the 35 million
people that the sector has to cater for. The plans to deal with the challenge
of 3.3 million young people who are not in education, employment and training
(NEET) have been incorporated in the White Paper.
The Portfolio Committee was
concerned with deviations in meeting the targets set in all the five programmes
of the department. The Portfolio Committee noted that in other instances the
deviations were influenced by circumstances beyond the Department’s control. It
was the proposal of the Portfolio Committee that the department should revise
its targets so that those that are dependent on external circumstances could be
clearly identified.
The report that was
presented by the AGSA on 2013/14 audit outcomes of the department and its
public entities highlighted significant improvements in the financial
management of public entities particularly universities. Nevertheless, the
audit outcomes of TVET colleges highlighted serious challenges of governance
and management in the entire sector. The
TVET colleges require additional support and capacity to improve their
governance and administration and, the department will have to closely monitor
and evaluate the performance of these institutions.
In relation to the public
entities that presented their Annual Report 2013/14 namely; NSFAS, CHE, QCTO
and SAQA, the Portfolio Committee was seriously concerned with recurring
findings of the AGSA that have not been addressed. Although some of these
entities received an unqualified audit opinion for the year under review, the
Portfolio Committee appealed to these entities to improve their financial
performance so that they improve to a clean audit. The Portfolio Committee
commended SAQA as one of the entities that received a clean audit for the
period under review.
9. RECOMMENDATIONS
The
Committee having assessed the performance of the Department of Higher Education
and Training and its entities on their 2013/14 financial year recommends the
following to the Minister of Higher Education and Training and the Minister of
Finance for their consideration; and to provide progress reports to the
Committee within three months of the adoption of this report by the House:
Minister of Finance:
·
Notwithstanding the
ring-fenced funding for TVET function shift, the Minister should realistically
increase the budget of the Department over the medium term to accommodate the
expanded operations of the department especially human resource needs and
infrastructure that will come with the TVET function shift;
·
The Minister should ensure
that the unspent conditional grants by provinces are transferred to TVET colleges
in terms of the FET Act and the National Norms and Standards for funding TVET colleges;
·
Owing to the lack of
cooperation and disclosure by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) in
regards to the funds to be shifted for the TVET and AET function shift from
Provinces, the Minister should consider additional funding to the determination
made by the Minister of Finance as it will not be enough for the DHET to manage
a personnel increase from 1000 to 39 000;
·
The Minister should make
additional funding available for Sub-programme 3: Programmes and Qualifications
of Programme 4: for Report 191 and NC(V) review to ensure production of skills
that the South African economy needs;
·
The Minister should increase
funding to meet the 2030 NDP targets for expansion of TVET and Community
College system especially in regard to NSFAS, subsidies, college infrastructure
and equipment;
·
The Minister should
reasonably increase the budget over the medium for Sub-programme 4: National
Examination and Assessment in Programme 4 to accommodate the increased
operational and remuneration costs of expanded administration and delivery of
TVET and AET national examination services as a result of growth in student
enrolments;
·
The Minister should
significantly increase allocation for university infrastructure especially for student
residences;
·
The Minister should
realistically increase the budget of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme
over the medium term to enable all academically capable but financially needy
students to access higher education and technical vocational education and
training and to cover full cost of study through loans bursaries as proposed in
the NDP; and to accommodate incremental growth in student enrolment through the
new universities and the envisaged 12 new TVET college campuses; and
·
The Minister should consider
making available bridging funds to NSFAS for allocations for tuition fees
and other living expenses for students at the beginning of the academic year
owing to the misalignment of academic year and financial year.
The
Minister of Higher Education and Training
a) Programme 1: Administration
·
The department should
prioritise the filling of outstanding vacant funded posts particularly the DDG
for University Education and Skills Development branches;
·
Assessment of performance
agreements for employees should be implemented within the stipulated period in
compliance with the performance management framework. The managers and
supervisors responsible for this function should be held accountable for
deviating on this target;
·
The verification of
qualifications and security clearance process for all new employees of the
department should be implemented before their appointment. Furthermore, the Department
should utilise the expertise of SAQA in the verification of qualifications of
all its employees;
·
An action plan should be
developed to address the targets that were not achieved in the period under
review in this branch.
b) Programme 2: Human Resource Development, Planning and
Monitoring Coordination
·
The oversight function over
public entities particularly TVET colleges should be improved as these
institutions required additional support on governance and administration.
Furthermore, this function should be realistically resourced wherever it is
performed in the Department.
·
The publication of policies,
reports and bulletins should be implemented within the stipulated timeframes to
prevent delays; and
·
An action plan should be developed to address
the targets that were not achieved in the period under review in this branch.
c) Programme 3: University Education
·
This branch has a vital role
and responsibility to manage oversight over
the entire higher education sector and in this regard, the vacant post
of DDG should be filled as a matter of urgency;
·
The department should
explore the possibility of providing additional funding to NSFAS to improve to
meet the target of first time enrolments (FTEN) in universities. Adequate
resource at NSFAS will assist poor students with historic debts and improve the
honours graduation rates. Furthermore, the future generation of black academics
project can be successful if poor students are funded for their B Tech and
honours programmes;
·
The policy on adult educator
qualifications should be published as a matter of urgency as this sector is in
dire need for improved condition of services of these educators;
·
The department should ensure
that all universities adhere to the amendment in the Higher Education Act which
gives power to the Minister to appoint five Ministerial appointees to their
councils;
·
The formula or criteria used
to allocate research development grants to HEIs should not disadvantage
previously disadvantaged institutions with improving research publications such
University of Fort Hare; and
·
The target for the number of
students accessing higher education should be revised so that it can be realistic
to societal challenges.
d) Programme 4: Vocational and Continuing Education and
Training
·
The Minister should ensure
that the senior management of this branch is held accountable for poor
performance in meeting targets set for a stipulated period since this branch
recorded the worst performance in all the five branches of the department;
·
Capacity building and
training programmes for TVET lecturers should be expanded to improve teaching
and learning;
·
Additional student support
services should be implemented to address student under-performance in NC(V)
and Report 191 programmes;
·
Additional support is
required to improve governance and administration of TVET colleges as reported
by the AGSA in the 2013/14 audit outcomes report for TVET colleges;
·
The procurement of service
providers responsible for construction of the new 12 TVET college campuses
should be prioritised to prevent further delays;
·
The appointment of new council
members in all TVET colleges should be prioritised since it was not achieved in
the year under review;
·
A review of conditions of
service for AET educators should be undertaken to prevent further
disengagements in this sector;
·
The Department should prioritise
the release of outstanding NC(V) certificates as a matter of urgency.
Furthermore, the procurement of the IT system to manage certification should be
finalised;
·
The Department should review
the rules and guidelines for administration, management and awarding of
bursaries to TVET college students as they impact negatively in the processing
and awarding of transport and accommodation allowances;
·
Articulation of TVET college
graduates should be clearly defined and communicated to HEIs so that they can
admit these students to their programmes. Furthermore, the admission
requirements set by universities for TVET college students should not be a
barrier to access; and
·
The department should assist
with additional security provision to curb the high level of theft of assets at
Vuselela TVET college’s Matlosana Campus as it was reported during the
oversight visit of the Portfolio Committee.
e) Programme 5 Skills Development
f) National Student Financial Aid Scheme
·
The Accounting Authority
should exercise its oversight responsibility adequately to ensure adherence to
supply chain management policies by management;
·
The Accounting Authority
should implement consequence management in case of non-compliance to the implementation
of internal controls by employees within their area of responsibility;
g) Council on Higher Education
h) Quality Council for Trades and Occupations
i) South African Qualifications Authority
10. Appreciation
The Portfolio Committee thanks the Department
of Higher Education and Training (DHET), National Student Financial Aid Scheme
(NSFAS), Council on Higher Education (CHE), Quality Council for Trades and
Occupations (QCTO) and South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) for their 2013/14
Annual Reports which were submitted on time. The Portfolio Committee thanks the
Office of the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) for its 2013/14 audit
outcomes of the Department and its entities report.
Report to be considered.