DHET 2020/21 Quarter 3 performance; State of higher education institutions and readiness for the 2021 academic year; NSFAS on funding allocations to universities and TVET colleges; with Deputy Minister

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

10 March 2021
Chairperson: Mr P Mapulane (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

Video: Portfolio Committee on Higher Eduction, Science and Technology, 10 March 2021

In a virtual meeting, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) briefed the Committee on the state of higher education institutions, its readiness to open for the 2021 academic year, and the funding allocations to universities and TVET colleges for the 2021 academic year.

The Department outlined the challenges experienced in the 2021 enrolment process. At a press briefing on 8 March 2021, the Ministry provided information about a shortfall in NSFAS funding which was being urgently addressed following the budget commitment of the Minister of Finance on 24 February 2021.

An urgent resolution to this matter was under consideration, and options would be presented to Cabinet urgently. The Minister met with Universities South Africa, and there was a commitment from public universities to extend the registration period for two weeks. This is to ensure NSFAS qualifying students who were admitted but did not receive funding confirmation, will be able to register. Returning students who qualified were able to register and receive confirmation of funding, as data exchange takes place between institutions and NSFAS.

NSFAS touched on the 2020 disbursement of funding and allowances during the lockdown period for universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and Community Education and Training (CETs); 2020 utilisation report for both universities and TVET colleges; and funding allocations to universities and TVET colleges.

Members asked questions about the 54 pilot centres on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories; the reports of the Ministerial Task Team on black academics and the Fourth Industrial Revolution; completion date of the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into NSFAS and the independent review of the National Institute for Human Social Sciences; where the cooperatives are located; any irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred during the quarter under review, and how much it was;  reprioritisation of the R445 million from the funds earmarked for laptops, and the impact it had on students; allowances and disbursements; engagement with institution leadership to address the registration issues experienced by NSFAS students; filling critical vacancies; and why NSFAS no longer funded certain courses.

Meeting report

The Chairperson said he received a call from the Minister, who said he would not be attending the meeting because there is a Cabinet submission for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding he had to make.

Deputy Minister Opening Comments

The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Mr Buti Manamela, said the Department’s budget was adjusted during the period where the fiscus was strained. The Department was forced to adjust its targets for the year. Some of the targets were reduced, shifted, and moved to the following financial year. The spending trend for the Department was pleasing, despite these adjustments. Some of the highlights included launching two critical research works emanating from the Labour Market Intelligence Programme. It supports planning and decision making in government, which is on the 2020 list of labour demands. It is an important report for Post-School Education and Training (PSET), and is career guidance for the youth.

The President mentioned the technical report for the 2020 Critical Skills List at the State of the Nation Address (SONA). The Report is aimed at assisting to guide with recruiting critically-skilled foreign nationals. This is especially relevant where the labour market is unable to create such skills in the short term. The Department of Home Affairs has since published it for public comment. The due date is 21 March 2021.

The Minister instructed the Department to develop a skills strategy to support the planned efforts towards the Economic Recovery Plan. This process is at the advanced stage. The draft was presented to Cabinet, and Cabinet welcomed it.

Expenditure on Covid-19 and related activities, as at December 2020, is about R975 million, of which R2.4 million was spent at the Department. The Department will transfer R10 million in the last quarter of the financial year to address the Covid-19 requirements in the Community Education and Training (CET) sector.

The guidelines for the implementation of the DHET bursary scheme was delayed because of the extended academic year and impending funding decisions. The Department has been working with the National Treasury to identify policy and funding options, so these will be submitted to Cabinet on the present day. The funding guidelines for universities in 2021 will be finalised as soon as Cabinet makes a determination. This will have a major impact on the Strategic and Annual Performance Plan of the Department. The Department is doing its best to minimise adverse impact as much as possible.

Briefing by the Department on the State of Readiness for the 2021 Academic Year

Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, Director-General, Department of Higher Education and Training, made the presentation. He said, for each component, the designated Deputy Director- General (DDG), responsible for the component, will present.

At a press briefing on 8 March 2021, Minister Nzimande gave information about a shortfall in the NSFAS funding, which is being urgently addressed. On 24 February 2021, the Minister of Finance said, government remains committed to ensuring deserving students are supported through higher education.  National Treasury is working with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to work on policy and funding options which will be detailed in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

The Minister said an urgent resolution to this matter is under consideration, and options will be presented to Cabinet urgently. The Minister said he met with Universities South Africa. Public universities agreed to extend the registration period for two weeks to ensure NSFAS qualifying students who are admitted, but have not received funding confirmation, will be able to register. Returning students who qualify are able to register and receive confirmation of funding, as data exchange takes place between institutions and NSFAS.

See presentation for detailed information for each component Universities, TVET Colleges and CETs

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Chairperson of NSFAS Board introductory remarks

Mr Ernest Khosa, Chairperson of the NSFAS Board, said he was deeply saddened by the protests by students with issues against NSFAS, which were ongoing at Wits University.

The new administration has been in office for 69 days. It came into Office in the middle of the application evaluation cycle, and at a time when the Annual Report had to be tabled. The Board had to respond to very serious matters regarding access to education.

Six areas became the centre of the occupation in those 69 days. These are, the challenge of increased demand for funding; putting an action plan in place to address the concerns from the Auditor-General (AG); matters which arose out of engagement with the Committee; dealing with matters to ensure the Board lands running, and bolsters the balance of skills in the Board to position it to respond to challenges; reviewing the Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan; and dealing with matters which arise.

The Board is working very closely with the Department on increased funding for NSFAS.

Plans are in place to address the AG’s concerns. Regarding the three irregular expenditures, the action plan was submitted to the AG. The AG informed the Board it was satisfied with the action plan.

The Board reviews key decisions and significant transactions, covering a period of two financial years. The terms of reference were developed and the Board is now waiting for the procurement process to conclude. It envisages completion in three months, and the Board wrote to the Committee on this matter.

On the balance of skills in the Board, two co-opted Board members cover actuarial skills and human resources.

The Board reviewed the organisation’s five year Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, and reinforced a student centred focus through the seven strategic outcomes. The Board continues to review issues which have a negative impact on students. A policy decision was made in relation to student accommodation. In the next few months pronouncements will be made on these policy decisions.

The Board was concerned about the instability of the systems which make the organisation ineffective in addressing student issues. Management was subsequently instructed to deal with these matters and find alternative mechanisms, while embarking on the process of the new system.

The Board noted the public comments emanating from communication. It was intended for institutions which found itself in the public domain, advising institutions not to enrol students on legacy qualifications, and the social media communication saying those who are recipients of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants do not qualify for NSFAS grants. On the first issue, the students in the legacy qualifications will be allowed to continue and new students on these qualifications will be termed under irregular expenditure. On the second matter, this matter was since rectified and communications to this effect were issued publicly.

He thanked the Minister for his continued engagements with institutions, to extend the registration date for first time students and for institutions to retain spaces for NSFAS beneficiaries.The Chairperson thanked the stakeholders for the presentations.

The Committee received a letter from the Chairperson of the Board at NSFAS requesting the Committee to postpone the inquiry it brought into NSFAS, until the review process undertaken by the Board to address those issues is finalised. The Committee will then make a decision based on the outcome of the review. It decided to delay the inquiry until such time as the review is completed and the Committee is briefed by the new Board.

Briefing by the NSFAS on 2020 Disbursement of Funding and Allowances

Mr Andile Nongogo, Chief Executive Officer, NSFAS, took Members through the presentation. The presentation touched on the 2020 disbursement of funding and allowances during the lockdown period for universities; Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and Community Education and Training Colleges (CETs); 2020 utilisation report for both universities and TVET colleges; and funding allocations to universities and TVET colleges.  

NSFAS paid allowances to funded and qualifying students during the lock down period. All allowances were paid for students in universities and TVET colleges in accordance with the applicable DHET allowance thresholds. The payments were made in accordance with the pronouncement that NSFAS will continue with the monthly allowances during the COVID-19 lockdown period and its alert levels. Full allowances were disbursed.

NSFAS regularised payments to students, NSFAS Wallet paid by the 25th of the month. Universities and colleges not on the NSFAS wallet received remittances within two days of the payment being made by NSFAS. This was so it would in turn make payments to students within five days. There were a few institutions which struggled to pay students on time.  NSFAS continuously monitored the flow of funds and engaged with such institutions regularly.  Most colleges opted to be on the NSFAS wallet during this period. There are now 44 Colleges on the NSFAS Wallet.

Regarding proposed funding for TVET colleges in 2021, the proposed 2021 funding allocations for the TVET colleges are aligned to the tuition allocation by the Department of Higher Education and Training. It is based on the approved enrolment plans, as submitted by the TVET colleges. The tuition allocation is based on approved enrolment numbers, and TVET colleges exceeding the approved enrolment numbers must be accountable for the full programme cost. This includes an 80% subsidy of DHET, and 20% tuition portion of NSFAS, plus correlating allowances. If colleges exceed the tuition allocation, the Department must be notified through the regulatory framework, and no further payments or processing registrations should be conducted at NSFAS.

With regards to the universities, NSFAS consistently projected the 2021 University Funding Model. This is so, even given the COVID 19 impact and the increased demand for university education as seen in 2020’s increased demand. NSFAS completed the evaluation of nearly all applications, and established the revised budget to meet increased demand.

It is important to highlight the actual number of students who are funding eligible can only be determined when registration data is received from institutions of higher learning. The projection models considered a Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 4.7% increase for tuition and 6.7% increase for accommodation.

No new postgraduate students will be funded, only those who are already funded will be allowed to complete the qualification. Universities must adhere to applicable fee increases for tuition and accommodation, to avoid budget shortfalls in the academic year.

The Chairperson thanked the Chairperson of the Board for outlining the key issues the Board was dealing with. He also thanked the Deputy Minister and the delegation for the performance reports.

He asked for confirmation regarding the letter received from the Chairperson of the Board of NSFAS, asking the Committee to postpone the inquiry the Committee decided to engage on. The letter said NSFAS wants space to deal with the issues brought to the Committee’s attention. As a result, the Committee took a view to delay or postpone the inquiry. Based on the outcome of the review process, the Committee will determine a way forward. This process might take up to three months, which is fine for a review process.

Discussion

Mr T Letsie (ANC) agreed the Board must be allowed space to conduct its review.

The instability of the system creates space for those who do not have the best interest of the sector at heart. He saw videos of students marching at Wits University, burning tyres on the road at Braamfontein, and police using force to disperse the crowds. He appealed to students to march peacefully, because the destruction of properties takes the country backwards and it opens up space for criminals to take advantage and conduct criminal activities.

He was interested in the 54 pilot centres on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) laboratories which the Department mentioned. He asked for details on this. He appreciated the report of the Ministerial Task Team on black academics, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He asked the Department to come and present these reports to the Committee.

On slide 11, the Department said work started on the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into NSFAS, and the independent review of the National Institute for Human Social Sciences (NIHSS). He asked when the envisaged completion date for this inquiry and the review of the NIHSS was.  

He wanted to know where the cooperatives are located, and if there was any irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure during the quarter under review. If so, he asked how much was incurred and what interventions were put in place to mitigate this.

Regarding the 1554 appeals for 2020, in one of the slides NSFAS said there were unlinked registrations in the system because institutions submitted its data late. It is envisaging this matter will be resolved later in March. Some of these students would have started in 2019, and some cannot register now at institutions for registration. This was not the student’s fault. He wanted to know, if there is a problem between NSFAS and institutions, why students are left in limbo. He submitted queries received from students to the NSFAS. Some of those students’ issues were not yet resolved. This raised red flags regarding if NSFAS has the capacity to resolve these appeals. He appealed to the NSFAS Board to prioritise the appeals.

On slide four, NSFAS claims it reprioritised about R445 million from the funds earmarked for laptops. He asked what impact this will have on students who need these learning devices.

The biggest challenge at NSFAS is the system used. The new administration needs to take a serious look into bringing on board a new system which speaks to the current challenges, as well as the effective disbursement of funds, tracking academic progress, and synchronising with the institutions systems. The current system does not communicate the full academic profile of the students; it is not fit for this purpose.

Ms N Mkhatshwa (ANC) raised the matter of a gentleman in Braamfontein who was shot by police during the student protest at Wits University. She said surely there will be a statement from South African Police Services (SAPS) confirming his passing.

The Committee asked on the state of completion of the 2020 academic year, and the state of readiness for the 2021 academic year. The latter was requested much earlier by the Committee, because of concerns about how the students were coping in the 2020 academic year, and the state of readiness of the 2021 academic year. This information came to the Committee through media statements, which robbed the Committee of the opportunity to provide recommendations. The death of this civilian who was not even protesting should alarm the Department. It cannot be so, at every beginning of academic year, there are student protests across the country. There is unrest in CETs, at Fort Hare, Wits (Witwatersrand University), UKZN (University of KwaZulu-Natal), UFS (University of the Free State), and Sol Plaatjie. There may be many more institutions protesting. This needs to come to an end.  She asked what is causing the unrest, if it is financial support to the wellbeing of students in the student’s academic lives.

On the state of readiness, she asked why Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) were registering students so late. She wanted to know if it is because of the institutions inability to complete the previous academic year.

Regarding the timeframes provided up until Slide Six, Ms Mkhatshwa asked if these are plans shared by the institutions or realities; and if the Department was able to monitor the stability and success of these institutions as indicated in its plans.

She was concerned there was no turnover time in responding to students about financial status, or an outcome from an appeal. She asked if the cash system was meant to eradicate the internal systems of the institutions.

On slide 12, she said there must be an intervention between DHET, Treasury, and NSFAS. Students are frustrated and it is not fair. At Wits, the Student Representative Council (SRC) attempted a campaign were it was trying to raise R1 million to assist students with historic debt, and registration clearance, amongst other matters, which make students unable to proceed with academic commitment.

With regards to CETs, she was uncertain if the presentation by the Department truly spoke to the CET programme fulfilling its mandate. She asked for clarity regarding if the students who did not complete matric successfully in the 2020 academic year, would complete it in CETs. She wanted to know if this would mean there might be an increase in the CET programme. This programme was not sufficiently supported through Covid-19.

There is a lot of concern around the procurement of laptops, and most of the institutions would most likely encourage students to learn from residences and homes. This means the sector needs to start thinking innovatively on remote learning. She was concerned about how to ensure the students and lecturers had the resources needed for teaching and learning under Covid-19.

On allowances and disbursements at NSFAS, she said it was a long outstanding issue, but needs a long term permanent solution as well as funding for post graduates, because the demand increased.

One can only hope Vice Chancellors (VC) take the lead, engage with students, and heed the solutions proposed. Some SRC suggested the extension of the registration period, to allow space and time to resolve the funding issues.

VCs must be held accountable by the Department, especially when failing to engage and work together with the student body. The VCs who refuse to engage with the student body are not assisting the sector.

Ms J Mananiso (ANC) wanted clarity on matters of cooperatives which benefited health and welfare Sector and Education Training Authority’s (SETAs). She asked how many youth and women-owned cooperatives benefited.

Secondly, she asked how long it takes for the Department to fill vacant posts, and what the reasons are for the delays in filling key positions.

She asked for the number of beneficiaries for Centres, and asked if there was progression in the access and use of these CET’s.

Ms D Sibiya (ANC) asked the Department about the cooperatives in some provinces, and wanted to know which provinces. She commended the Department for deploying 659 unemployed, social worker graduates.

On NSFAS, the students should also allow the new Board some space to resuscitate NSFAS.

Mr B Yabo (ANC) referred to the issue of student funding. He said the numbers are not going down, nor is the need for student funding. The institutions alluded to this in the annual plans. There needs to be a solution. He did not see these numbers going down and the Department and Committee must discuss how these numbers can be managed.

He was not getting any word coming out from the new universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga on its capacity to absorb some of the students. There is a strike going on at Wits and a fatality was confirmed. He said one can no longer ignore the requirement of financial assistance from NSFAS. The problem of NSFAS is the problem of systems.

The resolve education must be free is justified, looking at the background the majority of students come from.

Mr M Nxumalo (IFP) said he recalled a time when he was a beneficiary of NSFAS. Each year students had to fill out a form justifying why the student needed funding. This is a systematic error which must be addressed.

He asked if the NSFAS Board found a strategy to collect from those who benefited from NSFAS. The money should be paid back to assist the upcoming generation. He asked if any consultation was conducted when NSFAS took a decision to no longer fund certain courses. He also asked what the process was leading to this decision.

The biggest frustration for students is accommodation during registration period. During this time there is a lack of accommodation, and it exposes students to all sorts of challenges. Residence must be made available for those who are coming for registration.

The Chairperson said the Committee received a memorandum from the SRC President, Secretary- General, on the situation taking place at Wits and the demands made. Some of the video footage seen was not very good, because there was confrontation between students and police. This is a matter which will require urgent attention. The Committee might invite the leadership of Wits University to engage further on this situation.

There are also other institutions experiencing similar challenges. Generally, at the commencement of the academic year there are always strikers around financial and academic exclusions. Handling these issues require some degree of maturity from management.

The reconciliation of records was a recurring issue raised by the AG. The manner in which the Board was addressing the audit outcome was correct. In the previous administration the AG was treated with hostility and the Committee was pleased with how the current Board took a stance on building a working relationship with the AG. Members hope the audit plan developed by the Board will be acted upon and will be complied with. Mr Nxumalo encouraged the Board to act upon the audit plan.

He said, while preparing for the 2021 academic year, there is a matter of great concern regarding Unisa and its enrolment plan. In the past it enrolled 20 000, more than what was agreed and approved according to the enrolment plan. This year there was a directive from the Minister for Unisa to adhere to the enrolment plan. The EFF took this matter to court to challenge the directive of the Minister. The Committee will invite Unisa Council and management to appear before the Committee next term. Whoever was responsible for taking this decision must be held to account, because it created an expectation and a huge anxiety for the institution. Someone has to be held to account. Currently, the Committee is not aware of what the Council is doing about this.

The 2020 academic year was extended by three months. Some universities completed in December and others in January. As a result, some of the reserves from NSFAS, about R2.5 billion, were depleted because NSFAS had to pay allowances for the extended period of time, namely the three months. Now, the 2021 academic year is commencing in March and perhaps effectively in April. From what the Committee received now, it may be completed in December.

Mr Nxumalo asked if this is not going to balance out eventually. It looks like there is not much material difference, if one looks at it over the long term. He asked if there is a way the depletion of the reserves can be reversed.

There was an announcement saying no student will be left behind, but this was not accompanied by any financial commitment. He asked if the announcement by the Minister of Finance was not an indication the funding will be provided.

Responses

Deputy Minister Manamela said the DHET received the news of the person who was shot and died at Wits University earlier on the present day, when the police were trying to disburse the students. The Department was sourcing more information on this incident to extend condolences to the family of the deceased. The Department was in the process of contacting the leadership of the university and the student representatives.

The DHET remains committed to supporting all institutions to conclude the registration process, and where there are challenges, the Department will assist in resolving those challenges. Lastly, the DHET will look into convening a task team which comprises all stakeholders to discuss the national issues in the sector. This will include all leaders and South African Union of Students (SAUS), as well as the Vice Chancellors.

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Mr Khosa said, with regards to the announcement made by the Minister of Finance, it was very welcomed, and if something is not done about the situation it will lead to unavoidable student protests. The announcement made a lot of political sense but it had a measure of deficiency, and lacks the meaning for compliance. The announcement should have come with a figure or shortly after the announcement a letter with a commitment. If NSFAS acted on the announcement, it would have to come back to Parliament and report on the irregular expenditure.

The Board is of the opinion the institution needs fundamental change to address all the issues ventilated today. The culture of the institution must also change. All the changes the Board seeks to bring in will not be an easy task, but it is ready to implement the fundamental changes.

It is the Board’s desire to meet with the Committee and introduce itself formally and discuss some of its challenges.

Mr Nongogo said most of NSFAS issues are systematic and the culture of the institution must change completely. This is one of the difficulties, but there are instruments in management to use to deal with non-performance.

The state of the systems in NSFAS continues to let the institution down. It continues to try and use the very same system when it will not yield a good result. It is now trying to change its way of thinking, such as working around the system, and using tools which can be developed to handle the large number of data. The main issue is the registration data from the institutions, but now it is looking into receiving data before the registration time.

On the new system, management looked at user requirements and undertook the requirements exercise enabling the new system to respond directly to the student needs. It is important to implement a culture change in the organisation.

NSFAS communicated with institutions that it will be changing its disbursement model when it receives funds. NSFAS will pay for what is in arrears with a little bit of advance payments. This way it can continue while the disbursement module is being revamped. 

NSFAS attempted to do the reconciliation for over a year now. The focus was on the system, but now it started a process of following the money along with fixing the system, to reconcile. It used Vaal University of Technology (VUT) as the case study, and the lessons learnt will be applied to the rest of the institutions.

Management took the matter of stuck students, as the result of the reconciliation differences between the Board and the Department. The reason why this process is taking long is attributed to various reasons, such as no longer qualifying as NSFAS recipients, or being enrolled in wrong courses, or it could just be differences of reconciliation with the institutions. In most cases these have nothing to do with the students, but the difficulty comes with administration.

Regarding the Public Audit Act, NSFAS knows, if one knowingly incurs irregular expenditure, the perpetrator will be liable for it or jailed for a term. It then becomes difficult taking a position not aligned with the law.

Management engaged with Treasury, and it is not advocating for the institutions to incur irregular expenditure. These are some of the challenges at implementation level. NSFAS knows what needs to be done to clear the students’ debt, but management must ensure it is done according to the law. Management can engage with the Board to find some form of amnesty to try and assist those students.

As for the budget earmarked for the laptops, this was supposed to be rolled out last year. NSFAS was going to fund these laptops from its own reserves to upfront fund the acquisition of the devices for the students. It would be paid for against the learning material allowances. Unfortunately, NSFAS could not pre-fund it and it would be done through the current period allowances.

An order for 180 000 devices was placed, and it is expected to be rolled out by April. The purchasing of these devices was not cancelled, but delayed.

Management engaged with institutions to move the students who were still enrolled in courses which are not funded, to courses which are funded, otherwise NSFAS will not be able to fund these students any further. Management is yet to receive feedback on this matter.

NSFAS wants to be in a position where there is certainty on the dates payments will be made. This was achieved with the TVET college students, but there are also challenges. For example, it found international syndicates trying to hack the platform. In the interim, making advance payments to the institutions will provide certainty for the date of allowance payments. The long term solution is the new system which will be acquired.

The allowances for private accommodation of many institutions were paid to landlords by institutions and by NSFAS. For the extended academic year, the Minister asked the private landlords not to charge students during the extended period. Some landlords charged students and others were chasing students away. However, some of these issues were able to be resolved last year.

Regarding an increasing number of enrolments and subsequent increased funding in the numbers and projections with the Department, these numbers are based on enrolment plans of the institutions. Not all students going into the institutions will be funded by NSFAS. The numbers are based on previous period conversion rates of applicants, and this was applied against the enrolment targets.

The SASSA grant beneficiaries are automatically funded and are not taken through the financial eligibility check.

As for the strategy for recovering monies from old NSFAS beneficiaries, NSFAS is working on a program with the office of the Deputy Minister. It is intended to galvanise students from rural areas to be aware of NSFAS, and also to apply for its benefits. It is also intended to showcase the recipients funded through NSFAS. NFSAS hopes this will invoke social responsibility. In the past, NSFAS was on the news for the wrong reasons. It is trying this approach, over and above the normal debt collection channels.

On private accommodation, there is a policy position which the Board is looking into. The view is, NSFAS may not have played its part in the role delegated to institutions regarding accreditation. Once this is finalised the Board will make a pronouncement.

Technically, the shorter academic year and the shortfalls in budget may balance. In the past, NSFAS could make advance payments to institutions because it had reserves. NSFAS should be in a position to make those payments to the extent there are savings in the current year. It is beginning to receive registration data, and some of this information was submitted timely. Two days ago there was a meeting with the CFO’s of the institutions to urge it to submit this information timely, to alleviate some of the pressures the institutions face.

The Department                                                            

Mr Qonde said the CACHE system was introduced for post-school learning system, to assist students after the Department learnt painful lessons regarding hiving the number of walk-ins in the institution, which resulted in chaos. The Department initiated a programme for career development services. It looks at introducing, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), a programme which will go to all schools. It targets Grade Eleven and Grade Twelve pupils, and teaches pupils about the career options which exist in the system, as well as the importance of applying early. It also includes the funding options within the system. The Department partnered with various stakeholders, including Non Government Organisations (NGOs), and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) also came into the party to publish this in 11 different languages. The Department is paying a lot of money for this.

The purpose of this programme is to inculcate the spirit of responsible citizenry so students know the question of applying, is the responsibility of the parent and the respective student.

Often there are students found wandering around, having not applied, but who get assisted by institutions and the Department. CACHE is able to communicate publicly for those who have not applied yet; the platforms and channels of assistance are made available for students to apply.

It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure all citizens take responsibility on matters primarily personal responsibility. Where one is falling short there are systems and mechanisms to land on.

On registration, institutions have different starts and dates, but in the system it shows late registration is administered up to mid-April. These institutions are accommodating registration for online learning and face to face. Due to the challenges at NSFAS, engagements were held with all institutions to grant extensions to accommodate the funding shortfalls in the system. Both TUT and SMU are attending to those matters and assured the Department no one will be left behind, including the first time NSFAS beneficiaries. The first time entrants of NSFAS will not be left out pending the outcome of the decision, which is currently being discussed.

As much as the Minister made a pronouncement, he received a letter from the DG at Treasury saying there is no new money to be made available to fund any shortfalls. Last week Wednesday, the Department had intense engagements, and funding options were consulted in the interim. The money which will come out in the end is the money which will be taken from the existing allocated funds through budget cuts across the system, or contingent reserves, or looking within the system. This means some of the programmes from within the system will slag because money will have to be made available to fund the students. The engagements at Cabinet today will explore those options.

On instability on the institutions, the voted funds in the Department is R94.095 billion; R78 billion goes to the University, R12 billion to TVET’s and R2.2 billion to CET’s. This compelled the Department to improvise on finding mechanisms for programme offerings in TVET’s and CET’s. Some of the programmes are funded through other mechanisms. The Department’s approach is to work with institutions and always make it a point for enrolment plans to speak to the funding available. Then institutions work out institutional plans. Some of these matters relate to competence of institutional management and governance. The Department offers support, and where there are challenges, the Department intervenes to offer support.

The debt is about individual students funded by parents, who were not eligible for NSFAS funding. This is the ongoing matter at Wits University. These are the issues most institutions grapple with. This seems to be quite rife at Wits University year-in-year-out.

The funding of post graduate becomes unthinkable when a decision needs to be made on funding first time students or post-graduate. There is a trade-off on this due to the limited funds in the fiscus. The Department’s position was to provide financial support to those who did not possess any qualifications. Post graduate funding is dwindling because there is no money. The post graduate component does not have a dedicated budget from the Department; it is bits and pieces collected from various stakeholders within and outside the sector.

The cooperatives detailed information will be made available to the Committee.

On accommodation, this is a priority for the Department, with the little resources it can mobilise. There are programmes at the moment to provide beds through infrastructure development. As an interim intervention, the Department engaged with universities to prioritise accommodation for first time students.

Filling posts is a matter being addressed, processing appointments at Deputy Director General (DDG) level is happening, and it is before the Department of Public Services and Administration (DPSA) to conduct quality checks.

Regarding management at institutional level, one of the programmes in the Department is looking at the management empowerment and capacity in institutions. One of the programmes is focusing on the development of management capacity. The view is to beef up and capacitate all layers of management in the institution.

The Department is saddened by the developments which come forth from Wits University, which led to a fatality. The Department is working hard with the institution to ascertain what happened, and to provide the support the institution needs during this time.

Unisa is a hot potato, and there is litigation ongoing, which at this point is sub-judice. The Minister is engaging with the parties to see if a common ground can be reached. Unisa cannot afford the enrolment of the 20 000. It is still struggling with the over-enrolment numbers.

The Chairperson commented on the social media account handler of NSFAS who tweeted anyone who received the R350 grant was not eligible for funding. Although this tweet was retracted, it was very careless. Management came out to rectify this and clarify the matter, which was appreciated.

The Department said, with the Chairperson of the Committee’s permission, any other responses will be provided in writing, if unanswered.

The meeting was adjourned.

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