Hon Deputy Speaker and hon members of this august House, between 18 and 22 June this year, the committee visited five institutions in the Eastern Cape: Water Sisulu University; Fort Hare; Buffalo City; Lovedale and Port Elizabeth FET Colleges in our routine oversight work. Amongst the issues that we had to look at was that of infrastructural challenges in our institutions, students access and success, institutional transformation, and so on.
At Walter Sisulu University, the committee observed that the University is currently under administration and is technically bankrupt, operating on a deficit of about R135 million. We have also noticed that since the merger process of the three institutions that constitute this university, there hasn't been harmonisation of several policies, including the human resources policies of the institution. So, there has not been an effective institutional integration.
During our interaction with stakeholders in this university, they expressed concerns relating to conflicts of interest by some members of the administrator's team. We have noted that there is quite a huge need with regard to financial aid, particularly to academically deserving students from indigent backgrounds.
We noted in this institution - which is also a problem that is pervasive in various other institutions - the issue of infrastructural dilapidation - an environment that is not quite conducive to effective learning for our students. We have seen leaking water pipes, toilets that cannot flush and the fact that students are bathing in cold water. We think that the department should give attention to those matter, in order to ensure effective learning for students.
At the University of Fort Hare, we were impressed with the cordial relations amongst stakeholders and the institutional stability that characterises that institution. However, we did also note a problem of inadequacy of accommodation. The university also informed us that they had actually sent an application to the Department of Arts and Culture to have some precincts in that university that were utilised by Comrade Nelson Mandela and other luminaries of our struggle, declared as heritage sites. We think that the matter will be given due consideration by the relevant department. We have conversed with the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture and that matter is, indeed, being attended to.
At Buffalo City FET College, which shares similar problems with other colleges, there is a decline in student enrolment and an acute shortage of student residences. There are delays regarding issuance of academic transcripts and certificates we refer to as the National Certificate Vocational, NCV, and 191 reports. We are impressed and encouraged by the fact that we are seeing efforts to ensure that those results are really issued. The information technology platform of the department has improved to enable proper capturing of students' results.
There is a high failure rate of the NCV programmes. It is argued that this is precipitated by inadequate teacher development in the FET sector. There were issues that were raised by stakeholders regarding race relations, racism and nepotism. We think the department must take note of all these issues.
We recommend, amongst others, that the administrators at Walter Sisulu University must ensure that systems and internal control measures are put in place to prevent financial mismanagement. We recommend that institutional policies must be integrated and harmonised so that we could have a single institution in terms of policy framework.
The department must look into the allegations that were raised regarding conflicts of interest and take corrective action, if necessary. We would like to urge the Department of Public Works to look into the long-standing application for the transfer of houses occupied by staff at the University of Fort Hare. We have conversed with the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and we are encouraged that the matter has been referred to the Minister and that they will look into that.
The last matter relates to infrastructural dilapidation and student residences. We are saying that this matter should be given priority, particularly in the postschool education landscape. I understand that one of our colleagues, Comrade Bhanga, who is very young and consistent in our meetings, must make a declaration. I hope that declaration is not in the line of what he said earlier in the House, that institutional autonomy, academic freedom and scientific research is under threat in our country, because I think, as a young learned man ... [Time expired.]
There was no debate.
Deputy Speaker, I move:
That the Report be adopted.
Declarations of vote:
Hon Deputy Speaker, the DA supports this report, and it also has to be stated that the portfolio committee embarked on a very thorough and intensive oversight visit to these different institutions. The situation we encountered at the Walter Sisulu University cannot be described in words. The state of the student residences is such that students cannot and should not be accommodated there; they are uninhabitable. Therefore, it begs the question: How did it happen that things deteriorated to that level? How was a situation allowed to deteriorate to a point where a campus is virtually destroyed? Where was the university management - the university council?
The task of the administrator is near impossible. What should be clear from the findings of this oversight visit is that we cannot allow situations at higher education institutions to deteriorate to a point of near collapse. The councils of higher education institutions have to take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously. The DA recommends that the appointment of council members has to be done according to the requirements stated in the Higher Education Act and with the necessary circumspection.
Regarding the FET colleges, it was clear that much needs to be done to make them institutions of first choice. Not only are certificates outstanding for months and even years, but student do not get the results from the department timeously. This often means that students do not know whether they have passed subjects or not and can continue to the next level. It is unacceptable that students should be exposed to this kind of uncertainty.
It is of no use to promote the importance of postschool education and training, but one after the other stumbling block is placed in front of students; ranging from problems with inadequate financial assistance, lack of proper accommodation, transport difficulties, poorly equipped lecturers, problems with textbooks, late release of results and certificates, and not even mentioning management problems. It is clear that government is doing the students of this country a great disservice, and it is failing the youth of our country. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, Cope will also accept and adopt the report by the portfolio committee. I must say that, as a person from the Eastern Cape, it scares us to see an institution of this calibre under this difficult condition, hon Nkwinti. It is sad that so many bad things and other failures in this country should always be attributed to the Eastern Cape.
The collapse of Walter Sisulu University is as a result of us as government, the ANC-led government. That university alone, the former University of Transkei, Unitra, used to produce some of the best doctors and lawyers in this country. After we took over Walter Sisulu, that university is what it is. Whose problem is it? Is it Walter Sisulu University or the policies we introduce and how we operate things?
Since the Minister of Higher Education and Training, hon Blade Nzimande, took over power, more than five universities have collapsed under his regime. He has only introduced administrators to run universities. The danger with this is that we will be compromising academic freedom and institutional autonomy. The hands of the ANC-led government are more of controlling and running these universities than giving these universities the capacity to run themselves.
I am inspired by the plaque in the library of the University of Cape Town, UCT. UCT was the first university in this country which, at an early stage, rejected the apartheid government's interference in academic freedom, when it instructed UCT to enforce the removal of black students. This move by the ANC will do nothing else to universities but produce failure.
The Minister of Higher Education and Training has just lost a case at the Central University of Technology, CUT, by intervening on the basis of an anonymous letter. Today he is saying that he is going to change the law for him to have more power to intervene in universities. You must remember that these are the universities that played a role in forcing the apartheid government to enrol black students.
The Minister failed to appoint his friends at these universities. If you look at members of council ministerial representatives, you will see why there is no proper governance. He appointed his young friends in the Communist Party who have no academic qualifications and have never seen a university's door. [Applause.] Some of them do not even have a matric certificate. We can name them. Some of them do not have matric ... [Interjections.] Now they are running universities. Therefore, Minister Blade Nzimande must stop running these universities through administrators. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker and hon members, I wish to associate myself and my party, the IFP, with the challenges and recommendations contained in the report which is being tabled this afternoon. Some of these challenges and recommendations will need some emphasis.
There is a saying which says, "Garbage in, garbage out". This is particularly so when it comes to the challenge which was identified by the committee, where FET lessons are taught by lecturers who do not have subject competencies. With such a situation, you cannot expect to produce good material coming from these FETs. [Applause.] This is a very serious challenge.
There is also a perennial problem of nondelivery of textbooks, even in FET colleges. Again, how do you expect FET colleges to produce and function successfully if they don't have the necessary recent material? We just hope that the department will take these challenges and recommendations very seriously. Either wittingly or unwittingly, you have a situation where these FET colleges reduce the number. Those FETs that were run by previously or still disadvantaged communities are still very poor in terms of infrastructure; and some of them are really haunted.
The other day I was at one of them. I asked about 10 students some questions, and all told me that they were studying human management, "whatever that means". Therefore, my argument is that we may, wittingly or unwittingly, be adding to this high unemployment rate amongst our graduates in these FETs.
Lastly, we have always argued that we may pump millions and millions of rands into our education system, but nowhere in the whole world will you find an education system which is better that its teachers. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, we have noted the challenges raised by the committee's oversight report and do take them seriously. We will continue to monitor the progress of the Department of Higher Education and Training in resolving them. We should acknowledge the work that the department is doing towards mitigating some of these challenges, and even the members of the portfolio committee from the opposition know what is being done to mitigate them.
On the issue of the shortage of student accommodation, the department has allocated about R850 million for the 2012-13 financial year for the purposes of refurbishing dilapidated residences and to build new ones, which is a concern of the committee. The department is also engaging with other financial institutions to provide more funding for student accommodation. We hope that institutions will give this matter the urgency it deserves.
Furthermore, the draft policy on professional certificates for FET colleges, which is one of the challenges they are faced with, was published by the Department of Higher Education and Training for public comment. We are hoping that the policy will contribute towards providing FET lecturers with discipline and teaching specialisation. Improving success in the throughput rate is a challenge at the moment.
On the delay in releasing students' certificates, work is under way in the department and Umalusi is to finalise the verification of students' results, and printing and dispatching certificates to the examination centres. The department has committed that this task will be over by 31 October 2012. As a committee, we have committed ourselves that we are going to monitor and see progress in that, but at least for South Africans we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Come October 2012, all the students will have received their certificates.
On the issue of the administrators, which hon Bhanga has talked about, again, I think, the Minister has taken a very good stance by saying each and every college must have a qualified chief financial officer, CFO. Where a chartered accountant might be retired or whatsoever, the CFO must make sure that he/she takes over the issues of finances in that college so as to make sure that in future we don't see much of the administrators, because most of the time it is because of financial mismanagement and the like. We really applaud those good steps that the Minister and the department have taken. Hopefully, we are going to see some changes in those FET colleges, and thus avoid having more of them under administration. Members of the portfolio committee have already discussed these things and we all applauded them. It is only political posturing when we see parties coming here just to shout about these things, when these are things that we discussed and agreed upon in the committee. Thank you. [Applause.]
Declarations of vote made on behalf of the Democratic Alliance, Congress of the People, Inkatha Freedom Party and African National Congress.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.