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Memorandum from the Parliamentary Office
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 1041
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 25/03/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 09 OF 2011)
1041. Mr A P van der Westhuizen (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher
Education and Training:
(1) Whether the final report on the National Further Education and
Training (FET) College Summit that was held in September 2010
has been made public; if not, (a) why not and (b) when will it
be publicised;
(2) what challenges to the FET college sector were identified in the
report;
(3) whether his department has taken action with regard to any
content of the report; if not, why not; if so,
(4) whether his department's budget for the 2011-12 financial year
has been influenced in any way as a result of the findings
contained in the report; if not, what is the position in this
regard; if so, in what way;
(5) how will the outcomes of the report influence the future
performance agreement with the director-general? NW1159E
REPLY:
1) I will only publish the FET Summit Report once I have approved it,
this is in process.
(2) Four key challenges were identified in the report:
(a) There are serious gaps in legislation and policy for the
distribution of functions and responsibilities for steering and
monitoring the college system, to ensure their coherence and
articulation with general and higher education, as well as the SETA
landscape. This makes performance evaluation of the whole college
system both difficult and ineffective.
(b) The lack of a range of vocational and occupational learning
programmes to respond to the enormous social challenge of providing
opportunities to young people who are not in employment, education or
training (NEET).
(c) The current funding framework reflects the historical divide
between education and training, and findings suggest that this has led
to budget shortfalls and generally poor financial conditions at many
colleges.
(d) The employment provisions of the 2006 FET Colleges Act have had a
destabilising effect on colleges, with some unintended consequences.
The loss of qualified and experienced staff, unsatisfactory salaries
and conditions of employment, and tensions surrounding the reporting
lines and accountability of college principals and deputy principals
are but some of these consequences. The result in many instances has
been the erosion of trust between college staff and government and
between staff and college councils and management. Efforts to mend the
labour environment and build trusting relationships will be a major
challenge
(3) Following the recommendations in the FET Summit Report, I have
established a Steering Committee comprising four Work Streams, each
dealing with one of the issues indicated above. Under the chairmanship
of the Acting DG, the Steering Committee presents its reports and
recommendations to the Department. I have also attended the reporting
session in January 2011. The work streams have already started work
in the colleges, the initial work done by the Work Streams is on the
collegesâ enrolments, registration, financial planning and programme
offerings.
(4)Yes, as indicated under (5 below).The report however does indicate
the need for the development of a planning and funding model for
colleges that will reflect the opportunities that exist in the newly
created post-school system to create an integrated and well-
articulated post-school education and training system. The funding
model will have to take into account all potential sources of funding,
such as conditional grants, voted funds, SETA and NSF funds, as well
as any other potential funding sources, before allocating funds to
colleges. This issue will be dealt with by the Steering Committee.
(5) Most of the recommendations contained in the report have been
incorporated into the key outputs of the Strategic and Operational plans of
the Department for the period 2010/11- 2014/15. A draft of the plan is
available in the Department.
Compiler/contact persons: Ms A Singh
Ext: 5791
ACTING DIRECTOR â GENERAL
STATUS:
DATE:
QUESTION 1041 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED
Dr B NZIMANDE, MP
MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING
STATUS:
DATE: