Honourable Chairperson, hon members, fellow South Africans, Minister, the late former president Nelson Mandela, father of the nation, who deeply cared about all South Africans, black, white, coloured and Indian, once said, "the power of education
extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation".
Madiba also said "education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world". It is with these wise words that we need to take responsibility and find solutions for the challenges we are facing within the higher education sector. Minister, I have read yours and the Deputy Minister's budget speeches on Higher Education attentively and I am particularly encouraged by the following statements made by you. That you have recognized that the well-being of our students is challenged every single day, that suicide is the second leading cause of death for higher education students - as many as 25% of our students interviewed reported some suicide thoughts in a recent survey and that one in four university students have been diagnosed with depression.
However, that only one out of six students receives minimally adequate mental health treatment. I would like to commend you for making such services more accessible to our students through your free mobile health and wellness screening on HIV, TB, STI, contraceptives and family planning and that this will al so include psycho social services for supporting students on gender-based violence, mental illnesses, alcohol and substance abuse, as well as
assisting student who are marginalized based on gender diversity and disability.
The Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS Programme, HEAIDS, programme also promotes the prevention, detection and management of non-communicable diseases. It is encouraging that the HEAIDS programme has facilitated the establishment of 80 clinics at TVET colleges and that they conducted 141 000 blood pressure measurements and 85 000 plus blood sugar tests across universities and TVET colleges.
We will be taking a very keen interest over the next few years to see whether the programme will be sustainable and successful a other student is a successful student. Minister, I am particularly encouraged that you also indicated during our select committee meeting that your department would endeavour to increase the number of PhD graduates in universities, focusing on especially amongst others, women in this field. I look forward to seeing what kind of assistance these students will receive from your department to achieve this goal in the next few years l am eager see these young people receive their PhD's with the assistance of your department.
Furthermore, notwithstanding the above good intention of the department, l would like us to focus on the burning issues facing higher education. National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, has lurched from one crisis to the next, with very little effective intervention from the department of higher education and training, putting the futures of many students on the line. NSFAS is a R30 billion organization which serves hundreds of thousands of students, has been placed under administration last year and has been the site of continuous, persistent criticism over the past 20 years.
In the past NSFAS allowances for necessities such as books, food and travel had been ring fenced through a voucher system. However, this was subsequently scrapped, with allocating cash to students instead. Minister, my question is, who made this decision? Was it Higher Education and Training or was it NSFAS? Since the administrator has been appointed much has been made of the backlog in payments to institutions, however, what impact has this had on institutions?
Payments have been made, but institutions are not sure who the students are that these payments have been made to and this in turn has created massive problems for institutions, the reconciliation of bursaries is a nightmare to say the least. Reports from the Eastern Cape regarding the abuse of students allowances on alcohol is
equally concerning. The South African Bookseller's Association (SABA) has also reported a massive decline in purchases of text books for academic purposes. In fact, they had to lay off staff and close stores. Some statistics have indicated that less than 10% of book allowances are spent on academic study material in 2019.
This is extremely concerning as it will eventually have a direct impact on the successful graduation of students. To date NSFAS has failed to pay some students their allowances. Last week I received an email from a 3rd year BSc Chemical Engineering student from Wits University pleading for assistance with his NSFAS bursary which to date has not paid a single cent. He is ready to quit his studies should assistance not be forthcoming soon.
Our youth need to be able to meaningfully contribute to the country's economy and without adequate and timeous access to funding from NSFAS, many young people will be denied this opportunity. What remains a huge concern is that despite the billions made available, there is still insufficient funding for students who cannot afford fees or living expenses. Additionally, the department knows that the levels of student funding at present are unsustainable in the long term - but is unable to find any immediate solutions to it.
Secondly, Minister, your department has indicated that the development of artisans remains a priority. Your department has indicated that you are actively involved in the "Decade of Artisan", a drive to encourage young people to venture into artisanal careers towards meeting the National Development Plan of producing 30000 artisans per annum. Last year the deputy secretary general of the ANC, Jessie Duarte indicated that there was a shortfall of 40,000 qualified artisans in South Africa.
Recent statistics also indicated that the average age of artisans in South Africa is 55 years, while the number of young people being trained to produce the next generation of artisans was only a fraction of what the country needed. Nithia Pillay, Director Customer Services for Samsung South Africa, has been quoted saying that there are so many more opportunities for youth with practical skills - South Africa needs more skilled labour." However, it seems that due to a lack of throughput and success rates at colleges qualified artisans still remain an issue more than ten years after the introduction National Certificate Vocational, NCV, courses.
The poor quality of teaching in many of the TVET colleges also results in a high dropout rate among our learners. It is therefore concerning that the largest chunk of your budget is allocated to
higher education which is at R73,4 billion versus only R12,7 billion for TVET Colleges. To guarantee that our youth are given hope for the future, it is imperative to change the narrative around what it means to be an artisan. We need to make sure that these much-needed skills are appropriately taught. We need to strongly revise the budget allocation to TVET colleges in order to promote the increase of artisan development in the country. Furthermore, that career opportunities are opened for those who choose to become artisans.
Employment after graduation is of huge concern to the youth of our country, for both qualified artisans and university graduates. Where the DA governs, job creation takes centre stage. We continue to ensure that young people are equipped with the necessary entrepreneurial skills to build businesses and employ more young people. Youth cafes are providing the youth with much needed career guidance, access to skills and personal development. Economic and social development opportunities are also provided to fight unemployment.
Minister, as alluded in your Department's Annual Performance Plan you aim to increase access to Higher Education as well as TVET Colleges, as there are many students who qualify and have ambitions to further their studies, however, accommodation, access and funding
still prevent many young people from entering institutions of higher learning. We hope and we will be keenly watching over the next few years where this access to these will be improved on, whether the student funding will be less complicated and that quality academic teaching and learning programmes will lead to our youth getting employment.