House Chair, I would like to acknowledge the presence of the Minister and to thank him for his ongoing support. Director-General, all our officials and hon members, I think a lot has been said about the budget that has been allocated and I will not repeat that. I just want to refer briefly to the premise upon which we present our programme of action and the Budget Vote for the current year.
I think the hon member from the DA did make mention of the New Growth Path. I will also make reference to the Industrial Policy Action Plan and say that whatever we do, we aim to produce learners who will be able to respond to the challenges or the needs of the labour market.
In my contribution to the debate I want to focus on one area of our programme of action and that is the realisation of social inclusion in the posteducation and training system. In terms of our budget allocation, we see an increase of about R2 million this year compared to last year. It was R2,496 million last year, compared to R4,494 million for the current year.
The premise upon which we look at the principle of social inclusion in our education landscape emanates from what was said in the Freedom Charter, namely that the doors of learning and of culture shall be opened. We remain committed to that today. As we deal with the question of transformation, our position is simple: We expect, accept and respect the autonomy of universities. Our interpretation is, however, opposed to the current position of disconnected institutions. We expect our institutions to be located in a context and be responsive to the developmental needs of society. Our understanding is that a university has three elements or dimensions: teaching, research and community engagement. It is therefore important to maintain a balance between institutional autonomy and public accountability. Universities are supported by public funds and governments have a duty to monitor the use of public funds and respond to the needs of society.
In my input I look at three areas, as articulated in the NSDS III, which is our founding policy document. One of them is transformation issues. We look at HIV/Aids, which is one area that is funded by the department and is one of the government's national priorities. As the sector of higher education and training said last year, we are participating in the First Things First campaign, which is a very strategic outreach project for our university students. During the 2011 academic year, 23 000 students were tested for HIV/Aids. In 2012 we hope to increase this campaign and to extend it to our FET colleges as well. The number of people who are responding clearly points to the need to enhance our capacity in respect of campus health and wellbeing.
Another area which I think is important to mention - although the Minister touched on it - is the question of gender. This is a core aspect of transformation. We are seeing an increase in the number of female students, but we certainly believe that a lot more needs to be done in the area of master's and doctoral students, especially when it comes to women. Again, the department will be increasing support and have a special scholarship programme specifically earmarked for women. In the area of research, after master's and doctoral degrees, for people to be researchers and innovators calls for a special investment. We are closely monitoring the number of women, in particular, who are applying at that level and we hope that through support many more women will gradually bring about the required balance.
The other area we will be looking at as a form of promoting an inclusive education system is the area of disability. The department has committed itself to the development of guidelines for facilitating the inclusion of students with disabilities. The department will partner with the National Institute for the Deaf to pilot a model for the training of deaf people. A total investment of R76 million over a three-year period will allow the NID to increase its intake by 40 students to 120 on an annual basis. Regarding the NSFAS grant of R3,4 billion, excluding FET colleges, R63 million is allocated to students with disabilities for bursaries and supporting aids in the financial year. We all know how important it is in this country to enhance our effort in this area, as many of our disabled people have been marginalised.
Another area of transformation that we are continuously looking at is the rural-urban dichotomy within our education system. We all know the serious challenges and multiple problems faced by young people in rural areas, but through our outreach projects - the Minister calls them "road shows", I call them "education iindaba" - we visited quite a number of areas. We have the statistics regarding the number of people who are benefiting from that. Through our career exhibitions, which the Minister referred to earlier, many more young people from rural areas have come forward, hence the rise in intake numbers, even at our FET colleges, which was referred to earlier.
As part of transformation we need to say something about the new college model that will deliver education in the system. Here we look at alignment and curriculum articulation, starting at the lowest level and ensuring that a person is able to migrate from a community college to FET college to university - to grow as the need arises and opportunities avail themselves.
I have heard a lot of concerns regarding FET colleges, but I would just like hon members to understand that we all have to commit ourselves as we did when we were establishing universities, which are world-class institutions today. We have to commit more resources, coordinate our efforts, collaborate and gradually ensure that those institutions are academically acceptable.
Regarding historically disadvantaged universities, the announced budget allocations are really aimed at ensuring that we turn the situation around. We are looking at all fronts, starting with infrastructure. Academic architecture is very important at all levels, including research. Also, the use of information and communications technology, or ICT, is a means through which, we strongly believe, we can overcome the divide, especially between urban and rural young people. We are already seeing results following the work that has been done, particularly through career guidance by the SA Qualifications Authority and quite a number of rural people have been reached through ICT. Also, in the area of research, the South African National Research Network is playing a great role to promote co-operation in terms of research between different institutions.
I want to say that, with the announced budget, we are open, transparent and committed to cooperating with all South Africans, public and private, in ensuring that we are transparent to the masses. We hide no challenges and difficulties and we commit to ensuring not only access but also quality postschool education.