Nzimande encouraged by smooth start to academic year
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande was encouraged by the relatively smooth start of the 2017 academic year compared to the turbulent 2016 academic year, he said when tabling his department's budget vote in parliament on Tuesday.
The tabling of the budget vote comes shortly after the World Economic Forum on Africa whose key theme was the fourth Industrial Revolution.
Nzimande acknowledged that although the theme presents both a big opportunity and a threat to African continental development, it has left room for him to ponder on the kind of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges the country needs.
He said that one of the biggest challenges for parliament is the need to build financial resources to build a vibrant TVET college sector that is capable of absorbing millions of the countries unemployed youth and equipping them with the needed skills to strengthen the economy.
"In fact, failure to adequately resource our TVET colleges may as well be the single biggest undoing in growing and developing an inclusive economy in our country," he said.
He also made it clear that his department was waiting for the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training that is currently looking into the feasibility of fee-free higher education and training for the poor and working class.
Since the establishment of the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa (TEFSA), the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has awarded students around R72 billion in loans and bursaries.
Nzimande commended NSFAS for their significant work in not only supporting 123,332 TVET college students this year but also supporting 194,353 university students, covering 78,413 students for first entrance and 115,940 returning students.
Despite the additional amounts that have been poured into NSFAS there still seems to be insufficient funding to support students who meet the academic requirements at universities.
University education, however, has had calls for decolonisation in universities and this requires a new kind of academic, therefore a University Capacity Development Program (UCDP) will be implemented in the beginning of 2018 academic year that will priorities historically disadvantaged universities.
The new program will allocate R900 million in the first year that will increase nominally in the coming years. A Ministerial Task Team will also be put in place to investigate the obstacles to the production of black South African academics as 83 percent of all university professors are still white in our countries 23-years of democracy.
The department has committed to dealing with the challenges faced by historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) and ensuring that all universities are in a position to deliver quality education.
"We have established the Historically Disadvantaged Institutions Development Grant (HDI-DG) whose overall purpose is to enable HDIs to develop themselves towards fully realising their potential as universities. Funding of approximately R2.5 billion over a five-year period has been earmarked for this programme. After five years, the impact of the funding will be assessed," he said.
"I also would like to categorically state that there is absolutely no intention to privatise or hand over NSFAS to the banks. For as long as I am Minister no such thing will happen, contrary to some rumours in this regard. I call upon all stakeholders to engage meaningfully with the discussion document."