DHET on its Quarter 4 performance; Certificate/Diploma backlog: SITA & Umalusi briefing

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

14 June 2017
Chairperson: Ms C September (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Umalusi and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) all worked together to achieve success in eradicating the backlogs in issuing certificates. At present, only 665 certificates were outstanding. The number of outstanding certificates represented 0.3 percent of the number of certificates that were outstanding at the beginning of the year. Some of the strategies the DHET employed to deal with the backlogs was the development of a new IT system specifically dedicated to exams, the introduction of a sign-off declaration by the principal of a college who was the ex-officio examinations officer, convening weekly meetings with the various departments and the eradication of subject certificates.

The debts owed to Umalusi by private colleges amounted to 20 per cent of the organizations total budget. It was impossible to have no backlog in the issuing of certificates for various reasons given. The DHET spent a total of 99.9 per cent of its budget vote during the 2016/17 financial year. The DHET generally met the targets it set to be achieved during the fourth quarter. Some of the targets that the Department set for itself did not necessarily align with those that appeared in the strategic plan.

Members questioned why the quality of information that came from the colleges deteriorated over the years. The Committee also asked whether the DHET put in place sufficient systems in order to make sure that there would not be any backlogs in the future. It was also noted that it was disturbing that the challenges the DHET expected to face in the future were the same challenges that the DHET was facing at the beginning of the current Parliament. It was noted that certificates played an important socio-economic role in the life of students and backlogs should not happen again. It was noted that the DHET did not compromise on making collages accountable to the Department. 

Meeting report

The Chairperson started the meeting by sending out condolences on behalf of the Committee to the Minister of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Dr B E Nzimande for the loss his family suffered. His mother passed away. She also said the Deputy Minister Mr Mduduzi Manana would not be able to attend the meeting because he had to be in a Cabinet meeting. It would be untenable for the DHET to not be represented in Cabinet.

Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde, Director General, DHET, told the Committee that the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Umalusi and the DHET would give a joint presentation on the progress of the eradication of the National Certificate Vocational (NC(V)) and Diploma backlog. He said that this would happen because all three agencies worked together in order to achieve the results that would be presented.

Ms Nadine Pole, Chief Director: National Examinations and Assessment, DHET, highlighted that there were a total of 665 NC(V) certificates that were outstanding. She mentioned that 657 of these certificates were still outstanding because of arrears due to Umalusi by the private colleges that administered the examinations. She said that the number of outstanding certificates represented 0.3 percent of the number of certificates that were outstanding at the beginning of the year. She said that some of the reasons that gave rise to the backlog in issuing certificates were inadequate and inaccurate information being received by the Department. She also said that there were a total of 46 511 outstanding National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) certificated. These certificates were outstanding from as far back as 1991. The DHET planed on issuing all outstanding certificates from November 2015.

She said that amongst the plans the Department had to eradicate the backlogs and to make sure that there were no backlogs in the future, was the development of a new IT system specifically dedicated to exams, the introduction of a sign-off declaration by the principal of a college who was the ex-officio examinations officer, convening weekly meetings with the various departments and the eradication of subject certificates which would be replaced with certificate for the whole course. She said she was generally happy with the progress made by the DHET in eradicating the backlog in certification.

Discussion

Mr A van der Westhuizen (DA) asked why the quality that came from the colleges deteriorated over the years. He said this was a matter of concern because the DHET had sophisticated head offices and equipment. These facilities ought to be used for the benefit of the colleges. He also asked whether the DHET was adequately prepared to cater for the issuing of certificates in other sectors of education that sought to develop. Specific reference was made to the adult education for matric studies. He also wanted to know how many people were aware that they qualified for the level 6 Diploma after receiving certificates from the DHET.

Ms J Killian (ANC) congratulated the Department on progress achieved in the eradication of the backlogs. She added that the achievements were good considering the fact that the Committee had put a lot of pressure on SITA, the DHET and Umalusi. She also wanted to know whether there were enough systems in place to make sure that there would not be any backlogs in the future. She wanted to know how the DHET was dealing with the arrears that private colleges incurred. She also asked whether the Committee thought it prudent to pass legislation that would compel these colleges to make the payments. She was also concerned about colleges that allowed under qualified candidates sit exams. She said that this caused a problem for the DHET because the candidates would be expecting to have certificates issued in their favour whilst the DHET would not issue these certificates.

Ms M Nkadimeng (ANC) wanted to know whether the DHET would be able to meet the deadline of releasing certificates within three months of candidates sitting exams. She was concerned whether this deadline would apply to the exams that would be sat in August 2017. She also wanted to know whether the target of having all outstanding certificates issued by the end of June 2017 would be met.

Mr M Mbatha (EFF) said that he was disappointed that the challenges that the DHET expected to face in the future were the same challenges that the DHET was facing at the beginning of the current Parliament. He also wanted to know how the DHET planed on addressing the poor quality data that colleges were sending to it. He also stated that some colleges alleged that some certificates from over three years ago were still outstanding. He also mentioned that this outstanding issue was prevalent in rural areas.

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) congratulated the DHET on the progress it made in eradicated the backlog. She called for stern disciplinary measures to be taken against colleges that inhibited the DHET from issuing out certificates. She also mentioned that the various college student representative councils still reported that there was a serious backlog in the issuing of certificates. She wanted to know how these conflicting reports could be addressed.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) said he was happy that the backlog was significantly eradicated. He also mentioned that the DHET needed to make sure that these backlogs did not happen again. He wanted to know why the Department of Basic Education did not have the same problem with issuing certificates. He also said that certificates were a very important document in the South African society. He also stated that denying a student a certificate that they earned through hard work affected a student’s social status in life and painted a very negative picture of such student not having successfully completed his studies.

Mr E Siwela (ANC) asked why colleges would allow under qualified students to sit for exams. He also wanted to know what steps the DHET was taking to deal with colleges that did not pay their dues and gave rise to backlog certificates.

The Chairperson said that the DHET needed to learn from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) success story in dealing with the backlog it suffered in distributing funds to students. She added that the DHET should take responsibility for issuing certificates and should not pass the blame on the colleges. She also mentioned that timelines and deadlines needed to be met and maintained.

Mr Qonde responded by saying that he agreed that a certificate was a very important social symbol in society. He said that TVET colleges had a total of 7 exam cycles in a year. He also added that there were a total of 58 subjects that were examined throughout the year. The high numbers of candidates and exams made the issuing of certificates a complicated and delicate endeavour. He said that the DHET would not compromise on the requirement of making colleges accountable. He also said that there was no distinction between colleges located in rural and urban areas.

Ms Pole said that the requirement to have college principals’ sign-off on the information provided started in 2017. She also said that the DHET engaged career departments in various colleges to inform various graduates that they did qualify to study towards a national diploma. She also mentioned that the system in the DHET did not discriminate between rural and urban collages. She said that the DHET was confident that it would meet the 3 month deadline for the issuing of certificates.  She mentioned that student protests were some of the reasons colleges allowed under qualified students to sit exams. This way the colleges passed the buck to the DHET who would then not issue a certificate.

Dr Mafu Rakometsi, CEO, Umalusi, said the Monday morning meetings that they were having with the DHET were very helpful in identifying and recommending solutions to various problems. He said that there was a debt totalling R2.3 million due from private colleges. He also stated that this debt represented 20 percent of Umalusi’s budget. He said Umalusi would insist on payment from these colleges. He said Umalusi introduced Standard Operating Protocols in order to get everyone in the department working even in the absence of other co-employees.

The Chairperson also wanted to know what specific steps were being taken against private colleges that defaulted in payment.

Mr Mbatha asked whether the DHET had any authority over private colleges. He said that producing a certificate was surely not merely a customer service obligation that the DHET was meeting.

Ms Killian strongly recommended that legal action against the colleges be taken.

Mr Kekana agreed with Ms Killian’s suggestion. He also said that the colleges were private businesses that would do all they could to make a profit and the DHET should be hard on the colleges as well. He added that if there were any subsidies given to such private colleges, such subsidies should stop immediately.

Dr Rakometsi said Umalusi would not write off any debts as bad debts. He added that Umalusi would pursue all monies owed to it. He however mentioned that caution would be exercised. He added that advice that he obtained from various legal practitioners showed that once legal action was taken to recover debts, 20 percent of debtors would pay immediately, 60 percent would eventually pay and the remaining 20 percent would not pay in the final analysis. He also added that legal fees would have to be considered as well.

Mr Qonde said the backlog of certification would never really hit zero. He said this because there were a lot of other variables at play. Some of the variables he mentioned were fly-by-night colleges, colleges that the DHET ordered to be shut down, colleges that were affected by stringent regulations and those that were facing criminal proceedings. He added that the last two situations were easier to handle because one could trace the proprietors of the institutions. He said the first two classifications were harder to deal with because the proprietors were generally untraceable.

The Chairperson stated that she was interested in receiving a progress report on the steps taken in order to deal with delinquent private colleges no later than August.

Mr Reinek Mgiba, Director: Strategic Monitoring, DHET and Mr Theuns Tredoux, Chief Financial Officer, DHET, gave the presentation on the forth quarterly performance of the DHET. Mr Mgiba said that out 47 projects sought to be finalized during the 4th quarter, 37 was successfully completed. That represented a success rate of 73 percent. He also added that there was significant success on the remaining 10 projects. He said that the DHET targeted the finalization of 19 projects specifically for Universities and 13 was completed successfully. He also said that some of the reports on these projects were published on the DHET website. He also said that the incomplete projects for Universities involved policy creation on issues such as the internationalization of higher education, the creation of the policy on creative and innovation outputs and the report on the 2015 research output of universities. He said the 2015 report was approved by the Director General on the 29th of March 2017 but was erroneously not published on the DHET website by the 29th of March 2017 deadline. He nevertheless stated that the report was since published.

He said the Department planned to have eight projects which specifically targeted TVET colleges finalized during the 4th quarter. Of the eight, five was successfully completed. He said some of the outstanding projects included the finalization of the national admission and promotion guidelines for NC(V) and the establishment of a coordinating structure for stakeholder engagement known as the South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET). He however mentioned that the Director General approved the appointment of a fund and Human Resources Management Service Provider for the SAIVCET and the unit was expected to start functioning during the 2017/18 financial period.  He also added that all five targets that the DHET set to achieve for the Community Education and Training Colleges in the 4th quarter was successfully met. He said that some of the outstanding targets from the 3rd quarter were still to be met. He added that the DHET did not have data on the performance of the CET colleges. He also mentioned that there was an improvement in the pass rate of national artisan learners at INDLELA from 54 to 55 per cent. In addition to that, the DHET targeted to have 67 percent of graduate artisans either employed or self-employed and that target was passed and stood at 79 percent. The DHET planned to have 120 000 work place learning opportunities made available to artisans but managed to secure 148 517 opportunities.

Mr Tredoux said the DHET spent 99.9 percent of its budget vote for the 4th quarter. He said that the average spending for normal operational activities which included compensation for employees stood at 99.4 percent. The budget set aside for examiners and moderators was all spent. He also mentioned that the under expenditure for the financial year amounted to R50.717 million. This was down from R84.584 million in the previous financial year. He said the largest proportion of unspent money came from the compensation for employees which fell short by R47 million.

Ms J Killian (ANC) asked whether the money that was left over would be sent back to National Treasury or whether it would be rolled over to the next financial year. She also wanted to know how many disciplinary matters dragged beyond the 90 day finalization period, how long they had over shot this 90 day deadline and what plans the DHET had to make sure this issue was not a recurring problem. She wanted to know why there was no data to report on in slide 18 and why the data in slide 19 was not verified. She also asked why the DHET was only able to make sure that only 71 percent of colleges met good governance standards when the target was 100 percent.

Ms Nkadimeng wanted to know why the DHET did not make sure that colleges hit the 100 percent target for good governance as well.

Ms Mchunu asked why the community service for graduates was not implemented.  She wanted to know what the financial implications were of this community service policy and whether the DHET sought and obtained legal advice on its implementation. She also wanted to know why the DHET spent 100 percent of the budget vote dedicated to TVET colleges but did not achieve all the goals the Department set for itself. She also asked how much the DHET would be paying for the Fund and Human Resources Management team.

Mr Mbatha noted that there were some changes in the DHET strategic plan and the goals that it set for itself. He cautioned against such poor management and planning.

Mr Van der Westhuizen also lamented the absence of data from the presentation. He said some of the data such as pass rates and enrolment figures were basic and its absence was negligence on the DHET’s part. He also wondered why only 71 percent of the colleges met good governance standards.

The Chairperson also lamented over the lack of data in the report. She queried why the data was unavailable and yet the DHET filed a report with National Treasury which contained the same information which ought to be presented to the Committee. She also noted that there were some differences in the Department’s strategic plan and the report presented to Parliament. She asked whether the under expenditure in the administration was a reflection of the DHET capacity to execute its mandate. She also mentioned that community service for graduates was something that the health sector could benefit from and asked why this policy was not implemented.

Mr Qonde replied that policy development was not the sole responsibility of the DHET. He said the Executive came up with the policy and the DHET would find ways of implementing that policy in its strategic plan. He also noted that those new policies may give rise to changes in the strategic plan outcomes. He said he noted that the community service programme for graduates would cost the fiscus approximately R10 billion in order to finance 106 000 graduates. He said that the financial burden on the state could not justify the implementation of the policy in the face of other pressing priorities.

He added that the missing data was largely a result of TVET and CET colleges that did not have sufficient information technology systems in place. He also added that the DHET sent charted accountants into the individual colleges to assist with financial reporting amongst other interventions. He also added that the University of the Western Cape was accredited to offer training for TVET educators and about 50 teachers was enrolled there. He also said that the other 11 universities were expected to start training TVET educators in the 2018 calendar year.

He said that under expenditure on examiners and moderators was a result of the DHET not receiving claims for payment on time by the service providers. He also noted that some of the service providers from 2016 were only submitting their claims now. As a result the DHET had to approach National Treasury to facilitate payment. He also said it was no secret that universities were underfunded. He stated that there was a total bill of approximately R25 billion for maintenance costs at the universities.  He added that some colleges either failed or refused to submit evidence on the governance records and other colleges claimed that the information was confidential and not of the DHET’s concern. He also noted that the DHET made significant progress in resolving disciplinary matters. He said that there was an addition of 38 000 new employees that the DHET assumed jurisdiction over since the assumption of control of the colleges complicated some of the Departments operations.

Mr Tredoux replied that the R47 million in under expenditure would not be rolled over to the new financial year and would be sent back to National Treasury. He also added that all amounts would be sent back to the National Treasury because the regulations demanded that that happen.

Mr Qonde assured the Committee that the governance issue would be sorted out soon.

Mr Kekana cautioned against secrecy in governance and said that such secrecy would amount to problems in the future.

Ms Killian asked whether the colleges were part of the Public Finance Management Act Schedules.

The Director General confirmed that they were.

Mr Tredoux said that a total of R340 000 was spent in an irregular manner. He said this amount was paid to some legal practitioners and an audit was underway in order to determine what really happened.

The Chairperson thanked the DHET for their attendance.

The meeting was adjourned.

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