2020-w2031 - 11 September 2020

Belinda Bozzoli to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

What are the terms and conditions for the provision of laptops to students who are recipients of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) grants;

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 11 Sep 2020

  1. University Students: The acquisition of digital learning devices for the 2020 NSFAS funded students registered at public higher education institutions shall be funded by the students’ learning materials allowance made available by NSFAS on a loan-to-buy basis.

Where a NSFAS funded student has the 2020 learning materials allowance available at the date of applying for the digital learning device, that learning materials allowance will ...

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2020-w1906 - 07 September 2020

Belinda Bozzoli to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(a) Which learning and other programmes currently funded by (i) sector education and training authorities and/or (ii) the National Skills Fund will be negatively affected by a loss in funding in the adjusted budget, (b) what number of (i) students and (ii) service providers are likely to be affected by the budget cuts and (c) what has he found to be the likelihood of the specified service providers going out of business due to the budget cuts?

2020-w2029 - 07 September 2020

Belinda Bozzoli to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(1)(a) Who is the information, communications and technology (ICT) service provider to the Department of Science and Innovation, (b) why is the specified department’s homepage of such poor quality and (c) why is it more offline than online;

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 7 Sep 2020

1.a)  There is no one service provider contracted by the department for ICT services. Suppliers are contracted as an when required for goods and services through SITA and Supply Chain Management process.

b) The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) complies with the GCIS Policy Guidelines for South African Government websites. The guidelines require that all government websites look uniform and that webmasters follow ...

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2020-w1825 - 31 August 2020

Nontando Nolutshungu to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(1)Whether all universities have the means to conduct lessons via virtual platforms; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether he has found that all students have access to the necessary tools to receive any learning via virtual platforms; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 31 Aug 2020

(1)  All 26 universities are implementing remote multimodal teaching and learning plans, drawing on a range of strategies depending on the context. The implementation of these plans are being supported in part by a COVID-19 Responsiveness Grant allocated to each university by the Department of Higher Education and Training, which supplements the funds that universities themselves have allocated from Council-controlled funds to enable teaching ...

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2020-w1929 - 31 August 2020

Baxolile Babongile Nodada to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(a) What are the reasons that the University of Fort Hare could not commence with lectures in 2020, (b) on what date will the lectures begin, (c) is there a catch-up plan with specific timelines to ensure the 2020 academic year is completed for all the courses and (d) what are the details of the plans to deal with delays in the commencement of the lectures in future?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 31 Aug 2020

(a)    The University of Fort Hare (UFH) experienced a number of student protests at the start of 2020 academic year. Student protests, at times violent, centred on financial and academic exclusions and disrupted the teaching and learning programme from the beginning of the year. The impact of the protests were uneven as in some modules no teaching took place before the national lockdown, ...

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2020-w1907 - 31 August 2020

Belinda Bozzoli to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

What are the details of the (a) budget of the (i) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and (ii) National Research Foundation (NRF) for each of the past 10 financial years and (b) number of staff employed by the (i) CSIR and (ii) NRF in (aa) core operational and (bb) associated entities in each of the specified financial years?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 31 Aug 2020

(a)

(b)

 

(i)

(ii)

(i)

R’000

(ii)

R’000

(aa)

(bb)

(aa)

(bb)

2020

2 795 970

3 944 027

2 104

N/A

1 258

N/A

2019

2 554 593

4 113 508

2 342

N/A

1 219

N/A

2018

2 542 617

4 726 544

2 618

N/A

1 485

N/A

2017

2 735 473

4 498 849

2 ...

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2020-w1751 - 14 August 2020

Baxolile Babongile Nodada to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(1)With reference to his reply to question 1285 on 1 July 2020, given that the former Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs M T Kubayi-Ngubane, commissioned a forensic investigation into allegations against Ms Bredenkamp, (a) what were the findings of the forensic investigation and (b) how do the findings compare to the KPMG findings; (2) (a) what are the relevant details of the involvement of a certain person (name and details furnished) in the project and (b) why was the income of the project written off on instructions of the specified person; (3) whether any action was taken against the person and a certain other person (name furnished) for making misrepresentations to First National Bank (FNB) regarding their shareholder status in a certain company (name and details furnished) on an FNB document dated 3 July 2015; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 14 Aug 2020

1. The former Minister of Science and Technology, Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane did not commission another forensic investigation against Ms Bredenkamp, subsequent to the KPMG forensic investigation.

2.a) During the implementation of the project, Ms Busisiwe Ntuli was responsible for oversight at a strategic level. In April/May 2015, it was to Ms Ntuli that the main whistleblower reported allegations of financial misconduct, fraud and nepotism ...

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2020-w1790 - 13 August 2020

Nomsa Innocencia Tarabella Marchesi to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

What total number of final-year students are studying a B Ed degree at universities and colleges in the Republic?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 13 Aug 2020

The Department does not collect data by year of study as each university determines its years of study differently. Furthermore, the Department will only receive the final audited data for the 2020 academic year in 2021 once the graduates have been identified and the data audited. 

In terms of the enrolment plan for 2014 to 2019, universities indicated that they would have 11 122 BEd ...

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2020-w1743 - 13 August 2020

Sophie Suzan Thembekwayo to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

What steps has he taken to assist the tertiary institutions that are not yet ready to implement online learning for preparation of 2021 opening?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 13 Aug 2020

The Department is working with all 26 universities towards the successful completion of the 2020 academic year in a manner that does not compromise the safety of staff and students, and in a manner that provides a fair opportunity for all students to engage meaningfully with their study programmes. Universities have developed multimodal teaching and learning plans that implement a mix of strategies deemed ...

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2020-w1752 - 13 August 2020

Belinda Bozzoli to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(a) How precisely will the R5 billion cut and/or reprioritization of funding in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme be broken down, (b) what will not be able to be funded, (c)(i) what number of devices will be obtained with the reallocated funding and (ii) at what cost per device, (d) what other Covid-19 related expenses will be covered by the reallocated funding, (e) how many fewer students will be funded as a result of the cuts and reprioritizations and (f) what amount in additional funding will be required for the extension of the academic year?

Reply from the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 13 Aug 2020

a) The actual budget cut is R5.5 million on the Administration budget with no budget cut on the student-funding budget.

b) The budget reduction of R5.5 million will affect the Compensation of Employees budget line. This will result in delaying the filling of vacant positions.

c) (i) The maximum number of digital devices as per the advertised request for proposals in the public tender ...

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