Hon Chairperson and hon members the work of the committee is anchored around the work that we have to do to ensure that we achieve the type of post school education and training system vision in the 2013 White Paper on post school education amber National Development Plan 2030, NDP 2030. This means that the portfolio committee in its nature must ensure that as we conduct our oversight responsibility, focus is placed on the vision that has been set for the post school education and training system, principle governing this vision and the policies that has been developed and will be developed and implemented during our term.
This is significant in the development and transformation of our post school education and training system. It is important that we work collectively, to ensure that the government's vision of an integrated post school education and training, which has different institutions playing their role as part of coherent, but differentiated hope is achieved.
We have to ensure that the system that we are building, transforming and overseeing provides knowledge and skills required by economy as well as contributing to developing thinking citizens who can creatively, effectively and ethically contribute to developing our country.
Against this background, we have the opportunity of presenting this report for adoption. Upon engaging the department, the committee raised the following concerns: The under performance of the department especially in programme four- technical and vocational education and training, and five- skills development. Both programmes achieved only 40% of their targets.
The continuous delays with the transfer of infrastructure and other earmarked grants to higher education institutions. We are concerned about the slow spending on TVET college conditional infrastructure efficiency grants, where the department achieved 2,79% which is R41,5 million, against the target of 40% which R593 million, despite the need to address the maintenance backlog in the sector.
The committee recommends the following:
The department should put mechanisms in place to address underperformance in the technical and vocational education and training and skills development. The department should put mechanisms in place to address the delays in the transfer of infrastructure and other earmarked grants and ensure timeous allocation of the funds to institutions of higher learning. The department should capacitate TVET colleges to ensure that information required for processing of funding applications for maintenance grants is relevant.
Furthermore, the department should ensure that all colleges comply with the conditions to receive infrastructure maintenance grants.
The department should submit its responses to the committee recommendations on a quarterly basis. Thank you Chair [Applause.]
IsiZulu:
USIHLALO WENDLU (Nk M G Boroto): Hhayi namhlanje niyangehlula. [Ihlombe.]
IsiNdebele:
Ragela phambili, baba.
Declarations of Vote:
IsiXhosa: