Thank you, hon Chairperson. Your Excellency, Deputy President, Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members, those from academia and the student leadership, I have learned that the Minister has been talking about "I" all along and he has left the "we" out - the collective responsibility of the communists. [Laughter.]
The strategic task in our approach to transforming the higher and further education landscape in our country is reflected in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of democratic South Africa. The Charter states:
The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;
The above can only be achieved through promoting equity of access and a fair chance of success for all who seek to realise their potential through higher education, while eradicating all forms of unfair discrimination and advancing redress of past inequalities. In 2009 these inequalities were still prevalent in the enrolment of students. The enrolment of 18-to 24-year-olds in higher education was still racially divided. Sir, 60% of white students had access to higher education, compared to 11% of Africans and 7% of coloureds. Only 2,5% of Africans aged 18 to 40 were studying in 2009, compared to 10,8% of whites.
We congratulate the government on their success in expanding access to poor and needy students in both higher education and further education and training. The number of enrolments is growing as a result of the new school- leaving certificate that was introduced in 2008. I must admit that since 2009 we have had extremely changed enrolment patterns, and are indeed on track in realising the Freedom Charter's call:
Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, has been extended to further education; funding has been extended to the rural poor; focused funding for research has been expanded; and funding has been made available to the Setas.
As a nation we must celebrate the above in recognition of the tireless struggles waged by the student movement in South Africa. I therefore salute student leaders like Steve Bantu Biko, Siphiwo Mtimkulu, Thamsanqa Rubusane, Sheya Kulati, Claude Qavane, Nonkululeko Mahabane and Babalwa Ntabeni for these achievements. I am from the student movement and I celebrate that as success.
What would pain these combatants is what one writer, Joel Netshitenzhe, said:
In the comfort of freedom, we have started to define normalcy as individual survival - the shifting sands of illusion that make us forget who we are and where we come from.
This is a danger to the liberation of all our people, black and white. He further states that there's a new ambition to pursue a lifestyle we cannot afford, thus getting tempted to make it by fair means or foul.
It is high time that as a country faced with the trappings of capitalism - utter greed, corruption and the abuse of state power - we asked ourselves the difficult question of whether we are funding graduates who understand their collective responsibility in building a winning nation, national pride, and addressing the poverty that confronts the majority of all our people, or whether we are funding graduates who will hold positions at certain levels in government and the private sector to serve their greed by selling the interests of the nation to the highest bidder - as we have seen in the recent incident relating to the Gupta family wedding. Misconduct by some of our graduates from institutions in the marketplace tells a story of the ethos of our universities and the products we are producing.
The above revolutionaries expect these graduates to be people's graduates - corruption-free graduates of the people - as stated in the Freedom Charter:
The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace.
Most importantly, unity in knowledge contributes to the global advancement of moral societies, and it is the duty of higher education institutions to instil this knowledge in aspiring students. We owe this generation of students an education that will liberate their minds for the benefit of advancing our democratic cause. The SA Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko must be the type of outcome of the kind of graduates that we are producing.
It is also the duty of higher education institutions to empower students and the youth with skills to fill the shortages in engineering, life and physical sciences, animal and human health, teacher education, accountancy, actuarial sciences, artisanry and technology.
Moreover, Cope is concerned about the dropout rate - as we speak it stands at 50%. This undermines the gaining of access to tertiary institutions. Most affected are students from poor families and those who are beneficiaries of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
With regard to building universities of the people, Cope's wish is that the proposed new universities will not be like failing government departments, or institutions used to dispense patronage and corruption, but will be successful institutions of choice for students. The two universities should be a beacon of hope in attaining people's education for people's power. Currently, we are concerned about the lack of consultation with the people of the Northern Cape community concerning the concept development.
Concerning the skills shortage, in the financial sector alone it was found that the skills shortage was worsening. Sir, 79% of companies have difficulty in recruiting chartered accountants, and 80% have difficulty in retaining scarce skills. We need to move with speed in building capacity to transform the financial sector. The department must have tangible plans to deal with this difficulty. The emergence of the two universities should attempt to deal with the transformation of the financial sector, and science and technology needs.
Management and governance on the Seta boards need special attention. These Setas should work closely with universities and not only with FET colleges in developing their capacity in all these areas. Financial mismanagement is the order of the day. The most corrupt elements in higher education are the Setas - I think we can agree on this issue. It's worse with the Seta in local government, where we are supposed to build capacity in our local councillors and our local graduates.
Regarding further education and training, the things that count are the things that get counted. The degree of importance given to FET colleges depends on whether they are reported, irrespective of their real significance. We hear and read a lot about the possible role of FET colleges. [Time expired.] Thank you very much, Minister. [Applause.]