In the meantime allow me to continue with the debate, and, if you need to talk to me, I'll talk with you outside. I'm ready for you. [Laughter.]
When our people faced the oppressive impact of Bantu education, it was teachers who stood up and ensured that we confounded the architects of apartheid by producing doctors, lawyers and engineers. Now that we are free, we need a similar resolute commitment. Education must be elevated from being a departmental or governmental issue to a societal issue, one that occupies the attention and energy of all our people. According to the National Development Plan, in 2030 South Africa should have over 10 million university graduates with a minimum of a bachelor's degree.
With regard to higher education, the Medium-Term Strategic Framework provides for the strengthening of the skills and human resources base, which relates to Strategic Priority No 4. This speaks to the issues of broadening access to post-secondary education and improving the higher education throughput rate by 20% by 2014. Within this broader objective more emphasis is on ensuring that financial need is not a barrier to access to and success in higher education and training.
Hon Minister, if you say to two individuals that they have equal access to getting to Cuba, where one is well-to-do and the other is not, effectively what you are saying is that one person will get to Cuba and the other will not, unless you create an enabling environment in regard to the means and mechanisms to get there for those who may not be able to do so.
Education White Paper 3 alluded to the fact that there is an inequitable distribution of access and opportunities for students and staff in regard to race, gender, class and geography. There are gross discrepancies in the participation rates of students from different population groups. It further indicated that the principle of equity requires fair opportunities both to enter higher education programmes and to succeed in them.
We congratulate the ANC-led government for notable change in the lives of the poor since the advent of the NSFAS. This is further evidenced by the debt recovery base that NSFAS has achieved. The recovery of loans shows that the previous beneficiaries, who were poor, have now moved onto a new level and are earning better salaries.
In 2006 the scheme's loan recovery exceeded R26 million per month, with a total recovery of loans per financial year of R329 million in that year. The loan recovery from previous beneficiaries increased tremendously in 2011, with a monthly recovery base of R45 million per month and over R700 million in that year. These recoveries are injected back into NSFAS to complement government's allocation.
It should also be acknowledged that the demand for access and financial assistance far exceeds the NSFAS voted funds. There is a need to rethink other sources of funding, in order to ensure that every NSFAS beneficiary gets funded for the full cost of study, and for it to take care of potential beneficiaries who could be covered if the funds were to be increased.
In February 2013 the university NSFAS shortfall was reported to be at R700 million, while by the end of April it was R2 billion. This shows that the top-slicing policy is not going to go away any time soon. This policy greatly reduces the financial packages of students and has the potential to reduce students' ability to graduate.
The issue of paying registration fees upfront by NSFAS beneficiaries should be addressed. Students are even made to sign blank NSFAS loan forms, which may be open to abuse.
Let me take this opportunity to commend the work done by some national and provincial departments in providing financial assistance in the form of bursaries to indigent students. In addressing skills shortages in the provinces, provincial departments are increasingly offering financial assistance to students in the form of bursaries. I should also commend the contribution that the Sector Education and Training Authorities and the corporate sector, in partnering with NSFAS, have made to providing more financial assistance.
Inasmuch as we are increasing access through financial assistance, we acknowledge that our current infrastructure is inadequate to absorb these numbers. We are pleased at the knowledge that the construction of the two new universities will commence in September 2013, as indicated in the state of the nation address. This will go a long way towards broadening access to higher education for previously disadvantaged communities. What should be addressed, though, is the uncertainty that is apparently facing the national institutions of higher education in that regard.
We applaud the piloting of the Central Application Clearing House from January 2013 to assist prospective students who passed but did not apply for admission. The South African Qualifications Authority reported that 90 000 calls were received and 15% of the learners who applied were accepted into institutions. We are also pleased that the Apply Now! campaign has helped in getting messages to prospective students about postschool education and training in order for them to apply in time. This campaign has reduced the number of walk-ins at universities. We are interested in finding out to what extent this system has assisted the rural poor, who need the system the most.
Comparative research studies found that South Africa's spending on education is internationally comparable, though the proportion of spending on higher education is still low. We are concerned that the graduation and throughput rate is not reflecting the spending. In this current financial year our department is targeting 83% of our universities with good governance and management. We still have institutions that are under administration and we must ensure that this number does not increase. The Ministry should stabilise that environment.
Quality of higher education, and increased graduation and throughput rates also depend on the good co-operative governance of our universities. The councils and management of our institutions should be committed to adhering to institutional policies and regulations. There is a growing concern that in some institutions councils are not carrying out their fiduciary role of exercising oversight through providing support and guidance to the executive management. There are claims that they just rubber-stamp decisions taken by the management while in some institutions there are continuous conflict between council members and management.
We further heard during our committee oversight visits to institutions of higher learning that there is a lack of commitment among ministerial appointees. Apparently they do not attend meetings regularly and their contribution in supporting management is often missed. Hon Minister, we urge the department to look into this matter and ensure that all council members participate as required.
We are pleased that the Auditor-General reported that universities' financial management has improved over the past three years. In the 2011-12 financial year, 87% of universities got unqualified audit report opinions. This is encouraging and we hope that other universities will work hard towards moving out of financial qualification.
The Auditor-General also found that there were still certain challenges in some institutions regarding supply chain management, internal control deficiencies and procurement that was not competitive. Let me remind the university vice-chancellors and council members present here that the department has allocated funds for student accommodation. We trust that these projects are not going to increase the number of tenderpreneurs through our universities. We are hoping that fair and competitive bidding processes will be followed when procuring services for student accommodation projects.
While on student accommodation, let me say that we also welcome and applaud the Minister's ground-breaking investigation into student housing. The ministerial task team report on student housing has found that only 5% of the students entering for the first time are housed in university student residences. The report has revealed a dire need for student accommodation in our institutions, especially the historically disadvantaged institutions. The conditions our students are living under are appalling to say the least. This shortage of student accommodation has created a situation where the students are academically and socially vulnerable.
Our country's higher education is unequally distributed geographically. It is obvious that the shortage of student accommodation hinders access to and success in higher education, especially for migrant students from provinces where higher education is not easily accessible, and this contributes to the high dropout rate.
We have heard media reports about female students being raped in private rented shacks on their way to and from campus libraries, and so on. Some have been murdered by thugs who have wanted to steal their cellphones and laptops. Our children have to endure these hard conditions because they are desperate for education.
We have also learnt of student hunger in our institutions. Most of the universities have privatised or outsourced their in-house catering services, while in some institutions dining halls are white elephants - some have been turned into storerooms! The private catering companies have increased the prices of food and many poor students are not able to afford this. Hence their NSFAS meal vouchers get depleted within a short time. We as a portfolio committee urge universities to reconsider taking back catering services and also reopening the dining halls.
Hon Minister, we thank you for your dedication in ensuring that funds are allocated to building new residences, and minimum norms and standards for student residences were gazetted for public comment. These minimum standards will ensure that institutions of higher learning have comparable infrastructure, as proposed by the National Development Plan.
The PhD study conducted by the Academy of Science for South Africa in 2010 revealed that our country needs to produce 6 000 PhDs per annum, of which 3 000 need to be in science, engineering and technology. However, we as a country are still far from reaching these targets.
The National Development Plan alluded to the fact that only 34% of academic staff in higher education have PhDs. We need to be realistic if we want to produce the required number of PhDs as proposed by the NDP. Current promoters and supervisors are overworked with teaching, administration and supervision. Hence they provide inadequate support to students.
I know it is not only academic support that causes dropout, but financial need is also a challenge for many aspiring students. Some countries are investing in their students by providing better scholarships which encourage student retention.
We as the ANC are concerned about the allegations that some political organisations in general, and the DA in particular, are creating the impression that assistance given to NSFAS beneficiaries during registration comes from their parties. We therefore call upon the Ministry to investigate whether the allegations are true or not.
Muhlonipheki Xandla xa Xipikara, mfumo wa ANC wu tirhile swinene ku antswisa vutomi bya vanhu va tiko ra hina, ngopfungopfu eka vadyondzi lava humaka evuswetini na le matikoxikaya. [Hon Deputy Speaker, the ANC government has done well to better the lives of the people of our country, particularly learners who come from poverty-stricken and rural areas.]
The ANC supports Budget Vote 17. I thank you. [Applause.]