Agb Voorsitter, agb lede, die DA glo dat iets drasties aan die uitermate swak prestasie van ons openbare Kolleges vir Verdere Onderwys en Opleiding gedoen moet word. Die kolleges presteer so swak onder Minister Nzimande se beheer dat die departement nou nog nie die resultate van verlede jaar se eindeksamens wil openbaar nie.
Ongelukkig is Minister Nzimande met hierdie wetsontwerp besig om die fout op die verkeerde plek te soek. Dit is nie net die DA wat so glo nie; Minister Pandor, in haar vorige posisie as Minister van Onderwys, het soos die DA geglo dat groter plaaslike aanspreeklikheid vir kolleges die oplossing sal wees.
Minister Pandor het 'n ideaal of droom gehad wat nou deur hierdie wetsontwerp vernietig sal word. Sy het geglo dat die diensure van kolleges en hul personeel by plaaslike behoeftes moet aanpas op 'n wyse wat buite die beperkinge van die Staatsdiens val. Sy het dus vyf jaar gelede hierdie Huis oortuig om 'n wet te aanvaar wat die personeel van die kolleges uit die staat se diens sou stel en om die kollegerade hulle werkgewers te maak. Sy het ook die ideaal gehad dat personeel met skaars vaardighede vanuit die industrie na die kolleges gelok sou kon word. Ongelukkig het die departement die kollegerade met die implementering van hierdie wet gefaal.
Minister Nzimande, wat blykbaar glo dat alles en almal vanuit Pretoria beheer moet word, is besig om daardie ideaal te vernietig. In plaas daarvan dat plaaslike gemeenskappe in beheer van hul kolleges geplaas word, word dit nou na die nasionale departement in Pretoria oorgedra. In plaas van groter buigsaamheid en outonomie, gaan ons kolleges in die nou drukgang van staatsinstellings gedwing word.
Elkeen van ons 50 openbare kolleges is uniek in hul personeelbehoeftes en elkeen verg 'n eie personeelstruktuur of organogram. Die Staatsdiens se salarisskale en die vaste organisasiestruktuur wat uit hierdie wetsontwerp sal voortvloei, bied eenvoudig nie die buigbaarheid wat nodig is om goeie kollegelektore in skaars vakke te lok en te behou nie.
Openbare kolleges wat voorheen 'n provinsiale verantwoordelikheid was, gaan nou die verantwoordelikheid van een nasionale staatsdepartement word. Wie op die kollegerade gaan dien, hoe hul kurrikula, hul taalbeleid, aanstellingsbeleid en 'n legio ander belangrike sake daarna gaan uitsien, gaan uiteindelik vanuit Pretoria bepaal word. In die proses word die magte van die kollegerade afgewater, tot nadeel van die studente. Hierdie nasionalisering van openbare kolleges sal tot gevolg h dat die departement verskeie provinsiale kantore sal moet vestig. Geld wat na die klaskamers moes vloei, sal nou in provinsiale kantore verkwis word. In die proses word die koste van opleiding andermaal geweldig opgestoot.
Ons land kan dit nie bekostig nie. Om hierdie redes kan die DA hierdie wetsontwerp nie steun nie. Dankie. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans declaration of vote follows.)
[Mr A P VAN DER WESTHUIZEN: Hon Chairperson, hon members, the DA believes that drastic action should be taken with regard tt colleges. These colleges are performing so poorly under the management of Minister Nzimande that the department at this stage still does not want to disclose the results of last year's end-of-year exams.
Unfortunately, with this Bill Minister Nzimande is busy looking for the flaw in the wrong place. It is not only the DA that holds this conviction; Minister Pandor, in her former capacity as the Minister of Education, believed, like the DA, that the solution would be greater accountability for colleges at local level.
Minister Pandor had had an ideal or a dream, which will now be destroyed by this Bill. She believed that the working hours of colleges and their staff should be adapted to local needs in a manner that would fall outside the limitations of the Public Service. She therefore had convinced this House five years ago to adopt an Act that would take the staff of these colleges out of the Public Service and would make the college councils their employers. She also had the ideal that staff with scarce skills could be lured out of industry to join these colleges. Unfortunately the department has failed the college councils with the implementation of this Act.
Minister Nzimande, who apparently believes that everything and every one should be managed from Pretoria, is busy destroying that ideal. Instead of local communities being put in control of their colleges, these colleges are currently being transferred to the national department in Pretoria. Instead of greater flexibility and autonomy, our colleges will be forced into the narrow crush pen of government institutions.
Each of our 50 public colleges is unique with regard to their staff needs and each of them requires a unique staff structure or organogram. The Public Service salary scales and the permanent organisational structure that will emanate from this Bill simply do not offer the flexibility that is needed to attract and keep competent college lecturers in scarce subjects.
Public colleges, which had previously been a provincial responsibility, will now become the responsibility of a single national government department. The people who will be serving on these college councils, the way in which they will be managing their curricula, their language policies and their policies for appointing staff members, as well as the way in which many other important matters will work, will eventually be determined from Pretoria.
In this process the powers of the college councils are being watered down, to the detriment of the students. This nationalisation of public colleges will result in the department having to open various provincial offices. Money that should have been utilised in the classrooms will now be wasted on provincial offices. In the process the cost with regard to training is once more being escalated significantly.
Our country cannot afford this. For these reasons the DA cannot support this Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Mr B M Bhanga: Chair, Cope again wants to register its position on the Further Education and Training Colleges Amendment Bill. We want to record that the technical amendments to the Bill proposed by the NCOP do not address our concerns about the Bill.
We are, in principle, opposed to the notion that centralisation of powers in relation to the further education and training colleges will, of necessity, lead to improved management and control over these institutions. We will provide examples in terms of which the centralisation of power at the national level failed dismally.
Cope believes that further education and training colleges should best be managed at the provincial level, which is closer to the communities that these institutions serve; and close to industries and businesses where those who graduate from these colleges will take up employment. The notion that national departments are better placed to oversee effective functioning of institutions is wrong.
Centralisation cannot be offered as a panacea or magic wand to address administrative weaknesses at the provincial level. To the contrary, it is on record that many of the national departments, including the Department of Higher Education, do not support the notion that the centralisation of control and decision-making improves bodies that are overseen by national departments. Many national departments have become mired in controversy, including the Department of Higher Education.
The problems encountered with the Sector Education and Training Authorities are a case in point. The Seta problems have increased rather than been resolved after they were placed under the control of the national department - under the leadership of former communist Mr Blade Nzimande. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme is another example. This financial aid scheme for students encountered problems that became worse after the former communist and his department effectively appropriated powers ... [Interjections.]
Mrs M T Kubayi: I rise on a point of order, House Chair. I think the member who is speaking before us is not articulating the amendments to the Bill. We are dealing with the amendments to the Further Education and Training Bill, not with whether people are communists or not. Can we stick to that?