The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training considered the Budget and Strategic Plans 2011/12 of the Department and its three entities, namely; SAQA, CHE and NSFAS on 29 - 30 March 2011. This report gives a brief summary of the presentations made by the Department and its entities to the Committee, focusing mainly on the Department's 2011 - 2014 Strategic Plans, the 2011 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (METF) allocations and an overview of allocations per programme In addition, the Department and its entities were requested to outline their key challenges and achievements for the previous strategic plan. The report also provides the Committee's observations and recommendations