. The committee remained extremely concerned with the under-spending of the NSF. The misalignment between the fund and the provinces was said to be the major contributor to under-spending. The fact that there was no sufficient monitoring and evaluation by the NSF to provinces concerned the committee. . It was noted that the NSF is not a banking scheme and the manner in which funds are disbursed to provinces required urgent review. It was highlighted that the NSF is supposed to be an arm to develop and grow skills throughout the provinces. The committee further requested to know as to why certain provinces were not allocated funds. . It was highlighted that the current status of the NSF was of serious concern. The committee was concerned with the fact that the department had promised to intervene urgently in the challenges of the NSF and thus far little has been achieved in addressing its challenges. As a result, this delay has negative implications down the line. The committee requested an explanation on rumours that the NSF ceased to disburse funds in 2009. . The committee requested a breakdown of the use of the fund provincially and to include objectives and key outputs of the funded projects. The current mandate of the NSF to disburse funds to provinces without assisting in developing a provincial skills programme needed urgent review. . The department acknowledged the challenges of the NSF and promised to fast-track the process of appointing the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A team to administer the operation of the fund would be appointed in due course. The department agreed that the entire system of the NSF would be reviewed and a conclusion of the challenge of provincial capacity was a main priority. . It was noted that certain provinces delayed in drafting their provincial skills plan and as a result the NSF is unable to allocate funds without specified projects. The NSF had not stopped disbursing funds to provinces. However, there was a decrease in its activities.