7. Findings The following formed part of the critical findings of the Committee: . The information management system of both the provincial department and the District municipality was inadequate. . It was clear that the provincial department did not have the required human resources development strategy to attract qualified lecturers to FET Colleges; . The department invested huge amounts of money to purchase expensive machinery and equipment for FET Colleges without considering the availability of technical capacity to operate them. . The District municipality did not have a proper skills development strategy to assist unemployed young people in the local area. . There was no coordination between ABET and Kha Ri Gude and this resulted in the inefficiency of the programmes. . The involvement of the SETAs in skills development was very limited and caused huge backlogs for both the provincial department and the District municipality in terms of learner placement. . Students in the Letaba FET College were awarded top sliced bursaries that did not cover all their expenses. . The problem of water shortage in the area was a great concern for both the District municipality and the Provincial Department of Education. . There was a lack of synergy between the local FET College and the District municipality in terms of skills development. . The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) did not have a unit in the Letaba FET College and it was under resourced. . The budget for the Kha Ri Gude programme was reduced three times by the Treasury and this crippled its development. . The performance of students in the NC(V) programme was below the required standard. 8. Summary The committee was generally concerned by the lack of database of graduates and drop-outs in the FET Colleges and ABET programme. Progress in the Kha Ri Gude programme was commended including the support of the District municipality to schools and FET Colleges in the area. The provincial department was requested to forward all outstanding information to the Committee. The Committee undertook to write to the Department of Higher Education and Training in particular to highlight some of the more critical issues that affected the local FET Colleges, especially the limited involvement of SETAs in skills development. The oversight visit was prolific in terms of understanding a number of fundamental issues that impacted on the progress of FET Colleges in the province. The Committee undertook to forward the report of the oversight visit to the provincial department, upon adoption at a committee meeting.