Chairperson, the Minister of Basic Education, the hon Angie Motshekga, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, the hon Enver Surty, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, the hon Fatima Chohan, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, hon Marius Fransman, hon members, our invited quests, friends, comrades and fellow citizens, our theme this year is: Together achieving and expanding quality and access to education and training for all. Quality education and training, properly delivered, changes lives and makes it possible to achieve our vision of a better life for all our citizens.
It is within this context that I wish to acknowledge the presence of my family and in particular my 82-year-old mother ... [Applause.]
uMadlamini, Jama kaSjadu, umama ongizalayo, yena olapha eNdlini namhlanje. Ngifisa ukubonga kuwe Zizi ngokuzabalaza kwakho usikhulisa, usifundisa sibe singenalutho. [MaDlamini, Jama kaSjadu, that is my mother who is here in this House today. I want to thank you, Zizi, for striving to raise and educate us from being nothing.]
In tribute to her commitment to our education and tremendous sacrifice she made in financing our studies through loan sharks, I commit, in the context of the task I have been given by the President, to strive to ensure that, in line with the African National Congress manifesto, no poor but capable young person is excluded from post-school educational opportunities or exploited by loan sharks. [Applause.]
The past 15 years have seen some extraordinary changes in education and training. We have managed to achieve one of the Millennium Development Goals of universal participation in primary schooling. We have also significantly changed the face of our universities, where black and women students are now in the majority. We have similarly started the revival of our college sector and introduced a national skills development strategy through the sector education and training authorities.
While we have made significant progress in terms of opening the doors of learning through increased access for previously disadvantaged students into the whole education system, because we are the ruling party with experience as the African National Congress which leads this government, we are open to saying the challenges remain immense, particularly regarding post-school education.
Our predecessor, Minister Naledi Pandor, established the ministerial committee on post-compulsory and post-school provision to investigate and make policy recommendations on providing for a greater diversity of post- school education and training options for South Africa. The report paints a bleak picture of our society.
Many young people do not complete high school and of those who do, many cannot proceed with their studies because of the poor quality of their achievements, lack of resources or the lack of job opportunities.
The report estimates that of the approximately 2,8 million of the 6 million or so 18 to 20-year-olds in our country are neither in employment, nor in education or training. This implies that over 40 percent of our youth are not productively engaged. This is a huge wastage of human potential and a squandered opportunity for social and economic development.
Therefore, one of our immediate tasks is to create a diverse and differentiated post-school system to provide a diverse range of learning opportunities for the youth and adults. This system will be realised through, amongst others, the improved alignment of the university, college and sector education and training authority, Seta, systems. That means we must all be careful: Higher education does not equal universities; it includes but is more than just universities.
In this regard, the scope of the new Department of Higher Education and Training will cover all public and private higher education institutions, colleges and the skills development sectors which include the Setas and the National Skills Authority and the National Skills Fund, NSF.
To this end, I and the Minister of Labour are currently finalising the modalities and necessary legislative instruments to give effect to the decision of government to transfer skills development from the Department of Labour to my Department of Higher Education and Training.
Working closely with the relevant Ministries, I also intend to establish a coherent college sector which includes the 50 FET colleges and other career- specific colleges such as agricultural, nursing and teacher colleges, with agricultural colleges in particular being very crucial for rural skills development. [Applause.] Similarly, in the coming months I will be working with my colleague the Minister of Basic Education and the nine provincial MECs to ensure the smooth transfer of the FET colleges from provincial departments to the Department of Higher Education and Training. [Applause.]
Today we are discussing the consolidated budget of the Department of Education, as no appropriation has as yet been made to the new Department of Higher Education and Training. In future, the new Department of Higher Education and Training will be responsible for allocations to higher education institutions, estimated at R19,9 billion in 2010, and for skills development through Setas and the NSF, the latter estimated at R21,9 billion in 2010 and FET colleges, estimated at R3,37 billion in 2010.
The current budget of the Department of Education, to be specific, includes the allocation of R17,498 billion to higher education, incorporating subsidy and earmarked funds for universities of R15,297 billion, an allocation of R2,144 billion to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, R32,6 million to the Council on Higher Education and R3,2 billion to FET colleges, through the provincial equitable share for education.
With regard to skills development, the Seta landscape is currently under review ahead of the proposed re-establishment of Setas on 1 April 2010. In my view, there is a need for an intensive assessment of the Setas to ensure greater accountability, improved employment of resources, better management of funds and streamlining and alignment of their operations in order that they fulfil their role as a central cog of our skills training and job creation machinery. I will shortly be engaging the Setas to examine these issues and enhance their capacity to meet the skills needs of South Africa. There should be no panic amongst the Setas; we will engage them nicely, Mr Ellis, in my typical way. I am a very nice man, as you well know. [Applause.]
The field of adult education and training needs re-invigoration and a dedicated focus in the coming period. To this end, my department will be finalising a draft White Paper towards the end of the year which intends proposing a range of measures to enhance and expand further and higher education and training opportunities for adults. In addition, the department will be finalising a proposed matric equivalent qualification appropriate for adults, through, amongst others, strengthening policy on recognition of prior learning.
Chairperson, I was convinced this weekend that our high school system is based on a programme that was designed and adopted in 1850 in the then Cape education department. There is no reason why a forty-year-old person who's got 12 years' experience and who did not get a matric exemption and wants to move to higher education must be asked to go back and rewrite matric, given all that experience. That is the system we are practically still following and that must change; we need to incorporate recognition of prior learning without lowering standards in our education system. [Applause.]
Given the enormous challenges facing our youth, it is important that we strengthen and expand our colleges and make them institutions of choice. Particular focus will be placed on improving governance and management capacity as well as training of college lecturers and improving the skills of the existing cohort of lecturers through universities and industry.
Colleges will continue to provide general and specific vocational education and training and an important route for artisan training. In this regard, I intend exploring innovative measures that will strengthen the link between colleges, local communities and industries, in particular state-owned enterprises.
It is still our intention to increase the student enrolment at further education and training colleges to at least 1 million by 2015. I also intend improving student articulation between the college and university sectors. To this end, my department will be finalising a national policy outlining the minimum entry requirements to university study requiring the national vocational certificate offered at colleges.
We also welcome the fact that the teacher education summit is starting and we are looking forward to that summit and expect that it must give us direction about what is to be done collectively on this very important matter.
Chairperson, with regard to higher education, we need to consolidate and deepen the transformation gains made over the last 15 years, while continuously improving the access and success, particularly of black students, at all levels of the system. Of great concern, and which is totally unacceptable, is the low level of participation and success of black students in particular fields of study like accounting, natural sciences, engineering, research and postgraduate studies and I agree with hon James. This is important if we are to develop the next generation of academics and researchers.
With regard to access, I need to say that I have recently appointed a ministerial committee to review the efficacy of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The most important task of this committee, which will present its report before the end of the year, is to provide recommendations that would give effect to government's commitment to progressively introduce free education for the poor up to undergraduate level. [Applause.]
In addition to access, particular attention will also be paid to improving success and improving participation especially by black students. We intend by 2010 to increase graduates as a percentage of total enrolments to 22 percent and we are currently setting targets for the period 2011.
We have, to this end, earmarked R146 million for foundation programmes and qualifying institutions have been allocated teaching development grants. R1,46 billion is also earmarked for improving teaching, learning and residence infrastructure and academic efficiency, in this financial year. Do not worry, hon members, we are acutely aware of some of the problems that were raised, including the state of some of the residences. Most of this is directed towards historically disadvantaged institutions and increasing their capacity to produce the required levels of output that we want.
We also recently released the report of a ministerial committee on transformation and social cohesion focusing on the elimination of discrimination in higher education. I have already written to chairs of councils to discuss and respond to the report.
We intend to convene a stakeholder summit early next year to discuss a range of issues facing higher education institutions, including the development of a transformation charter for the sector and the establishment of a permanent higher education stakeholder forum. We want a whole range of issues to be discussed head-on. The issue of language must not be used as a means of exclusion. Let's not hide behind academic autonomy in order to block transformation and access to our institutions. [Applause.]
We also want to say that we in fact plan to spend R800 million on student residences between the year 2006 and 2010. I want to say to the hon member across there, I and the ANC have not deviated from the 1997 mandate of the Higher Education Act. You might have because you have crossed the floor, perhaps. [Applause.] Thank you very much.