Madam Speaker, both the Ministers of Higher Education and Training and of Basic Education, hon Deputy Minister, hon members of the House, colleagues in the portfolio committee, guests in the gallery, good afternoon. It is only fitting to acknowledge that this Budget Vote No 13 is being passed on the 54th anniversary of the Freedom Charter adopted in 1955 on 26 June in Kliptown by the Congress of the People. The Freedom Charter has since become a cornerstone, a guiding and visionary document on which our transformation agenda is based.
One of the clauses of the Freedom Charter states that the "Doors of learning and culture shall be opened to all", whose real meaning and value should find expression through this budget. The people of South Africa voted in their numbers, particularly the youth, for the ANC on the basis of its programmatic election manifesto which spelled out clearly how a vote for the ANC meant a vote for a better life for all - more especially young people and in particular the student sector.
The ANC election manifesto, amongst other educational matters, undertook to encourage students from working class and poor communities to go to tertiary institutions by reviewing and improving the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. This commitment was in pursuit of the ANC's 52nd national conference held in Polokwane in 2007 which resolved, inter alia, to progressively introduce free education for the poor until undergraduate level and that the ANC government should focus more on the quality of education being provided.
It is imperative that both the departments, and in particular the Department of Higher Education and Training should focus on the historic issues of access, equity and student performance or success rate that has bedevilled institutions of higher learning for some time now.
Access to quality higher education by students from the working class and/or from poor communities should be considered broadly to mean financial assistance, responsive admission policies - which may require a centrally administered national database - an institutional culture that complements academic development and support programmes for student learning experiences.
The critical stage of a student's life that guarantees access to tertiary institutions is at school level. It cannot be explained 15 years into democracy and freedom that poor performance of black and African students in universities is due to the poor quality of black schooling. The department should put more effort into the quality of education in public schools and institutions of higher education so that all forms of discrimination are dealt with.
It is said that black students are sent to foundation courses irrespective of their matric or Grade 12 results as long as they are not from traditional feeder schools. This means that eventually they are placed on extended programmes even though they have good matric results because in some institutions no assessment is made.
Statistics show that though there has been progress since 1994 with regard to increased participation of black students generally and African students in particular accessing higher education, the high failure and dropout rates render the higher enrolments not worth the efforts. Hence there is a need to ensure that once students enrol the system should be able to see them through to completion.
We should be equally concerned about their success rate. It is worrisome to observe that the average graduation rate for white students is double that of the African students: 48% and 24% respectively. The other revelation is that whereas female students perform better than the male students, the average female success rate in 2006 was 72% compared to 67% of the male success rate. However, only 35% of female students graduate overall, against 42% of male students.
The intention to progressively take care of the poor students until undergraduate level will require that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, be reviewed and improved as the facility best suited to address this matter. That will certainly cater for the 50% of the youth between 16 and 24 years old roaming our streets aimlessly every day without any engagement. No doubt criminality feeds on such vulnerable individuals. Government should account for everyone's activities on a daily basis so that people's energies are put to good use.
The loan should cover the full cost of their studies. The students from poor families should participate in social and recreational activities without having to buy the required equipment, to avoid the fate of many students in similar situations to that of an 18-year-old girl, Mashidi Mabaso, who enrolled at the University of Pretoria, UP, for civil engineering studies and then had to quit after just four months, because though she did get a R12 000 bursary she could not cope with the printing monies for the submission of her assignments from time to time, which cost her on average R50 monthly.
Our objective should be that the progress being made in terms of equity of access should be translated into progress in equity of outcomes.
It should be noted that despite the remarkable change in the composition of the student body's demographic profile in terms of increased participation, the access of black and African students, particularly women, to the high- status and high-skill areas such as the sciences, engineering and postgraduate programmes is very limited.
Female students tend to enrol in larger numbers in the field of humanities, particularly in teacher education programmes, while remaining seriously underrepresented in programmes in science, engineering and technology and in business, commerce and management sciences.
To dismantle the apartheid legacy and help build the human capacity that South Africa needs to become a strong, united, democratic and prosperous nation in the 21st century we should consciously attend to students' participation and graduate output of scarce and critical skills. The President during his state of the nation address said that training and skills development initiatives in the country must respond to requirements of the economy.
Institutions of higher learning should focus on improving graduation and success rates and the Department of Higher Education and Training must monitor the performances of these institutions in relation to their input and output targets.
A situation whereby deserving institutions underspend on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, thereby denying needy students the opportunity to benefit from government funding and assistance, cannot be tolerated. The department should continue to review the funding formula so that it is enabled to interact with these institutions appropriately when the need arises.
Our viewpoint is that government financing of higher education must ensure equitable access and that race, ethnicity, gender and social class should not justify denying access and equal treatment to anyone with proper qualifications. This will squarely be in direct response to the state of the nation address by President J G Zuma when he said that there should be improved access to higher education for poor families and a sustainable funding structure for universities.
Access should not be limited to academic programmes but should include access to residences as well. Attention should be given to how residences in these institutions are allocated so that everybody feels at liberty in the same environments. It should also mean that government should build more infrastructural projects - residences included - to accommodate the high numbers that are being anticipated.
We also know that black and mostly African students face other forms of discrimination in the system, some of which are based on language, racism, sexism, pregnancy, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture and class. The idea of institutional autonomy and academic freedom should not be used to practise any of the above forms of discrimination. Institutional autonomy should be within the context of public accountability and the national need for advanced skills and scientific knowledge and not against transformation policies of government. Thank you. [Applause.]