The national plan on post-school education will be completed in the next few months and will start engaging stakeholders by June on it, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training heard on Wednesday.

The Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET), Ms Thandi Loon, said the Minister is committed to have the plan finalised by the end of this year.

“A lot of work needs to be done in aligning what is happening in the sector. The context has changed since the White Paper came out and the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) landscape discussions are still ongoing at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac),” she said.

“The plan is about shifting to the producing more outside of the formal university education. It is about coherence in implementing the goals in the White Paper. It is important to react to a lack of long term planning, there is a need for pragmatism, given the strained resources.”

She said the core of the plan is to improve capacity across the system to deliver meaningful post school education training (PSET) opportunities.

“This means addressing staffing issues and improving teaching. We are looking to implement pilot projects in the community colleges, to provide a basis for growing the sector over time. But also we are looking to shift enrolments such that a greater proportion of students are in the Community Education and Training (CET), and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges than in universities, she said.

She said any successful TVET system should have a relationship with the world of work.

Committee member Mr Danny Kekana raised concerns with regard to the Nedlac process as employers tended to doubt TVET graduates despite assurances.

“Unless there is a special plan to do things different from what we’ve been doing. They (employers) say yes (at Nedlac) and when you come to the ground, TVET graduates are not really well received because they don’t get practical experience,” Mr Kekana said.

He said the country comes from a divided past and that it was taking too long for the stereotyping (of colleges) to go away, and asked how DHET thought it could overcome stereotyping and challenges related to on-job training.

He also sought clarity on the education budget in its totality.

Committee member Prof Belinda Bozzoli said it appeared that the Department was undertaking a massive task.

“The ideal situation would be to have one plan to oversee everything especially if the shift is towards the skills-based education,” she said.

Ms Loon responded that DHET tried to be pragmatic about where the country was, and pushed the system to the direction where we thought we’d be stronger.

“If we could address the staffing and make post-school education sustainable, it will improve throughputs. It is important for the TVET sector to have a longer term and effective planning system,” she said.

The Committee was also briefed on the financial health of universities, as well as the Research Development Grants.

The Committee will on Thursday and Friday attend the National Skills Conference in Pretoria where the Deputy President is expected to make the keynote address.

By Sibongile Maputi

22 March 2017