To download a soundbite of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, Mr Tebogo Letsie, click here: https://iono.fm/e/1738900
Parliament, Thursday, 12 November 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has urged the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to realise the serious impact the late release of funds has on learners.
Committee Chairperson Mr Tebogo Letsie said that a weakness in one branch of DHET can affect the entire post-school education system. He urged the department to put systems in place to minimise disruptions, so that students can focus on their studies without worrying about where they will sleep or what they will eat.
“The department must understand how administrative failures affect learners and their ability to continue studying. We can’t ask for money and then not spend it, but it must be spent the right way,” said Mr Letsie.
The committee met with the DHET to consider the department’s performance for the first and second quarters of the 2026/27 financial year. A briefing provided by DHET covered recruitment, outstanding ministerial appointments to technical and vocational education and training college councils, and the appointment of community education and training (CET) college councils.
The committee recommended that DHET should ensure that CET colleges expedite the filling of internal council vacancies and provide the committee with a progress report.
The DHET informed the committee that its overall spending at the end of the first quarter stood at R96,690 billion in the second quarter. This was due to increases related to transfers and subsidies to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and universities.
Mr Letsie identified an inability to plan ahead and think creatively for the benefit of learners as some of the system’s weaknesses. He called on stakeholders in the post-school education sector to give an honest assessment of their readiness to receive first-time entrants to tertiary education in the 2027 academic year.
“There should be a cultural change in the department and its entities,” said Mr Letsie.
The committee urged DHET to communicate effectively through its website, both good and bad news, and to encourage institutions of higher learning to ensure their websites contain updated relevant information at all times.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING, MR TEBOGO LETSIE.
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