Department of Education Briefing to the Portfolio Committee FET COLLEGES 4 February 2009

Interventions in FET Colleges Infrastructural development Enrolment in scarce skills Roll out of the FET college bursary scheme through NSFAS Reskilling of college lecturers to support the delivery of the new programmes

Socio-economic context, 2005 To define the role of FET colleges in meeting the Government targets of: –Reduction of unemployment –Increasing GDP growth –Poverty reduction

2005: FET Sector challenges –Poor co-ordination of the FET College sector –Poor public perception and lack of sector identity –Poor student access and low student participation rates in vocational programmes –Poor quality programmes and qualifications –Low graduation and throughput rates arising out of high failure rates and low retention rates – Low technical and cognitive skills of graduates –Lack of relevance and responsiveness to the needs of the economy –Dearth of managerial skills and capacity –Low funding of the FET college sector –Absence of an effective management information system to inform decision- making –Lack of understanding of vocational education –Shortage of suitably qualified lecturers to drive vocational education

Infrastructural Development A R1,9 billion re-cap allocation –R1,86 billion for transfer to provinces over three years –R0,35 billion for the DoE to prepare for the implementation of the grant –R0,15 billion over three years for further development work, monitoring and support for the implementation of the re-cap grant

Strategic areas of the RE-cap Grant Re-skilling staff to offer responsive programmes Upgrading physical infrastructure to offer vocational programmes Providing suitable equipment to support programme delivery Providing support for the development of modern vocational programmes Establishing student support services units Establishing connectivity of 50 FET Colleges to improve communications, information management and curriculum delivery. Buying or building of new classrooms, laboratories, offices etc.

Three-year allocations R’000 ProvinceAllocation 2006/ /9 Actual Expenditure 1 April December 2009 Actual % Spent Eastern Cape % Free State % Gauteng % Kwazulu Natal % Limpopo % Mpumalanga % Northern Cape % North West % Western Cape % Total %

Achievements Key performance Indicators ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE 2006/7-2008/9 MTEF 2006/072007/082008/9 Number of college staff trained on delivery of NC(V) LAN and WAN installed in colleges 55 sites64 sites71 sites Number of workshops upgraded at FET Colleges Number of new classroom purchased or built Number of new workshops purchased or built Number of new offices purchased or built Number of laboratories purchased or built Number of college sites upgraded Number of college workshops installed with modern equipment. * A selection of NC(V) programmes at level 2 and 3 implemented at all FET Colleges in progra mmes 12 programmes14 programme Additional programme developed and implemented 01 programme developed Additional subjects developed and implemented 02 additional subjects developed and will be implemented in 2009

Further achievements Development of policies and legislation –FET Colleges Act, 2006 –National Plan on FET Colleges, 2008 –Student Support Services Framework, 2007 –Draft National Lecturer Development Framework –Draft Funding Norms and Standards for FET Colleges –Establishment of a HEDCOM sub-committee of FET colleges

Challenges that persist Under-funding of the sector Expansion and use of ICT in colleges Lack of a uniform management information system Training, recruitment and retention of lecturers Increasing student participation Increasing graduation and throughput rates Finalisation of the implementation of the FET Colleges Act, 2009

Enrolment in scarce skills programmes, In 2007, students were enrolled on the NC(V) programmes In 2008, this figure was almost tripled to students ( for Level 2 and for Level 3 The projected figure for 2009, subject to confirmation by provinces on 19 February is

Roll-out of the FET College Bursary In terms of The Further Education and Training College Act, 2006 public FET colleges may raise revenue through the charging of college fees. College fees are fees charged to students by public FET colleges to cover the portion of the training cost not covered by formula funding of programmes.

Roll-out of the FET College Bursary However, the net effect of this structuring should be that the total planned income from college fees should be more or less equal to 20% of the total programme costs.

Programme costs Field ProgrammeTotal costCollege fees Engineering Civil engineering construction22,7854,600 Electrical infrastructure construction23,0924,600 Engineering & related design29,7036,000 Mechatronics31,3216,300 Business Marketing12,3862,500 Finance, economics & accounting11,4842,300 Generic management14,7663,000 Office administration12,2332,500 Services Tourism15,9283,200 Hospitality25,8345,200 ITC IT & computer science18,4393,700 Agriculture Primary agriculture39,6258,000 Safety & Security Safety in Society12,0312,400 ET&D Education & Development12,1262,500

Roll-out of the FET College Bursary R600 million allocated for FET Colleges Financial Aid Scheme – over 3 years  2007 = R100 million  2008 = R200 million  2009 = R300 million  To ensure that an inability to pay college fees does not constitute a barrier to academically capable students’ access to a programme at a public FET college.  Part of Government strategy for alleviating the impact of poverty

Maximum Bursary Allocations ItemCostNotes Registration feesR200Standard for all NC(V) programmes Tuition feesCost of NC(V) programmesLimited to 1 NCV programme per student per annum BooksR120 per bookMaximum 7 books Academic levies Engineering – R500 Hospitality – R500 Internet – R300 Not applicable to all students TravelR 3000 AccommodationR All the above amounts are MAXIMUM amounts that can be awarded.

Conditions for awarding bursaries College bursaries based on approved NC(V) programmes & student enrolments College to allocate a dedicated staff member to administer the scheme – student support officer recommended Awarding of bursaries to be based on Means Test – evidence thereof required Approved & signed bursary agreements required

Role of Colleges Advertise the DoE FET College Bursary Scheme to students. Accept and process applications from students. Colleges to nominate a dedicated staff member for the administration of bursaries – student support officer/s recommended Colleges to set up a Bursary Committee (Financial Aid Committee):  management;  student support;  student administration;  finance; and  student representative council (SRC).

Monitoring & Support DoE, PDE & NSFAS – monitoring & support DoE provides annual training of provincial and college student support services officials and lecturers Colleges submit reports to DoE, PDE & NSFAS NSFAS – regular audit

Provincial Allocation, 2007

Provincial allocation, 2008

Challenges Great demand versus funding Different levels of infrastructure development to support the administration of the bursary Demand by colleges of registration fee before a student is admitted

Lecturer training The aim of lecturer training was to enable lecturers to efficiently support the delivery of the NC(V) programmes The training therefore focused on: –Teaching and assessment –Curriculum content, Integrated Summative Assessment Tasks –Remedial Teaching for Maths and Maths Lit.

Data on lecturer training YearLevelFocusTotal 20062Teaching and assessment Curriculum content and ISATs Curriculum content and ISATs Remedial Teaching in Maths & Maths Lit 220 Total5750

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