Student certificate debacle reveals government failures
12 August 2015
The DA now knows, from a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training today, that the massive backlog of over 100 000 certificates to graduates from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges can be put down to inadequate systems and procedures in both the Higher Education Department-administered TVET colleges and in the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
The presentation today by SITA’s newly appointed CEO, Setumo Mohapi, made it clear that there had been failures in several spheres.
The DA will request that TVET colleges urgently present the portfolio committee with a turnaround strategy with clear timelines on how they will ensure that the backlog of certificates is cleared and does not occur again. SITA has already implemented a turnaround strategy and we call on TVET colleges to follow suit.
The DA will continue to monitor the project closely. The SITA will be presenting their progress report to the Portfolio Committee in three months and we will hold the SITA, TVET colleges and Umalusi to their commitment to clear this debilitating backlog by the end of the year.