HIGHER EDUCATION
College vocational training plan may fail because of lack of money, says Blade Nzimande
There is no extra funding for enrolments at technical and vocational education and training colleges to reach envisioned targets
The government’s plan to boost enrolments in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges is likely to fail because of lack of funding, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has warned. The white paper for post-school education and training envisages expanding enrolments at colleges from about 700,000 to 2.5-million by 2030 to ease pressure on universities. In a reply to a parliamentary question from the DA, Nzimande said that in the absence of an increase in the baseline funding for enrolments, his department would not achieve the targets set in the white paper and would have to adjust its enrolment targets from 2017 onwards to remain within budget. Nzimande said the budget required to service the TVET college system for the 2017-18 financial year amounted to R19.8bn. There was an estimated shortfall of R10.7bn, based on the current baseline allocation of just more than R9bn. The estimated total shortfall over the 2017 period is about R43bn.
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