Council on Higher Education: Three-year Business Plan and MTEF Budget 2012-2015

1. Council on Higher Education: Three-year Business Plan and MTEF Budget 2012-2015 Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training 25 April 2012

2. Functions • Advise Minister on any aspect of higher education. • Quality Assurance – auditing of institutional QA mechanisms; programme accreditation; promoting QA. • Qualifications framework – development and management of HEQF; standards setting, including naming conventions for qualifications; maintenance of learner database. • Publish information/reports on developments in, and the state of, higher education: monitoring function.

3. Strategic Goals • To contribute to the transformation of the HE system through analysis and research to inform the development of higher education policy. • To contribute to the development of qualification standards to ensure the relevance, comparability and currency of qualifications. • To promote quality and conduct quality assurance in HE, including enhancing the quality of higher education. • To ensure the efficient and effective provision of corporate services – administrative, financial, technical and professional, to support the discharge of the core mandate of the CHE.

4. Goal 1: Research and analysis to inform the development of HE policy • Advice to MHET – desirability and feasibility of introducing a 4-year undergraduate diploma/degree structure to address low throughput and graduation rates. • Monitoring the state of higher education: • Performance indicators – “at a glance booklets”. • Research: • Institutional Governance re: institutions under administration. • State of private higher education. • Student governance. • Meta-analysis of key issues based on the institutional audit reports.

5. Goal 2: Development of qualification standards • Development of HEQF - revised HEQF gazetted in Dec. 2011. • Alignment of existing programmes (2011-2014): • Programmes that need no or only a minor adjustment to align with the HEQF: 60%-70% - completed. • Programmes that require some curriculum development (amounting to a less than 50% change) to align with the HEQF: 25%-30%. • Programmes that cannot be aligned with the HEQF and which will need to be phased out or replaced: 5%. • Standards Setting – finalise framework and initiate pilots. • HEQCIS review to ensure data on private providers is comparable to public institutions.

6. Goal 3: To promote quality and quality assurance in Higher Education • Institutional Audits: second cycle – pilot in 2013: • Focus on teaching and learning – conceptual assumptions and curriculum and classroom practice. • Rethinking process re: “one-size-fits all” approach given underlying and deep-seated challenges at a number of institutions under administration. • Rethinking methodology re: submission of institutional self-evaluations, site visits by peer panels and final report, all of which is onerous and requires long-timelines. • Ongoing monitoring and analysis of progress in implementing improvement plans.

7. Programme Accreditation: • New programmes – no assessed increasing exponentially. • Re-accreditation of private provider programmes. • Finnalise new institutional accreditation framework, including criteria for self-accreditation. • National Reviews: Re-accreditation of programmes in particular disciplines; high impact on quality improvement and contributes to standards setting. • Finalise framework for National Reviews. • Programmes to be reviewed: considering social work and law. • Joint pilot with SAIP: review of challenges facing the teaching of physics.

8. Quality Promotion and Capacity Development: • Teaching excellence awards jointly with the Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association of South Africa (HELTASA). • Training of institutional auditors and programme evaluators. • Workshops and publications on best practice. • Quality assurance forums for quality managers at public and private institutions, including statutory professional bodies

9. Goal 4: Efficient and effective provision of corporate services • Human Resources: • Development of recruitment and retention strategy, including review of remuneration framework. • Finalisation of employment equity strategy. • Implementation of staff training and development plan. • Finance, administration and supply change: • Compliance with PFMA and Treasury regulations and laws.

10. MTEF Budget 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2054 R'000 R'000 R'000 SUMMARY INCOME 44,451 46,633 48,427 • DHET - Government grant 39,237 40,832 43,282 • Realisation of Deferred transfers – New Mandate : Standards Setting 3,281 3,317 3,468* • Private Accreditation - Cost Recovery 1,289 1,359 1,427 • Interest Income 644 525 250 EXPENDITURE 44,451 43,928 45,810 • CAPEX 455 400 750 • GOODS & SERVICES 20,160 20,602 21,212 • PERSONNEL 23,836 25,031 26 465