Once again my Ministry brings before Parliament pieces of legislation which are part of our agenda for genuine and fundamental transformation of the education system in this country. Today I will briefly deal with two of these Bills,( The Higher Education Bill and the Education Laws Amendment Bill) and also make some remarks about another important policy development, the report on Further Education and Training.
THE HIGHER EDUCATION BILL
The White Paper on Higher Education was adopted by Cabinet and has been published as a formal statement of the government's policy on higher education transformation. We are now introducing in Parliament during this session, the Higher Education Bill.
Through this Bill we seek to regulate higher education; provide for the establishment, composition and functions of a Council on Higher Education; provide for the establishment, governance and funding of public higher education institutions; provide for the appointment and functions of an independent assessor; provide for the registration of private and foreign higher education institutions; provide for quality assurance and quality promotion in higher education.
On the adoption of this Bill by Parliament, the entire South African higher education sector will, for the first time in its history, be governed and developed in terms of a single national law. This is necessary to ensure that the legacy of the past is overcome and the challenges of reconstruction and development addressed. The higher education system will be planned, governed and funded as a single national coordinated system.
In introducing this transformative Bill to Parliament, my Ministry is fulfilling its responsibility of guiding the process of transformation in a proactive, and constructive manner. The Bill will now be the subject of public hearings by the Education Committees of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, debated, amended, and hopefully passed. Thus will conclude a highly intensive and exceptionally important period of policy and legislative preparation in the history of higher education in this country.
EDUCATION LAWS AMENDMENT BILL
This piece of legislation seeks to amend the South African Schools Act, 1996, to allow governing bodies of public schools to appoint educators and non-educator staff additional to the approved establishment. It also seeks to make certain technical adjustments; to the National Education Policy Act, 1996. If adopted it will also amend the Educators' Employment Act, 1994 to regulate the responsibility of the employer in relation to the function of a governing body of a public school to recommend educators for appointment. Lastly, through this Bill we seek to repeal the National Policy on the Salaries and Conditions of Employment of Educators Act, 1984; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
As I have said, the most substantive of these amendments relates to the power we seek to confer to governing bodies of public schools to appoint educators and non-educator staff additional to the approved establishment. We have consulted widely on this highly emotive issue. We are confident that this amendment represents the highest possible level of consensus. Through this amendment we seek to propose a practical and pragmatic solution to a potentially divisive issue. The onus is on the privileged sector of our society to reciprocate this goodwill on the part of the disadvantaged community by sharing resources and assisting in the building of a new and dynamic school system.
FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING
I have received a report from the National Committee on Further Education which was appointed on 18 September 1996 to investigate and advise on the nature of schooling in the senior secondary phase and technical and community college-based education.
The National Task Team on Further Education comprised a Task Team (constituted by experts on Further Education and Training), the Reference Group (constituted by the primary stakeholders in Further Education and Training) and the Secretariat (provided by the Department of Education).
I am very pleased by the content of this report, and I believe that it will give national status and visibility to Further Education and Training as a sector of national importance. As we enter the 21st Century, our nation can no longer allow Further Education and Training (FET) to be the stepchild of higher education, nor for it to be dominated by school education, especially secondary education in its current format. I fully endorse the views of the task team that the mission for FET must be to foster mid-level skills; lay the foundation for higher education; facilitate the transition from school to the world of work; develop well-educated, thinking citizens; and provide opportunities for continuous learning through the articulation of education and training programmes.
I call on the public to discuss and debate this report in order to inform national and provincial policy development processes. Further, I intend to use the report of the Committee as a basis for the development of national policy in the form of a Green Paper and appropriate legislation to support and advance national policy.
This opportunity will also be used to draw on the expertise of all key national interest groups and role players from other national ministries, industry, rural, youth, women and worker communities and organisations. We will also develop an implementation plan for the phasing in of policy. In the meantime we are also considering specific recommendations which in our view can be implemented almost immediately.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL MR LINCOLN MALI AT 083 251 4044 OR 021 457 350