Business Day
*Deal with corruption now, Nzimande warns Setas* Meggan Saville, Business Day, Johannesburg, 29 November 2011Sector education and training authorities (Setas) must act against corruption in their organisations, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said on Tuesday.
"Chairpersons, together with their boards, must act decisively against (transgressions including corruption) without fear or favour," he said at a meeting with Seta board chairmen and -women in Midrand.
He added: "I want to be open --- I expect nothing less than clean governance, finish and klaar."
Tackling corruption, together with the accountability and accessibility of Setas, would improve the public's perception of them, which he said was "generally negative".
Mr Nzimande said most training colleges' head offices were located in upmarket suburbs. "(This) does contribute to the legitimate perception that such a location only serves to privilege service providers over beneficiaries, and that's the truth."
As part of service-level agreements between his department and Setas, Mr Nzimande said he expected the authorities to start opening offices in rural areas and townships. They would need to share the costs associated with running these offices.
The minister also announced that a green paper on post-school education and training had been approved by the Cabinet and would be released for public approval in mid-January. The green paper is aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment.
He added that there was a growing need for professionals, technicians and artisans in the green energy and nuclear power sectors to meet the needs of the government's "urgent projects".
Mr Nzimande said social science graduates and social workers were needed by the Department of Social Development.
To create employable graduates, he said, lecturers needed to work with and teach the latest technologies.
This capacity has to be strengthened in further education and training colleges, as many of these teach obsolete computer programs and do not equip their students for the contemporary working environment.
"Otherwise, we are training students for unemployment," the minister said.There is room for improvement in the Setas' draft strategic plans too, as there is an "unevenness" in their systems. Examples of this are the lack of annual performance plans and budgets created without targets.
The Higher Education and Training Department will help Setas improve service-level agreements and strategic plans, and workshops with Treasury officials will be set up to bridge these gaps.
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