1. education

Department of
Higher Education and Training
University Registrations and
Enrolments 2014
Portfolio Committee on Higher
Education and Training
19 February 2014
University Enrolment and Registration
• University Enrolment Planning and Spaces for First-time entering
Students in 2014
• Status of Registrations as at 14 February 2014
• Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
• NSFAS and NSFAS Challenges during Registration
• Student Unrest over the Registration Period
• Teaching Development Grant initiatives to improve first year
experience
• Way Forward
2
Enrolment Planning Process
• The department negotiates enrolment figures with universities in
cycles. The previous cycle resulted in a national enrolment plan
and output targets for the 2011 to 2013 academic years.
• Going forward it has been decided to have a longer term planning
view of 6 years with a mid-term review, in order to ensure better
integrated planning at universities.
• The planning for the 2014 – 2019 academic years has been
negotiated. The Ministerial Statement on targets for the system
and individual institutions for this cycle will be published before
March 14.
• The following slide shows enrolment figures for the total number
of First Time–Entering (FTEN) students and FTEN students
enrolled in scarce skills areas (2012 actuals; 2013 preliminary;
2014 planned targets)
3
First Time–Entering (FTEN) students and FTEN
students enrolled in scarce skills areas ( 2012 - 2014
academic years)
HEAD COUNT
Actual Preliminary Projected
(Audited) (Unaudited) Target
Average
Annual
Increase
2012
2013
2014
2012 - 2014
Total FTEN
169 767
158 007
197 946
8.0%
Engineering
13 624
12 911
15 653
7.2%
10 840
9 169
12 198
6.1%
7 345
7 933
9 490
13.7%
18 606
12 324
18 928
Life and Physical
Sciences
Animal and Human
Health
Teacher Education
4
Total enrolment in scarce skills areas
( 2012 - 2014 academic years)
HEAD COUNT
Actual Preliminary Projected
(Audited) (Unaudited) Target
Average
Annual
Increase
2012
2013
2014
2012 - 2014
Total Enrolments
953 373
983 297
1 000 328
2.4%
Engineering
69 702
72 072
71 714
1.4%
39 742
41 711
41 629
2.3%
39 539
38 892
47 938
10.1%
87 342
96 270
99 836
6.9%
Life and Physical
Sciences
Animal and Human
Health
Teacher Education
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Registrations at Universities for 2014
• Registration closing dates vary across the system from
31 January 2014 to the 31 March 2014
• Registrations consist of 3 types: year courses; first semester and
second semester (individual headcount enrolments in the
academic year can occur at different times in the year – therefore
final preliminary registrations for the 2014 academic year will only
be available in August 2014; audited data will be available in
October 2015)
• Currently institutions have not yet finalised registration and
therefore the registration numbers are incomplete
• The Table (following slide) shows the progress towards the
enrolment targets for the 2014 academic year (not audited)
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Status of Registrations at 14 February 2014
Registration Type
First Time Entering
Total Undergraduate
Total Post Graduate
Occasional
Total Registered @
14 February 2014
Enrolment Target for 2014
(all types of registrations)
Registrations @
14 February 2014
126 811
638 044
100 789
3 583
742 416
972 000
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Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
and 2014 Registrations
• The department through the Central Applications Clearing House
(CACH) has been in constant contact with universities on spaces
available at institutions
• As at 12 February 2014:
-
16 Universities indicated that they had registered their full
compliment of FTEN students
-
7 Universities indicated they still have some spaces in
selected programmes
-
2 new universities are in the process of registering students
8
Available spaces as at 12 February 2014
Institution
Cape Peninsula University of
Technology
Central University of
Technology
North West University
Tshwane University of
Technology
University of Fort Hare
University of Venda
Vaal University of Technology
Response on available spaces
Student must go themselves to find out
(may be some spaces)
A few places in Accounting Sciences
350 places in the Commerce and IT fields
Spaces available in:
N Dip Analytical Chemistry
N Dip Marketing
N Dip Retail Business Management
B Sc (Bachelor of Science)
Space for students who can fund their
studies
A few spaces in Commerce faculty
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Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
• The second year of the Central Applications Clearing House was
implemented in January 2014
• CACH targeted grade 12 learners from the Class of 2012 and
Class of 2013 who:
• had not applied but found they were eligible for university
studies
• did apply but were not successful at the institution of their
choice
• Purpose was to ensure that in 2014 applicants (rejected / late)
receive better guidance than in the past, and that the number of
walk-ins is minimised across the system
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Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
• CACH Capability
- able to handle up to 80 concurrent incoming calls and
operational from 07:00 to 22:00 everyday
- Staff able to speak all official languages; message recording
service; all calls recorded; data capturing during calls
- Automated call diverting to the 4 CACH options
- Daily reports received
• CACH went live on 6 January 2014 and will continue to operate
until the end of March 2014
• To access CACH prospective students can:
- Call 0860 35 66 35 (Toll free)
- Call 0800 35 66 35 (Share call)
- Send a Please Call Me to 072 204 5056
- Send a SMS to 49200
- Register online at cach.dhet.gov.za
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Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
• CACH service provides 4 options
1. Candidate registration (Register on CACH system)
2. Career advice (Receive free career advice)
3. DHET call centre (Institution specific feedback)
4. Artisan call centre (Learnership considerations)
• The Career Advice call centre is functional throughout the year and
provides ongoing Career Advice and assistance to learners in
understanding the requirements for specific types of programmes
• Prospective students’ information captured by CACH according to
study fields and geographic preference
12
Central Applications Clearing House (CACH)
• Information in the database verified against the DBE and IEB exam
results database
• Lists generated of prospective eligible students looking for spaces
at various institutions in specific fields of study
• Lists provided to all universities and also to private providers who
have had their institutions and courses verified for registration and
accreditation
• Applicant lists provided to SETAs and NAMB for learnership and
artisan opportunities
• Applicants not meeting the minimum requirements for university
studies redirected to Career Advice for guidance on other
opportunities in the post school system
13
CACH Volumes and Processes
A total of 8 329 prospective applicants who met Bachelors or
Diploma requirements have been fully registered on the system.
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
2013
5000
2014
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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CACH Volumes and Processes
Up to Wednesday 12 February 2014
• 4 Provisions of the database have been provided to all universities
• Programme specific candidate data has been provided to 8
institutions who have directly requested this information
• Over 80% of universities are fully subscribed with very few places
remaining in the 20%
• Applicant data has been provided specifically to the remaining 20%
of available spaces
• The service will survey all applicants on the CACH database for
placement feedback and to offer further career advice
15
Service Impact
• A 2013 survey of 644 prospective applicants in the database
identified that 28% of the sample were successfully placed
• In order to determine service impact, the 2013 and 2014 databases
will be contacted to find out the percentage of individuals who have
found placements
• Feedback from these two years will show progress of service and
also provide further insight into the current realities facing this
specific group
• Feedback will enable an enhanced service for 2015 applicants
16
NSFAS Challenges
DHET MTEF allocation: 2011/12 – 2014/15
Despite massive NSFAS budget increases between 2011
and 2014 (69.3 % in 2011/12; 27,7 % in 2012/13: 9,3 % in
2013/14 and 5,9 % in 2014/15) the demands still exceeds
funds available
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
R’000
R’000
R’000
R’000
Universities
2 644 231
3 377 902
3 693 295
3 914 893
FET Colleges
1 235 244
1 734 834
1 988 434
2 107 739
Total
3 879 475
5 112 736
5 681 729
6 022 632
Institution
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NSFAS Challenges
1. NSFAS Shortfall (problem across the system)
• Key issues raised by students and student bodies is that many
deserving returning and first year students are unable to register
due to insufficient NSFAS funding
• The 2010 NSFAS review NSFAS requires 3 x its current budget if
students are to be funded at the FCS
• Universities reported a shortfall of R2,6 billion on their 2013
allocation for the 2013 academic year for all qualifying NSFAS
students. Funding shortfalls can be expected for the 2014
academic year
• The Department provided an additional R1 billion from the NSF of
which R230 million is earmarked for historic debt from 2013 to
assist NSFAS returning students
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NSFAS Challenges
• SETAs have responded positively by contributing R411 million to
assist 2013 cohort shortfall. Funding will continue for 2014 if
students progress successfully.
2. Disbursements by universities.
• Disbursements of funds are done by institutions. Inconsistencies
within the system in allocating NSFAS funding. Each university has
its own processes
• Some institutions “Top slice” or cap awards , therefore NSFAS
students have outstanding debts and cannot register
• Students sign Loan Agreement Forms (LAF) without knowing the
award size. Students believe that they were adequately funded
only to realise later that they still owe the university and this
complicates registration
• Inefficiencies in the distribution of NSFAS funding at an institutional
level
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NSFAS Challenges
• In terms of the NSFAS policy, funding is provided to students who
have a course pass rate of at least 50%
• Universities allocate loans linked to availability of funding using
their own criteria. Due to the shortfall some universities only
funded students with the best academic results and a zero
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• In the case of UJ NSFAS qualifying students who had passed less
than 80 % of their subjects were not awarded loans and are
responsible for their own funding
• Failure of students to pay the EFC as shown by the NSFAS
Means Test results in debt and in the student not being able to
register
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NSFAS Challenges
• Universities over claim with the result that students are under the
impression that they were funded
• Universities allow students to sign LAFs knowing fully well that
they have depleted their allocation
• Students become aware of this when they cannot access their
results or are told that they have outstanding debt
3. Policy of only granting B.Tech funding to students where it is a
requirement to register with a professional council to practice a
profession
4. Late payments by NSFAS to institutions. Universities indicated
that were unable to clear students accounts which would enable
registration
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NSFAS Challenges
5. NSFAS Central application process:
•
Students from two of the 12 pilot institutions (DUT and UCT)
have indicated their dissatisfaction with the new central
application system, specifically the mobile banking solution (Sbux)
•
Late finalisation of approved list of first year students who
qualified for NSFAS funding that had a huge impact on the
registration process at the pilot universities
6. Fraud and corrupt practices by some students deny the other
deserving students the ability to access NSFAS
7. Repayment of loans by students who have benefited from higher
education studies and graduated are not all paying back. There is a
need to improve the recovery rate
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Student Unrest
• There has been unrest over the 2014 registration period, mostly
linked to alleged lack of NSFAS funding
• SASCO called a general strike even though there had been
continuing engagements between the Minister and Department
• Some of the unrest led to the destruction of property and some
injury to staff and students
• Incidents occurred at UJ, TUT, DUT, MUT, VUT
• Other institutions have reported that while there have been
complaints and negotiations are going on, violence has not erupted
• By the second week of February 2014 most institutions were calm
and teaching had started
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Enhanced Teaching and
Learning Support for New Entrants
Institutional Teaching Development Grant proposals for 2014 and
beyond highlight:
• the central contribution of ‘First Year Experience’ initiatives,
providing a wide range of student support initiatives
• establishment and consolidation of Writing Centres as a central
component of language development support
• dramatic expansion of tutorial and mentoring programmes
• growing acknowledgement (with concomitant action) of the urgent
need for the professionalisation of teaching at undergraduate level
in particular
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Looking Forward
• Apply Now! Campaign to assist in getting message to prospective
PSET students that in future late applications will not be
considered - to be launched on 14/15 March 2014
• Better Career Advice in schools also linked to Apply Now!
Campaign the SAQA/DHET Career Advice Service and the wider
DHET Career development project
• CACH in 2015 will focus on assisting students who have applied
but not been accepted into an institution of their choice and need to
be directed to other PSET opportunities
• The Central Applications Service will be developed during 2014 for
piloting in 2015 and implementation in 2016
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Thank You