Pretoria - The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has commended the Department of Higher Education and Training for the successful staging of the second Higher Education Transformation Summit.
The three-day summit, held in Durban from Thursday to Saturday, was an opportunity for stakeholders to hold critical dialogues on aspects of transformation in higher education.
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee Yvonne Phosa, who attended the summit with other committee members, said the summit was an opportunity for MPs to gain insight into the extent of challenges in the sector.
“As a committee, we were enriched by the deliberations that took place over the three days. This will certainly aid our oversight work going forward.
“We will be able to interact with management at universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges being fully informed by virtue of having a full picture of the current challenges as presented directly by the various stakeholders, which crucially included the students,” said Phosa.
She said the committee will continue keeping a close eye on the implementation of the various resolutions in their role of holding the department and its entities accountable.
Meanwhile, Phosa commended both the management and students at Wits University for the manner in which they are handling their disagreements over the proposed fee hikes at the institution.
Phosa said this was an example of how disputes should be handled on campuses.
“We’d like to see the students exercising their democratic rights to voice their grievances in a responsible and peaceful manner. At the same time, we’d like to see the management speedily engaging with students and providing a platform through which their voices can be raised.” – SAnews.gov.za
