Continuing Education and Training Act, 2006 (Act No. 16 of 2006)

Notices

National Norms and Standards for Funding Community Education and Training College

Funding Norms and Standards

Part O : Earmarked Funding
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66. The Department may earmark funding for a particular purpose. Earmarked funding is dependent on availability of additional or new funding from the State. The conditions for distribution of earmarked funding to CET colleges must be approved by the Director-General.

 

67. Earmarked funding must be separate from the goods and services and capital infrastructure maintenance allocation. The items for earmarked funding are listed below, but not limited to:
(a) Rurality
(b) Student Resourcing and Support
(c) Special Needs in Education
(d) Infrastructure
(e) Staff Development
(f) Pilot Community Learning Centres

 

The principles underpinning each may include but not limited to the following:

 

Rurality

 

68. The allocation of funds must take into account the variable costs of programmes and the factors that disadvantage certain institutions and their students (both enrolled and prospective). Rural colleges clearly need a funding adjustment which could be determined through a weighting on the formula to provide for additional funding.

 

69. Rurality contributes to additional delivery costs as well as travel and accommodation costs for staff and students. Rural costs need to be benchmarked against urban cost. Distance appears to be the most important factor.

 

70. The classification of colleges as urban, rural and semi-rural is needed to identify those that would qualify for rural funding. If only certain CLCs under a college are rural then rural funding must only be applied to the funding allocation of those CLCs. This must be built into the funding formula.

 

Student Resourcing and Support

 

71. The Department may consider the commissioning of a research study for development of study materials for programmes offered in CET colleges.

 

72. Student support services must be funded on the basis of enrolment of State funded programmes. The services must cover academic, special needs, psycho-social and exit support. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds need more support particularly those from rural areas.

 

73. The Department must consider establishing a financial aid scheme for the provision of living, transport and accommodation allowance for indigent students as this is a necessity. This will require additional funding from the fiscus. CET colleges financial aid guidelines or regulations must be developed for that scheme to guide the criteria for awarding financial aid to deserving students. CET college students are not part of the current DHET Bursary Scheme administered by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

 

74. Students with academic potential must not be excluded because they cannot afford fees; therefore there is a need for an ongoing student support mechanism in the form of financial aid. This is crucial considering paragraph 40 above.

 

75. The closing and /or merging of CLCs may result in the need for transport for some students. As mentioned above, the financial aid scheme must include transport allowances for students.

 

76. Financial incentives linked to college performance may be considered by the Department to be built into the funding formula. However, this must not disadvantage students in cases of overall poor performance of the college. Colleges may use incentives awarded to fund critical needs in line with the conditions provided by the Department.

 

Special Needs in Education

 

77. Special Needs in Education (SNE) in CET colleges must be catered for and funded by adding a weight in the funding formula to determine the required additional funding to a college. This means extra funding for students with special needs in a particular programme. The weighting must consider the extra resources and support required. There must be evidence provided by the college to prove that the required special assistance is being provided to such students. The criteria for what count as "special needs" must be determined for application.

 

Infrastructure

 

78. This funding must be for new infrastructure and ongoing maintenance. Infrastructure development must be implemented on a project basis addressing national priority areas as well as college needs.

 

79. Infrastructure maintenance costs (including the repair and upgrading of equipment) must also be provided for.

 

80. Given the envisaged expansion in the CET college system, as the student numbers increase over time, infrastructure funding must be reviewed after a reasonable period as this may lead to increased maintenance costs.

 

81. The norms and standards for infrastructure provisioning must be developed to address the teaching and learning needs.

 

Staff Development

 

82. Staff development funding must be allocated on the basis of number of staff that needs training as well as the cost of training. Training and development of lecturing staff must be in line with the identified skills needed for the offering of programmes. The allocation from the skills levy grant must be utilized to implement the skills development plan of the college, for both lecturing and support staff. Pilot Community Learning Centres

 

83. Programme diversification must be implemented on a project basis in colleges earmarked for specialization of certain programmes.

 

84. The funding of pilot projects must be such that it does not negatively impact on the operations of the CET colleges.