CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 1, 2017/APO/ -- 

The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training will this week undertake an oversight visit aimed at ending the backlogs in issuing of National Certificate Vocational (NCV) and diploma certificates for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Connie September, said the Committee will among other things visit the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) as well as the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) in an attempt to ensure that the certification backlog is decisively dealt with.

“The Committee is engaged in week-long oversight visit in Pretoria with the intention of meaningfully contributing to the fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment in the country. Key to this is efficiency in ensuring that young people do not experience further delays in acquiring their qualifications and in accessing economic opportunities,” Ms September said.

She said radical economic transformation will be meaningful if those who have been equipped with skills are certified and given the opportunities they deserve in order to enter the job market.

The Committee will kick-start the visit on Tuesday at the department and as well as at Sita. The intention is to get an insight into capacity related challenges in the administration and examination units at the DHET. But also the visit at Sita is aimed at getting an insight into the functionality and effectiveness of the systems geared to resolving certification challenges.

Ms September said it was important that the higher education sector functions with little challenges as possible, if the country is to deliver on its long-term policy positions.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.