Pretoria: Several interventions have been announced to overhaul the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector to improve inefficiencies and ensure that the sector can meet the country’s needs and is fit for purpose in a changing world. The reforms, announced by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, are a response to a fragmented and uneven PSET sector that has locked young people out of opportunities, provided skills that do not meet the economy’s needs, has underperforming institutions and funding models that remain unstable.
According to South African Government News Agency, the Minister emphasized the need to reimagine and reengineer the post-school education and training system to deliver skills, knowledge, and opportunity for all. Manamela outlined his short-term and long-term vision for the sector during a media briefing in Pretoria, emphasizing the need for a sustainable student funding model and the establishment of a PSET Reengineering Task Team.
The Minister further announced plans to stabilize the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) within the next three months and to engage with the National Treasury on long-term funding solutions. Additionally, the Department of Higher Education and Training will launch three major strategic projects focusing on Skills to Work Transitions, Career Choices, and Adult Literacy.
Over the next year, the department plans to pilot autonomous colleges and new Community Education and Training (CET) models. Manamela highlighted the importance of reviewing the CET landscape, launching TVET curriculum pilots aligned with emerging industries, and establishing a national PSET database for improved planning and accountability.
Moreover, the department will complete legislative reviews to address gaps and contradictions, setting up a multi-sectoral task team to review and consolidate three decades of policy and legislative reforms. The goal is to build a single, coherent, high-performing post-school education and training system.
In the long term, the department aims to accelerate infrastructure upgrades and ensure campus safety, fully implement a sustainable student funding model, and consolidate SETA and CET reform. The Minister stressed the importance of driving digital learning, institutionalizing career guidance, and strengthening research and innovation capacity.
The department’s work will be guided by six core objectives, including integrating the system, expanding equitable access, ensuring responsiveness to economic needs, raising learning quality, improving governance, and guaranteeing sustainability. These objectives are anchored in strategic pillars such as economic renewal and jobs, a green just transition, building public sector capacity, research and innovation, and social inclusion.