Monday afternoon saw the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane reveal the Department of Higher Education (DHET) Budget for 2024/25. During this, the Minister presents the targets and milestones of the department.
“It remains our goal to expand access to higher education and training opportunities and improve the quality of provisioning, responsiveness and efficiency of the post school education systems,” said the Minister.
This government wants to revolutionise higher education and training so that the PSET system could address the skills deficit in order to meet the needs of our economy. Our primary objective is to develop skills and capable workforce while broadening the skills base of the country to support an inclusive growth path.
With one of the main priorities set out by the department being skills development, the budget for 2024/25 is at a total of R137.5 billion, an increase of 4.8% from the previous year. The budget for 2026/27 is set at a total of R150.2 billion.
DHET Budget Allocations
- Administration - R565 million
- Planning, Policy and Strategy - R4.2 billion
- University Education - R91.7 billion
- TVET - R13.2 billion
- Skills Development - R333 million
- Community Education and Training - R2.9 billion
- Skills Levy - R24.5 billion
Nkabane also revealed that the department reprioritised R10.8 million in the budget to support the implementation of gender-based violence programmes in community education and training colleges.
The Minister also mentioned the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and the many challenges it has been faced with leading to detrimental effects for some. The department aims to deal with and address these challenges in the shortest period of time possible, said the Minister.
South Africa suffers from a high youth unemployment rate. To resolve this, the government introduced the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) which provides employment opportunities to unemployed youth in the country.
The Department of Higher Education will direct R300 million to the programme to provide jobs to 4 200 unemployed youth.
