Pretoria - The Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) have been ordered to move their offices closer to Further Training and Education colleges, where they are needed.
Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, said the department wants SETAs to have offices in rural areas, as opposed to being located in urban areas.
"Last year I appointed a task team to study the SETAs and to make recommendations on improving their performance, and I will receive its report by the end of this month. We will require of SETAs to open offices in all the 50 FET colleges so that they are accessible," Minister Nzimande said, presenting his department's Budget Vote to the National Assembly in Parliament on Tuesday.
He added that this move would help boost the partnering between the SETAs and colleges for the purposes of the placement of students in the workplace.
"This issue of placement is being taken seriously, to such an extent that in our new organogram, we have a new chief directorate which is focusing exclusively on facilitating the placement of students from FET to universities of technology. That is one big gap in our system," he said adding that the move also forms part of government's Batho Pele principles.
