The Council on Higher Education (CHE) has three Standing Committees, whose role is to provide guidance for the CHE Secretariat on matters within their areas of responsibility.

Funding and Financing Standing Committee
The CHE Funding and Financing Standing Committee deals with all aspects of the funding and financing of higher education. Funding is viewed by the National Plan as a crucial steering mechanism in the transformation of the higher education system, and the Higher Education Act (reference: Higher Education Act 101 of 1997) and the White Paper (reference: Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education) allocate responsibilities in this area to the CHE. These include advising on: the policies, principles and criteria that should govern the allocation of public funds among higher education providers; a mechanism for the allocation of public funds; student financial aid; policy regarding public and private financing and provision; the level and distribution of public subsidies to higher education; and forms of student financial assistance.

Professor SJ Saunders chairs the Committee. The other Committee members are Ms J Glennie, Mr R Katz, Mr V van Vuuren, Dr L Lange and Professor RH Stumpf (non-CHE member).

The Committee has assisted the CHE in developing advice to the Minister of Education on how far and in what ways the funding framework advanced the objectives of the National Plan, and on institutional redress policy.

Size and Shape Standing Committee
The Size and Shape Standing Committee deals with issues of the overall capacity of the higher education system to develop high level and varied knowledge, abilities and skills to meet the needs of a developing democracy.

The context of the Committee's work is the size of the South African higher education system (number of institutions, enrolments and participation rate); and its shape (different types of higher education institutions and educational and pedagogic modes).

Head of the Size and Shape Standing Committee is Professor SF Coetzee; the other members are Dr F Ginwala, Mr SBA Isaacs, Professor Y Ballim, Professor NC Manganyi, Ms L Abrahams and Dr L Lange.

The Committee's activities have included assisting the CHE to advise on the Ministry's criteria for determining the programme profiles of public higher education institutions; and on its proposals for the institutional restructuring of higher education. It has also worked on issues of system differentiation.

Monitoring and Advice Standing Committee
The Monitoring and Advice Standing Committee supports the work of the CHE's Monitoring and Advice Directorate.

The Higher Education Act and the White Paper allocate to the CHE the general responsibility for developing and implementing the monitoring and evaluation system for higher education. The Council is in particular required to advise the Minister of Education on the performance of the system, drawing on available performance indicators; and on progress towards, and impediments to, achieving national equity, human resource development and transformation goals.

Professor AM Perez chairs the Committee. Its members are Ms J Glennie, Professor SJ Saunders, Dr A Kaniki and Dr L Lange.

For further information, please contact Ms Lolo Allies.