Question NW2860 to the Minister of Basic Education
14 November 2018 - NW2860
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
1. (a) Which countries were visited by a team of her department’s officials and educator union representatives in 2018 as part of the seven-country tour, (b) on what date was each country visited and (c) why was that particular country chosen as having experience relevant to the South African context; 2. (a) what are the names of the officials and educator union representatives who visited the specified countries, (b) why was each specified official and unionist chosen to undertake the visit and (c)(i) what was the cost of each official and unionist’s flights and accommodation and (ii) from which departmental budget was the cost of the visit to the country paid; 3. was each official and unionist required to provide a report on their findings; if not, why not; if so, what were the findings for each country visited?
Reply:
- RESPONSE
1 (a). The bench mark study tour was initiated and funded by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) to assist the research work currently underway in the ELRC. Four(4) countries were visited, namely Finland, Singapore, Canada and Brazil.
(b). The engagements with the countries various departments took place from 26 February 2018 to 9 March 2018. The dates were as follows:
- Finland : 26 February 2018 – 27 February 2018.
- Singapore : 28 February 2018 – 2 March 2018.
- Canada : 5 March 2018 – 6 March 2018.
- Brazil : 8 March 2018 – 9 March 2018.
(c). At an Education Indaba in 2017 that was organised by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), three streams of work were identified to be undertaken to address challenges relating to education provisioning and related matters. One of these pertinent matters is post provisioning, which has become one of the difficult issues in the different provincial education departments in South Africa.
In addressing the issues raised by the Post Provisioning Commission at the Education Indaba, the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) commissioned desktop research to assess how international countries have approached post provisioning challenges, managed compensation of teachers and adopted effective distribution models within their education system. Based on the research, the four (4) countries that were identified that could best assist South Africa with its challenges and provide possible solutions.
During the visits three (3) focus areas were concentrated on primarily because of the South African context. The areas were:
- Annual and long-term human resource (HR) planning (teachers and other personnel) at state, provincial, and school levels;
- Budget allocation and funding structures from Grade R/ Kindergarten to Matriculation levels taking into account factors such as poverty, special education needs, and specialist subjects; and
- Norms and standards for HR provisioning in small and/or rural schools.
2. (a). The names of the departmental officials were the following:
- Mr T Kojana: Eastern Cape Department of Education;
- Adv T Malakoane: Free State Department of Education;
- Ms N Mutheiwana: Limpopo Department of Education;
- Ms L Moyane: Mpumalanga Department of Education;
- Mr E Mosuwe: Gauteng Department of Education;
- Ms S Semaswe: North West Department of Education;
- Mr T van Staden: Northern Cape Department of Education;
- Mr M Cronje: Western Cape Department of Education;
- Mr S Faker: Department of Basic Education; and
- Mr M Mfela: Department of Basic Education.
The names of the union officials were the following:
- Mr B Manuel: Teacher Union Executive Director: CTU ATU;
- Mr M Maluleke: Teacher Union SADTU; and
- Mr M Galorale: Teacher Union: SADTU.
The teacher unions identified the officials that were to attend on their behalf and they were invited separately from the DBE officials. The information on how the union officials were identified therefore needed to be obtained from the unions.
(b). The departmental officials were chosen because of their expertise and responsibility in either post provisioning, human resource management, early childhood development and finance. Unions were required to identify their own representatives.
(c) (i). The entire benchmark study tour was orgainised by the ELRC based on the resolutions taken at the Education Indaba 2017. The ELRC funded the entire study tour. There were no financial implications for the Department.
The Department is not in a position to provide the cost for each delegate on the benchmark tour.
(c) (ii). See (c) (i) above.
3. A detailed report with findings and recommendations were drafted by the ELRC with inputs provided by the delegates. A copy of the report may be requested from the ELRC.