Question NW229 to the Minister of Basic Education
16 March 2017 - NW229
Mazzone, Ms NW to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What was the delivery rate of (a) textbooks and (b) other school stationery items in each province in the (i) 2012, (ii) 2013, (iii) 2014 and (iv) 2015 school years?
Reply:
(a) (i)-(iv) It is worth noting that different provinces employ different procurement models and therefore the delivery rate will vary from province to province. In terms of the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996, schools that are allocated a Section 21 function procure Learning Teaching Support Material (LTSM) utilising their allocated budget and the provinces procure for schools with a Section 20 function. According to provincial reports from 2012 – 2015, all orders placed were delivered and therefore makes the delivery rate to be 100% in all provinces. The percentage reflects a cycle that involves the initial orders, mop-ups, retention and retrieval as well as top-ups based of the retrieval report
It is further worth noting that the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) was incrementally implemented as follows:
- Grades 1 – 3 and 10 were implanted in 2012;
- Grades 4 – 6 and 11 were implanted in 2013;
- Grades 7 – 9 and 12 were implanted in 2014; and
- Grades 10 – 12 and Grade R were implemented in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
The implementation of CAPS necessitated that new textbooks be utilised hence the development of National Catalogues for provinces to procure these listed LTSMs. These National Catalogues were developed a year prior to implementation allowing provinces and schools to procure LTSM a year in advance. Therefore the universal coverage could only be fully monitored at the end of the cycle of the implementation of CAPS.
As a result, in the middle of 2014, the Department consolidated the figures to determine the universal coverage of textbooks in the country. Below is a table that indicates the Universal Coverage at the per province
|
Province |
As at mid-2014 |
2015 |
|
Eastern Cape |
100% |
100% |
|
Free State |
100% |
100% |
|
Gauteng |
93% |
93% |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
63% |
85% |
|
Limpopo |
99% |
99% |
|
Mpumalanga |
100% |
100% |
|
Northern Cape |
98% |
98% |
|
North West |
92% |
92% |
|
Western Cape |
94% |
95% |
|
Average Universal access |
93% |
95.8% |
b) (i-iv)
|
Province |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
Stationery |
Stationery |
Stationery |
Stationery |
|
|
Eastern Cape |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Free State |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Gauteng |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Limpopo |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Mpumalanga |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Northern Cape |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
North West |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Western Cape |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |