Question NW777 to the Minister of Basic Education
07 April 2017 - NW777
Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)Whether her department has an established annual deadline for the delivery of textbooks to schools; if not, why not; if so, what is the annual deadline; (2) what measures are in place to ensure accountability for any late delivery of textbooks to schools by provincial departments?
Reply:
1. Yes, the Department has set the deadline for provinces to ensure that all the necessary Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) is delivered to schools. The deadline is end of October annually. Between November of the same year and January of the following, provinces, districts and schools are conducting mop-up processes to accommodate the learner migration and late registration phenomena.
2. The Department has monitoring and oversight systems in place to ensure that provinces deliver all necessary LTSM to schools on time. These systems include reports to the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) meetings, Head of Education Committee Meetings (HEDCOM), Teacher Development and Curriculum Meetings as well as quarterly LTSM forum meetings. These meetings are platforms where provinces are held accountable, where applicable, and assisted where there are challenges.