Question NW2322 to the Minister of Basic Education
05 October 2017 - NW2322
Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)With reference to each province, (a) what is the deadline for schools to order textbooks from their provincial department and (b) what number of schools did not order textbooks by the deadline; (2) for each school that did not order textbooks, (a) what is the name of the school and (b) on what date was the catalogue for orders made available to the specified school; (3) what measures has each provincial department put in place to ensure that textbooks are ordered by schools that have not met the deadline?
Reply:
1. (a) In accordance with the National LTSM Sector Plan, textbooks orders have to be placed by 30 June of each year. Provinces and schools are expected to align the placement of orders to this date. The dates set by each Provincial Education Department (PED) is provided in the table below:
Province |
Deadline to order textbooks |
EC |
30 September 2016. |
FS |
30 June 2017 |
GP |
23 June 2017 |
KZN |
15 May 2017. 23 June 2017 for Section 21 (1)(c) schools |
LP |
28 April 2017 |
MP |
11 August 2017 |
NC |
30 June 2107. |
NW |
22 June 2017 |
WC |
19 June 2017 |
(b) All Section 20 schools and Section 21(1) (c) schools that opted for central procurement through their respective Provincial Education Departments
placed their orders by the deadlines as determined by their PEDs.
2. (a) (b) Please see list of schools for EC, LP and NW attached as Annexure A.
Province |
Names of school that did not order by deadline |
The date when catalogue was made available to schools |
EC |
The list of schools is attached see the link: http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/RNW2322List_of_School-171005.pdf |
End of June 2017 |
FS |
All Section 20 schools ordered by the deadline |
Section 21 schools order on their own. |
GP |
All 2196 schools in the province had not placed orders by 23 June 2017. There are no schools name provided. |
Catalogues were distributed to all schools on 26 May 2017 |
KZN |
A total of 48 schools are recorded as non-compliant for school-based procurement of textbooks. There are no names provided for the schools. |
Catalogues were distributed to schools on 03 May 2017. |
LP |
The list of schools is attached see the link: http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/RNW2322LP-_171005.pdf |
The catalogue has been made available on the 14 August and the LDoE will place orders with publishers on 18 August. |
MP |
None |
30 June 2017 |
NC |
All schools ordered by the deadline |
The catalogue for ordering was available from end of May 2017. |
NW |
The list of schools is attached see the link: http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/RNW2322NW-171005.pdf |
Catalogues made available from the 12th of June 2017. |
WC |
Deadline 29 May to 19 June 2017 |
Not provided |
3. For Section 21 schools that did not opt for central procurement, the following measures have been put in place by provinces to ensure that textbooks are ordered by schools that have not met the deadline:
Province |
Measures put in place |
Eastern Cape |
Co-ordinators were sensitised of the challenge of schools that did not order textbooks by the deadline and they were central in the re-direction of the surplus books to schools that did not place orders. The warehouse also submitted a list of books available at the warehouse due to rejections/wrong orders, etc. and some of the schools that did not place orders benefitted from the rejections and wrong orders. Schools that did not place orders have been directed to place orders with the 2018 orders. |
Gauteng |
All 200 schools without section 21.1c function have centrally procured textbooks and stationery for the 2018 academic year. Of the total of 1864 Section 21.1c schools, 1323 have submitted proof of orders to Districts and a total of 541 schools are still outstanding. The province receives weekly procurement reports from Districts for schools with section 21.1c function. As at Friday 11 August 2017. Districts continue to follow up with the 541 outstanding schools. |
KwaZulu-Natal |
The Department has issued an instruction that it would assume the responsibility of placing textbook orders on behalf of all schools which were found not to be complying with the procurement deadlines. In these instances, Head-Office has written to District Directors to intervene and progress is updated on a weekly basis to ensure accountability for every school. The District Offices are to solicit requisitions from the non-complying schools so that orders can be placed centrally on behalf of these schools. |
Limpopo |
The LDoE had several meetings with all stakeholders to ensure delivery deadlines for the 2018 academic year are met. Service Level Agreements have been signed with publishers/stationery manufacturers and SAPO, the appointed delivery agent responsible for textbook distribution in the province. The LTSM process for the 2018 academic year was communicated in circular S70. Districts have been instructed to do a verification exercise as some schools did not require additional top up textbooks. |
Northern Cape |
All schools placed orders. Schools are afforded an opportunity until mid-August 2017 to adjust/amend their orders through District Offices. |
North West |
All outstanding schools are being assisted |
Mpumalanga |
All schools submitted their orders therefore there was no need for further measures to be in place. |
Western Cape |
The Circuit Managers have the responsibility to monitor the 144 schools to ensure that textbooks are available to learners. The oversight responsibility resides with the District Directors and Chief Director: Districts. |
The Department of Basic Education has obtained the above information as provided by provinces. The Honourable Member is advised to direct questions to provinces for further detail and outstanding information.