Question NW131 to the Minister of Basic Education

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28 February 2018 - NW131

Profile picture: Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI

Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI to ask the Minister of Basic Education

With reference to her reply to question 2324 on 28 September 2017, has she received the requested information?

Reply:

Yes, the information was received. Please see attached NA 2324 and NA 1656. See responses below:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION 2324

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14/08/2017

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 26/2017

2324. Ms N l Tarabella Marchesi (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

With reference to her reply to question 1656 on 13 July 2017, has she received the requested information from the provincial departments? NW2569E

Response.

Please see attached NA 1656.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION 1656

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 09/06/2017

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 21/2017

1656. Ms N I Tarabella Marchesi (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

(1) Has each provincial department of education identified a list of schools considered to be priorities for scholar transport as funding becomes available; if not, why not; if so, (a) what criteria are used to determine priority schools and (b) which schools are on the priority list in each province;

(2) have any of the schools on the priority list been identified as a result of the school rationalisation programme; if not, why not; if so, will a separate additional budget allocation be made available for transport needed in the case of rationalised schools? NW1862E

Response

  1. Schools and learners who are not transported due to budgetary constraints are kept on a database and prioritised when additional funding becomes available.
  2. The criteria used by provinces to determine the priority schools is based on the criteria that is used to identify learners in those school as directed by the learner transport policy. The criteria are as follows:
    • Priority is given to primary schools learners who walk long distances to schools;
    • Beneficiaries must be needy learners from grade R to 12;
    • Learner transport will be subsidised to the nearest appropriate school only and not to a school of parental choice (parental choice means parents prefer to enrol their children at schools other than the nearest suitable school);
    • Priority must be given to learners with disabilities, taking into consideration the nature of the disability; and
  • Existing learner transport services must be taken into account when identifying beneficiaries as no learner transport services will be provided in areas where public transport is available in order to avoid duplication of services and resources.
  1. List of Schools is attached as Annexure A

(2) Yes. There are schools that were identified as a result of rationalisation. A costing exercise is undertaken as part of the rationalisation programme to determine the additional funding required and requests are made for these funds, over and above the existing budget.