Question NW2069 to the Minister of Basic Education

Reply:

a) There is no policy that has been put in place to preclude members of the History Ministerial Task Team who contributed to the decision to make history a compulsory subject for high school learners from benefiting financially in any way from the production of textbooks and any other relevant teaching material for the subject.

There is no decision that has been taken by the Minister of Basic Education or any other person regarding the teaching of compulsory History in Grades 10-12. The MTT only recommended that there is a possibility of teaching compulsory History in the FET band provided that there is proper planning by DBE as well as considering issues such as the financial implications, teacher provisioning and training. The DBE is planning to make wider public consultations regarding the recommendations by the MTT before such a decision can be taken.

However there is a policy outlining the Terms of Reference for any publisher to submit material for evaluation and catalogue of core textbooks in the Department of Basic Education. The DBE requests publishers to submit material for evaluation purposes and these materials have to cover the entire curriculum for the whole year, as outlined in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) of a specific subject.

DBE publishes an Invitation and Terms of Reference (TOR) which outlines the process for submissions. This TOR also informs tenderers of subjects and grades for which submissions are invited and dates as well as other important issues that publishers must comply with, in order for their submissions to be considered.

The DBE is responsible for the development of the national catalogue which is forwarded to provinces, districts and schools. The provinces are responsible for procurement and delivery of books to schools.

Notices regarding submissions of LTSM are advertised on the DBE website www.ltsm.doe.gov.za.

The reason why the MTT members are not precluded, it is because the DBE does not enter into agreement with individual authors but with publishers for the submission of material to be included in the National Catalogue for Grades 10 – 12 core textbooks. Although the DBE approves material to be on the catalogue it does not guarantee their purchase.

Furthermore, submission by a publisher does not guarantee that the material will be successful to be included on the DBE catalogue. The material goes through a rigorous process by a panel of teachers, subject advisers and members of Higher Education Institutions from various provinces. They are selected on the basis of their subject knowledge, expertise and experience in the specific subject. Hence the screening process is regarded as transparent, reliable and credible because it is guided by the five pillars from the National treasury: value for money, open and effective competition, ethics and fair dealings, accountability and reporting, and equity.

b) There is no policy that has been put in place to ensure that any other person who contributed to the decision to make history a compulsory subject for high school learners precluded from benefiting financially in any way from the production of textbooks and any other relevant teaching material for the subject.

The same reasons provided in answer (a) apply in this case as well.