Hansard: NA: Mini-plenary 3
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 19 May 2022
Summary
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Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THURSDAY, 19 MAY 2022
VOTE NO 16 – BASIC EDUCATION
Watch: Mini-plenary_
PROCEEDINGS OF MINI PLENARY SESSION – NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
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Members of the mini-plenary session met on the virtual platform at 16:30.
House Chairperson Mr C T Frolick took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
The Chairperson announced that the virtual mini-plenary sitting constituted a meeting of the National Assembly.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Thank you, hon members, before I proceed, I would like to remind you that the virtual mini-plenary is deemed to be in the precinct of Parliament and thus constitutes a meeting of the National Assembly for debating purposes only. In addition to the Rules of the debate, virtual sessions will encompass all the Rules of the national Assembly, as well as Rules that usually apply for debating purposes. Members enjoy the same powers and privileges that apply in a sitting of the National Assembly. Members should equally note that anything said in the virtual platform is deemed to have been said in the House and may be ruled upon. All members who have logged in shall considered to be present, and are requested to mute their microphones and only unmute them when requested to speak. The microphones are very sensitive and will pick up noise which might disturb the attention of other members. When recognised to speak, please unmute your microphone and connect your video. Members may make use of icons on the bar at the bottom of the screens, which has an option that allows a member to put up his or her hand to raise a point of order. The secretariat will assist in this regard. When using the virtual platform, members are urged to refrain or desist from unnecessary points of order or interjections. We shall now proceed with the order, which is a Debate on Vote No 16: basic Education Appropriation Bill. I now recognise the hon Minister of Basic Education. The hon Minister?
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 16 – Basic Education:
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION:House Chair, Cabinet colleagues and Deputy Ministers present, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and hon members, on behalf of the entire the basic education sector, we wish to thank the National Assembly for inviting us to table our 2022-23 Budget Vote No 16 – Basic Education. We must agree that making progress in the basic education sector, requires a continual focus on our long-term targets, while we also address urgencies as they arise. As we all know, the urgency of epic proportions in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, has consumed much time, energies, efforts and financial resources since 2020. According to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, the pandemic represents a worldwide generational catastrophe, as children fall behind in their learning, and experience the general trauma of the disruptions. One of the traumas suffered by children has been the loss of their parents, caregivers, and teachers to COVID-19. As a sector through our monitoring, we can confirm that we lost 3 300 educators, which constitutes a percentage of our workforce. We continue to pay tribute to the educators, as well as our education executive and management leaders, who lost their lives to COVID-19.
We in the basic education sector, must thank our partners – from teacher unions, national governance associations, civic society and the public for assisting us to make sure that we continue to keep our schools open. The sector has worked hard at minimising the detrimental effects of the pandemic, while accepting that the damage done, is so deep that there can be no quick fixes, and recovery will take time. Allow me to highlight the following in relation to Budget Vote No 16 – Basic Education. Our overall budget for 2022 is R29,6 billion, which is an increase of 4,9%. Breaking it down, we were allocated R535 million for administration, which is 1,9% increment. For curriculum policy support and monitoring, we were allocated R3,3 billion, which is a decrease of 2,5%. In teacher education human resource and institutional development, we received R1,5 billion, which is an increase of
3,5% from the previous allocation. For planning information and assessment, we have been allocated R15,4 billion, which is an increase of 4,6% from the previous allocation. For educational enrichment services, we have been allocated R8,8 billion, which is an increase of 4,4%. The overall allocation for conditional grants is R23 billion, which is an increase of 10%. For mathematics, science and technology, we have been allocated R424,8 million, which is an increase of 2,8%. For infrastructure, we have been allocated R12,4 billion, which continue to be funded through education infrastructure grant, which is an increase of 5,6%, and we have been allocated R2,4 billion for the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, Asidi. For HIV and Aids, whose purpose is to support South Africa’s HIV and TB prevention strategy - R242,2 million has been allocated, which is an increase of 0,2%. For the National School Nutrition Programme, we have been allocated R8,5 billion, has an increase of 4,6%. But as a sector, we have been allocated R255,5 million, which is an increase of 5,2% for learners with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.
The department, after the fund shifted from Social Development
to Basic Education, received R1,2 billion. There are also
earmarked funds that have been allocated to the sector for
different activities associated with the department. We have
been given R2,9 billion for transfers to different agencies –
for instance, for the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme, we have
been allocated R1,3 billion, which is 1,6% increment.
We have also been given money which we have to distribute to
other agencies that work with the early childhood development,
ECD, programme. So, we have R1,1 million for Ntataise; we have
R2,1 million for Umhambo Foundation and we have R826 000 for
the SA Congress for Early Childhood Development. Umalusi,
which is responsible for examinations, has been allocated
R162 million, which is an increment of 2,9%.
For the National Senior Certificate, NSC, examination
programmes, and also for what we call the Second Chance
Programme, we have been allocated R58,2 million, which is an
increase of 0,6%. Our partner, the National Education
Collaboration Trust, NECT, has been allocated R120,7 million,
which is an increase of 2,6%. For workbooks, including
workbooks for visually impaired learners, we have been
allocated R1,186 billion, which is an increase of 0,8%. For
the SA Council of Educators, Sace, we have been allocated
R15,5 million for our contribution to Sace, which is a
decrease from previous allocation of 15,8%. Treasury also
allocated us money for early grade reading assessment. We have
been allocated R11,1 million, which is an increase of 11,6%.
For information and communications technology, ICT, we have
been allocated R14,2 million, which is an increase of 27,6%.
Our sector has successfully implemented what we call a mass
employment intervention programme through the Presidential
Youth Employment Initiative, thus contributing significantly
towards poverty alleviation, redressing the past imbalances,
but ... [Inaudible.] ... also assisting us to try and go back
and deal with some of the problems that continues to bedevil
the sector.
From December 2020 to date, we have been able to create more
than 596 000 job opportunities for young people in different
areas, with an allocated budget of R13 billion. I also want to
remind this House of some of strategic areas so that we also
judge on what we will be doing. Our six priorities we are
reminding the House of is that we have been committing
ourselves to continue laying a solid foundation for a quality
and efficient education system, as well as providing skills
for the future.
We have committed ourselves to a number of activities which
are supported by different documents – our Constitution, the
NDP, our international conventions, in pursuing our moral
imperative and a mandate to government to make the social
justice principles of access, redress, equity, efficiency,
inclusivity and quality educational opportunities to be widely
available to all our citizens.
I also requested our researchers to give us some sense of
where is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our basic
education system. I will reflect on this later. Our
researchers agree that at the heart of out sector is learning,
and at the heart of improving learning is improving reading in
the early grades. They report that prior to COVID-19, we had
seen progress in the sector. According to the Progress in
International Reading Literacy Study, Pirls, which we
participated in between 2011 and 2016, South Africa saw the
second largest improvement among all Pirls participating
countries, after Morocco.
According to Professor Martin Gustafsson, the research they
have conducted suggests that by the end of 2021, the average
Grade 4 learner could read as well as the average Grade 3
learner, meaning that we had slid backwards in terms of our
progress, and these losses we are told, are similar to what
has been witnessed around the world.
Given these losses, and despite our best efforts in terms of
our school recovery plan, we do not expect Pirls 2021 to give
us better results, but we welcome any improvement. In previous
debates, I have made reference to our systemic evaluation,
which will supplement international monitoring of learning
below Grade 12. The results of the 2021 systemic evaluation of
Grades 3, 6 and 9, will be announced next year in February
2023.
A key question is: “What effect the pandemic has had on
learners dropping out of school?” Because that was highly
reported and it really attracted lots of attention form the
media and also from the sector. After initial conflicting
reports, there is now agreement that the initial evidence
which suggested that some half-a-million children did not
return to school when they should have, was not correct. This received media coverage in the middle of last year, but the
evidence we have now states that that is not true. The problem
that occurred is that in Grade R and Grade 1, parents delayed
sending their kids to school out of the fear of COVID-19.
We made our information public, and we will be giving reports
quite soon about the effects and the retention rate after
COVID-19. The MTSF requires us to also pay attention to
expanding participation our leaners in subjects in Grades 10
to 12 – it refers to these as niche subjects, hence we have
made lots of progress. To illustrate that, between 2015 and
2021, the number of Black African and Coloured Grade 12
candidates who enrolled in this important technical subjects,
such as Engineering Graphics and Design have increased by 50%.
We have moved from 19 000 learners in these areas amongst
these two population groups to about 29 000.
One of the ways we are ensuring that young people leave the
schooling system with knowledge and skills, we have also
reported that we will be implementing the General Education
Certificate in Grade 9. The General Education Certificate is
currently being piloted in 268 schools and by 2023, we will
have piloted it in 75 districts that we have.
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As indicated, we continue to be committed in ensuring that our
children receive books on time, they get nutritious meals,
they have access to psychosocial support, they get ICT
equipment that they need to enable them to participate in the
Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our teachers are continuing to
receive our attention. It is clear that also all public
servants need to be accountable, within accountability systems
that are clearly defined and fair. We have the required policy
frameworks in place, including the quality management system,
signed by the employer and all unions in 2019, and the
provisions in the South African Schools Act around the
academic improvement plans each school should produce. We have
extensive monitoring of school-based assessments through the
data-driven districts partnership, which reaches about
15 000 schools.
I would like to again say that I reminded this House about our
six sector priorities. I will only talk about two of fear of
not covering all of them. I will only focus on early childhood
development, ECD, and skills of the future. I can confirm to
the House and the public that the Minister of Social
Development and myself, supported by our respective
departments, responded with haste and purpose to the clarion
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call made by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa, when he
directed us in 2020 during his state of the nation address
that there must be an ECD function shift from Social
Development to Basic Education.
I can report that this has happened seamlessly on 1 April this
year, we received the function. And thanks to Minister Zulu
and her team. We are now in the process of crafting and
implementing innovative strategies to strengthen foundations
of learning, looking at the continuum from birth to early
grades in the foundation and intermediate phases. A service
delivery model which proposes the following strategies for
improving the quality of ECD have also been developed, that
there will be a curriculum-based early learning for all
children from birth to 5 years; ECD programmes for all
children from birth to 5 year-olds; training, education and
development for all those working in the sector; co-ordination
of all ECD services in the country; and developing a flexible
funding and provisioning framework for ECD.
In anticipation of that, we have worked with different
partners. We have worked with the World Bank and the National
Treasury, to implement a Public Expenditure and Institution
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Review Framework. We have also conducted the baseline study,
which was conducted with the co-operation of the First
National Bank, Innovation Edge, the United States Agency for
International Development, USAID, and ECD Measure, to assess
the quality of ECD programmes in a nationally representative
sample. Thus, baseline study was launched to the public on 8
April this year and it will be used on an ongoing basis to
monitor the developments in the sector.
We have also conducted the national census of early learning
programmes, which was conducted in 41 000 ECD programmes, in
collaboration with the Lego Foundation. The data collected
from the census, will be used to map out all early learning
programmes in order to understand the full size and shape of
the ECD sector and to develop a national master list of ECD
programmes, which will be incorporated into the education
management information systems. I must confirm that the
Department of Basic Education’s exposition I have just given
on ramping up ECD, and its relocation to the Department of
Basic Education, took into account the resolutions and advices
that were given to us.
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Last year I reported that the coding and robotics curriculum
from Grade R to Grade 3 and Grade 7, and Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement, Caps, for Occupational Subjects
for Grades 8 and 9 have been developed and submitted to
Umalusi for appraisal and quality assurance. I can report that
this appraisal and quality assurance process is ongoing,
including the appraisal of public comments that we have
received as a sector.
I also have reported earlier that we are introducing number of
new FET-level subjects, for instance this year we can report
that the first cohort of learners taking marine sciences will
sit for the first NSC examination, which includes marine
sciences. We are very excited and encouraged by all these
developments. We are continuing expanding the establishment of
Focus Schools to cater for learners with special talents and
aptitudes across a wide range of scholastic endeavours. These
schools constitute a legislatively distinct category of public
schools that offer a specialised curriculum, oriented toward
11 learning fields, which include agriculture, maritime and
nautical science, mathematics, science and technology, and
technical occupational disciplines – such as electrical, civil
and mechanical technologies.
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In addition to our detailed progress report we gave last year,
we can further report that 35 occupational and vocationally-
oriented subjects have been gazetted for public comment. The
gazetting was followed in 2021 by the submission of these
subjects again to Umalusi for appraisal and quality assurance.
Public comments have been received, and their infusion in the
Caps is taking place. We have developed all the working
materials. In March this year, training manuals were
developed, in preparation for the training of subject advisors
and teachers in occupational and vocationally-oriented
subjects.
During 2021, a costed business plan for the release of the
European Union, EU, Budget for the Three-Stream Curriculum
Model, and it was approved by the National Treasury and the
release of the first tranche has taken place. This has had a
significant input and progress milestone that unlocked key
activities of the master plan for the three-stream curriculum
model.
Once again, I encourage hon members and the public, to also go
and check the resolutions we made from different makgotla.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to share them with you, but be
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really humbly request that you visit our sites which are quite
a rich and informative. Last time we reported on the process
that we ... You will recall that we have established an
Interministerial Committee on the Development of History for
Grades 4-12. It has been developed and the History Content
Framework has been done for Grades 4-12, including the review
of certain critical topics. The task team that was tasked with
this responsibility is currently engaged in a dedicated
writing process, to sequence and package the identified
content, and to ensure an alignment in terms of articulation,
sequencing, progression, and conceptual development.
If you remember, we have also reported the work that we will
be doing in ensuring that there is Incremental Introduction to
African Languages strategy, and indeed we have already
implemented that in 2 584 schools. We also strategically
decided to expand the list of South African languages by
offering second additional languages in our curriculum. These
additional languages are Khoi, Nama, and San languages, as
well as the South African Sign Language.
If I have to ... I can see the Chair in front of the camera is
quite intimidated, so I will move to the conclusion. We are
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making progress also in Kiswahili. Had it not been for the
COVID-19 pandemic, we would have started rolling it out. We
have a memorandum of understanding, MOU, with Kenya and
Tanzania and now we will be going to Tanzania to finalise the
it.
I want to conclude by finally wishing to thank all our
partners in the sector, the sister departments that work with
us, the business sector and also the different partners who
make our work easier. I wish to single out Sace, Umalusi,
NECT, our teacher unions, the national ... [Inaudible.] ...
association and the principals’ associations. I also want to
thank the Deputy Speaker, and more importantly, the committees
both from the NCOP and the National Assembly who have been
guiding us. I think I will be failing if I don’t thank my
Deputy, Dr Reginah Mhaule, who have been extremely helpful and
supportive in making sure that as a sector we move together
with all the necessary commitment and speed. So, I want to
thank you very much, Chair, before you stop me. Thank you
very, Chair.
Ms B P MBINGO- GIGABA: Hon House Chairperson, let us the
Minister, the Deputy Minister, the members of the committee
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and everybody that has joined virtually. The ANC is the
liberation movement and its policy positions and programmes
seek to address the shackles of oppression, underdevelopment
and poverty. In this journey of liberation, we place all our
efforts in enabling the people of South Africa to be their own
liberators. The people of our nation cannot be their own
liberators without been empowered with the knowledge and
resources to do so. This is the basis of placing education as
an apex priority in our quest to address the injustices of the
past.
Learning is a continuous process we all experience from birth
to death. It is therefore important that we understand
educational learning recognising the fact that all humans have
the capacity and capability to learn. The cognitive
development of children and the early childhood development
phase has a significant impact on the capacity of children to
learn. Researchers have alluded that:
Children are born to learn. They learn fast, flexibly and
are able to generalize their learning to new situations far
more effectively than the smartest products of contemporary
computer science.
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Hon members, the level of inequality in our country has an
adverse impact on children. The inequalities of different
early childhood development centres impact the most vulnerable
in our society. The fact that children from privileged
families have access to Early Childhood Development, ECDs with
facilities which enhance their cognitive development at an
early age lays a solid foundation for schooling. The opposite
is true for children who attend ECDs late and children in ECDs
without adequate facilities and lack of trained practitioners.
This is a stark reality of some of the drivers which
perpetuate inequality in our society.
Researchers has demonstrated that the learning outcomes of our
education system is not equal to the expenditure incurred. The
ability of learners to read and write by the age of 10 is
relative. In order to improve learning outcomes at a
foundational level, the ANC in its 54th National Conference
resolved on the migration of the mandate of the provision of
Early Childhood Development from the Department of Social
Development to the Department of Basic Education.
This is an important strategic policy shift which was realised
in April 2022 as ECDs are now a mandate of the Department of
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Basic Education. We applaud the two departments for realising
this objective. The critical aspect of the migration is to
locate ECDs within an integrated Basic Education system and to
strengthen learning outcomes of children provided by an
education competent department.
This is an important strategy policy shift which was realised
in April 2022 as ECDs are now a mandate of the Department of
Basic Education. We applaud the two departments for realising
this objective. The critical aspect of the migration is to
locate ECDs within the integrated Basic Education system and
to strengthen learning outcomes of children provided by the
education competent department.
Hon members the World Bank last week published a research
report on Quality Early Learning focusing on Nurturing
Children's Potential and in that report it noted critical
factors we need to consider in ensuring expansion of ECDs with
quality and it recognised that:
Overly ambitious targets risk compromising quality,
resulting in negligible or even detrimental effects on
learning. Quality can be harder to achieve at scale and
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often decreases as systems expand – standards may be
harder to uphold or systems may struggle to secure the
workforce needed to meet growing service provision.
It will be important for the department to consider developing
strong quality assurance systems and to support many
disadvantaged communities to have ECDs which meet the required
minimum norms and standards.
Chair, this budget provides for the early childhood
development grant which supports ECDs with R1,2 billion or ECD
subsidies to provide for and increase the number of children
accessing subsidised ECD services. This budget allocation is
not sufficient in addressing the systemic challenges affecting
ECDs, but it will go a long way in expanding access. We have
called on government to increase its budget allocation for
ECDs as they require significant resources which will
contribute to improving learning outcomes in our Basic
education system which will offset certain costs in the future
as the upcoming crop will have enhanced learning outcomes.
Chair, another critical aspect of our ECD interventions should
be to empower parents to make decisions about their children’s
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early learning, as it helps them improve the quality of their
parenting practices and interactions at home, and increase
parental involvement with the formal learning environment.
Hon Chair and the people of South Africa, the Portfolio
Committee on Basic Education has published an invitation to
stakeholders and interested individuals to submit written
comments on the Basic Educations Laws Amendment Bill which
will close on the 15th of June 2022. The Bill responds to
various challenges affecting our education system, such as
additional regulatory powers to the Minister to enable
intervention, ensuring that Grade R is compulsory, placing
accountability on school leadership to trace and report
learners who have dropped out.
The Basic Educations Laws Amendment Bill addresses numerous
issues and as the ANC we call on the people of the country and
stakeholders to make submissions to support and make inputs on
this transformational Bill which will enhance our basic
education system.
We will later in the year undertake public hearings across the
lengthen and breadth of our nation, and we urge South Africans
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to join the debate on the Basic Educations Laws Amendment Bill
and to raise their voices to influence and shape the future
trajectory of our basic education system. In order to align
our basic education system with our social and economic needs,
we need to continuously assess whether our curriculum
contributes to the holistic social, political and economic
imperatives.
The piloting of coding and robotics is a critical programme in
order to mainstream the subjects. The world is fast changing
and we need to prepare our children for this changing world
and to also prepare them to not only be recipients of
technological developments but in future our learners should
be part of disruptive technological innovations.
For the current financial year, the budget has allocated funds
to provide 485 schools, including those in the coding and
robotics pilot project, with subject?specific computer hardware
and related software in accordance with the minimum
specifications prescribed by the curriculum assessment policy
statement. The coronavirus pandemic has taught us that ICT
facilities and digital devices in our schools and for learner
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use are not a luxury but a critical necessity to enhance
teaching and learning.
Whiles the learners of the poor struggled to continue to learn
during the lockdown and due to their inability to access
digital platforms which have different learning resources,
learners who are from better off families with access to ICT
devices where able to continue to learn and access digital
platforms provided by the department working with private
companies, to enable continuous learning.
Through this budget, we urge the department to continue
strengthening its relationship with the various stakeholders
in the sector. The department should continue to empower
School Governing Bodies to be functional and to have the
capacity to provide the required leadership support for our
schools. Our communities should also support our schools and
take reasonable measures to ensure that our schools are free
of alcohol use, and drugs which have crippled into some of our
schools. We need to preserve our schools as spaces of teaching
and learning to harness the best qualities, values and
principles as enshrined in our constitution.
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The ANC supports Budget Vote 16 of the Department of Basic
Education. We support the vote because it responds to our
basic education system needs. As the ANC we will continue to
play its oversight role and ensure accountability in the
sector to ensure all learners receive quality education. We
support the vote because it will support steering our
education system to improve learning outcomes through
strengthening early childhood development. Thank you very much
House Chairperson.
Mr B B NODADA: Thank you so much, House Chair. Can I please
check if I am audible before I start, House Chair?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Yes, you are audible,
hon member.
Mr B B NODADA: House Chairperson, as we debate the Basic
Education Budget Vote, we must comprehend that quality
education is a key tool to realise opportunity. One which our
children can use to end poverty and unemployment despite one’s
circumstances of birth.
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House Chairperson, terrible damage has been caused to our
children’s education through the disruptions to their
schooling over the last two years, where rural and township
schools have lost up to 75% of their learning and teaching
time. Rotational schooling mostly affected the poorest and
most vulnerable schools. It took the DA going to court to end
rotational schooling despite the Ministerial Advisory
Committee recommending that it be abandoned.
Minister, I hope it won’t take us going to court again to lift
mask-wearing for school children while science and health
experts have advised government to abandon it. What is more
concerning though are the systemic tests done by the Western
Cape Education Department which show that overall, learners
have fallen up to 70% behind previous cohorts in language, and
up to 106% are a year behind in Maths. The greatest learning
losses can be seen in the Foundation Phase on reading,
writing, language, and numeracy. Allowing these gaps to
persist will widen the gap between learners who have access to
well-resourced schools and those who do not.
That is why in this Budget Vote we have recommended that DBE
consider extra interventions within its plans and targets for
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catch-up programmes, specifically, in the disadvantaged
schools. I do want to however commend the diversification of
learning pathways through the three-stream curriculum model –
a step in the right direction in developing knowledge for
learners to access industry, jobs, and entrepreneurial
opportunities. However, I would like to suggest that DBE
considers more subjects and skills beyond coding, robotics,
and marine studies.
Developing skills and expertise to refine gold, diamond, and
platinum is an opportunity DBE should explore in the
curriculum, and must be followed by our institutions of higher
learning. Further ensure you gazette the school of skills
curriculum with the NQF levels monitored by Umalusi.
Secondly, engage with the private sector and non-governmental
organisations, NGOs, to establish collaboration schools as
part of the department’s targets. Collaboration schools seek
to partner with under-performing schools serving marginalised
communities with a school operating partner to strengthen
school governance and improve quality teaching, so all
learners can reach their full potential.
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I offer an invite to the department to come see what
collaboration schools have done in providing quality education
for children in Bonnievale. Quality education is pertinently
made possible by quality teaching and development. Currently
we have over 1 500 unqualified teachers and 24 000 teacher
vacancies. The department must allocate resources to train and
reskill teachers to ensure that they are qualified to align
their knowledge with the three-stream curriculum model.
It is essential to fill crucial vacancies by developing
adequate quality teachers in the Maths and Science and
Technology through the Fundsa Lushaka bursary while
prohibiting bursars from changing their study subjects once
admitted to universities. The low uptake in the MST subjects
especially in our top performing provinces is completely
unacceptable and the department must address this.
Furthermore, it has become imperative that DBE establishes an
independent schools monitoring evaluation authority to
strengthen quality education. The recent floods in KwaZulu-
Natal and Eastern Cape have exacerbated the infrastructure
challenges in the schooling system with 630 schools damaged,
costing the department R442 million to fix. Yet, R1,6 billion
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has been cut from the infrastructure budget by Cabinet over
the medium-term which has already affected the existing
infrastructural backlog of dealing with mud schools,
dilapidated asbestos, and pit toilets. Despite the Sanitation
Appropriate for Education, SAFE, and Accelerated Schools
Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, ASIDI, programmes which
have recorded very low spending, we still sit with over 900
inappropriate structures and 1 526 schools with pit toilets.
The President’s social infrastructure delivery mechanism
announced at his state of the nation address is mentioned
nowhere in the APP and budget, which is concerning. It is
crucial to cite the model that will be used with this social
infrastructure delivery mechanism to urgently address
infrastructure backlogs in schools, and the poor delivery by
implementing agents.
Learner dropouts remain a huge challenge. Before the pandemic,
at least four out of 10 learners in South Africa who started
school did not finish. Each young person that drops out of
school adds to the deepening poverty, unemployment, and
inequality, adding to the 3,3 million youth not in education,
employment or training. The digital recording of dropouts in
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SA-SAMS is badly designed for tracking dropouts, and schools
without access to ICT battle to capture learner information.
It’s unclear whether learners who dropout have permanently
done so, or have moved to new schools or to Technical and
Vocational Education and Training, TVET, colleges. These
unknowns are precisely the factors obscuring the disappearance
of learners. The Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking
System, LURITS, was instituted to address these data
collection issues. Unfortunately, LURITS remains wrought with
gaps and inaccuracies in terms of how information is collected
at schools.
Minister, to avoid speculation around the over half a million
learners dropout, it is time the department review South
African School Administration and Management System, SA-SAMS,
and LURITS to ensure that we track, trace, and retain
learners.
House Chairperson, the largest obstacle to redressing the
legacies of the past and creating a society of opportunity is
by repairing our failing education system. The DA believes
that education is the foundation of opportunity. Where we
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govern more children stay in school, infrastructure in schools
is built and maintained despite budget cuts, quality teaching
is monitored through the school’s evaluation authority, and
more collaboration schools are built to harness skills needed
for the economy, and that’s why parents move their children
looking for better schooling.
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the now
former Western Cape MEC for education, Debbie Schafer, who is
outgoing, for her work in providing learners with good quality
education and a fair chance at accessing opportunity
regardless of whether a child was born in Khayelitsha,
Mitchells Plain, Bonnievale or Wynberg. It would be amiss of
me not to mention that the DA will, in the coming days, submit
our comments on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, and
we encourage South Africans to do so as well. The BELA Bill
takes the decision of final admission away from government
bodies, removes the power of schools’ language policies and
the Bill is missing an opportunity to effectively regulate
online and blended learning to alleviate the pressure on
physical schooling.
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Minister, a country that does not adequately invest in its
youth through quality education confines generations to a
lifetime of poverty. In this Budget Vote I plead with you to
wear your political maturity hat and consider our best
practice recommendations as the custodian of our education.
Our children surely deserve better. I thank you, House
Chairperson.
Dr S S THEMBEKWAYO: House Chairperson, the EFF rejects Budget
Vote 16 on Basic Education. as we speak today, black learners
of Good Hope Seminary school in Cape Town are engaged in a
protest action against racist conduct of teachers at that
school who regularly call them baboons and unworthy kaffers.
This is on the back on many such actions across the country,
including reported racism at schools privately owned by the
Anglican church. It should never be surprise, therefore, when
young people grow up with this racist attitude as seen at
Stellenbosch University recently.
Our Basic Education institutions are breeding and promoting
this racism, and the department has not done anything to
intervene and radically change this rot at our school. If we
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still have schools named after Jan van Riebeeck here in Cape
Town, there is not a chance of ever fighting this disease in
the society. This attitude in the Western Cape is deeply
embedded even at the level of political and departmental
management of schools. It is for this reason that all of us
must condemn the decision of the Western Cape Education
Department to constructively dismiss Mr Wesley Neumann, the
principal of Heathfield high school who refused to open the
school without protective clothing at the height of the first
wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The DA in the Western Cape never fails to show their complete
disregard for the coloured people, and is not compromising a
career of an outstanding teacher who stood up for his leaners
and his colleagues. Mr Neumann must be reinstated back to his
position immediately.
House Chairperson, the tragedy of our Basic Education lies in
the fact that year in and year out we stand here to lament
about the same failures and the department does absolutely
nothing to address these failures. We have repeatedly lamented
the fact that the department has no strategy of retaining
leaners at schools until they complete their matric. Each and
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every core group that has entered Grade 1 in this country over
the past 20 years, 50% of it is lost to the schooling system
by the time they reach Grade 12. These young people dropout
for reasons that are still not known to the Department of
Basic Education to this day, because they never bothered to
find out.
The obsession with the matric pass rate, therefore, is
conveniently copped out to hide this failure of the system to
educate our children. The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill
may assist in terms of ensuring that principals are held
accountable for any child who drops out of school, but this is
surely not enough and it ought never to be the responsibility
of principals alone; this is a societal problem.
As if that was not enough, the department is lagging far
behind in developing infrastructure for schools as laid out in
their own norms and standards for school infrastructure. The
norms and standards had stipulated that 2016 there ought to be
no school in the country that had no adequate sanitation
services, no libraries, and that no children should ever be
learning under trees or under classrooms with asbestos roofs.
Today, hundreds of schools in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North
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West and KwaZulu-Natal are still experiencing the same
problems. Hundreds of children who have to cross dangerous
rivers to get to school and many more do not have access to
the school feeding schemes. Thousands of children in these
very same provinces are taught by unqualified teachers while
the department has been dragging its feet in paying assistant
teachers who have been keeping the lights on our educations
system.
Earlier this year it had to take the Grahamstown High Court to
order the Eastern Cape Department of Education to deliver
textbooks to schools in that province. Minister, perhaps it is
time to revise the legislative framework that gives provinces
too much power in that administration of schools. We need a
national standard that all provinces must adhere to.
Therefore, we reject this Budget. Thank you, House Chair.
Mr S L NGCOBO: Hon Chair, it is widely known that the Covid-19
pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the basic education sector
in South Africa. We lost educators, we lost support staff and
learners during the past two years and we would like to take a
moment to remember them. May their souls rest in peace.
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In addition to this, the business of teaching was severely ...
[Inaudible.] ... particularly in underresourced schools and
communities where educators and learners did not have access
to online tools to continue teaching and learning. The report
reflects these realities and the massive inequalities that
prevail in this sector, informing us that, and I quote: In
historically disadvantaged schools, around 70% of a year’s
work of learning was lost in 2020.” Our young people who have
only had access to 30% of school work are supposed to progress
and are expected to write and passed the same exams as their
more advantaged counterparts.
As the IFP, we are in agreement with the priorities listed in
the report, as approved by the Council of Education Ministers,
but we are concerned about the realisation of these goals, for
example, they call for, and I quote, “immediate implementation
of the curriculum with skills and competences for a changing
world in all public schools”. Let’s take the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, will a child who has only received 30% schooling
on the current curriculum be equipped to meaningfully engage
with this proposed new and more complex curriculum? We further
feel that there should be a greater focus on literacy.
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According to Progress in the International Reading Literacy
Study 2016, a shocking 70% of Grade 4 children cannot read for
meaning in any language. Further Prof Nic Spaull, an education
economist at Stellenbosch University and the Secretary of 2030
Reading Panel revealed that, and I quote: The current
trajectory indicates that it will be the year 2098 before all
the country’s Grade 4 children can read for meaning.
Based on this terrifying statistics, it seems that as far as
monitoring goes, the Department of Basic Education’s goal
relating to the number of schools monitored on the
implementation of the reading norms, is unacceptably low. The
report reveals that the department’s target is set at 18
schools. The International Research Organisation Statista
states, and I quote: “As of 2019, the total number of schools
in South Africa amounted to nearly 25 000.” How can 18 out of
25 000 be a reasonable sample size?
When it comes to school infrastructure, the annual targets are
also worryingly low, for example, the department’s target for
providing sanitation facilities is set at 450 per year.
According to a July 2021 South African Human Rights Commission
Report, and I quote: “In KwaZulu-Natal, 349 826 learners and
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12 978 teachers are at 983 schools, which are reliant on pit
toilets.” This is one province out of nine. This means that
there are thousands of other schools that also rely on pit
latrines.
As the IFP, we want to appeal to the Department of Basic
Education to get back to basics. We need to get our learners
reading with understanding in schools that are fit for purpose
with proper water, sanitation and other infrastructure. We
further take note of and support the committee’s
recommendations. The IFP supports the Budget Vote.
Dr W J BOSHOFF: Hon House Chair, I am tempted to dedicate my
whole speech to a Northern Cape rural school, but I will only
refer to it in passing. The reason is that implementation is a
provincial function and we are busy with the national
department. So, in passing, this is a primary school in a
small town. Many of its pupils’ only good meal is supplied by
the school’s feeding scheme. However, supply was terminated,
as an account of around R100 000 was not paid. Three teachers
took in on themselves to collect donations and continue with
the meals. Buildings at that school are dilapidated.
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Construction of new buildings at a cost of R100 million had
commenced during 2021. At present, one wall is completed.
Had it not been for teachers who enter the profession as a
vocation, more than a job; had it not been for communities who
take ownership of their schools, education would have been in
much worse shape today. Honour to them.
Afrikaans:
Waaraan ek wel vandag se toespraak wil toewy, is die
Wysigingswetsontwerp vir Basiese Onderwyswette, algemeen
bekend as die Bela Bill. Hierdie wet is verouderd voor dit nog
wet is.
English:
It has been introduced in 2017, before lockdown changed the
face of education in South Africa and globally. The genie is
out of the bottle, but we consider a Bill which assumes it is
inside. Actually we need a law which regulates education in
all its different guises; and then another to regulate the
kind of schools which we knew as the only mode of education.
Afrikaans:
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Dit is ’n probleem, maar nie die hele probleem nie. Die
probleem wat ons in die oë moet kyk, is dat die skikking van
1994 - een van die hoekstene daarvan - op die spel is. Kom ons
kyk gou na daardie skikking:
Teen 1990 kon die Sowjet-Unie die ANC nie meer steun nie; en
die Weste was regtig moeg vir die Nasionale Party se
minderheidsregering. ’n lae intensiteit burgeroorlog kon nog
lank voortgaan. Die staatsmagte kon nie verslaan word nie,
maar die bevrydingsbewegings kon ook nie onderdruk word nie.
Wat die twee groepe van ’n skikking wou hê, was so ver van
mekaar dat dit dikwels onmoontlik gelyk het. Die ANC moes
uiteindelik nasionalisering van banke, grond en myne prysgee,
die ou regering sy aandrang op groepregte. Maar alles kon nog
op onderwys vasval. Die regering sou hierdie skikking nie aan
sy magsbasis verkoop kry, as skole sou lyk soos die ANC dit
wou hê nie.
Daar sien ons die begin van die huidige President se “long
game” [Lang spel] – sy strategie om die paddas stadig te kook.
Hy sou doen wat nodig is om die regering oor te neem, want as
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jy eers die regering in jou hande het, palm jy die res wel
mettertyd in. Gemeenskappe kon maar self hulle skole bedryf.
Die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet van 1996 was dus ’n hoeksteen van
die destydse skikking, nes private grondbesit. Hierdie wet het
skoolbeheerliggame in die lewe geroep, wat beleid vir toegang,
godsdiensbeoefening, medium van onderrig en gedragskodes kan
bepaal. Skoolgeld kan ook gehef word, om die staatsubsidie aan
te vul en onderwysstandaarde te handhaaf of te verhoog.
In werklikheid is die ou regering se onderhandelaars weer wol
oor die oë getrek, want die departement sou oor kurrikulum
besluit. Afrikaanse skole sou dus dieselfde lyk en dieselfde
klink, maar die inhoud sou ’n eensydige ANC-geïnspireerde
weergawe van die werklikheid wees.
Nietemin, die plan het gewerk en talle gemeenskappe het self
gedoen wat ’n mislukkende Departement van Onderwys nie kan
doen nie – gehalte onderrig.
Die Vryheidsfront, later die Vryheidsfront Plus, het
deurlopend daarop aangedring dat gemeenskapsoutonomie,
selfbeskikking, of enige woord wat mens wil gebruik, deel van
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die konstitusionele bedeling moet wees. Gewone wette kan
herroep of verander word, om die tirannie van die meerderheid
te bevestig.
Dit is wat met die Bela Bill gebeur! Deurslaggewende
bevoegdhede word van skoolbeheerliggame na provinsiale
departementshoofde verskuif. Departemente wat nie
skoolvoedingskemas in stand kan hou of skole gebou kry nie,
moet hierdie funksies van skoolbeheerliggame, wat dit
uitmuntend doen, oorneem.
Dit gaan nie oor skole nie. Die ANC, onder druk van die EFF,
wil die skikking van 1994 verbreek. My vraag aan die paddas
is: Is dit duidelik genoeg dat hier ’n vuur onder die pot is?
Baie dankie.
Ms M E SUKERS: Hon Chairperson, I want to thank the Minister
and congratulate the department and some of the provincial
education departments for beginning to work with home
educators to conduct research into home education. I am
informed by home education about this positive development.
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Research is essential to innovation and having only R5,5
million and seven staff allocated for research, which were the
figures given to me in the committee, is insufficient to
provide guidance to a department with a budget of over R25
billion. It is a strategic weakness to have to rely on
academics outside of the department for research, as these
academics, quite understandably, have their own research
interest that are not necessarily the areas on which the
department needs to conduct research.
Urgent research is needed into rural education. The closure of
rural schools represents a significant waste of the historical
capital expenditure of the department. We have no guarantee
that the current capital expenditures will not also be wasted.
Innovative solutions need to be developed with rural
communities to save rural schools and to stop this waste of
taxpayers’ money.
In his Sona, the President called for efforts to revive the
economy and to cut red tape. This budget doesn’t treat the
education sector as one that can make a significant
contribution to the economy. South Africa is well positioned
to provide educational services to the rest of Africa, and
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beyond. We are once again struggling with load shedding.
Education services do not require large amounts of energy. Why
are we not encouraging this sector?
Not only are we not encouraging educational entrepreneurship,
but we are also actively discouraging it through excessive red
tape. It takes years for independent schools to obtain
registration and there is a significant degree of duplication
between the registration requirements of the provincial
education departments and Umalusi.
The President spoke eloquently of the need to encourage small
entrepreneurs by cutting red tape. I am calling on Umalusi,
the Department of Basic Education and the provincial education
departments to cut registration red tape for independent
educational institutions. Umalusi needs to provide a 100%
rebate on fees for all educational institutions with less than
30 students, and all institutions catering for learners with
special educational needs, as well as all low-fee independent
schools. Our Constitution makes clear in section 29(4) that
the state is not precluded from subsidising independent
educational institutions.
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The state has to start looking at innovative solutions that
involve all sectors of society. I thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: House Chair, greetings
to the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga and other
Ministers that are present, Deputy Ministers, MECs of
education, chairperson of the portfolio committee and members,
leadership in the basic education sector, ladies and
gentlemen, I greet you all, we are meeting here today to
deliver the 2022-23 Budget Vote 16. As we do so, we are also
watching the rising COVID-19 cases in our communities, which
is a reminder to all of us that we are managing a massive
public education system under conditions that are not of our
own making. However, as a sector, we continue to commit
ourselves to curriculum recovery and strengthening. One of the
devastating and long-lasting impacts of COVID-19 over the past
two years has been the immeasurable learning losses that
followed from intermittent disruption in schooling, as well as
rotational attendance.
To this end, a learning recovery plan has been instituted to
which the implementation of the recovery of the annual
teaching plans, ATPs, in all subjects and grades have been
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central to the recovery. The recovery of the ATPs has been in
implementation since the 2021 academic year and will continue
through to 2024. A review plan for the recovery of ATPs is
being considered for 2022 to ensure that the trimming of the
content focuses on the core and that it is also neatly aligned
to the assessment protocols. The foundation phase mass
recovery teaching plans were developed per term and they
identify the skills and knowledge that learners need to master
each quarter.
This recovery ATPs also make reference to the Department of
Basic Education learner workbooks which every learner proudly
has with activities that highlight these skills and knowledge.
The Department of Basic Education workbooks allow for multiple
and varied practice opportunities, which are key if we want to
grow numerate learners. The Teaching Mathematics for
Understanding, TMU, programme. As well as the invaluable
contributions from our international partners are central
pillars of the mathematical improvement interventions. In
response to the targets of digitising all state textbooks and
high enrolment subject textbooks and workbooks for 2024.
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State-owned textbooks for Grades 10 to 12 in Business Studies
have been developed for print and also digitised in PDF IPAP
and HTML file formats for online and offline access in
partnership with ABSA Bank. This brings the total number of
developed and digitised state-owned textbooks for high
enrolment subjects to 149. On 6 April 2020, the Minister of
the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies
published the Information and Communication Technology COVID-
19 National State of Disaster regulations, wherein the radio
frequency spectrum was made available for licensing on a
temporary basis.
The purpose of the temporary spectrum assignment was to
alleviate network challenges, ease congestion and ensure good
quality of service for consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the allocation of the temporary spectrum, the mobile
network operators were mandated to provide schools with a
virtual classroom veteran solution. It is in this regard that
the Department of Basic Education, the Independent
Communication Authority of South Africa, Icasa, the Department
of Communications and Digital Technologies and mobile networks
provided 17 schools with information and communications
technology, ICT, devices for Grade 12 learners and teachers,
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data packages for access to online educational resources as
well the broadcast solution. Furthermore, the educators were
trained on how to integrate the solution into teaching and
learning. One way of growing the Computer Application
Technology, CAT, and Information Technology, IT, numbers are
to entice the Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners at the school
currently offering CAT and IT by exposing them to digital
skills including coding. The first phase of the project will
mostly target Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners and schools
currently offering CAT and IT. The main aim is to increase the
number of learners opting for CAT and or IT at these schools
by introducing learners to coding, computational thinking
skills and robotics and attracting them to these subjects.
For Life Sciences, five study guides for Grade 12 were
delivered to the provincial education departments at the end
of 2021. The content of the study guides is linked to the
Grade 12 Life Skills syllabus. For food security, Agricultural
Studies textbooks for Grade 8 and Grade 9 were developed using
pilot schools across the country. The Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement for Agricultural Studies in Grade
8 and Grade 9 are to be fully implemented in 2023. And this
forms part of the technical occupational cohort of subjects.
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As outlined by the Minister today, the implementation of the
Presidential Youth Employment Initiative in schools has
provided support to educators and learners. The youth ensured
that teaching and learning occurred in a conducive
environment. Education Assistants alleviated the
administrative pressure from the educators while ensuring that
all learners were given support. Integrated ICT classrooms
whereby the computer labs were revived and are now fully
utilised. Through the Reading Champions, school libraries have
been rebooted, repaired and are fully utilised. Library
corners are established and a culture of reading for meaning
is inculcated in schools and communities.
While the main challenges experienced related to the delays in
payment of stipends in some provinces, it is clear this was a
huge task. And many of the young people attest to the fact
that they were paid timeously and correct amounts as promised
by the government. It is also important for the sector to
report on the absorption of young teachers into the teaching
profession. One of the interventions to the sector outcome
youth better prepared for further studies and the world of
work beyond Grade 9, is to ensure that through collaboration
with universities and the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme is to
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equip young teachers with the right skills to join the
teaching profession.
The department will continue to work towards the Medium-Term
Strategic Framework targets of placing 90% of Funza Lushaka
bursary holders within six months. The amount of R24,6 billion
allocated for the provincial education departments to address
shortfalls in the compensation of teachers announced by the
Minister of Finance will assist. However, the department will
continue to work with the Cabinet, the National Treasury and
provincial treasuries to mobilise additional resources to
increase the number of teaching posts in line with the
increase in the number of learners. Teaching and learning.
should take place in an environment that is conducive and
safe.
That is why we continue to prioritise infrastructure in the
education sector. On the Accelerated School Infrastructure
Development Initiative, Asidi programme, we have completed and
replaced 302 schools which initially were built with
inappropriate materials. There are 30 remaining schools on the
programme plan for replacement in the 2022-23 financial year.
Similarly, we have served 1 218 schools with water supply. The
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remaining 54 schools on an Asidi programme will be served in
the same cycle. With regard to sanitation in schools, we have
served 1 037 schools that did not have toilets with a
completely new set of toilets under the Asidi programme. In
addition, we have provided appropriate sanitation to 1 944
schools that were dependent on basic pit toilets. The
remaining 16 schools on the Asidi programme will be served
with a complete set of appropriate toilets in this financial
year. Similarly, in the remaining 1 550 schools on the
Sanitation Appropriate for Education, Safe, programme, Basic
pit toilets will be replaced with a complete set of
appropriate toilets. With regard to the utilisation of
allocated budgets, we are proud to announce that we have
utilised 100% of the school infrastructure backlog grants and
99% of the education infrastructure grant. We are working with
the Presidency on the piloting of innovative approaches to the
delivery of social infrastructure.
We are also working with school governing bodies, SGBs, to
address overcrowding in schools, through community builders in
a programme that will see reduced costs and strengthen our
infrastructure data. Focusing our attention on the sector’s
response to social ills in our society that manifests
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themselves in our schools, under school safety, the department
rolled out a multidepartmental campaign on violence, bullying,
prevention, including gender-based violence and femicide, drug
abuse and substance abuse to advocate for the prevention of
bullying, substance abuse, corporal punishment and sexual
harassment in schools. Three provinces were covered amidst the
COVID-19 restrictions, those were Gauteng, Limpopo and
Mpumalanga. The multisectoral approach has been adopted by the
department which recognises the immensity of the challenges
faced by all the learners and educators in response to the
threats posed by bullying and gender-based violence and
femicide. The campaign is supported by other sister
departments. They are the Department of Health, the Department
of Social Development, the Department of Home Affairs, the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the
Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, as well
as the SA Police Service. The campaign will be rolled out in
the remaining six provinces, especially the hotspot districts
in the coming financial years.
Under social cohesion and equity, the persistent social ills
that prevail in and around schools and communities illustrate
that values in education are the cornerstone of social
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cohesion and nation-building in the basic education sector. In
realising Priority 6 of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework on
social cohesion and nation-building, the department will
continue to implement intervention programmes that will assist
in eliminating unfair discrimination and promoting
constitutional values. This include the National Schools Moot
Court programme that is implemented in partnership with the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the
SA Human Rights Commission. where. We also intend to continue
implementing the School Democracy Education Programme with the
Independent Electrical Commission to inculcate civic education
and active citizenry and affirm the democratic right to vote
among young people. We are making steady progress toward the
decolonisation of education using history and social sciences
as gateway subjects to realise this goal. As such, the
implementation of oral history will allow us to unearth and
uncover the untold and undocumented history of unsung heroes
and heroines of our country.
The escalated levels of learner pregnancy among children
younger than 14 years can only mean that those children
affected by this phenomenon may have just been victims of
sexual abuse and statutory rape. The department has set aside
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some modest funding in this Vote to advocate efforts on the
prevention and management of sexual abuse and harassment in
schools, in response to the National Strategic Plan on Gender-
Based Violence and Femicide. The intended work will see
provincial education departments focusing their energies on
rebooting the capacity of the districts to respond and address
sexual violence in schools perpetrated against children. Over
the past decade, the gender equity programming of the
department has been synonymous with the empowerment of
adolescent girls and young women. Now we realise that the
support for adolescent boys and young men has become more
urgent than before. Equally, we are charged with the
responsibility to deliver and expand gender equity programming
that recognises the need for social educational inclusion of
diverse sexual orientations, gender identity, expression, and
sex characteristics as guided by the Commission on Gender
Equality. I thank you, Chair.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Chairperson, thank you very much. the UDM
does not support the Budget Vote. The reasons are as follows.
It is simple that the department has for many years failed to
secure a foundation of equal education for everyone in South
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Africa. Sorry, Chair, my apologies. The reason why the video
is off is because I always suffer from connectivity problems.
As the committee pointed out, there is still a critical issue
of a limited budget with low targets for special schools
including limited resources and devices available for them.
This means learners with special needs still suffer from a
lack of basic services that they require in order to get equal
education. Another critical aspect is the infrastructure gap
in the department which denies equal learning opportunities to
all learners.
Yes, the Education Infrastructure Grant has been allocated and
reasonable amounts have been given to the department. But our
main concern is the mismanagement of the grant within the
department. You will recall Chair, recently, the Eastern Cape
forfeited over R200 million of the Education Infrastructure
Grant. Meanwhile it has approximately more than 3 000 schools
with inadequate sanitation. Of which, 1 445 schools are still
using pit latrines. And not only that, there are 3 926 schools
that do not have appropriate fencing and 634 schools that need
a total of 9 000, as 464 classrooms built or refurbished.
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This is sad given the fact that we are nearly 30-years into
our democracy, that even when the budgets are made or sources
are made available to address these problems but resources
aren’t used for the manner in which they are intended.
Furthermore, we are of the view that in provincial departments
such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo where issues such as bad
infrastructure wasteful spending, no scholar transport and no
textbooks for learners had been perennial problems. The
national department should consider intervening very early in
terms of section 100 of the Constitution to address these
violations. And also remedy problems that seem to persist in
order to protect the future of our children.
There is a need to ensure that there are effective transparent
and accountable leaders in the department. That leaders
especially accounting officers are held to account for the
failures of the department and the failures for provincial
departments to be able to play their role.
Chair, there is a disturbing video and photos circulating as
we speak here that apparently, it seems like a group of
gangsters shot at school children in Manenberg. It’s issues
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that we need to attend to as the department and the leadership
of the nation to try and make sure that the future of our
children is not affected by criminals who would do anything in
order to satisfy their criminal intentions. Thank you, Chair.
Mr E K SIWELA: Thank you, Chairperson. The ANC supports the
Budget Vote. Basic education is a critical driver of the
social economic and political development of all nations. It
is so because basic education focuses on children and the
youths who constitute the future of our nation.
When our education system produces good learning outcomes and
prepare the youth for the socio-political and economic
challenges which confront our nation will become relatively
certain that indeed the future of our nation will be better
than what it was in the past and today.
It is in our basic education system where the future leaders,
future professionals and future based on the nation’s human
capabilities lay. It is for this reason that the largest
budget allocation by the ANC-government is on basic education.
As nation which had been plagued by colonialism and apartheid,
we have to overcome the structural exclusion of the majority
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of black South Africans and women. The budget allocated to the
department should be able to respond to the multiple
inequalities which exist in our education system in order to
empower all learners with the resources and support required
to have equal opportunities,
With the high levels of unemployment and widening inequality,
the department has the duty to provide various services which
enable learners to have a conducive learning environment to
succeed. The special legacy of unequality development in rural
and urban areas and skewed distribution of resources and
development in the country has resulted in numerous basic
services being in adequate in some of our schools, which
negatively affects the environment of learning.
One of the major challenges influencing the department is the
fact that some basic services are not the mandate of the
department. In this regard, the department should ensure that
through the District Development Model planning and budgeting
with other departments and municipalities should enable a
coherent intervention by a government to ensure all basic
services provided are part of the plans of various
departments.
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The department is closing these inequalities and to improve
conditions of learners will continue ensuring that provinces
provide learners scholar transport. The scholar transport
eases a strain for learners who would have to walk many
kilometres to get to their schools due to the vast disposition
of households and the location of school’s particularly in
rural and farm areas. Without these service many learners will
struggle to perform to the best of their abilities due to the
fatigue of traveling.
This intervention hon member also contributes in protecting
the learners who would be in risky conditions if they had to
walk long distances. With the rising gender-based violence and
femicide which target learners, this intervention does enhance
the protection of children.
It is of concern that we have been experiencing an increase of
teenage pregnancy. The departmental heightened its effort and
campaigns to ensure awareness and understanding from our
learners so that they take correct decisions to protect their
life aspirations.
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Hon members, food security in our country remains a challenge.
According to the report released by Statistics of South
Africa, measuring food security in South Africa, applying the
food insecurity experience ... [Inaudible.] ... almost 23,6%
of South Africans in 2020, were affected by moderates to
severe food insecurity. While almost 14,9% experienced severe
food insecurity. Among those percentages is faces of children
and the youth. A hungry stomach cannot enable optimal learning
and without any compromise. It is imperative that the
department continues to provide nutritional meals in our
schools.
For the current year, the department has targeted 19 950,
schools a target of 9 million learners in each year to provide
nutritional meals on its school day. In this budget, the total
National Schools Nutrition Programme has been allocated
R8,5 billion to ensure no learner has to endure an empty
stomach.
Hon members, this is what providing a safety net is all about.
It is about ensuring that no one is left behind and our
government has put in place the most progressive interventions
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to mitigate against the impact of poverty and equal
inequality.
Infrastructure development is a major concern of the
department as numerous schools lack the adequate facilities to
enable conducive teaching and learning. In our various
oversight visits, we have observed a tremendous progress made
in various provinces but the backlog in other areas remains.
The department, in this budget, through the Education
Infrastructure Grant will be building 30 schools to replace
unfit structures, provide water to 50 schools and provide
sanitation to 450 schools. This is not going to address the
infrastructure backlog, but it will improve conditions in the
specific school. This is part of progress.
Hon members, we welcome the announcement by his Excellency
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the state of the nation address
when he said and I quote:
Government is introducing an innovative social
infrastructure delivery mechanism to address issues that
affect the delivery of school’s infrastructure. The
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mechanism will address in speed the financing and funding
quality of delivery, mass employment and maintenance. The
new delivery mechanism will introduce a special purpose
vehicle working with prominent development finance
institutions and the private sector which is being
piloted in schools in the Northern Cape and the Eastern
Cape.
Crowding in private schools to respond to critical social
issues is a commendable approach as our financial system
should also be responsive to social needs and not only
orientated to profit making. This is the level of priority
government is placed to supplement efforts by the department
and to move closer to eradicating the infrastructure backlog
in our system.
We make a call to parents, communities, civil society and
religious organization to take keen interest in the education
of our children and to monitor the quality of schooling in our
communities. Some of the challenges are affecting our schools
such as theft and vandalism can be avoided when our
communities work with the police and school governing bodies
to embed a social culture which treasures and protect schools
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as sites of development. Schools with an appropriate community
support in collaboration with education stakeholders function
better.
The ANC supports Budget Vote 16 Basic Education. And, we urge
the department to ensure that the distribution of expenditure
contributes to economic reconstruction and recovery and make
sure it support small and medium sized businesses and
businesses owned by youth and women to stimulate their groove.
This budget is critical in our endeavour of creating a united,
equitable and prosperous South Africa where all have equal
opportunities to realize their potential and defy the odds
imposed by inequality. I thank you, Chairperson.
Mr A M SHAIK-EMAM: Thank you, House Chairperson. I have more
than just load shedding. I have a total blackout, therefore,
pardon me. The National Freedom Party notes the report on
Budget Vote 16 - Basic Education tabled here today. Now, House
Chairperson, let me start off by saying that one out of every
two children that starts school do not finish school at
Grade 12. Secondly, 60% of those that go from basic education
to higher education drop out in the first year of education. I
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have just come from a school called Bhekinkosi in EThekwini in
Durban and the outskirts. House Chairperson, each class has 80
children in one class. Now, tell me could we call this equal
education? Certainly not, and that is why many experts are
saying that in South Africa the emphasis is on quantity not on
quality. That is why they say that we have a very broken or
unequal education system which is flawed with poor
performance, and that is where we have a problem with very
little or no accountability.
Over and above that the problem is that the teachers or
educators do not get enough support. Many of these children
are coming from dysfunctional families and there is a lot of
pressure that’s been put on educators who have to be the
fathers, the mother and the educators of these children. Now,
over and above that experts and researchers established that
lack of water, electricity, technology in the schools, poor
and failing infrastructure give rise to the poor quality of
education that we have in South Africa. Not forgetting the
water and sanitation which many schools currently still have
pit toilets. Therefore, I think the time has come, hon House
Chairperson, that we need to take stock ... [Inaudible.] of
our Basic Education Department what we need to enhance the
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quality of education so that we could produce better learners
that will go to higher education level. Until we do that a lot
of money is being wasted on basic education and it appears
that we do not have the necessary capacity to be able to
provide quality education. Thank you very much.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Thank you very much, hon House Chair. Hon
House Chair, at 4:00 this afternoon the sounds of bullets were
sent to me of shootings at Downeville Primary School in
Manenberg. Children were running for their lives. Bullets hit
a desk in a Grade 2 classroom. I was sent of pictures of
learners lying under the school benches. Learners were
traumatised - just like traumatised at the moment. How will
the learners get home was one of the many questions I got that
I want to share with hon members.
Minister, the buck stops with you to see that eight-years-old
are safe at schools. Otherwise your department will go down in
history as a failed department. Minister, you cannot depend on
your official opposition party in the Western Cape who’s
governing. They are more interested in Ukraine, you won’t find
them in Manenberg, but you will find them in Ukraine. They are
... [Inaudible.] ... in destroying the education of African
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and Coloured learners. They do this by firing the best school
principals that is closest to their community and those most
loved by our learners and those standing schools around for
the better. The latest being Wesley Neumann of Heathfield High
School, I don’t want to go to the merit of the case, but
penalty was too severe. The DA demoted the principal and
transfer the beloved principal of the Heathfield High School.
These children are traumatised just like those under fire at
the moment. I hope the army is sending out the helicopter. I
saw them at the ... [Inaudible.] ... crying out to politicians
of the EFF, the ANC, Good and Al Jama-ah for help. All these
parties support the students of Heathfield High School after
they put their case.
However, House Chair, what will Parliament do for the learners
of Downeville Primary School in Manenberg? What will the
Speaker do? What will a leader of Parliament do? What will the
councillors, President and Deputy President do? I can only
depend on our Chief Whip because I see that she is already
making phone call. I see no calls being made by the official
opposition. The lives of learners at Downeville Primary School
... [Inaudible.] ... gone home and ... [Inaudible.] ... now.
They don’t care about the learners at Downeville Primary
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School ... [Inaudible.] ... Hon House Chair ... [Inaudible.]
... I am very traumatised. Thank you very much.
Ms D VAN DER WALT: Good evening, House Chairperson and
colleagues. Can you hear me, House Chair?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): I can hear you, hon
member. What I suggest you can do is, if it’s possible, just
to switch off your video. You may continue, hon member.
Ms D VAN DER WALT: The video is off. Thank you.
Afrikaans:
Die DA verwerp die voortgesette dikriminasie teen die inheemse
tale van ons land. Advertensies wat belanghebbendes uitnooi om
skriftelik kommentaar op die Bela Wysigingswetontwerp in te
dien, is bedoel om aan alle taalgroepe ’n gelyke geleentheid
te bied.
Behalwe vir die advertensie in Engels wat reeds 15 Mei in ’n
nasionale koerant verskyn het sal al die ander tale slegs in
streeks- of gemeenskapskoerante gepubliseer word. Boonop sal
nege van ons elf amptelike tale se gebruikers nie die volle 30
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dae se periode gegun word nie, met die Afrikaanssprekende
gemeeenskappe wat die minste tyd gegun word.
English:
Minister, we are fully aware of the different competencies
between your department and the provincial departments.
However, ... [Inaudible.] ... you are the custodian of basic
education where often with one teacher intervene by using the
remedies available to you. Surely your Cabinet meetings are
one of such a remedies where you can raise matters with the
President who has appointed you. We have welcomed the transfer
of the early childhood development sector into the Department
of Basic Education. Being formally part ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon Hendricks, your
microphone must be muted, we can hear you and it’s disrupting
the proceedings. Please, mute yourself. Continue, hon Van der
Walt.
Ms D VAN DER WALT: Thank you. Being formally part of the
foundation phase should improve academic results throughout a
child’s education. Of course, it needs urgent focus on getting
it right from the start. The early childhood 2021 Census
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released last week emphasised our earlier concerns raised with
the Minister and in the portfolio committee that significant
financial support, resources and training is non-negotiable to
success. The current financial year’s allocation is already on
a red alert. Municipalities, who are failing to deliver
services, cannot be trusted to be in charge of the
infrastructure of early childhood development, ECDs, in their
areas. That is call for surely massive failures.
The Western Cape Education Department’s mantra of “Enter to
learn, leave to serve” carries a deep meaning that every child
should be in school for the sole purpose of learning. It also
emphasises that every child has potential and must be
developed to become an active citizen of South Africa.
However, it seems like the children in the special needs and
learners with special education needs, LSEN, schools sector
are often treated as “second-hand citizens”. Why do I say
this? Please conduct unannounced oversight visits – see for
yourselves, listen to the learners, the teachers, the parents
and the school governing bodies, SGBs, members. A reply to my
parliamentary question on whether there is an allocation to
public special needs schools and how are learners of such
schools funded, revealed that, and I quote:
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Department of Basic Education does not have a policy
relating to the funding of special schools. The draft
policy was not approved due to budget constraints.
It also revealed that the equitable share formula for basic
education is based on the age cohort 5 - 17 for school going
age and not 7 - 15. There is no earmarked or specific funding
for learners above 17 years. The same allocation for the age
cohort 5 - 17 is extended to learners above 17 years. This, of
course, needs urgent attention. We have to change this sector
and ensure they benefit from quality education without
discrimination as per the SA Schools Act and then
understanding of human rights.
If the Funza Lushaka Bursary scheme is to address critical
educator shortages in specified subject areas, it should
include providing bursaries to prospective teachers in sign
language and braille writing for our hearing and visual
impaired learners. This sector can no longer be left behind
with outdated equipment. Technology has advanced and way
beyond the outdated braille machines. Modern equipment is
available and should be provided to these learners and
teachers.
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Now, more than ever it is necessary for you to think how your
department will resolve the growing need for therapists at
schools. The coronavirus disease 2019, Covid-19, pandemic has
left many scars and fears on learners and educators. Substance
abuse, teenage pregnancies, violence on school premises or at
outings, statuary rape or sexual abuse on school premises,
etcetera, is on the rise, yet there are no experts to assist.
We need to have an urgent discussion with the Minister of
Health, as I have previously requested. We have proposed the
placement of health care students, like occupational
therapists, psychologists, nurses, speech therapists,
etcetera, who must do their community service years at
schools. Both the schools and students across the country can
benefit from such a project.
I conclude, Minister and colleague, with an invitation to you
Minister and your colleague, the Minister of Finance to visit
special needs and LSEN schools with me during June, which is
Youth Month, in order to see the real need. May be that will
assist in a better budget. We must look after every learner to
ensure their futures and allow them to one-day leave school to
serve their communities and our country. Thank you, House
Chairperson.
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Setswana:
Rre P R MOROATSHEHLA: Modulasetilo wa Ntlo.
English:
The Minister of Basic Education, Mama Angie Motshega, Deputy
Minister, Mme Makgabo Regina Mahaule and colleagues in the
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, all friends and hon
members ...
Setswana:
... ke a lo dumedisa.
English:
The ANC vehemently supports this Budget Vote No 16. House
Chairperson, as Members of Parliament, we have been given the
honour and responsibility to represent our people and their
aspirations. Our people have entrusted to all of us as members
of this august House because they have full confidence and
trust that through Parliament, we will be able to tribune, the
people will be at all times and meaningfully contribute to the
building of our nation. In the context of the Budget Vote No
16 and on the education, our efforts and contributions should
be informed by efforts of strengthening our basic education
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system than a simplistic critique of the knowing without
providing any alternative and solution through the problems we
are faced with, as my learned friends from both DA and Eff
would normally do.
The Minister, in her address, has outlined the interventions
and progress which has been recorded by the government, and
she also engulfed very serious problems on a way forward in as
far as public concern. The Coronavirus pandemic has
demonstrated the significance of both mathematics and science
as subjects to taught in our schools and the World Health
Organisation, WHO, has applauded of African government to
placing science and mathematics as the pillars of COVID-19
responses. Hon members and House Chairperson, this signifies
the important role that both science and mathematics are
playing in our education system, and as the ANC, we are
concerned by the percentage decline of learners who keeps
deregistering in the line of maths and science, despite of the
increase in the humble, the number of students that are taking
those subjects.
We urge the Department of Basic Education and the National
Strategy for Maths and Science and Technological education, as
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they adhere to the role of 2021 up to 2030, as it is
strengthening the learning outcome of our learners. It is of
course very critical, Chairperson, that as a department, we’ve
got a role in making a point that with both registration of
teaching and learning of maths and science, are prioritised at
all material time. Hon House Chairperson, one other aspect
which is of very importance, is the aspect of reading, and
this is an important priority which the department is
continuously strengthening.
The Department of Basic Education should enhance working with
the Department of Arts and Culture to expand on this principle
of reading and learning. We welcome efforts made by SA Council
for Educators, SACE, in making it a point that teachers are
professionally encouraged and equipped, in order to face the
ongoing challenges on the learning of our children. Hon
members, globally, educationists have programme that all the
time education improves learning outcomes, particularly, in
early grades.
As a nation, we did encourage our learners on the indigenous
learning so that our mother tongue can be taken serious, and
as the ANC, we are encouraged by the increase in the doctoral
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training levels, whereby the undertaking is used in as far as
taking language is concerned. This is a clear demonstration
that all official languages can be developed for educational
purposes. We encourage the Department of Basic Education to
strengthen relationship which higher education institutions,
in order to focus on the development of indigenous languages
for teaching and learning purposes.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon Moroatshehla, my
apology. May I ask hon Hicklin to switch off his microphone.
Continue, hon member. Hon Moroatshehla, unmute yourself, then
you continue. Thank you.
Mr P R MOROATSHEHLA: Thank you very much, House Chairperson,
learners who speak English at home, it has been proven that
they are able to perform well when it comes to maths and
science teaching. We welcome the pilot project that has been
initiated in the Eastern Cape on the whole issue of mother
tongue instruction, and our wish, Chairperson, is that, where
possible, this pilot project must be expanded to the national
level. Hon House Chairperson, I must also talk to the issue of
Funza Lushaka that it is one such important initiative by the
current Department of Basic Education and our government, to
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make it a point that we are able to encourage younger
educators to pursue the rare skills subject like maths and
physical science by offering this all important to primary.
There is an allocated amount of R1, 32 billion to the National
Student Finance Aid Scheme, NSFAS, in order to address this.
In order to strengthen the education system, continued
professional development is encouraged at a level of the SA
Council for Educators, SACE, and it is for this reason that,
Chairperson, the ANC-led government makes it a point that,
through the SACE, as an entity, that all educators who are
found short by getting involved in a sexual relationship with
learners, must be brought to book, and for this reason, we
want to commend SACE for coming to the party.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, gender-based violence keeps
on rearing its ugly head in our schools, and we come, as the
department has initiated, totally against all forms of
gangsterism, all form of bullying that ended up affecting
negatively our school performances. Therefore, we are allowed
to commend the department for being involved, in as far as
this is concerned. Of course, without working with communities
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in our schools, we are likely to encounter a number of
challenges.
It is from this reason that from the safe point of view, we
would love to encourage all schools through the key and pity,
quality of learning and teaching campaign, to make it a point
that all this misdemeanor happening within our schools, are
completely discouraged. Once again, Chairperson, allow me to
rise and indicate that, as the ANC, we support this Budget
Vote, unequivocally so. Thank you very much.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Chair, let me take this
opportunity to thank the members who have responded to the
input, we appreciate their responses, their guidance. But I
also want to thank ...
IsiZulu:
... omakhala njalo, lalelani, siyabonga. Nihlale nikhala
ninjalo.
English:
I also want to say another decision by this Sixth
Administration to insist that the Department of Social
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Development and the Department of Basic Education should work
together to form a coherent, integrated, quality childhood
education. We are, as a country, going to earn all the
dividends that come from early childhood. development The
study that we conducted on Thrive by Five indicates that only
35% of our children are ready for schooling and are ready to
thrive in their careers for life.
A whopping 49%, if no interventions happen, are at risk and
worst still it says 16% are even worse off. And the UN issued
a report, a tracer study which was indicating that children at
22 months, if nothing happens at 22 years, will be in the same
position. So if, as a country, we want to change the fortunes
of our country, this is an area where we have to work together
and ensure that we make the necessary interventions.
I appreciate the insistence that always comes from member
Sukers, member Van der Walt and also member Hendricks around
the issues of children with special needs but also around
violence because as a country and as adults, we have to make
sure that no child is left behind and we do all we can to
support children with special needs, but we also work hard to
deal with violence in our country.
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Member Hendricks, I sympathize with you because the violence
in our country is disheartening. It is depressing. And I agree
with you that something has to give. The other matter that I
also want to highlight is a question of language teaching and
learning. In terms of our demographics in the country, more
than 80% of children learn in a language other than theirs.
And I think the sector, and that is what we are already
beginning to work on, that we have to make sure that all
learners are given the opportunity, they are able to choose to
learn in the language of their choice. And in particular, in
their mother tongue. The Eastern Cape has done a good study
and It is very encouraging, clarifying most of the questions
that others would and the other provinces are following. And I
am saying an area that you have to pay attention to if we are
to make sure that we do not continue the discrimination, the
prejudice that the majority of learners are experiencing
because they are forced to learn in a language other than
their mother tongue.
A member also mentioned that we were taken to court for the
wearing of masks. I do not know of that case. I know that the
decision to end rotational teaching came through a Cabinet
decision which came as advice from the Department of Health.
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Then the fact that when the court was told to end rotational
teaching ...
IsiZulu:
... Hhayi angiyazi leyo.
English:
But maybe to say to the member, let us tell no lies and claim
easy victories, please. There is nothing like that. We were
never taken to court. We took the decision ourselves. And also
I think what we will do is we will publish the full statement
on the website where we also then indicate that, for instance,
as I said in the speech, that 35 occupational and
vocationally-oriented subjects have already been gazetted. We
are looking at focus schools but perhaps because of the
pressure, we could not explain all the matters. At the end of
today, tomorrow you will get the full statement. I wanted to
say, I understand sometimes the likes of hon Kwankwa and hon
Shaik Emam are ...
IsiZulu:
... engithi omahamba yedwa ...
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English:
... so they have no people to discus with. So they repeat the
same things, the same lamentations and one has to accept that
...
IsiZulu:
... ungumahamba yedwa
English:
You don’t have any person...
Sesotho:
... ya tla o fahlolla.
English:
I want to thank ANC members for engaging with what is there
because sometimes the difficulty is we always talk about
something that is not on the table and that is not being
discussed, but I also want to thank you, member of the IFP,
quite clearly he has read the statement and is responding to
the statement. As such, his input and his guidance is helpful
because members may not know, we appreciate your guidance. We
appreciate your views, but ...
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IsiZulu:
... nike nikhululume ngento esuke kukhulunywa ngayo.
Ningaphindaphindi into eyodwa.
English:
Some of you here I can even write your speeches. I would know
what you are going to say because ...
IsiZulu:
... yingoba nihamba nodwa.
English:
Chair, I want to thank you, thank the committee, thank the
chairperson of the committee. And also thank the ruling party
because they have read the statement. They are responding to
the statement.
IsiZulu:
Omahamba bodwa bakhuluma into eyodwa zonke izinsuku.
English:
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And they really have my sympathy because I am sure it is not
easy ... [Inaudible.] ... [Interjections.] Thank you very
much, Chair and everybody.
Debate concluded.
The mini plenary session rose at 18:26.
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