Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1)(a)(i) Parents who home educate and are willing to register their children with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) in the Republic of South Africa are responsible and accountable for the education of their children. These parents, who are not citizens of this country, have already complied with the curriculum requirements of their country of origin.

(ii)The departments of education in South Africa does not deal with approval of curricula for citizens from other countries (who are not seeking citizenship in South Africa). However, they are at liberty to contact officials responsible for the implementation of the Policy on Home Education in South Africa, should they wish to do so. The contact details of the officials in South Africa are obtainable from www.education.gov.za, and are as follows:

Province	Coordinator	Tel	Email	Address
National	Ms EM Chaane Ms LZ Brown	012 357 4105 0122 357 4106	[email protected] [email protected]	222 Struben Street PRETORIA 0001
Eastern Cape	Ms N Ndzunga	040 608 4186/ 4342	[email protected]	Steve Thswete Complex, Zone 6, Zwelitsha Private Bag X0032 Bisho 5605
Free State	Mr MJ Ntsala	051 447 0038/ 0037	[email protected]	P/ Bag X 20565 BLOEMFONTEIN 9300
Gauteng	Ms C Motshwane	011 355 0631	[email protected]	Hollard Building (7th Floor) P. O. Box 7710 Johannesburg 2000
KwaZulu-Natal	Ms D Motloli	033 348 6111/115	[email protected]	188 Pieter Maritz Street PIETERMARITZBURG 3200
Limpopo	Ms M Baloyi	015 290 9382	[email protected]	P/ Bag X9489 POLOKWANE 0700
Mpumalanga	Dr M Pieterse	013 766 5875	[email protected]	P/Bag X 111341 NELSPRUIT 1200
Northern Cape	Mr K Mhlom	053 839 6386	[email protected]	P/ Bag X 5029 KIMBERLEY 8300
North West	Ms P Pule	018 389 8204	[email protected]	P/Bag X 2044 MMABATHO 2735
Western Cape	Mr D Louw	021 467 2653	[email protected]	P/ Bag X 9114 CAPE TOWN 8000

(b) In terms of the Policy on Home Education, the Head of a Provincial Education Department must take all reasonable steps to respond within 30 days after receipt of the application on the prescribed form.

(2) There is no approved list of curricula and educational plans except for the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 in the department. Parents are free to choose any curriculum that will be of a standard not inferior to that of basic education provided in public schools in South Africa.

(3)A parent may appeal to the MEC within 14 days of receiving a notice. The MEC should take all reasonable steps to respond to the appeal within 30 days of receiving the appeal.

(4) The Department of Basic Education does not have a mechanism for considering curricula and educational plans of foreigners who apply for a visa in South Africa.

 

Reply:

PROVINCE	UNQUALIFIED (Matric)	UNDER-QUALIFIED (Matric plus 1-2)	QUALIFIED (Matric plus 3 and more years)	Grand Total
	REQV10	REQV11	REQV12	REQV13	REQV14	REQV15	REQV16	REQV17
EC	36	10	147	5 071	24 451	2 736	311	24	32 786
FS	33	17	21	1 962	10 061	1 376	228	27	13 725
GP	11	1	64	4 618	35 848	8 031	1 465	126	50 164
KZN	728	7	23	6 231	41 493	11 398	2 714	141	62 735
LP	1		7	3 169	20 955	1 199	275	11	25 617
MP	4		6	2 472	14 905	2 742	593	27	20 749
NW			118	2 779	11 489	1 492	306	14	16 198
NC	96	4	6	1 074	4 451	627	96	8	6 362
WC	86	11	120	1 890	14 458	2 633	487	59	19 744
Grand Total	995	50	512	29 266	178 111	32 234	6 475	437	248 080

Source: PERSAL, January 2019

Reply:

A)  The National Department of Basic Education has not been informed of the general state of disrepair at the Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School in Mthatha. The matter has since been referred to the Eastern Cape Department of Education for investigation and the response will be provided as soon as it is received from the province.

Reply:

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION

a) (i) One tender briefing was held in 2018 by (i) the Department of Basic Education and it was compulsory.

b) One compulsory briefing session.

UMALUSI

a) (ii) Umalusi conducted four (4) tender briefings in the period 1 April 2018 to date.

b) All four (4) tender briefings were compulsory.

SACE

a) (ii) The South African Council for Educators never held any tender briefing during 2018.

b) No briefing was held and non were compulsory.

Reply:

All educators that have the appropriate qualification and the relevant grade 12 teaching experience are eligible to apply to mark. Markers are then selected in terms of the criteria listed in the Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM).

Membership to a Teacher Union is not a criterion for appointment as a marker and no educator has ever been disqualified from the selection process due non-membership to a Teacher Union.

Reply:

1. The 2018 NSC Business Studies, as with all other subjects, are remarked by all nine (9) Provincial Education Departments and not remarked nationally or in specific provinces. Only in the case of the selected subjects that were marked centrally by the DBE, was the remark also done centrally by the DBE.

2. The remark process is an appeal process that can be utilised by any candidate who wants to confirm his/her marks in the written examination. As such, it is the candidates and not the DBE or the Provincial Education Departments that request the remarking. Candidates are also allowed to request a re-check of their scripts and they could further request to view their scripts after the remark request has been processed.

3. Individual requests for remarking of Business Studies were made. There were a total of 6685 individual requests for the remark of Business Studies that were made.

 

Reply:

(a) (b)

Please note that the question has been referred to Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). The information will be provided as soon as received from PEDs.

Reply:

What (a) number of teachers were employed in the public education system in each (i) primary and (ii) high school in each province as at 1 February 2019 and (b) is the breakdown in terms of (i) gender and (ii) pay scale?

The data required to respond to the question is currently not available. The information has been requested from Treasury: PERSAL. It will be submitted as soon as Treasury makes these data available.

 

Reply:

a) Response on workbooks

For the 2019 academic year, Grade R, Grade 1-3 Life Skills, Grades 1-6 Home Language, Grades 1-6 English First Additional Language and Grades 1-9 Mathematics Volume 1 and Volume 2 workbooks were distributed as follows:

Province	Grade R	Grades 1 to 9
	No of Schools	No of Learners	Books delivered	No of Schools	No of Learners	Books delivered
Eastern Cape	4338	141982	567930	5156	1499320	80993140
Free State	661	47440	189760	1098	652155	3409150
Gauteng	1431	160432	641730	2154	1963455	9846540
KwaZulu-Natal	4107	194360	777440	5945	2239945	11610450
Limpopo	2272	143403	573620	3836	1344525	7418550
Mpumalanga	1133	92115	368460	1667	945860	5072320
Northern Cape	389	23250	93000	548	260540	1391150
North west	980	56280	225120	1457	648655	3569860
Western Cape	1005	79800	319200	1493	975830	4920130
Totals	16312	939064	3756260	23346	10530285	55331290

b) The question on the number of tablets in each school should be directed to provincial legislatures.

Reply:

Please note that the questions have been referred to Provincial Education Departments Heads. The information will be provided as soon as received from Provincial Education Departments.

Reply:

Please note that the question has been referred to Provincial Education Departments Heads. The information will be provided as soon as received from Provincial Education Departments.

Reply:

(a) (b)

Table 1 below indicates the number of schools that (a) are using and (b) are not using English as medium of instruction. It shows that about 23 474 schools are English medium schools and 1 391 are using other languages as medium of instruction. Please note that these schools are not only single medium schools, they can be parallel medium, meaning they use two or more languages as medium of instruction.

Table 1: Number of English and none English medium schools, by province, in 2018

Province	English	Not English	Total
Eastern Cape	4 922	291	5 213
Free State	1 121	69	1 190
Gauteng	2 769	138	2 907
KwaZulu-Natal	5 938	42	5 980
Limpopo	3 927	50	3 977
Mpumalanga	1 694	49	1 743
Northern Cape	389	183	572
North West	1 447	63	1 510
Western Cape	1 267	506	1 773
Total	23 474	1 391	24 865

Source: 2018 LURITS

Reply:

What (a) number of new teachers have been appointed in the public education sector since 1 January 2019 and (b) are the relevant details of each specified new teacher (i) in each (aa) province, (bb) primary school and (cc) high school and (ii) with regard to (aa) gender and (bb) pay scale?

The data required to respond to the question is currently not available. The data has been requested from Treasury: PERSAL. It will be submitted as soon as Treasury makes these data available.

Reply:

What (a) number of teaching vacancies have opened up in the public education sector since 1 January 2019 and (b) are the relevant details of each specified vacancy (i) in each (aa) province, (bb) primary school and (cc) high school and (ii) with regard to (aa) gender and (bb) pay scale?

The data required to respond to the question is currently not available. The information has been requested from Treasury: PERSAL. It will be submitted as soon as Treasury makes these data available.

Reply:

1.  The investigation has been concluded and a detailed report on the findings of the investigation is attached as (Annexure A)

2. The reply to the Parliamentary question 3619, submitted on 4 December 2018 was a preliminary report which focussed on the support programme broadcast on Ukhozi FM.

(a) The further investigation (i) commenced on 11 December 2018 and was (ii) completed on 27 December 2018.

(b) The investigation was headed by the Director responsible for Public Examinations at the Department of Basic Education, and she was supported by a team of subject specialists, the DBE Data Manager, the DBE Irregularities Manager and the DBE Question Paper Manager. The details of the team are included as (Annexure B).

3. The outcome of the further investigation is as follows:

• The credibility of the Economics Paper 1 and Paper 2, was not compromised given that learners were not given direct questions that appeared in the examination and were not asked to focus on particular questions. Hence, there was no unfair advantage to any group of candidates
• Given the focus of the teaching and testing of Economics, which in the main provides learners with a pool of questions, it is possible for experienced teachers to predict some of the questions that may appear in the question paper, particularly the essays.
• An analysis of learner performances does not show any anomalous trends. There is no significant improvement compared to 2017 and in some cases performance is actually lower.
• It would appear that Economics has taken on an approach of providing learners with a pool of questions and this starts with the Examination Guideline that is based on a series of questions. In the same vein, all support programmes are dominated by questions. It would also appear that based on a historical analysis of the previous question papers, teachers and subject advisors are able to predict to some degree which questions will appear in the paper. Examination predictability is a phenomenon of most examinations and the DBE is actively working towards minimising examination predictability.

Reply:

1. There is currently no fixed date for this exercise. However, this matter is on the agenda of the department.

2. (a) The database of teachers and their qualifications is kept and maintained by provinces. Such data could be sourced from Provincial Legislatures.

3. The Curriculum Management Team (CMT) that oversaw the development of SASL curriculum and policies consisted of 9 members. A writing team comprising five members was established and the team formed the core of the development process. SASL experts and phase specialists (e.g. SASL linguists from Universities and NGOs as well as SASL teachers) were co-opted during the development of specific areas of the curriculum.

4. The SASL Home Language curriculum was not copied from the English curriculum. The English Home Language curriculum is the Framework to which SASL and all other Home Languages are aligned, to ensure parity of esteem of all languages.

Reply:

1. (a) (i) and (ii) The current examination system only has a record of Hearing Impaired Learners and does not distinguish between Deaf learners and Hearing Impaired Learners The total number of hearing impaired learners that enrolled for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination is 456.

(b) Of the 54 candidates that enrolled to write the 2018 NSC South African Sign Language Home Language (SASL HL) examination, 52 candidates wrote the examination.

(c) (i) 26 candidates achieved an NSC pass

(ii) 7 candidates achieved admission to Bachelor studies

Note that of the 52 candidates that wrote the SASL HL examination, only 28 candidates could be resulted in terms of the full qualification, given that the remaining 24 candidates did not write the full NSC subject package in 2018.

2. All the full time candidates who wrote SASL HL in the NSC 2018 examinations were exposed to the bridging Grade 9 and 10 programme. No bridging programme was developed for Grade 11.

The table below provides the school, province and number of learners who wrote the SASL examinations in 2018:

School	Province	Number of learners – Gr 12
Efata	EC	3
St Thomas	EC	10 (full time) + 6 (part time)
Bartimea	FS	4
Thiboloha	FS	2
Sizwile	GP	11
Fulton	KZN	3
Kwathintwa	KZN	8
St Martin	KZN	7
De-la-Bat	WC	1
Dominican (Wittebome)	WC	3
Total	10 schools	58

3. (a) (b) (c)

In terms of the policy relating to the appointment of markers, the marker must have at least a recognised three year post matric qualification which must include the subject concerned at second or third year level. In addition the marker must have extensive experience as an educator in the particular subject or a related area and at least two years teaching or other curriculum-related experience within the last 5 years at the appropriate level, and must be competent in the language of teaching and learning.

In terms of marker appointments for SASL HL, it was not expected that the DBE will be able to appoint markers that satisfy all of the above criteria given that this is the first year of implementation of this examination. All 15 markers have extensive experience as teachers of deaf learners and have a Teaching Qualification. Four (4) of the markers have a qualification in SASL – ranging from a short course qualification to an Honours Degree in SASL. Two Deaf Teaching Assistants were also appointed to assist the hearing markers with the translation of SASL. The Teaching Assistants were not involved directly in marking. The teaching assistants have a Matric qualification.

Given the limitations relating to the appointed markers, the marking of the 2018 NSC SASL HL examinations was centralised at the DBE to ensure stringent standardisation and quality assurance of the marking process.

(4) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is responsible for the development of the South African Sign Language National Catalogue which is forwarded to provinces, districts and schools. The provinces and schools are responsible for procurement and delivery of these textbooks as required. The Catalogues referred to were developed in 2015 and 2017.

(5). The Department of Basic Education has not been approached by students as the function of teacher development resides with provinces.

Reply:

SACE RESPONSE

1(a)

(i) All in all, 2983 educators applied and updated their registration status from the 1st January 2019 when the requirement for the police clearance came into effect.

(ii) 2981 have been granted registration and 2 were not due to some criminal record.

(iii) 1854 produced the SAPS Clearance Certificate. 1127 were registered provisionally until the 30th June 2019, with proof of application for the SAPS Police Clearance. This move was necessitated by the slow turnaround time from the SAPS in issuing the clearance certificates and impacting negatively on the recruitment of newly qualified teachers into the schools.

1(b) SACE does not have information on the employment of newly qualified teachers.

(2) what (a) criteria has been set by SACE for SAPS officers to use when issuing the clearance certificate, (b) qualification is required by SAPS officers to conduct the interview and issue the certificate to an educator and (c) costs are involved for an educator applying for the certificate;

SACE RESPONSE

(a) As a third party, the SAPS’s Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management Centre (CR and CSMC) uses its own criteria to process and issue the clearance certificate.

(b) The police clearance certificate is issued purely on the basis of one’s criminal record from the SAPS’s Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management Centre (CR and CSMC).

(c) R114.00

(3) will it be required of teachers who are appointed to update this clearance certificate on a regular basis or is the certificate only required at the registration process;

SACE RESPONSE

In line with Council resolution, the SAPS clearance certificate is currently required for all the new registration applicants since the 01st January 2019.

(4) on what date will the certificate be a requirement for incumbent teachers appointed by (a) the department and (b) school governing bodies? NW117E

SACE RESPONSE

(4) There is no date set by Council for (a) and (b)

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education has implemented the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council resolution for the upgrading of Assistant Directors from salary level 9 to salary level 10 and the upgrading of Deputy Directors from salary level 11 to salary level 12. The implementation was effected in August 2014 and backdated to 1 August 2012.

Reply:

1. (a)The Department was never engaged in any business with the service provider in question.

(i) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

(v) N/A

2. N/A

(b) UMALUSI

1. Umalusi has never engaged in any business with the service provider in question.

(i) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

(v) N/A

2. N/A

(b) SACE

1. SACE has never engaged in any business with the service provider in question.

(i) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

(v) N/A

2. N/A

Reply:

1. The school was not completed within the envisioned construction period of 11 months. The contract period started on 3 November 2010 as scheduled, but unfortunately the contractor fell behind schedule. The delays led to the situation whereby the contractor subsequently abandoned site. The project was re-activated in 2016 and Practical Completion was achieved on 11 September 2017.

2. The initial contract amount was R 15 956 400.00. During the period when the contractor abandoned site the school was vandalised. Accordingly, when the project was re-activated, re-measurements were done to determine the cost to complete the project and a Variation Order was approved on 7 November 2016 increasing the contract amount to R 17 721 946.21. MPPJ Property Development was the Contractor. The contractor has not yet been paid in full as Final Completion has not yet been achieved.

3. (a) Total cost of Furniture is R930 491.000 and the furniture was delivered in 2012 and in 2018.

(b) Lebaka B was built as an offshoot of Lebaka A where the school buildings were dilapidated and no longer hospitable. Security was engaged and the repairs were effected. There are plans afoot to bring in Gr R –Gr 3 to the school in January 2019.

(c) The security company was appointed for Lebaka B School on 01 June 2018.

(d) The security service provider was initially appointed by the Limpopo Department of Education to do security services at Mamaila Circuit Office. A variation order was prepared and approved for the inclusion of Lebaka B School for an amount of R33 524.30 per month.

(e) Mathara Investment CC.

4. Yes, there is a litigation claim for the alleged exhumation of graves on the school site during the construction process. The matter is currently being handled by the state attorney.

Reply:

Lebaka B was built as an offshoot of Lebaka A where the school buildings were dilapidated and no longer hospitable. Security was engaged and the repairs were effected. There are plans afoot to bring in Gr R –Gr 3 to the school in January 2019. The original name was supposed to be Mahabaneng Primary School instead of Lebaka B but the name was not registered at EMIS.

Reply:

(1) (a) The Sector has not built any Mega Farm Schools for the past three financial years but has a number of Non-Viable farm schools in lieu of two Boarding Schools in Mpumalanga Province which are Steve Tshwete Boarding School in Nkangala and Thaba Tshweu Boarding school in Ehlanzeni district.

(b) There are no Mega farm Schools envisaged to be completed in the 2018/2019 financial year.

(2) 2018-19 financial year:

Province	No. of schools closed to date	2018/19 projections
	(a) @	(b)
EC	725	2 182*
FS	33	90
GP	521	14
KZN	248	1 405^
LP	1 783	61
MP	1 063	34
NC	142	8*
NW	948	0
WC	1 466	0

Source (a) National EMIS (b) PEDs

The above mentioned data indicate the number of schools closed to date except for the FS.

* Schools currently subjected to rationalisation but not necessarily to be effected in 2018/19

^ Schools rationalisation plan ranging from 2018 to 2023

(3) The number of teachers who were trained on Mathematics and Science content and pedagogy through DBE-led programmes are:

DBE TRAINING WORKSHOPS:

2015/16 YEAR

PROVINCE	TRAINED MST HODS 2015/16 Grade 8 & 9
	MATHS	N.SC	TECHN	TOTAL
Free State	294	255	236	785
Gauteng	53	51	51	155
North West	415	439	642	1 496
Eastern Cape	1 520	1 636	1 536	4 674
Northern Cape	116	75	81	272
Limpopo	749	313	595	1 657
Mpumalanga	552	465	473	1 490
TOTAL	3 862	3 331	3 508	10 529

2016/17: NSC SUPPORT ON MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

PROVINCE	MATHS	PHYSICAL SCIENCE	TOTAL
Eastern Cape	489	288	777
Free State	136	129	265
KwaZulu-Natal	520	417	937
Limpopo	535	606	1 141
Mpumalanga	234	199	433
Northern Cape	56	72	128
North West	232	196	428
TOTAL	2 202	1 907	4 109

(4)

1. 2015-16 Budget available to Improve MST Teaching in each Province:

Total allocated budget for MST Conditional Grant in 2015/16 was R 347 185 million. R 104 156 million (30% of the total budget) was used for teaching in each province (15% - Training of Teachers and Subject Advisors in preparation for the implementation of CAPS for Technical Schools and 15% - Targeted Teacher Training in Pedagogic Content Knowledge for MST Subjects).

(SEE TABLE BELOW)

1. 2016-17 Budget available to Improve MST Teaching in each Province:

Total allocated budget for MST Conditional Grant in 2016/17 was R 362 444 million. R 108 734 million (30% of total budget) was used for teaching in each province (15% - Training of Teachers and Subject Advisors in preparation for the Implementation of CAPS for Technical Schools and 15% - Targeted Teacher Training in Pedagogic Content Knowledge for MST Subjects).

(SEE TABLE BELOW)

MST CONDITIONAL ALLOCATION 2015/16

Province	Budget Allocation	ICT Resource to improve Teaching and Learning 20%	Technical School Workshop ,Equipment and Tools 15%	School Laboratories and Workshop Apparatus and Consumables 15%	Direct Learner Support 10%	Technical Schools Teachers and Subject Advisors Training and CAPS Orientation 15%	Targeted Teacher Training in Teaching Methodologies and Subject content 15%	Training and Support in ICT Integration for end-users 10%	Total 100%
	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000
EC	45 059	9 012	6 759	6 759	4 506	6 759	6 759	4 506	45 059
FS	32 145	6 429	4 822	4 822	3 215	4 822	4 822	3 215	32 145
GP	47 842	9 568	7 176	7 176	4 784	7 176	7 176	4 784	47 842
KZN	59 998	12 000	9 000	9 000	6 000	9 000	9 000	6 000	59 998
LP	40 979	8 196	6 147	6 147	4 098	6 147	6 147	4 098	40 979
MP	39 136	7 827	5 870	5 870	3 914	5 870	5 870	3 914	39 136
NC	22 113	4 423	3 317	3 317	2 211	3 317	3 317	2 211	22 113
NW	33 378	6 676	5 007	5 007	3 338	5 007	5 007	3 338	33 378
WC	26 535	5 307	3 980	3 980	2 654	3 980	3 980	2 654	26 535
Total	347 185	69 437	52 078	52 078	34 719	52 078	52 078	34 719	347 185

FINANCIAL EXPENDITURE AS AT 31 MARCH 2016

EXPENDITURE DURING THE 2015-16 FINANCIAL YEAR AS AT 31 MARCH 2016
Province	2015-16 Budget Allocation	Actual Funds Transferred at 31 March 16	Actual Expenditure against Allocation	Budget Available as at 31 March 2016	% Spent Against Budget Allocation
	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	%
EC	45 059	45 059	26 350	10 236	72,02%
FS	32 145	33 466	21 524	10 165	67,92%
GP	47 842	47 842	47 842	- 678	101,44%
KZN	59 998	59 998	59 259	739	98,77%
LP	40 979	40 979	35 673	- 6 649	122,91%
MP	39 136	39 136	42 408	- 10 923	134,69%
NC	22 113	22 113	23 466	- 1 783	108,22%
NW	33 378	33 378	32 225	553	98,31%
WC	26 535	26 535	27 668	- 1 133	104,27%
TOTAL	347 185	347 185	316 415	527	99, 83%

MST CONDITIONAL ALLOCATION 2016/17

MST CONDITIONAL ALLOCATION 2016/17
Province	Budget Allocation	ICT Resource to improve Teaching and Learning 20%	Technical School Workshop ,Equipment and Tools 15%	School Laboratories and Workshop Apparatus and Consumables 15%	Direct Learner Support 10%	Technical Schools Teachers and Subject Advisors Training and CAPS Orientation 15%	Targeted Teacher Training in Teaching Methodologies and Subject content 15%	Training and Support in ICT Integration for end-users 10%	Total 100%
	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000
EC	46 898	9 380	7 035	7 035	4 690	7 035	7 035	4 690	46 898
FS	33 466	6 693	5 020	5 020	3 347	5 020	5 020	3 347	33 466
GP	49 810	9 962	7 472	7 472	4 981	7 472	7 472	4 981	49 810
KZN	62 453	12 491	9 368	9 368	6 245	9 368	9 368	6 245	62 453
LP	42 553	8 511	6 383	6 383	4 255	6 383	6 383	4 255	42 553
MP	41 639	8 328	6 246	6 246	4 164	6 246	6 246	4 164	41 639
NC	23 030	4 606	3 455	3 455	2 303	3 455	3 455	2 303	23 030
NW	34 754	6 951	5 213	5 213	3 475	5 213	5 213	3 475	34 754
WC	27 841	5 568	4 176	4 176	2 784	4 176	4 176	2 784	27 841
Total	362 444	72 489	54 367	54 367	36 244	54 367	54 367	36 244	362 444

FINANCIAL EXPENDITURE AS AT 31 MARCH 2017

EXPENDITURE DURING THE 2016/17 FINANCIAL YEAR
Province	2016-17 Budget Allocation	Actual Funds Transferred at 31 March 17	Actual Expenditure Against Allocation	Budget Available as at 31 March 2017	% Spent Against Budget Allocation
	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000	%
EC	46 898	46 898	58 241	-11 343	124%
FS	33 466	33 466	39 167	-5 701	117%
GP	49 810	49 810	49 810	0	100%
KZN	62 453	62 453	63 402	-949	102%
LP	42 553	42 553	34544	8 009	81%
MP	41 639	41 639	41 376	263	99%
NC	23 030	23 030	23 214	-184	101%
NW	34 754	34 754	36 176	-1 422	104%
WC	27 841	27 841	27 841	0	100%
TOTAL	362 444	362 444	373 771	-11 327	103%

Reply:

 

1. (a)(i) The table below indicates the number of planned schools and schools built since the 2014/15 financial year.

Financial Year	Target	Schools Built	School Name
2014/15	11	13	1. Munsieville Primary School 2. Iketleng Primary (Hammanskraal) School 3. Nellmapius Primary School 4. Phomolong Primary School 5. Oos Rand Secondary School 6. Buhle Park Primary School 7. Fochville Secondary School 8. Magaliesburg Secondary School 9. Freedom Park Secondary School 10. Naturena Primary No. 2 School 11. Slovoville Primary School 12. Imphendulo Primary School 13. Rosslyn Primary School
2015/16	13	16	1. Chief A Luthuli Primary School No.2  2. Christiaanville (Montana Poort Primary School) 3. Doornkop (Obed Mosiane Primary School) 4. Etwatwa Primary School 5. Evans Park Primary School 6. Glen Vista Primary School 7. Kaalfontein Secondary School 8. Khutsong South Primary School 9. Mahareng Secondary School 10. Nellmapius Ext.6 Primary School 11. Palmridge Secondary School 12. Protea Glen Primary School 13. Ratanda Bertha Gxowa Primary School 14. Soshanguve East Secondary School  15. Soshanguve Primary School 16. Tswelapele (Andrew Mapheto Primary School)
2016/17	13	08	1. Bophelong New Secondary School 2. Ga-Rankuwa Primary School 3. Mokone Marupeng Primary School 4. Moses Kotane Primary School 5. Nellmapius Secondary School 6. Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela Primary School 7. Sinenhlanhla Primary School 8. Wierdapark Primary School
2017/18	05	06	1. Olievenhoutbosch Sec No.2/Seshegong Sec School 2. Everest Primary School 3. Menzi Primary school 4. Julius Sebolai Primary School 5. Marotola Primary School 6. Nokuthula Special School (LSEN school)

(ii) Please see (i) above.

(b) The Department has a backlog in relation to the new and replacement schools, that is perpetuated by the constant influx of learners into the province. The Department has not achieved all its targets related to building schools, as indicated in (a) above, due to a number of reasons that have had an adverse impact on the delivery of schools. These include but not limited to:

• Budgetary Constraints;

• Under perfomance by contractors;

• Community disruptions; and

• Inclement weather.

2. The Department will not be forcing but engaging and encouraging the existing single-medium schools that have received a sufficiently large number of learner applications for admission, to offer additional languages and thereby become dual-medium schools. It must be noted that the process is guided by, amongst others, the number of applications to a school.

Reply:

Since the reply to question 890 on 3 May, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has supported provinces to train 139 additional schools on the National School Safety Framework.

Reply:

For number of pupils in each (a) primary school and (b) high school in each province refer to the link https://www.education.gov.za/NA3369.aspx

Reply:

(a) (i) The DBE does not and has not borrowed money from China.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(b) Not applicable

(c) Not applicable

(d) Not applicable

(i) ENTITIES:

(a) Umalusi has not borrowed from the People’s Republic of China in the past three financial years, including the year starting on 1 April 2018.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(b) Not applicable

(c) Not applicable

(d) Not applicable

(a) SACE has never borrowed any amount from any entity in the People’s Republic of China.

(aa) N/A

(bb) N/A

(b) N/A

(c) N/A

(d) N/A

Reply:

a) The Department received more than 6 000 reactions to the call for comments. The vast majority were emails, but there were also a number of faxed and couriered documents. Many of the reactions do not contain substantive comments, but are merely requests for extension of the deadline or for information of some kind, and indications of opposition to the Bill. There were unfortunately also quite a number of repetitions – emails sent twice (and even up to five times), whether by accident or on purpose, and whether identical or with changes. The Department also received many petitions signed by interested parties. To date, 122 petitions containing 188 648 names and/or signatures have been registered. Owing to the practical difficulties alluded to above, the Department will be able to give details of how many comments were received only after all the comments have been evaluated.

b) The Minister appointed a task team consisting of officials from the Department and from three of the provincial education departments to evaluate the comments. The task team still needs to consider approximately 1 800 comments and can therefore not at this stage give an accurate breakdown of how many commentators are against or in support of the Bill. However, the majority of the commentators are opposed to the provisions in the Bill that, as they put it, restrict the powers of school governing bodies (SGBs). It should be mentioned that there were a few comments in favour of the restriction of the powers of SGBs. These commentators feel that SGBs do not have the necessary knowledge, or are corrupt, or use their powers to keep certain groups of children out of their schools. There has also been strong opposition to the provisions relating to home education. Centralised procurement, the declaration of educators' personal finances and those of their spouses, the provisions relating to alcoholic liquor, and the provisions relating to leases and loans are a few of the other matters that have drawn criticism.

c) To date, the task team has had 11 meetings, stretching over 23 days, at which approximately 3 000 reactions have been considered. These include the comments of 32* of the main organisations directly involved in education. This does not represent a complete list of education stakeholder organisations because, as the sorting of the reactions continues, the comments of more organisations are coming to light. Task team members have also spent countless hours outside of meetings, working on the Bill. During the course of the work described above, changes have been made to the Bill in line with decisions that the task team took at its meetings. Currently, the fourth draft of the Bill is the version on which the task team is working.

*

1. Centre for Child Law
2. Equal Education & EE Law Centre
3. Section27
4. Legal Resources Centre
5. AfriForum
6. FEDSAS
7. Governors’ Alliance
8. NAISA
9. Solidarity
10. Solidarity Helping Hand’s Schools Support Centre
11. KZNED
12. SADTU
13. SAOU
14. WCED
15. Centre for Constitutional Rights
16. FOR SA
17. The Governing Body Foundation
18. ISASA
19. FEDUSA
20. Progressive Principals’ Association
21. Grahamstown Residents Association
22. Concerned Teachers’ Group
23. ADvTECH Group
24. OGOD
25. WCED
26. GED
27. Corruption Watch
28. IEB
29. DeafSA
30. PACSEN
31. NASGB
32. (The Pestalozzi Trust submitted two comments, which the task team decided not to discuss at that time, because one of the task team members was given the responsibility of reevaluating the whole matter of home education for an in-depth discussion at a later stage.)

Reply:

(1)(a)(i) The information technology (IT) infrastructure of the Department of Basic Education is regularly updated as and when updates are provided by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). The Datacentre hosting the critical systems of the Department has been refreshed as a cloud capable, full managed service with effect from 1 February 2018.

(1)(a)(ii) The information regarding Umalusi and SACE is not readily available and can be provided separately when obtained.

(1)(b) State Information Technology Agency (SITA)

(1)(c) Infrastructure updates is part of the Service Level Agreements with SITA for maintenance and support for network and hosting services. The monetary value of the Service Level Agreement with SITA for the refreshment of the Datacentre as a cloud capable, full managed service is R 9 682 692.00 for the 2018/2019 Financial Year.

(1)(d) The IT systems of the Department regularly enhanced and updated are:

• National Senior Certificate (NSC)
• Senior Certificate Amended (SCA)
• Learner Unit Record Information Tracking System (LURITS)
• National Education Infrastructure System (NEIMS)
• Funza Lushaka Information Management System (FLIMS)
• Learner and Teacher Support Material Catalogue (LTSM)
• Business Intelligence (BI)
• South African School Administration and Management stand-alone Application (SA-SAMS)

(2)(a)(i)The State Information Technology Agency (SITA). The Department is incorporated with for all IT services.

(2)(a)(ii) The information regarding Umalusi and SACE is not readily available and can be provided separately when obtained.

(2)(b) The annual value of the Service Level Agreement with SITA for the maintenance of systems is R 13 790 160.04 for the 2018/2019 Financial Year.

Reply:

RESPONSE:

In terms of the directive issued by the Department of Basic Education, to all Provincial Education Departments, no candidate without an identity document should be disallowed from writing the matric examinations. Therefore, we have no record of candidates that were disallowed from writing the matric examination due to a lack of identity documentation over the years mentioned.

Reply:

 

A) Primary and (b) High schools in each province

The table below shows the number of primary and high schools in the ordinary school sector by province in 2018

Province	Primary School	Secondary School
EC	3 320	2 089
FS	730	457
GT	1 671	1 165
KZN	3 928	2 097
LP	2 381	1 530
MP	1 028	716
NC	355	216
NW	1 021	502
WC	1 058	621
Grand Total	15 492	9 393

Source: Master list of Ordinary School

Note 1: Combined schools were counted as part of Secondary schools.

Reply:

The pass rate that is reflected below is for the Class of 2017 (Grade 12), based on the combined results of the November 2017 and Supplementary Examination (2018)

Province	Combined Pass Rate 2017 (Gr 12)
EASTERN CAPE	64.9
FREE STATE	87.5
GAUTENG	86.2
KWAZULU-NATAL	73.7
LIMPOPO	67.9
MPUMALANGA	76.2
NORTH WEST	81.8
NORTHERN CAPE	78.2
WESTERN CAPE	84.1
NATIONAL	76.3

Source: 2017 Data Exam Mainframe Computer system

Reply:

 

a) With the combination of the November 2017 and Supplementary 2018, it is expected that the combined results will be higher in numbers and percentage. However, it needs to be noted that the combined results includes all outstanding marks that would have been added between the official release of results on 5 January 2018 and the final combined results released on 7 May 2018. In the case of the Eastern Cape, 2 544 more candidates were added to the number who wrote, compared to the other PEDs, where the additions were less than 1 000. This higher number of additional candidates added to the number of candidates that wrote in the Eastern Cape, who in the main failed the examination, and this caused the final combined percentage in the Eastern Cape to be lower, despite the increase in the numbers that achieved.

b) The province has intensified the provision of additional support over and above the normal teaching and learning, as part of their efforts to improve learning outcomes. Below follows a summary of the interventions undertaken, both for teachers and learners to support the Class of 2018:

• Mediation of 2017 Chief Markers and diagnostic reports per subject
• Tracking learner performance ;
• SBA Support;
• Common tasks;
• Holiday extra classes/camps;
• Weekend classes;
• Professional development forums or teacher support;
• Provision of additional LTSM;
• Provision of Radio lessons and Telematics Broadcast.

 

Reply:

 

a) (b) The Department of Basic Education requested the information from all the nine Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) and only the Gauteng and Western Cape Education Departments responded.

Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) response: In GDE all schools have General Assistants which are posts allocated to schools to do garden and cleaning.

Western Cape Education Department (WCED) response: All Primary and Secondary Schools in the Western Cape that have 201 learners and more receive a post of General Foreman/Caretaker, according to approved provincial Norms and Standards.

The Honourable Member is requested to kindly submit the request directly to the provinces because this kind of information is not available at the national Department of Basic Education.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education does not collect or collate this information. The honourable Member is requested to direct the questions to the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs).

Reply:

The inclusive basket of performance indicators is a more integrated approach to reporting that reflects the key indicators of learner performance. The key indicators together with their weighting are as follows:

(a) Overall pass percentage (35%)

b) Mathematics pass percentage (10%)

c) Physical Sciences pass percentage (10%)

d) Bachelor attainment percentage (15%)

e) Distinction percentage (10%)

f) Mathematics Participation Rate (10%)

g) Secondary Throughput rate (10%)

The above indicators are captured in a consolidated format which includes a weighting based on the importance attached to each of these indicators. A computation of the percentage obtained for each of these indicators at school, district, provincial and national level, is also available. This new approach to reporting on performance in the National Senior Certificate Examination is being piloted and is therefore not the official mechanism of reporting on provincial performance. This information will however be used to monitor performance of the System at the different levels.

The Table below shows the performance of each of the Provincial Education Departments (PED’s) in terms of the Inclusive Basket Criteria:

	Weighted Basket Score
Province Name	Basket Score	Overall Pass Perc(W-35%)	Perc Maths Passed(W-10%)	Perc Physics Passed(W-10%)	Perc Bachelor Passed(W-15%)	Perc Distinctions(W-10%)	Perc Maths Participation(W-10%)	Secondary Throughput Rate(W-10%)
EASTERN CAPE	46.2%	22.8%	4.2%	5.7%	3.4%	0.3%	5.3%	4.5%
FREE STATE	58.8%	30.1%	7.1%	7.7%	5.3%	0.4%	4.0%	4.2%
GAUTENG	58.6%	29.8%	6.8%	7.0%	5.4%	0.5%	3.8%	5.4%
KWAZULU-NATAL	51.5%	25.5%	4.2%	6.5%	4.3%	0.4%	5.5%	5.0%
LIMPOPO	47.1%	23.0%	5.0%	6.3%	3.2%	0.2%	4.9%	4.5%
MPUMALANGA	51.0%	26.2%	4.8%	6.2%	3.5%	0.2%	5.0%	5.1%
NORTHERN CAPE	49.6%	26.5%	5.7%	5.7%	3.8%	0.2%	3.2%	4.5%
NORTH WEST	52.7%	27.8%	6.1%	6.4%	4.0%	0.3%	3.3%	4.7%
WESTERN CAPE	60.0%	29.0%	7.4%	7.3%	5.9%	0.7%	3.2%	6.5%
NATIONAL	50.0%	26.3%	5.2%	6.5%	4.3%	0.4%	2.4%	5.0%

The above computation has also been determined for the provincial, district and school levels.

Reply:

(a)(b)(c) Mr Dyafta was employed by Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) until his termination, due to ill-health. As this is a matter between the employer (ECDoE) and employee (Mr Dyafta) affecting his conditions of service, the appropriate procedure is to address the matter directly with the ECDoE.

Reply:

a) Teachers at each (i) primary and (ii) high school in each province. For consistency with the response to Question 2687, all five (5) school categories are reflected.

PROVINCE	PRIMARY	SECONDARY	COMBINED	INTERMEDIATE	SPECIAL	Grand Total
EASTERN CAPE	17 652	14 146	13 773		886	46 457
FREE STATE	10 248	6 916	1 332	2 658	667	21 821
GAUTENG	38 244	23 587	12	33	3 488	65 364
KWAZULU-NATAL	51 296	33 435	8	1 214	1 420	87 373
LIMPOPO	25 111	20 694		19	615	46 439
MPUMALANGA	17 858	11 421	1 847		376	31 502
NORTH WEST	14 106	6 767	1 093	2 016	664	24 646
NORTHERN CAPE	4 671	2 541	427	1 703	208	9 550
WESTERN CAPE	16 095	9 164			1 965	27 224
Grand Total	195 281	128 671	18 492	7 643	10 289	360376

Source: PERSAL, July 2018

Note: The figures reflect the number of teachers (Post Level 1-3) including Grade R teachers/Practitioners that were in the system as at July 2018. It is not the reflection of the number of posts.

(b) principals at each (i) primary and (ii) high school in each province. For consistency with the response to Question 2687, all five (5) school categories are reflected.

PROVINCE	PRIMARY	SECONDARY	COMBINED	INTERMEDIATE	SPECIAL	Grand Total
EASTERN CAPE	2 695	780	1 397		43	4 915
FREE STATE	446	227	53	176	16	918
GAUTENG	1 356	584	1	1	113	2 055
KWAZULU/NATAL	3 753	1 542	1	69	58	5 423
LIMPOPO	2 243	1 282		4	35	3 564
MPUMALANGA	1 084	428	67		17	1 596
NORTH WEST	867	258	61	135	29	1 350
NORTHERN CAPE	282	100	20	96	11	509
WESTERN CAPE	929	326			74	1 329
Grand Total	13 655	5 527	1 600	481	396	21 659

Source: PERSAL, July 2018

Note: The figures reflect Principals that were in the system as at the end of July 2018. It is not the reflection of the number of posts.

Reply:

 

Response:

(a) The relevant details of the Early Grade Reading Norms and Standards which are meant to be implemented by provincial education departments are explained in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) from Grades R – 3. These include the text types that learners should engage with in a 2 weekly cycle and the time allocation per grade for each term of the year. They also contain the components of reading such as decoding, sounding letters of the alphabet, letter recognition to reading words and reading fluency which is clearly described in the Annual Teaching Plan (Section 3) of the CAPS. Additional guidelines were developed in February 2018 and mediated through the Foundation Phase Subject Committees and workshops at national, provincial, district and teacher training, as well as through Professional Learning Communities.

(b) Progress by province in meeting the specified norms and standards as per the CAPS are reported on quarterly through the National Strategy for Learner Attainment (NSLA). In addition, the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Programme is being implemented to assist teachers to evaluate learners reading progress. Base-line, mid-line and end-line assessments are conducted to evaluate learners. Currently, 1670 schools are using EGRA to support the implementation of the CAPS.

The Primary School Reading Improvement Programme (PSRIP) was launched in October 2016. As a result, 11 712 Foundation Phase teachers and 263 subject advisors have trained on reading content and pedagogy in preparation for delivering the reading component of the CAPS. The table below details the progress as at 30 September 2018 on the above programmes in provinces.

Province	Progress
Eastern Cape	334 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1677 Foundation Phase teachers and 58 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1. Jolly Phonics programme is currently being piloted in 48 schools in Grade 1 to support the implementation of the norms and standards.
Free State	100 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1108 Foundation Phase teachers and 25 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
Gauteng	112 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1098 Foundation Phase teachers and 38 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
KwaZulu-Natal	324 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 2350 Foundation Phase teachers and 24 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1. The Jika Imfundo programme is used to teach teachers on how to use reading strategies effectively in the classroom.
Limpopo	333 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1597 Foundation Phase teachers and 28 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
Mpumalanga	125 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1247 Foundation Phase teachers and 22 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
North West	117 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 668 Foundation Phase teachers and 19 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
Northern Cape	115 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 933 Foundation Phase teachers and 22 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.
Western Cape	110 schools are using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). 1034 Foundation Phase teachers and 27 subject advisors have been trained on the PSRIP Phase 1.

Reply:

(1) (a),(b),(c) The information is not readily available in the Department of Basic Education and it should be requested from the Provincial Education Departments.

(2) The information is not readily available in the Department of Basic Education and it should be requested from the Provincial Education Departments.

(3) (a)(i), (ii),(b),(c) and (d) The information is not readily available in the Department of Basic Education and it should be requested from the Provincial Education Departments.

Reply:

Response

(1)(a) The development of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for South African Sign Language (SASL) prior to the 2009 court case of Springate and others versus the Minister of Basic Education and others was impeded and limited by challenges faced by government which had not yet been finalised. This is in reference to the fact that SASL is not yet the Official Language of government which essentially means it may not be provided at Home Language level in Basic Education, which is what it is for Deaf learners. However, it must be noted that the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 already recognised Sign Language for use as language of learning and teaching (LoLT) for Deaf learners. Following the court case, the Minister instituted a process of developing SASL CAPS which is already being implemented even though the Department of Arts and Culture and the Pan South African Language Board have not yet concluded the process of making SASL one of the official languages of government.

(b) In addition to the response in (1)(a) above, it must be noted that there is nothing in legislation that prevents right holders from claiming their right from those who have a hold on it. This claim was inadvertently directed to government largely than it was directed to Basic Education given the response in (1)(a) above.

(2)(a) In preparation for the first Grade 12 NSC examinations and in an effort to prepare candidates for the exit examination, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has set and released SASL HL exemplar question papers for Grade 10 and Grade 11 in 2017. In 2018, the DBE has set the preparatory examination question papers for SASL HL in Grade 12, so that learners have full exposure to an examination that is equivalent to the final examination.

(b)The DBE appointed a panel of experts to set and internally moderate question papers for the Grade 12 NSC examinations. These question papers were externally moderated and approved by Umalusi. In preparation for the implementation and administration of examinations in SASL HL, the DBE established a task team to ensure that all schools, teachers and learners are fully prepared for the November examination. This task team developed Guidelines for the Implementation and Conduct of Examinations in South African Sign Language Home Language and this document was issued to schools prior to the preparatory examination. The DBE and PEDs also conducted an audit of all centres where SASL HL examinations are to be conducted. In cases where there were deficiencies, these were addressed. In addition, the DBE took a decision to mark the preparatory examination papers nationally in Pretoria. Teachers from schools that offer SASL HL in Grade 12 were appointed as markers. The DBE appointed a national team for the moderation of School-Based Assessment in SASL HL. All portfolios of candidates that offer SASL HL were moderated and feedback was given to schools.

On the basis of the above initiatives, the DBE is confident that we are adequately prepared to examine Deaf learners in SASL.

(3) (a) There are six (6) suppliers of South African Sign Language (SASL) learning and teaching support material in the DBE database.

(b) The DBE puts a call for submission of SASL materials to all suppliers. The following are the only suppliers that have responded: Sign Language Education and Development (SLED), National Institute for the Deaf (NID) and University of Stellenbosch. These are the only institutions that have developed and submitted SASL materials over the years.

Reply:

1. RESPONSE

 

1 (a). The bench mark study tour was initiated and funded by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) to assist the research work currently underway in the ELRC. Four(4) countries were visited, namely Finland, Singapore, Canada and Brazil.

(b). The engagements with the countries various departments took place from 26 February 2018 to 9 March 2018. The dates were as follows:

• Finland : 26 February 2018 – 27 February 2018.
• Singapore : 28 February 2018 – 2 March 2018.
• Canada : 5 March 2018 – 6 March 2018.
• Brazil : 8 March 2018 – 9 March 2018.

(c). At an Education Indaba in 2017 that was organised by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), three streams of work were identified to be undertaken to address challenges relating to education provisioning and related matters. One of these pertinent matters is post provisioning, which has become one of the difficult issues in the different provincial education departments in South Africa.

In addressing the issues raised by the Post Provisioning Commission at the Education Indaba, the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) commissioned desktop research to assess how international countries have approached post provisioning challenges, managed compensation of teachers and adopted effective distribution models within their education system. Based on the research, the four (4) countries that were identified that could best assist South Africa with its challenges and provide possible solutions.

During the visits three (3) focus areas were concentrated on primarily because of the South African context. The areas were:

• Annual and long-term human resource (HR) planning (teachers and other personnel) at state, provincial, and school levels;
• Budget allocation and funding structures from Grade R/ Kindergarten to Matriculation levels taking into account factors such as poverty, special education needs, and specialist subjects; and
• Norms and standards for HR provisioning in small and/or rural schools.

2. (a). The names of the departmental officials were the following:

• Mr T Kojana: Eastern Cape Department of Education;
• Adv T Malakoane: Free State Department of Education;
• Ms N Mutheiwana: Limpopo Department of Education;
• Ms L Moyane: Mpumalanga Department of Education;
• Mr E Mosuwe: Gauteng Department of Education;
• Ms S Semaswe: North West Department of Education;
• Mr T van Staden: Northern Cape Department of Education;
• Mr M Cronje: Western Cape Department of Education;
• Mr S Faker: Department of Basic Education; and
• Mr M Mfela: Department of Basic Education.

The names of the union officials were the following:

• Mr B Manuel: Teacher Union Executive Director: CTU ATU;
• Mr M Maluleke: Teacher Union SADTU; and
• Mr M Galorale: Teacher Union: SADTU.

The teacher unions identified the officials that were to attend on their behalf and they were invited separately from the DBE officials. The information on how the union officials were identified therefore needed to be obtained from the unions.

(b). The departmental officials were chosen because of their expertise and responsibility in either post provisioning, human resource management, early childhood development and finance. Unions were required to identify their own representatives.

(c) (i). The entire benchmark study tour was orgainised by the ELRC based on the resolutions taken at the Education Indaba 2017. The ELRC funded the entire study tour. There were no financial implications for the Department.

The Department is not in a position to provide the cost for each delegate on the benchmark tour.

(c) (ii). See (c) (i) above.

3. A detailed report with findings and recommendations were drafted by the ELRC with inputs provided by the delegates. A copy of the report may be requested from the ELRC.

Reply:

 

Response

(a) (i) Two Languages

(a) (ii) Two languages

(b) English and Afrikaans

Reply:

(1) (a) There is currently no full-time Chief Education Specialist at the Department of Basic Education (DBE) responsible for schools for the Deaf. The Project Manager for the implementation of SA Sign Language (SASL) is fulfilling this role and supporting schools for the Deaf. She has 11 years experience of the education of Deaf learners as well as 8 years experience in managing curriculum adaptations in schools for the Deaf.

(b) The project manager has the following qualifications:

• B.Ed. Hon: Support teaching; and
• MEd: Psychology of Education – Alternative and adaptive methods of assessment for learners with barriers.

(2) (a) and (b) None

(3) The duration of the training of teachers is sufficient to prepare them for the implementation of CAPS for SASL.

The training conducted by DBE focused on the SASL CAPS as well as the basic skills that teachers and Deaf Teacher Assistants need to teach in the implementing Grades. The training conducted to the first group of Foundation Phase teachers was more elementary to align with the curriculum in that phase, while the training offered to the higher grades, increased in terms of depth and scope. The teaching and assessment of the four key skills were emphasised, namely, Observing and Signing, Visual Reading and Viewing (literature), Recording and Language Structure and Use.

Reply:

 

a) SASL subject advisors have not yet been appointed by Provincial Departments of Education;

i) N/A

ii) N/A

(b) SASL subject advisors have not yet been appointed by Provincial Departments of Education.

(c) SASL subject advisors have not yet been appointed by Provincial Departments of Education.

Reply:

Table 1: Full-Time Candidates – NSC 2018

Province	Enrolled
EASTERN CAPE	85 371
FREE STATE	29 253
GAUTENG	107 168
KWAZULU NATAL	151 932
LIMPOPO	96 834
MPUMALANGA	57 907
NORTH WEST	34 716
NORTHERN CAPE	12 195
WESTERN CAPE	53 765
TOTAL	629 141
Source: Table 2: Part-Time Candidates - NSC 2018
Province	Enrolled
EASTERN CAPE	21 466
FREE STATE	5 675
GAUTENG	43 753
KWAZULU NATAL	35 405
LIMPOPO	29 120
MPUMALANGA	11 833
NORTH WEST	5 606
NORTHERN CAPE	2 067
WESTERN CAPE	12 476
TOTAL	167 401

Source:

Reply:

a) Some of the lessons learnt in the implementation of the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) – For the QLTC and/or social mobilisation to find traction on the ground it must be underpinned by the following approaches:

1. Engage and secure diverse and strong community participation in the identified programme;
2. Clearly identify the roles and responsibilities the broader community could play in the execution of the targeted programme;
3. The community members and/or stakeholders must buy into the programme;
4. Develop a shared vision with the concerned community;
5. Jointly conduct the needs analysis of the community at large; and
6. Constantly monitor, support and report on the progress on the implementation of the programme.

b) Criteria used to determine (i) officials

All teacher unions in the education sector were requested to nominate their senior representatives to serve in the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign Coordinating Team (QCT) to implement the QLTC non-negotiables. There were five Union Officials who have been seconded to the Department of Basic Education (DBE) as follows: 2 from South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), 1 from National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), 1 from Professional Educators Union (PEU) and 1 from National Teachers Union (NATU). However, the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU) resolved to waiver its participation in the secondment arrangement in favour of PEU.

b) Criteria used to determine the (ii) participants who form part of the campaign:

During the launching of QLTC, stakeholders (within and outside the education sector) committed to the QLTC Principles and further pledged their respective roles and responsibilities they could play in strengthening the delivery of quality learning and teaching. The following are the stakeholders in question:

1. Teacher Unions;
2. School Governing Body (SGB) Association;
3. Inter-faith based organisations;
4. Traditional leaders;
5. Learner formations including Representative Council of Learners’ (RCL);
6. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s);
7. Community Based Organisations (including Councillors); and
8. Others.

Reply:

a) (i) A total of 562 schools have swimming pools.

(ii) 22707 schools do not have swimming pools.

b) See attached annexure

Reply:

1.  The Department of Basic Education is in the process of updating SA-SAMS to include information on Learners with Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities which will be provided to Care Centres as their administrative tool. This will enable them to upload data into Provincial Warehouses and thereafter to LURITS. However, this requires all centres to have computers.

In the interim, the Education Management Information System (EMIS) together with Inclusive Education Directorate have developed a survey tool to collect data on Learners with Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities, which was uploaded into DBE (MOODLE) platform. This platform serves as a central database for Care Centre Information, though the information is aggregated.

2. The Draft Learning Programme is envisaged to be gazetted and promulgated by 31 October 2018.

3. (a) No, learners at the special care centres are not recorded.

(b) The Department is in the process of registering Care Centres through Provincial Education Departments which will assist in obtaining EMS numbers.

Reply:

(a)(b)(c)
Table 1 below indicates that, the average learner to educator ratio (LER) in quintile 1, 2 and 3 is 33, 4:1.

Table 1: Learners to educator ratio in ordinary public schools in 2017

LER
Quintile 1	Quintile 2	Quintile 3
32,7	33,4	34,2

Source: 2017 LURITS