Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. There are 3388 schools that are dependent on basic pit toilets on the Sanitation Appropriate For Education (SAFE) programme.

2. The balance of schools on the 3388 schools, sanitation projects at 2767 schools have already progressed to practical completion.

3. The target of the schools on the SAFE programme is scheduled to achieve practical completion by the end of 2023/24.

4. With regards to schools in Matatiele, DBE has provided 78 schools with Sanitation facilities and will provide sanitation facilities to the outstanding 4 schools in Matatiele by end of 2023/2024 financial year.

Reply:

NUMBER OF CLOSED RURAL SCHOOLS
PROVINCE	# Rural Schools Closed (2021- 2022)	# Rural Schools Closed (2022 - 2023)
Eastern Cape	39	39
Free State	89	6
Gauteng	0	0
KwaZulu Natal	-	230
Limpopo	52	51
Mpumalanga	16	27
Northern Cape	0	0
North West	7	6
Western Cape	6	0
NATIONAL	209	359

 

Reply:

The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Gauteng. The Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Gauteng as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

Reply:

The Limpopo  Department of Education has allocated the projects to the Independent Development Trust (IDT) to implement. The IDT is currently busy with procurement processes for the appointment of contractors. The following monitoring mechanisms are implemented by the province to ensure that the projects are completed on time

• Bi- weekly technical and progress meetings to monitor progress at site level.:
• Monthly meetings with all the implementing agents to review progress on all the projects under their management.
• For IDT specifically there is an additional monthly progress review meeting which includes PSPs and contractors. 
• The HODs office hold quarterly meetings with IAs to review performance and to discuss specific project issues

Reply:

1. The Limpopo Department of Education has addressed 2339 sanitation challenges, out of a total of sanitation challenges at 3589 schools, leaving a remainder of 1250 schools, which will be addressed during the 2023/24 financial year.
2. The Limpopo Department of Education reported that 2339 schools have already been served with appropriate toilets.
3. According to our records, there are 380 learners in Lekgwareng Primary School in Limpopo.
4. In order to conform to the minimum uniform norms and standards for school infrastructure, the school require 24 appropriate toilets.
5. Limpopo Department of Education reported that there are only 4 appropriate toilets and 10 basic pits at the school.
6. Limpopo Department of Education reported that the sanitation project for additional toilets at this school is scheduled for tender in August 2023, with construction to start in January 2024. 

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii)

Province	Adequately Fenced	Not Adequately Fenced	Grand Total
EC	3981	1065	5046
FS	876	69	945
GT	2064	2	2066
KZN	5241	556	5797
LP	3209	440	3649
MP	1126	523	1649
NC	417	128	545
NW	1138	310	1448
WC	1452		1452
National	19504	3093	22597

Note:

1. There are no school without fence.
2. Not Adequate fence only means that the height of the fence does not meet the required height of 1.8m as stipulated in the Norms and Standards.
3. Incorrect measurement of the height of the fence in some of the schools

(b)(i)  The main reason for the delay in the upgrade of fencing is the challenge to balance all infrastructure needs within the constraints of the available budget

(b)(ii)  There are fencing projects at more than 500 schools scheduled for implementation in 2023/24

Reply:

The Department tracks provincial expenditure through monthly reports that are required in terms of the Division of Revenue Act. Under-spending is often an indication of delayed payments.

The provinces are also required to provide reasons for under-spending. Where there are challenges, the DBE intervenes through forums such as Budget Standards, Inter-provincial meetings as well as direct engagements with provinces,  

Reply:

1.The requested information resides with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs); PEDs are best placed to respond as they are custodians of educational facilities (schools) in provinces. 

2a. School Based Support Teams (SBSTs) provide first level support and in addition to that, the districts provide psycho-social support to learners and staff. Furthermore, the Department collaborates with the sister Government Departments including Social Development, as well as, other relevant Non-Profit Organisations and stakeholder to provide support to learners, educators and other staff members at schools.

2b. Schools effectively implement the School Access Control Policy.  All schools are linked to their local police station (SAPS), as part of the MOU between National SAPS and DBE, this includes visits to schools by SAPS officials who conduct random searches and seizures.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education has historically been responsible for the development and implementation of the National Curriculum Framework for children from birth to four years old (NCF).  Provincial and national monitoring and support systems have therefore, been established and implemented to ensure that ECD centres comply with the standards set out in the NCF.  However, the Thrive by Five Index, which was established to evaluate the efficiency of Early Learning Programmes (ELPs), indicated the need to further strengthen our monitoring and support of quality ECD provisioning.  Given this, the Department is in the process of developing a Quality Assurance and Support System, that will set out very clear quality standards so that ELPs will clearly understand the expectation around quality provisioning.  The Quality Assurance and Support System will further include support mechanisms to progressively reach the quality standards that have been agreed upon.  The Thrive by Five Index will also be repeated every three-four years, to continuously provide an independent evaluation of whether quality is being improved.

Reply:

1. The 10-point strategy was adopted by the Council of Education Ministers on 5 May 2023.

2. The convenors of the various workstreams have been appointed.

3. Operational plans are being developed in June 2023.

4. A detailed presentation on the challenges, strategy and tactics is attached.  

Reply:

(a)(b)

(i) The Department of Basic Education has signed an Intergovernmental Protocol Agreement with the Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to compare and triangulate data between the Department of Basic Education’s Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) and SASSA’s Social Pension System (SOCPEN) to identify if children who are at school-going age and receiving social grants, are enrolled and attending school.  This initiative continues to assist the department in tracking out of school children, who are receiving social grants.  Data is provided to Department of Social Development to assist them to intervene in a household social perspective.

(ii) Another initiative is the development of the National Integrated Protection Information System (NISPIS) across the social sector, which will also assist in monitoring out-of-school and vulnerable children receiving other social protection services.

Reply:

1. It is acknowledged that there is a need for ongoing capacity building of educators that teach Mathematics in content knowledge and pedagogy.

Currently, the appraisal of educators is undertaken according to the Quality Management System (QMS) as informed by Collective Agreement No. 02 of 2020.  Since 2022 was the first full year of the implementation of QMS, an analysis of the educator scores for the 2022 appraisal cycle is in progress, and will be finalised once the data is available from National Treasury.  Given the latter, the proportion of educators rated as acceptable in terms of Collective Agreement No, 02 of 2022 cannot be verified.

2. The Minister does not believe that teachers can teach acceptably well without a basic minimum of subject knowledge.

Teachers who lack basic content knowledge in a subject, are identified and subjected to training and support, to improve their knowledge and skills in the identified subjects.

The QMS as an appraisal process is driven by all members of the School Management Team (SMT).

The appraisal of teachers is undertaken by the SMT, and is based on five (5) performance standards as follows:

1. Creation of a positive learning and teaching  environment;
2. Curriculum knowledge, lesson  planning and presentation;
3. Learner assessment and achievement;
4. Professional development; and
5. Extra-mural and co-curricular participation.

The appraisal of a Post Level 1 Educator is undertaken across a range of 12 criteria and 38 descriptors within the above five (5) performance standards.  Contextual factors of the school are also considered where these have been identified.  In this regard consideration is given to the following:

• The nature of the contextual factor;
• The level of its impact on the educator’s performance; and
• The extent to which the educator was able to mitigate such impact.

The QMS also provides a basis to recognise good performance and address underperformance through targeted interventions that could be school-based or provided through external support.

Reply:

During negotiations following PSCBC Resolution No. 01 of 2018, extensive costing of various modes of implementation was undertaken. The final cost estimate of the mode finally implemented, was that the compensation of employees (CoE) baseline for provincial education departments was set to increase by R347 million, after the first leg of a 0.3% increment in 2018/19 with the increase in 2019/20 being R1094 million following the second leg increment completing the 0.5%. 

Reply:

1. (a) Have access to

(i) connectivity and (ii) WiFi

A total of 80% of the public schools have access to Internet connectivity. The majority of these schools are connected using 3G/LTE that is not ideal for teaching and learning. As part of the Phase 1 of the SA Connect, a total of 594 have access to broadband connectivity.

(iii) computer laboratories

Each province has its own ICT strategy on how the schools are provided with ICT resources for teaching and learning. It should be noted that provinces such as Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape have provided learners with ICT devices. It is based on this notion that provinces are gradually moving away from the fixed computer laboratories to mobile ICT solutions. Furthermore, provinces such as Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga are providing schools with classroom technologies such as Smartboards and projectors.

(b) Do not have access

(i) Internet and (ii) WiFi

The remaining 20% of schools have no access to Internet connectivity.

(iii) computer laboratories

Provinces have developed their implementation plans, however, their allocated budget is not sufficient to make sure that all the public schools are provided with ICT resources 

2. Plans to ensure that all schools have access to:

(i) internet and (ii) WiFi

The SA Connect Phase 2 was approved by Cabinet on 28 January 2022 for implementation. As part of this phase the government will provide 18036 public schools with Internet connectivity. It should be noted that these schools will be provided with limited data bundles. The Basic Education Sector has already submitted the names of the schools to Department of Communications and Digital Technologies.

(iii) computer laboratories

Each province has its own ICT strategy on how the schools are provided with ICT resources for teaching and learning. The provincial implementation plans are linked to their voted budget that is allocated to provide schools with ICT resources as part of teaching and learning.  

3. Professional Development Programmes that aim to improve computer literacy for teachers are currently in operation

The Basic Education Sector is training teachers on how to create and publish courses online using Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The training is aimed at providing educators with instructional design skills, pedagogical and technological skills that are the building block in order to infuse ICT in the classroom. It should be noted that the computer literacy skills are embedded in the Moodle LMS training.

Furthermore, the Basic Education Sector is also training teachers with a just-in time professional development interventions on how to use the Open Educational resources that are loaded on their ICT devices and various online platforms.

Reply:

(i) The DBE reviews and approves the Provincial menus annually in line with a cost effective food basket aligned with the Conditional Grant Framework. Food specifications from the Department of Health are used to guide quality and quantities. NSNP performance on menu compliance at schools is measured using monitoring tools, based on a key performance indicator (KPI) scores, that include time for feeding, balanced meal, quantities in starch, protein, fruit and/or vegetables. 

(ii) Fighting between learners and the personnel who distribute food to learners is condemned and unacceptable.  However, the School Management Teams and School Governing Bodies are responsible for discipline in schools.  The school code of conduct is adhered to to deal with disciplinary matters.

(iii) (a) Warehouses are monitored and inspected by the local authority through Environment Health Inspectors, to ensure compliance to food safety standards.  The NSNP has employed monitors in each district to assess compliance on quality, quantity and food safety, when monitoring in schools. (b) District-based Food Safety Teams do spot checks periodically, and educators responsible for NSNP, are trained on food labelling etc., for daily inspections.

Reply:

(a) Learners wrote the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) late in 2021, after almost two years of unprecedented interruption to schooling and learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PIRLS results show that as much as the pandemic had a negative impact on education in general, reading literacy development was specifically impacted. Further to this, when the Department of Basic Education (DBE) was preparing to receive the Early Childhood Development function in 2022, it conducted the first ever Thrive by Five Index study, which found that only 45% of children were developmentally on track by the age of five, meaning many children start school not school-ready. 

(b) In South Africa about 60% of school days in 2020 were lost for children in the early grades. In 2021, most schools still had to operate according to a rotational timetable to comply with social distancing regulations. As a result, some children lost up to 50% of school days in 2021.

(c) The DBE, in collaboration with a team of reading experts from civil society and academia, is reviewing the Integrated Sector Reading Plan. A revised National Reading Literacy Strategy is therefore, being developed; and central to it, is the need to improve the teaching and learning of African Home Languages reading literacy on a large scale, in the emergent and early grade phases (Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase).

The recent transfer of ECD function from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to DBE, creates an opportunity to improve school-readiness, by helping Early Learning Programmes to become incubators of emergent and early literacy. To this end, we have sourced dedicated funding to empower over 20 000 under-resourced ECD programmes with early learning resources, which will include those that foster emergent and early literacy skills.

The revised Strategy will comprise refining policy to explicitly guide the development of reading literacy, with a primary focus on Home Language literacy; Teacher training, focused on Home Language reading literacy; the provision of culturally relevant and age-appropriate reading resources for both ECD and Early Grades; as well as strengthening collaboration with parents, communities and partners. We will be tracking the implementation through strengthening the monitoring, quality assurance, evaluation and feedback loop. 

In relation to the utilisation of the data from PIRLS, we will be initiating an extensive capacity-building programme for officials and teachers, which will be facilitated by an expert Technical Advisory Group (TAG).

(d) The Strategy is still under development, and will undergo an extensive consultation process before it is finalised. The Department is planning to finalise these processes in the next coming months. 

(e) The entire reading ecosystem is being considered; hence, the department is consulting all key stakeholders on the development of a revised strategy. 

Reply:

The question asked falls within the purview of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) for Education in Mpumalanga. The Hon Member is kindly advised to refer the question to the MEC for Education in Mpumalnga.   

Reply:

(1)       In addition to sexuality education offered through Life Skills and Life Orientation, the department offers care and support programmes to mitigate barriers to teaching and learning and ensure that learners are retained in school to complete basic education. These includes amongst other but not limited to Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP), National School Safety Programme , National School Nutrition  Programme, Peer Education programmes, School Sport, Arts, and Culture programmes.

(2)  The department continues to collaborate with sister departments including Sports Arts and Culture,   Health, Social Development, South African Police Services to mention a few. The collaboration with Soul City and loveLife continues through the Adolescents and Young People (AYP) programme.     

                                                              

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is responsible for the development of National Catalogues for core textbooks. These Catalogues are forwarded to provinces for them to procure for schools. In regard to study guides, the Department developed Grade 12 study guides including study guides for Mathematics and Physical Sciences. These study guides are made available on the DBE website www.education.gov.za for access by schools, learners and parents. Provinces and schools print these study guides for learners in schools.

For core (textbook, teacher guides, etc.) materials, the National Department has evaluated each of the materials developed, prior to any recommendation for the materials to be included on the national catalogue for procurement by schools. As of now there is currently no call for submission made by the Department for authors to submit such materials for screening/evaluation. Therefore, the authors are advised to market the study guides for Mathematics and Physical Sciences to schools as supplementary learning materials. The author can also contact the DBE directly for further engagement and assistance. The contact details are Mr Sifiso Sibiya on email: [email protected].

Reply:

In 2014, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) promulgated the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS). The purpose of the Policy on SIAS is to provide a policy framework for the standardisation of the procedures to identify, assess and provide programmes for all learners, including autistic learners as they require additional support to enhance their participation and inclusion in school. To date, 178 757 Teachers, 10 786 Officials and 8 727 ECD Practitioners have been trained on the implementation of the Policy on SIAS. The DBE continues to monitor the implementation of the policy to ensure its effective implementation. 

Reply:

The Department has been engaging with School Governing Bodies (SGB) of affected schools to find amicable solutions under difficult circumstances. The current powers given to SGBs in the South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996 makes it difficult to resolve such cases. The current BELA Bill aims to remedy this situation  by allowing Heads of Departments to intervene when elements of discrimination in the language and admission policies are detected.

Reply:

Reply:

1. The Department of Education in collaboration with the Department of Transport (DoT) published the Learner Transport Policy in 2015 with the main intention of standardizing the implementation of Learner Transport Function. Both the DBE and DoT are currently reviewing the Learner Transport Policy to address among others issues of unmet Demand, insufficient funding, and varied provincial cost models.  The Review is expected to be completed by the end of the 3rd Quarter of 2023/2024 Financial Year. Also the two Departments are currently developing the Standard Cost Model to standardise the costing of Learner Transport Programme to be used by all Contracting Provinces as there are varied cost models from one Province to the other.

2. No decision has been made to award the Learner Transport Function to either the Department of Basic Education or the Department of Transport. The Departments jointly wrote a Cabinet Memorandum through the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) requesting Cabinet to seek strategic advice and deeper analysis on the location of the Learner Transport Function. DBE’s Council of Education Ministers (CEM) indicated that they do not have authority to decide on the optimal location of the function and that Cabinet or a higher political structure must decide on the location. The Departments are still waiting for feedback on this matter.

3. Legal advice was solicited internally from the DBE’s Legal Services Unit during the development of the current Learner Transport Policy promulgated in 2015. The advice was provided in engagements internally and was not a formal written legal opinion.  

4. Refer to 3 above.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education (DBE), in collaboration with a team of reading experts from civil society and academia, is reviewing the Integrated Sector Reading Plan. A revised National Reading Literacy Strategy is therefore being developed, and central to it is the need to improve the teaching and learning of African home languages reading literacy on a large scale, in the emergent and early grade phases (Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase)

The recent transfer of ECD functions to DBE creates an opportunity to improve school-readiness, by helping Early Learning Programmes to become incubators of emergent and early literacy. To this end, we have sourced dedicated funding to empower over 20 000 under-resourced ECD programmes with early learning resources which will include those that foster emergent and early literacy skills.

The revised Strategy will comprise refining policy to explicitly guide the development of reading literacy, with a primary focus on Home Language literacy; Teacher training focused on Home Language reading literacy; provision of culturally relevant and age-appropriate reading resources for both ECD and Early Grades; as well as strengthening collaboration with parents, communities and partners. We will be tracking implementation through strengthening the monitoring, quality assurance, evaluation and feedback loop. 

The Department is also intensifying its support of teachers in implementing the Revised Annual Teaching Plans (RATPs), which take into account fundamental skills that should be taught in the light of learning gaps learners have. 

In relation to the utilisation of the data from Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), we will be:

• Initiating an extensive capacity building programme for officials and teachers, which will be facilitated by an expert Technical Advisory Group (TAG). This programme will include item analysis using some of the excerpts from PIRLS which have been released. 

• The TAG has been assembled to intensively examine the data on reading literacy from PIRLS, Early Learning National Assessments (ELNA), and Systemic Evaluation (SE).

• The TAG will also assist the DBE in implementing a national capacity development programme.

• The purpose of this program is to enhance the knowledge and skills of senior decision-makers at national, provincial, and district levels

Reply:

1. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) determines the priority subject areas using various means for the purposes of replacement of teachers into the correct phase and subject specialisation using the Funza Lushaka Bursary funding in training the teachers required in the sector.  Secondly, the Department caters for the newly introduced subjects (currently about 26 new subjects) which require new teachers are also considered. Furthermore, each PED submits their priority subjects to the Department of Basic Education. The lists are signed off by their respective Heads of Department (HODs).  The DBE then consolidates the list to draft the National list of priority subjects.

2. Yes.

3. The attached composite list of subjects are made available for any one that may require it.  The DBE on an annual basis disseminates the list of priority subjects to Higher Education Institutions, SACE, DHET, and other stakeholders. 

Reply:

The question asked by the Hon Member falls within the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for education in Mpumalanga, and therefore should be referred as such. 

Reply:

(1) 

No.	School name	Age of the Educator		Age of the leaner	Verdict	Sanction	Offence[1]
1	Laerskool Pionier Primary School	30		12	Guilty	Removal from the register indefinitely	Sexual relationship with a learner
2		Witterdrift HS		19	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual assault and sexual relationship with a learner
3		St Barnads High School		15 and 16 years	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual assault of learners
4		Isikhokelo Primary School		12 and 13 years	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual harassment and assault of learners
5		Nkgopoleng Secondary School		Grade 10 , Pregnant and gave birth in 2015	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual relationship and impregnation of a learner
6	Thuto-Thebe SS	28		20 years	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual Relationship with a learner
7	Christiaan De Wet Combined School	53		16	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual relationship with a learner
8	Kuyakhanya PS	33		14 and 16 years	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual assault of learners
9	Enkwenkwezini Primary School	51		13	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Assault of a learner
10	Welkom Prep School	46		14	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual harassment of a learner and use of improper language on learners
11	Melkhoutfontein Primary School	23		16	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Sexual assault of a learner
12	Ntwampe Technical High	54		16 to 17	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Forcing learners to strip naked as a punishment
13	Madiba-A- Toloane Secondary School	53		17-19	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Locking up learners in a strong room overnight
14	Blackhill Primary School	30		12	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Locking up a learner in a strong room overnight
15	Kagisho Com prehensive School	60		16	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Severe assault of a learner
16	Xolani Primary School	36		12 to 13	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Assault of learners
17	Mpatleng Secondary School	49		18	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Severe assault of a learner
18	Naluxolo Primary School	31		12 to 13	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Assault of learners
19	Luthuthu Jnr Sec School	50		12	Guilty	Removal from the register Indefinitely	Gross negligence by putting a learner in a pit latrine

[1] It should be noted that when the organisation submitted 19 names of teachers who were removed from the roll of educators, 9 of the offences were not sexual harassment, but other offences as indicated in the tables.

Information on which provinces the schools are located in  is contained in the attached annexure.

(2) ) One case resulted in pregnancy, see number 5 on the above table.

Reply:

(a) Procurement allocation of the Department is as follows:

TYPE OF SHAREHOLDING	% SPEND	NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS	AMOUNT SPENT
Women Shareholding 100%	28.50%	38	R4 387 777
Women Shareholding other %		52	R151 487 683
Disability %	0	0	0
Black %	64.20%	156	R251 977 964
Youth	1.36%	52	R7 719 112

(b)

(i) small-, medium- and micro-enterprises

  There is no procurement allocation for small-, medium- and micro-enterprises

(ii) cooperatives

    There is no procurement allocation for cooperatives

(iii) township enterprises

   There is no procurement allocation for township enterprises

(iv) rural enterprises

   There is no procurement allocation for rural enterprises

Procurement breakdown is not allocated as per the classifications above in (i) to (iv), but is done as per attached Table.

Reply:

Please note that the national Department of Basic Education does not appoint health workers to schools, but the respective provincial education departments (PEDs) do. The Hon Member may refer the question to the relevant province for response. 

Reply:

Following the launch and the dissemination of the DBE Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools, currently the Department is developing a Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy Implementation Guide for schools, in an effort to support the school leadership. Furthermore, the department continues to strengthen the implementation of programs that contributes to the prevention of learner pregnancy, i.e., Integrated School Health Program, Comprehensive Sexuality Education from Grade 4 – 12 and peer education programs that support uptake of sexual and reproductive health services.

Reply:

The question posed by the Hon Member, falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in the Eastern Cape, not the Minister of Basic Education.  The MEC for Education in the Eastern Cape is best suited to respond to the question.  

Reply:

The Department engages in a number of activities to raise awareness about the projects that impact youth in communities. These projects include Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP), Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI), Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme, Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Social Mobilization. The roadshows are sometime organized by the Department and in other cases are implemented in partnership with other government departments.

The awareness events are designed to target different learners and youth. The first approach is to reach out to learners who just wrote the matric exams in October/November of the previous year. After the announcement of matric results, the members of the public are made aware about the opportunities to rewrite, remark or recheck. The information is captured at the back of the statement of matric results.

The attached document is the copy of the Statement of Results that every learners receives. The document provides information regarding the readmission, combination of results as well as registration for learners who would like to rewrite the exams. The information entailed provides the dates and locations where learners may register rewrite.

The second approach is the public awareness campaigns that target the broader community members, especially youth. The campaigns include the Ministerial Roadshows, Career Weeks and events of other Departments: 

1. Ministerial Roadshows

The Department hosts and organizes the Roadshows in Provinces in coloration with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). In most cases, the roadshows are led by the Minister or Deputy Minister and usually enjoy the support of the MECs of Education as well as municipal authorities. The roadshows have proven to be an effective campaign that receive a broader support from different structures that include unions, tribal authorities, non-governmental organisations.

At the roadshows, the Department invites organisations that include the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Khetha Career Centre, Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and universities to share information about opportunities available for young people.

Officials of the local government structures that include Mayors, counsellors are usually supportive and willing to invite youth in their constituencies to attend. More importantly, media houses at national, provincial and local levels tend to promote and publicize the events.

 2. Career Weeks

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) organizes National Career Weeks throughout the country where DBE presents the Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP) at the events. The events are organized in all provinces and attracts a number of youth.

3. Events of other Government Departments

Occasionally, the DBE is invited by entities to share information about the SCMP. In some cases, events are organized by private organisations.

The third approach involves the sharing of information using different media platforms. The DBE uses Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BasicEd/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/DBE_SA/) to share the information about the Programme. The Department also broadcast through radio and television to inform the public where to access the Programme. Through this website link: https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/SecondChanceProgramme.aspx the Department reaches many young people who access to the Internet. Furthermore, the Department has a dedicated WhatsApp line (063 696 7246), where members of the public send through their queries concerning the Programme.

The Department has developed promotional material that include the Z-Cards, banners that are shared with many organisations. Z-Cards are foldable guide in a portable format that contain information about the SCMP.

In conclusion, the Department continues to reach out to members of the public about all its programmes, not just the SCMP.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Basic Education, in collaboration with a team of reading experts from civil society organisations, academia, Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and schools - developed the Integrated National Reading Sector Plan, whose aim was to contribute to the improvement of reading outcomes, especially for learners in primary schools.  The Sector Plan was premised on the understanding that sustainable improvements in reading require a comprehensive response, which involves more than just classroom interventions.  It was therefore, developed to provide a framework that would allow the Sector to implement comprehensive reading promotion activities.  From this plan, provinces went on to develop and implement their contextualised plans, informed by the integrated National Reading Sector Plan. 

In its quest to strengthen reading literacy, particularly in the face of the evidence of learning losses, the Department decided to review the Sector Plan as part of bolstering up its response to the current challenges.  Further to the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the DBE carried out the Thrive by Five Index in Early Childhood Development (ECD), which revealed that a number of children start school not on track with their developmental outcomes; and thereby, not school ready.  The review of the strategy therefore, takes into account that when the Sector Plan was conceptualised, ECD was still part of the Department of Social Development.  The revised strategy will therefore, give a sharpened focus to improving the teaching and learning of African Home Languages reading literacy on a large scale, in both the emergent and early grade phases (ECD and Foundation Phase). 

(2) On the matter pertaining to provincial budgets, the Honourable Member is requested to direct his question to the Members of Executive Council (MECs) as this matter rests within their purview.

Reply:

The appraisal of educators, in terms of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) from 2010  and the Quality Management System (QMS) since 2021, is a provincial competency. 

The question asked by the Honourable Member, falls within the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC); and not the Minister of Basic Education.  Therefore, the question should be directed to provinces.

Reply:

Response: (a)(i)(ii)

(a) (i)

Single medium schools are schools that use only one medium of instruction for all learner in all grades. Table1 indicates that majority of schools in the country were English medium schools (5 875) followed by Afrikaans medium schools with 1 004 schools.

Table 1: Number of single- medium schools, by province, in 2022

Province	Afrikaans	English	IsiNdebele	SiSwati	IsiXhosa	IsiZulu	SeSotho	SePedi	SeTswana	TshiVenda	XiTshonga
EC	111	755	0	0	120	0	1	0	0	0	0
FS	41	240	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
GT	115	686	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0
KZN	3	1 264	0	0	1	28	0	0	0	0	0
LP	26	1 446	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	2
MP	24	337	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
NC	155	78	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NW	58	525	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
WC	471	544	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
National	1 004	5 875	4	1	121	33	2	4	1	4	4

 

a) (ii)

Parallel medium schools are schools that offer two or more mediums of instruction in different classes in the same grade for all grades in the school. Table 2 below reflects the proportion of schools that may be regarded as English parallel medium schools.

Table 2: Number of single- medium schools, by province, in 2022

Province	Afrikaans/English	English/IsiNdebele	English/Siswati	English/IsiXhosa	English/IsiZulu	English/SeSotho	English/SePedi	English/SeTswana	English/TshiVenda	English/XiTshonga
EC	156	12	0	3 614	0	20	0	1	0	0
FS	97	8	0	5	9	367	0	34	0	0
GT	239	60	3	20	126	81	27	59	8	13
KZN	69	29	1	172	3 807	2	1	0	1	0
LP	35	1	0	0	0	1	1 431	23	455	327
MP	73	80	327	2	229	1	92	38	0	119
NC	128	1	0	6	0	0	0	130	0	0
NW	42	0	0	5	1	16	0	881	0	0
WC	464	0	0	159	0	0	0	0	0	0
SA	1 303	191	331	3 983	4 172	488	1 551	1 166	464	459

 

(b)(i)(ii)

Response is attached.

Reply:

The National Education Infrastructure Management System was decommissioned on 31 March 2023, and the data was moved to the property module of the Education Infrastructure Management System.  Concurrent with the said process is the updating of the information on the system conducted by Provincial Education Departments. The updated reports will be released as soon as these processes are concluded.

Reply:

What programmes and opportunities  are in place to expose learners in music? 

1. Music as a Curriculum Offering

The Department of Basic Education's (DBE) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)  caters for  Music as one of the examinable subjects for learners and schools up to Grade 12 level.

2. Music as a Co-Curricular and Enrichment  Activity in Schools

The DBE annually prescribes a music syllabus that is distributed to schools for participation in the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE). Primary and Secondary schools, including farm and special schools are afforded the platform to participate in this event. The DBE also works with Provincial Education Departments and other organisations like AssitejSA, in promoting other music genres, including indigenous and traditional music. 

Reply:

Schools are provided with basic electricity as per the Regulations relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. If there is a need for additional supply for contingencies, schools provide these from their Norms and Standards for School Funding allocations, or make requests to their provincial departments for such.

Reply:

The Order by the North Gauteng High Court (Gauteng Division; Pretoria) to amongst others, ensures that there is uninterrupted electricity supply to public schools, was against the Minister of Public Enterprises, and not against the Minister of Basic Education (see para 55).  The Minister of Basic Education was not cited in the matter.

Reply:

                                                                                                        

Response

PROVINCE	CHILD AND YOUTH CARE WORKERS	SOCIAL AUXILIARY WORKERS	SOCIAL WORKERS	LEARNER SUPPORT AGENTS	CARE AND SUPPORT AGENTS	Grand Total
EASTERN CAPE	38	15	63	913	6 221	7 250
FREE STATE	54	1	64	93	1 650	1 861
GAUTENG	10	21	137	415	2 860	3 443
KWAZULU NATAL	0	6	72	698	4 876	5 652
LIMPOPO	0	0	73	121	3 241	3 435
MPUMALANGA	12	20	30	320	1 422	1 764
NORTH WEST	0	18	55	130	1 343	1 546
NORTHERN CAPE	0	3	17	40	827	887
WESTERN CAPE	0	9	95	178	450	732
Grand Total	114	93	606	2 907	21 637	26 570
Source: Persal, January 2023

Reply:

The Department will take a lead in the medium to long-term in the modernisation of the NSNP in schools, which will include:

(i) A proposal to create economies of scale to improve the programme;

(ii) A modern electronic stock management system for high quality inputs;

(iii) An extensive local economic empowerment  with a focus on women, youth and people with disability;

(iv) The introduction of the Home Grown School Feeding with direct links with small holder farmers;

(v) The encouragement of Provinces to join transversal contracts, such as the liquid gas (RT51); and

(vi)The introduction of a Modern IT/Real time data system.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Basic Education condemns schools which have grown intolerant of black learners, male and female, keeping their Afro hair to a point of even cutting learners’ hair; as it happened in the Endlozana Primary School, kwaNongoma; thus negatively impuning on the learners' dignity and their religious beliefs; as they belong to the Nazareth Church.  This practice is unconstitutional, intolerant and misaligned with the spirit of diversity and social inclusion in schools, expressed in the education policy frameworks to guide such matters. 

Schools that are affected by this phenomenon often quote the School Codes of Conduct that tend to require children to dress their hair in a particular fashion.  Many years ago, when this matter of hair arose for girls, the Sector resolved that School Codes of Conduct must be periodically reviewed for prejudice and discrimination; and immediately revised when findings of the review points out to existence of discrimination.  Currently, the Department is working with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), and the Centre for Child Law to develop an human rights compliant exemplar code of conduct for schools in order to assist schools to avoid human rights violations of whatever nature.

(b) Provincial Education Departments will be in a position to activate consequence management (i) support principals and (ii) teachers regarding prevention and management of discrimination, prejudice and related intolerance in school management.

Reply:

The question asked by the Honourable Member, falls within the Executive Authority of the MEC for Education in Gauteng, not the Minister for Basic Education.  The Honourable Member is advised to direct the question to the responsible MEC. 

Reply:

According to the School Realities 2022 available on the DBE website, the number of learners per grade are as follows:

• There are 7 grades in Primary Schools, compared to only 5 grades in Secondary Schools.  If there were an equal number of learners in each grade, we will need 40% more Primary School classrooms than Secondary School classrooms.
• Based on the actual number of learners reported in the School Realities, there were 7 906 918 learners in Primary Schools, compared to only 4 766 312 learners in Secondary Schools.  If there were an equal number of learners per classroom, we will need 60% more Primary School classrooms than Secondary School classrooms.
• The CSIR guidelines simply reflect similar realities.
• Overcrowding is not limited to Secondary Schools.
• Overcrowding is the result of the migration of learners.  This seems to be a combination of the migration from rural schools to urban schools and the migration to specific provinces.
• Overcrowding is also the result of the preference of parents to place their children in better performing schools.

Reply:

(a) Government aims to pay all service providers within a 30 day time period. The late payment in KZN is related to difficulties experienced in that province linked to the inability of a service provider to fulfil its obligations in terms of a recent tender.

(b) The NSNP in the provinces, has since been stabilised; and feeding in schools has been fully restored.

Reply:

(1) The Minister of Basic Education gazetted the DBE Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Secondary schools on 08 November 2021. The Policy was further launched by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education in February 2022 in Rustenburg, North West province. All provinces were orientated on the policy for implementation and dissemination workshops were conducted in 2022.

(2) Provinces are not allowed to contradict or deviate from the policy. The DBE is currently finalising a guide on the implementation of the policy to support SGBs and SMTs with school level operationalisation of the policy. 

Reply:

The non-achievement of this indicator in the third quarter was linked to ambiguity in the Technical Indicator Descriptor and not programme implementation. The matter has since been addressed.

Reply:

In terms of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 the Member of Executive Council (MEC) responsible for Education is required, on an annual basis, to create educator posts based on available funds. The Head of Department is then required to distribute the posts created to schools using the post provisioning norms. 

The Honourable Member is therefore, respectfully requested to direct the question to the MEC responsible for Education in Kwazulu-Natal. 

Reply:

There are 967 small and unviable schools in KwaZulu-Natal. The province plans to have a phased-in approach to the rationalisation process over several years to mitigate the challenges of scholar transport in particular.  The first stage will focus on small and mis-aligned schools, where transport will not be required.  This will be followed by the targeted 255 of the 967 schools in the 2023/4 financial year.  These are 185 small primary schools with less than 50 learners, and 70 secondary schools with less than 100 learners across the Province. No identified school where transport is required, will be closed or merged until all transport arrangements are finalised and therefore no parent will be financially affected.

Reply:

Kindly note that the matter is not under my control and therefore I cannot account for it as per the provision of section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134(5)(b) of the NA Rules