Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Teneo On-Line school is an independent school that has written the National Senior Certificate examinations, administered by the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI - an independent examination board that is accredited with Umalusi.  In order to assist the learner, the matter has been referred to Umalusi, the Quality Assurance Council, and to SACAI.  The Department of Basic Education will follow up with these two institutions to ensure that the candidate's results are finalised.  

Reply:

1. The question on load shedding should be addressed to ESKOM the Department of Minerals and Energy, as well as the Department Public Enterprises.

2. There seems to be almost 500 public schools with back-up generators.

3. More than 1 000 schools have solar panels for power generation.

Reply:

• The South African Council for Educator (SACE) is not responsible for the provisioning of professional development of educators, but for monitoring and managing the Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) system, in terms of endorsing the professional development programmes, and activities and approving professional development providers as part of its quality management function.  Therefore, teachers will benefit from quality and fit-for-purpose SACE endorsed programmes that are provided by the SACE approved providers in the professional development provisioning system.
•  
• The Department of Basic Education has put systems in place to address professional development of educators, to ensure that they meet quality standards, which include amongst others - the Master Plan for CPTD programmes, the Professional Development for Digital Learning Framework, which intended for the development of the digital skills programmes for educators; and the provincial three-year plans as well as the CPTD online platform . All CPTD captured by all these plans, are SACE accredited and endorsed.  The DBE monitors the roll-out of these national programmes, and report quarterly.  Some of these programmes are also delivered in collaboration with the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT), VVOB, British Council and the Educators’ Unions through Teacher Union Collaboration.  These programmes focus on the development of the Skills for the Changing World.  The Department has also developed tools to measure impact of these programmes from 2023.

Reply:

a) The ability to read well, and with comprehension, is a result of a number of factors, and what happens at school level, is but a part of that.  The other factors, which are equally important, are linked to the environment outside of school, which is the home and the greater society.  With regard to what happens at school level, there are challenges that we are trying to address, and these include the competencies of some of our teachers to teach reading for meaning, particularly in the lower grades; teacher support; access to exciting reading resources, particularly in the home languages of the learners; ensuring that schools have environments conducive to successful reading development; and the general readiness of our children when they start school.

b The Department of Basic Education's (DBE's) response is multi-pronged, to allow for the implementation of fit-for-purpose reading interventions. These interventions are being implemented across provinces as part of the National Reading Sector Plan and Provincial Education Departments’ (PEDs’) reading strategies:

• Strengthening the competencies of teachers begins with what happens during initial teacher education. To reinforce this area, we work closely with universities, who have begun to develop pre-service programmes which focus on teaching reading as part of their undergraduate programmes.
• In terms of continuing professional teacher development, we have designed reading methodology programmes which are aimed at strengthening the capacity of our teachers to teach reading for meaning, in Home Languages and in English First Additional Language (EFAL). Some of these programmes are:
  • The Primary School Reading Improvement Programme (PSRIP) in Home Languages and EFAL, and the Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS), which are structured learning programmes complemented by the provision of resources such as lesson plans, readers, reading texts, videos etc.; training in methodology, pedagogy and the use of the resources; as well as implementation support through training subject advisors and School Management Teams.
  • Early Grade Reading Assessment
  • Development of Reading Benchmarks for early grades
  • Foundation Phase Home Languages Literacy Lesson Plans
  • Language across the curriculum
  • Comprehension across the curriculum
  • Annual Teaching Plan guides to norm reading activities
  • Provision of Workbooks in Home Languages and EFAL to every child
  • Monitoring PEDs to ensure availability of readers, especially in early grades.
• In regard to creating a culture of reading in- and outside school, the focus is on the following:
  • Implementing the Read to Lead Campaign, which allows us to interface with families and communities to amplify our message about the importance of collaborating to promote reading
  • Deploying more than 70 000 young people as Reading Champions to support schools in the creation of conducive reading spaces and provision of general support for teachers
  • Mobilising a wide range of partners, which include the National Reading Coalition to support DBE's reading promotion and resource provisioning efforts.
• DBE is also focusing its efforts on increasing access to quality early learning and development opportunities for children aged 0-5, as this stage is critical for early literacy development and school readiness.

Reply:

Due to budget constraints, the Sector is unable to employ social workers per school.  Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) employ a limited number of social workers, psychologists and school counsellors per District to respond to the social, emotional, and psychological barriers to learning, which may impact learner performance, achievement and retention.  In addition, the PEDs employ learner support agents (LSAs) in selected schools to facilitate access to services.  The Department provides capacity building on psychosocial support to the LSAs, in order to strengthen support to learners.   

Reply:

There can be no comparison made between the National Senior Certificate examinations administered by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), and that administered by the Department of Basic Education (DBE).  In 2022, the IEB administered the NSC exams to not more than 13 000 candidates; while the DBE administered the NSC exams to 920 634 full-time and part-time candidates.

The IEB examination is taken by independent schools that, in the main, cater for a select group of parents and learners, who are endowed with the best resources relating to teaching and learning; while the State system accommodates learners from the different South African socio-economic environments, ranging from deep rural to the township, to the urban schools.  Hence, the 80.1% pass rate attained by the public schooling system, needs to be applauded and celebrated; and not compared to the 98.42% attained the independent schools. 

Reply:

The responsibility of the Minister is to determine the Admission Policy and play, an oversight monitoring role to ensure its implementation.  Placement of learners in schools, is the competency of the Provincial Education Department. In exercising the oversight responsibility in Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and in Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) in particular, the Minister has held several meetings with the GDE to analyse its intervention plans, to ensure that learners were placed in schools in the midst of increased number of applications.  The GDE was assisted in meeting with affected School Governing Bodies and affected communities, to jointly find solutions to the challenges at hand, including the:

a) allocation of of funds to schools to build classrooms;

b) supply of mobile classrooms;

c) increase of capacity in affected school and creating;

d) establishment of satellites schools linked to overcrowded schools; and

e) temporary use of specialist rooms as classrooms.

Learners have since been placed in Gauteng.

Reply:

Since the function shift, the main focus of the Provincial Education Departments has been on stabilising the function under the new leadership and management of the Department of Basic Education. The DBE’s long-run vision for ECD is to have “All children accessing comprehensive, age-appropriate, quality ECD services to enable them to grow holistically and thrive”.

The following five strategies are proposed to achieve the DBE’s long-run vision of universal access to quality ECD:

1. Curriculum-based early learning for all children birth to 5 years
2. Early childhood development programmes for all children birth to 5 years
3. Training, education and development for all those working in ECD
4. Co-ordination of all early childhood development services
5. A flexible funding and provisioning framework

The DBE’s proposed integrated Service Delivery Model seeks to increase access to quality ECD services, while bearing in mind the need to streamline services to ensure that the government can feasibly support all ECD programmes. The DBE will therefore enable the provision of multiple modalities of ECD provisioning to ensure that they are age- and developmental-stage appropriate. These modalities include independent ECD programmes, public ECD programmes, playgroups and home-based programmes. These modalities will be supported by toy libraries and mobile ECD programmes.

The DBE is developing a 10-year sector plan for ECD. DBE has identified the following activities for the Sector Plan:

1. Develop a National Strategy for ECD delivery at scale.
2. Develop a costed Service Delivery Model that considers various modalities, compliance, appropriate skilling and quality in a coordinated integrated manner.
3. Develop a Human Resources Development Plan based on the approved HRD Strategy. This includes the professionalisation of the workforce and exploring appropriate registration mechanisms for the workforce.
4. Develop a Quality Assurance and Support System using a child outcomes lens to monitor and support Early Learning Programmes to reach the minimum quality standards.
5. Develop a Funding Model for ECD programmes that accommodate all aspects of the service delivery model
6. Develop a system of Infrastructure Support for early childhood development in programmes and schools.
7. The development of a Registration Management System for ECD.
8. Develop a streamlined Registration Framework and process with the Department of Health and ensure local government is on-boarded through engagement with COGTA and SALGA
9. Ensure that all Departments know their roles and responsibilities in delivering early childhood development programmes.
10. Develop a communication strategy and advocacy campaign.
11. Develop an Organisational Structure for effective coordination between different government departments and stakeholders anchored in the DBE.
12. Strengthen the institutional mechanisms for ECD like the intersectoral forum, interdepartmental ECD committee, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee for ECD.
13. Develop necessary legislation as the primary piece of legislation for ECD; and identify, review and amend existing policies and legislation.

DBE is also scoping and exploring the development of a primary piece of legislation for ECD; and identify, review and amend existing policies and legislation.

Reply:

Progress of Coding and Robotics Pilot of Draft CAPS

The Pilot programme is showing increasingly effective implementation, with teachers becoming more confident and proficient in their presentation and delivery of the draft curriculum to the Foundation Phase in 200 Primary schools.

 Educators have been trained using the DBE-UNISA Partnership via the UNISA MOOC platform.

The coding and robotics curriculum is still in draft form, but it is envisaged that it will be finalized in March 2023, specifically that of the Foundation Phase.

A significant number of pilot schools are not sufficiently resourced. Educators, however, have lesson plans, and DBE as well as provinces have orientated the educators.

The pilot has been extended also to the Intermediate and Senior phases, and training for teachers of these grades will be instituted fully once the curriculum is finalized.

Whether her department is increasing its capacity to offer coding and robotics in schools; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Numerous workshops for educators have been and continue to be conducted, and teacher support is available and accessible online via the UNISA MOOC Platform every Friday from 15H00-16H00.

The Director General has approved the continuation of the pilot in 2023 for Grades R-9, in the initial 200 pilot schools for Grades R-3, with extension to 1000 schools for Grades 4-7 and 569 Secondary Schools for Grades 8 and 9.

Teachers in these schools have been orientated to the draft curriculum, but there are persistent challenges relating to inadequate internet connectivity and insufficient provision of physical resources such IT devices and Coding and Robotics Kits.

The DBE continues to work with its corporate partners to improve connectivity as well as expansion of resource provision. The MST Conditional Grant allocation to PEDs specifically identifies Coding and Robotics to receive additional targeted funding, at the PED’s discretion.

The DBE, in collaboration with British Council has developed a programme for Grade 8 and 9 learners entitled, ‘#Learning2Code’, to cultivate interest and excitement in CAT and IT that exposes them to a range of digital skills, including coding.

The Coding and Computational Thinking Skills Teacher and Learner Development with British Council is an initiative for Grades 7-9 learners and teachers, using devices an programmes appropriate to the skills needed in the 21st Century.

Emanating from a DBE-SITA partnership, a Robotics Challenge for Grades 8 and 9 is  in place to further stimulate and maintain interest in Coding and Robotics – a programme that also capacitates educators. The current challenge ends 26 March 2023, and at a function in Mpumalanga, learners from Piloting Secondary schools will receive recognition and prizes for their efforts.

The ‘Girl Learner in Stem Initiative’ is designed to empower and encourage them to participate in STEM subjects.40 Girls in Grades 8 and 9 will participate in a Boot Camp in Limpopo during the June 2023 School Holidays, and a further 40 Girls will enjoy a similar Boot Camp in September 2023.  This Initiative a collaboration between the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the United Nations Women.

Moderate success has been achieved in the pilot programme:

•         Increased awareness of Coding and Robotics across the country;

•         All provincial subject managers have been orientated in Coding and Robotics;

•         Provinces have orientated teachers of Grades R-9 in preparation for implementation;

•         Partnerships have been entered into with HEIs, most notably NMU, where teachers are being trained in collaboration with Unions, with co-ordination at the DBE between Branch T and UNISA, aimed at training Grades R-3 educators in schools piloting Coding in Robotics;

•         Increased monitoring and reporting on the pilot (DBE APP 2.1.13 requires monitoring of 18 pilot schools, 2 per province. All schools have been monitored;

•         Three Inter-provincial Meetings with Project Management Teams have been held within the financial year 2022/23;

•         Improved digital skills of educators;

•         Increased expenditure on Coding and Robotics resources by PEDs through both the MST Conditional Grant and provincial equitable share;

•         Inter-directorate collaborations, and partnerships with NGOs have been established in all provinces;

•         Increased extramural exhibitions and competitions in provinces with increased interest shown by learners; and

•         Lesson plans, specifically developed for Grads R-9 educators will assist in effective implementation.

Reply:

Health services, in schools, are provided by school-health-nurses through the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) as guided by the 2012 ISHP policy.

1. According to the ISHP policy, vision and hearing screening are provided in all the school phases (see page 12 of the policy). The ISHP programme emphasises hearing and vision screening in the foundation phase for early detection and support.
2. Based on the screening results, learners in need of further assistance are referred to health facility for case management and support e.g. provision of spectacles.

Reply:

There is collaboration between DBE and DoH, as health services, in schools, are provided by school-health-nurses through the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) as guided by the 2012 ISHP Policy.

a) According to the ISHP policy, vision and hearing screening are provided in all the school phases (see page 12 of the policy). The ISHP programme emphasises hearing and vision screening in the foundation phase for early detection and support.

b) Based on the screening results, learners in need of further assistance are referred to health facility for case management and support e.g. provision of spectacles.

 

 

 

COMPILED BY:

MS COCEKA NOGODUKA

CHIEF DIRECTOR: SUPPORT SERVICES

DATE: 03/03/2023

OFFICIALS INVOLVED

QUESTION NO: 620. IS APPROVED

DR G WHITTLE

DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL: SOCIAL MOBILISATION & SUPPORT SERVICES

DATE: 03/03/2023

QUESTION NO: 620. IS APPROVED

MR HM MWELI

DIRECTOR-GENERAL

DATE: 04/03/2023

QUESTION NO: 620. IS APPROVED

DR MR MHAULE, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER

DATE: 07/03/2023

QUESTION NO: 620. IS APPROVED

MRS AM MOTSHEKGA, MP

MINISTER

DATE: 08/03/2023

Reply:

a) 9 689 300 learners are beneficiaries of the National School Nutrition Programme.

b) The Department of Basic Education through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) oversees the menu compilation in line with the conditions as set out in the Conditional Grant Framework. The DBE has in its employ a qualified Dietician and Nutritionists who are tasked to review and assess healthy nutritional menus for each Provincial Education Department during the annual business planning process.  The DBE periodically liaises with the Department of Health to align with health and food safety standards/Regulations.

Reply:

The question asked does not fall within the purview of the Minister of Basic Education but the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The question should therefore be referred to the MEC in KZN. 

Reply:

(a) 

1. To support schools with no infrastructure for sport participation, the Department, in collaboration with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) have initiated engagements with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to make municipal facilities accessible to schools at no cost. Engagements are also being extended to look at possibilities of how the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) can be accessed for the benefit of the schools.
2. Furthermore, through the Memorandum of Understanding between DBE and DSAC, signed in 2018, an entity of DSAC called the Sport Trust builds multi-purpose sport facilities in identified schools. These facilities are also accessible for utilisation by neighbouring schools.
3. The Department is also in partnership with partners like Supersport and UNICEF to build multi-purpose sport facilities in schools. These facilities are then shared and utilised by other the neighbouring schools.
4. In 2015, the Department, together with DSAC and Cricket South Africa (CSA) signed an operational agreement to fast track cricket development at schools through the Hub system. This initiative contributes to the revitalisation of sports development in the townships and rural areas, and it also improves educational outcomes in the basic education sector. These Hubs are committed to the following:

• develop cricketers at the Cricket Hubs;
• run cluster leagues to feed into the School Sport Programme;
• provide support to integrate the elite cricketers into the CSA High Performance Programmes through CSA’s existing integrated system of Talent Scouts, Coaching Mentors and Sports Science Programmes;
• support worthy educational and sporting causes, from time to time, as identified by the three parties;
• extend early learning and e-learning programmes through homework support, and
• dedicated cricket coaching educational programs are produced and aired on the MINDSET platforms.

(b)

1. The Department partnered with the Motsepe Foundation to further support the delivery of enrichment programmes in schools on 12 April 2016. This ten-year partnership agreement contributes towards the development of Schools Football, Netball, choral and traditional music across the country. This initiative concentrates on schools football (Under 19), schools netball (Under 15) and the Schools Choral Eisteddfod. These programmes start at a school level and proceed until the national level. The winning schools utilise the money for any development project that enhances or advances the mission and objectives of the school and/or its immediate community, e.g. building of extra classrooms, upgrading the soccer or netball pitch, school choral equipment, etc.
2. The Department implements the Integrated School Sports Programme, after-school, extra-mural and co-curricular activities in collaboration with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) together with other partners. The main role of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is to promote mass participation activities aimed at enriching the curriculum whilst DSAC focuses on social cohesion, talent identification and excellence in sports, arts and culture in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2018 by the two Departments. The programme starts at a school level and proceeds up to the circuit, district, provincial and finally national level. The programme is comprised of the Autumn Games, Winter Games, Spring Games and Summer Games in the following prioritized codes: Athletics, Cricket, Chess, Gymnastics, Swimming, Softball, Tennis, Table tennis, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Volleyball, Goal ball and Indigenous Games.
3. The Department established the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Unit (ASIDI). The objective of ASIDI is to eradicate the Basic Safety Norms backlog in schools without water, sanitation and electricity and to replace those schools constructed from inappropriate material (mud, plankie, asbestos) to contribute towards levels of optimum learning and teaching. The Schools Infrastructure Backlog Grant (SIBG) funds the ASIDI portfolio. Sub-programme 1: Inappropriate Structures: Schools that were built from inappropriate material in their entirety are replaced with new schools that meet the department’s standards of basic functionality. This also includes the building of sport facilities depending on the available space in that particular area.

Reply:

(1) What are the details of the 

(a) destination

aa) Minister:

• 2019: Dubai
• 2019: Paris 
• 2019: Dubai
• 2021: France
• 2020: New York
• 2022: Kenya
• 2022: London
• 2022: Ghana
• 2022: Tanzania
• 2022: Cuba 

(bb) Deputy Minister:

• 2019: Dubai
• 2019: Ghana

(b) total costs for: 

aa) Minister:

(i) accommodation:                    R667 280.51

(ii) travel:                                   R496 564.94

(iii) any other costs incurred:    R2 853.00

 

(bb) Deputy Minister:

(i) accommodation:                    R74 400.05

(ii) travel:                                   R91 617.86

(iii) any other costs incurred:    R1 142.00

 

(2) What is the total cost incurred for domestic air travel for each 

(a) Minister:                   R342 905.44

(b) Deputy Minister:        R768 696.44  

Reply:

 (1)      What (a) total number of schools in the Republic still have (i) Pit toilets, (ii) mud structures, (iii) asbestos structures and (iv) asbestos roofs as at 1 February and (b) is the name of (aa) each school (bb) in each province;

(a) (i)

Province	No. of school with Pit Toilets
EC	984
FS	33
KZN	1 495
LP	1 948
MP	551
NC	5
NW	185
National	5 201

Note: Most of schools do have other appropriate forms of sanitation, as indicated in the attached list,  but the Pits toilets  still need to be demolished. Schools that have pit latrines only are part of the SAFE programme to address the demolition of pit latrines

(a) (ii)

Province	No. of school with Mud Structure
EC	506
KZN	110
LP	36
MP	18
NC	3
NW	13
National	686

(a) (iii)

Province	No. of school with Asbestos Structure
EC	4
KZN	1
MP	2
NC	25
NW	15
National	47

(a) (iv)

Province	No. of school with Asbestos roofs
EC	1 010
FS	6
GT	92
KZN	1 447
MP	26
NC	39
NW	34
WC	31
National	2 685

Annexure A: List of school attached. Please note that the DBE has embarked on a process of conducting a condition assessment of all school that will culminate in an up to date information on all schools across the country

(2)   by what date does her department envisage to have the use of (a) pit toilets, (b) mud structures, (c) asbestos structures and (d) asbestos roofs eradicated at each specified school in the Republic?

The sector is in the process of reviewing the Regulations relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, which provide for timelines for the eradication of the said backlogs, as the timelines in the current regulations are obsolete. the revised timelines will be provided as soon as the process of revision is concluded.

Reply:

What (a) measures have been put in place by her department to tackle the challenge of bullying in schools, which is costing lives and causing learners to drop out of schools?

1. The Department has trained schools on the implementation of the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) which is the sector's guiding framework for school and assists school to manage and respond to violent incidences in schools including bullying. The NSSF empowers schools to identify and manage all safety requirements and to mitigate against threats faced in a school. The NSSF requires every school to establish a school safety committee which is comprised of stakeholders such as teachers, police officers, school governing body members, learner representative council members amongst others. Furthermore, The NSSF also empowers schools to develop incident reporting mechanisms, establish collaborations with external stakeholders such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Department of Social Development and civil society organisations, as well as develop school safety plans and policies to respond effectively to all the safety needs and challenges.

2.  The Department also requires schools to develop and implement anti-bullying policies, in line with the schools' codes of conduct. These policies define bullying and explains the different types of bullying (e.g physical, verbal, non-verbal, cyber, gender-based, etc.) so that the behaviours are recognisable; the policies make explicit the disciplinary procedures to be undertaken once and incidence is reported and the sanctions which will be undertaken against the perpetrators.

3. The Department and its partner Departments: Social Development, Justice and Constitutional Development, Correctional Services, the South African Police Service and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies have embarked on an Inter-Departmental Campaign on the Prevention of Violence, Bullying, Corporal Punishment, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Learner Pregnancy, Alcohol and Drug Abuse. This Campaign raises awareness on the importance of tackling these social ills and rasies awareness of the negative effects they have on teaching and learning in schools and on learners self esteem. The Campaign has been championed by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education and is supported by other Deputy Ministers from the partner Departments. It targets districts and schools with high prevalence of violence in provinces. To date, the Campaign has been rolled out in five provinces: Gauteng (Gauteng West District), Limpopo (Sekhukhune East District), Mpumalanga (Nkangala District) and the North West (Dr Kenneth Kaunda District).  The next Campaign is scheduled to take place in the Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Bay District in March 2023.

4. The Department through the Life Orientation Curricular covers bullying in detail and how to prevent it. The Department has prepared lesson sets for the delivery of these topics. Understanding peaceful approaches to conflict management are also covered systematically across the grades. The Life Orientation Curricular further encourages learner agency, which is important as it encourages learners to stand up for the values and rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Are there current statistics of bullying in schools in the Republic?

5.  Yes. The statistics on bullying is routinely collected through Statistics South Africa and TIMMS. 

Reply:

What is the (a) make

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                                          
2. Mercedes Benz              

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister  

1. BMW       [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]                               
2. AUDI       [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]   

        (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                                      
2. AUDI  

(b) Model

 (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

• 1. 535i                                                   
  2. GLE 500                                             

(ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. 530i                            [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. 3.0 Q7 TDI Quattro    [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

(iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. 530i
2. 3.0 Q7 TDI Quattro

(C)  Year of Vehicle Manufacture                 

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. 2014          : BMW Sedan
2. 2016          : Mercedes-Benz

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. 2018          : BMW Sedan  [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. 2018          : AUDI Q7        [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. 2018          : BMW Sedan
2. 2018          : AUDI Q

(d) Price

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                     : R769,022.76                                     
2. Mercedes-Benz     : R849,900.00 

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : R833,488.41         [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. Audi                       : R1,015,702.05     [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]        

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : R833,488.41
2. Audi                       : R1,015,702.05   

(e) Vehicles purchase date

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                     : 25 September 2014                                                 
2. Mercedes-Benz     : 26 October 2016                                                

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : 28 March 2018          [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. Audi                       :13 December 2018    [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : 28 March 2018
2. Audi                       :13 December 2018

Reply:

1. Under the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI programme), the Department of Basic Eduction identified 331 schools made entirely of inappropriate materials. By February 2023, the Department has already replaced 315 of these schools.  The balance will be completed in 2023/24.

2. The various Provincial Departments of Education prepare annual asset management plans where infrastructure needs are defined.  In 2022/23, the target was to complete 38 new schools.  By December 2022, 16 of such schools had already reached Practical Completion.  In 2022/23, the target was to construct 1094 additional classrooms.  By December 2022, this target was exceeded with 1154 new classrooms constructed.

3. Over-crowding in schools is a major challenge.  The Minister of Basic Education and the Minister of Finance are negotiating the extension of the School Infrastructure Backlog Grant beyond 2023/24.  One of the focus areas will be to address over-crowding.  Following the address on the budget, more details of the planned approach will be defined. 

Reply:

The question has been referred to the Gauteng Department of education and a response will be provided as soon as it is received. 

Reply:

a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) does not have any information/data on the training of 44 000 educators that has been conducted by UNISA. This Department has over the past year covered extensive ground in ensuring that high quality teacher development opportunities are provided to teachers across all the nine (09) provinces in key areas such as the following:

• Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning for Foundation Phase Teachers; and
• Skills for a changing world in collaboration with the Teacher Union Collaboration (TUC); and
• Coding and Robotics.

b) The Department plans to continue to upskill teachers through the above offering of the above programmes by 2030, prioritizing the teachers in the lower quintiles especially the teachers in rural areas.  DBE working with other government departments will continue to address the connectivity and infrastructure for 4IR for teaching and learning.

Reply:

a. Determination of salary increases in the public sector is a centralised process undertaken through the Public Sector Coordination Bargaining Council (PSCBC) with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) leading the negotiations on behalf of government. Therefore, the teachers get salary increases as part of the rest of the public service. Budgeting for salary increases and other improvements in conditions of service is also centralised allocated at National Treasury to departments and entities. The process to increase the number of posts in schools is informed by a number of factors; chief amongst them being the increase in the number of learners and introduction of curriculum reforms that require additional teachers. The Department has in this regard approached Cabinet to request support to add  about  16 000 educator posts in schools focusing on the reduction of teacher learner ratios both in public ordinary schools and special schools; and address additional needs due to curriculum reforms. Cabinet has since referred the  request to the Minister’s Committee on the Budget (MINCOMBUD) to process.

b. As was indicated previously, the average overall attrition rate of teachers in public schools ranges between 3%-5%, which is relatively low by international standards; and thus, suggests a high retention rate overall. The Department, through its internal analysis and collaborative research with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and partners, such as ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, has taken note of the high retirement wave in the next 10 or more years; and working closely with the latter to address this concern.

The research into the retirement of South African teachers was also done by ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, which acknowledged that South Africa's universities appear prepared to deal with the retirement of teachers, and that university output is on a sound trajectory, and should be able to deal with a demand for a larger workforce.

In addition, and in anticipation of the injection of a high number of new entrants into the system, the Department will intensify the roll-out of a comprehensive induction programme. In short, the programme provides holistic support to new teachers, covering not only personal development, but professional and social support. This induction programme will ensure a smooth assimilation of young teachers into the system.

Reply:

The release of the NSC results has been moved to the third week of January, due to the late closure of the academic year in the last three years. In the last three years, schools have closed around 15 December, so as to allow for schools to catch-up on the loss of teaching time emanating from COVID-19.

The later release date was also prompted by the Quality Assurance Council, Umalusi, requesting additional time to conduct its quality assurance processes so that the accuracy and credibility of the results are not undermined.

The Department of Basic Education needs atleast six weeks from the last examination date to conduct the following critical processes:

(a) The marking of the 9.8 million scripts which uses schools as marking centres and therefore cannot commence long before schools have closed.

(b) The capture of the 15 million marks on the Integrated Examination Computer System (IECS) requires at least 14 days.

(c) The processing of examination irregularities.,

(d) The standardisation of the subject results by Umalusi.

(e) The processing, resulting of the candidate data and verification of the data by Umalusi.

(f) Preparation of reports for the Ministerial release

The later release date of the examination results was done in consultation with Universities South Africa (USAf), the body that represents all higher education institutions and therefore no candidate would have been disadvantaged by the later release date.

Attached is the 2022 NSC Management Plan, which provides the detailed activities and sub-activities and the time frame leading to the release of NSC Results.

For the 2023 NSC examinations, a meeting will be convened with Umalusi, USAf, Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), so as to arrive at a release date that suits all institutions concerned, and also that is most suitable for candidates.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) holds regular meetings with the Gauteng Department of Education to plan, administer the admission programme and placement of learners. The DBE assists the provincial Department on:

a) conducting advocacy on how the Gauteng admission process works;

b) handling queries of unplaced learners received through the DBE's call centre, website and social media;

C) working with principals and SGB associations to accommodate additional learners where necessary; and following up on appeals lodged with the DBE.

Reply:

(1) The NSNP budget is allocated per meal/per child/per day, and NOT per food item spend; with price expectations in line with economies of scale. The allocation is further outlined per weekly menu plan (i.e 5 days cycle) per serving, that constitute a protein, starch, fruit and/or vegetable.  This allocation is not apportioned to milk only, but is shared between all protein source foods (i.e soya mince, canned pilchards, sugar beans and lentils/split peas or canned chicken livers). 

In general, protein has the highest cost. Therefore, at least 50% is allocated towards protein foods. Milk is served once per week and the low cost protein food supplements the more expensive proteins like milk.

(2) The meal cost is adjusted annually by the National Treasury in line with the general inflation.

(3) The different allocation is based on the portion sizes for primary and secondary schools.  Secondary schools with larger portion sizes have a higher allocation than primary schools.

Reply:

Financial Performance - The Department of Basic Education (DBE) conducts meetings with all nine (9) Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) in January/ February to assess the credibility of the PEDs’ budget allocations for the following financial year. The Annual Performance Plans (APPs), Estimated Provincial Revenue and Expenditure (EPRE) documents, In-Year Monitoring (IYM) and Annual Reports received from PEDs are key documents guiding the discussions.

During the financial year, the PEDs submit the monthly reports (Financial Reports) within 15 days after the end of the month.  These reports are analysed to check the utilisation of funds against the available budget. The DBE conducts bilateral meetings with all PEDs in July/August to discuss the financial performance and the impact on the service delivery.  The PEDs account on how the allocated funds were utilised in that specific financial year.

Compliance with National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NSSF) - The DBE conducts HEDCOM Sub-Committee on Finance Meetings on quarterly basis, where the PEDs are expected to provide information with regard to the compliance with NSSF.  The DBE also engages in telephonic survey with samples of schools in each Province to verify the information provided by the PED, and check the implementation of the policy at school level. If the gaps are identified in the implementation, the relevant PED will be approached to discuss and to resolve those matters.

Reply:

(a) There were 56 schools in the West Rand district in Gauteng that cater for learners with special needs.

(b) The response to question b is attached.

(c) Admissions for learners with disabilities who must be enrolled in a special school are managed and processed at the district office. In the district office, there is a dedicated section that assists parents with admissions.

Reply:

(1)(a)

Table 1: Number of schools number offering indigenous African language as home language, by province, in 2022

Province	IsiNdebele HL	IsiXhosa HL	IsiZulu HL	Sepedi HL	Sesotho HL	Setswana HL	SiSwati HL	Tshivenda HL	Xitsonga HL
EC		4 688			206
FS		73	73	5	725	100	1		2
GT	10	254	958	445	522	460	3	71	207
KZN	4	224	5 093	4	5	3	2	1	2
LP	61	5	66	2 469	5	57		723	598
MP	246	4	433	425	18	64	493	1	264
NC		43		1	4	241	1		1
NW		44	1	3	40	1 301
WC	13	1 516	17		98	2	1		2
SA	334	6 851	6 641	3 352	1 623	2 228	501	796	1 076

Table 1 above indicates that  6 851 schools are offering IsiXhosa as home language and 6 641 are offering IsiZulu home language.

(1)(b) 

 

Table 2: Number of schools offering an indigenous African language as first additional language, by province, in 2022

 

Province	IsiNdebele FAL	IsiXhosa FAL	IsiZulu FAL	Sepedi FAL	Sesotho FAL	Setswana FAL	SiSwati FAL	Tshivenda FAL	Xitsonga FAL
EC		269			2
FS		3	8	1	75	11		1
GT			589	121	142	117		19	33
KZN	8	15	727	10	9	3	2		10
LP	2	2	5	55	5	3	2	26	25
MP	4		33	15	1	2	51	2	8
NC	1	4	1	1	1	6
NW		1	2		2	52	1
WC	12	299	14		5	5		4
SA	27	593	1 379	203	242	199	56	52	76

Table 2 indicates that majority of schools,   (1 379 ) schools offers IsiZulu first additional language followed by IsiXhosa with 593 schools.

(2) List of schools by Language of learning and teaching is attached.

Note: All data represented above is self-reported by schools

Reply:

The question asked by the Honourable Member falls within the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of Mpumalanga and not the Minister of Basic Education.  We advise the Hon Member to refer the Question to Mpumalanga Department of Education.

Reply:

The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) aims to provide daily school meals for targeted learners during the school term (as per school calendar), and not during school holidays.  It's day-to-day operations is designed to serve meals at schools.  National Treasury allocates a specific budget for NSNP in line with the school calendar i.e., count per child per day.  In the 2022/23 financial year, all Provinces feed learners for 203 school days.  This excludes school holidays.

Reply:

1. (a) The NSNP Grant Framework as gazetted in the Division of Revenue Act, stipulates menu specifications, which include protein, carbohydrate, fruit and/or vegetable for procurement by Provinces, using the Food Specification Guide developed by the Department of Health.

(b) The NSNP Guidelines for Schools stipulate the role of SGBs, which includes among others, participation in the school based NSNP Committees, whose responsibility includes NSNP finances related to procurement of goods, especially in a decentralised procurement model.  The SGB is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Programme. 

2.  (a) The Grant Framework makes provision for the promotion of local economic empowerment, including the procurement of fresh produce from smallholder farmers. The NSNP Financial Management Training Guidelines give special focus in promoting the empowerment of local communities.  Provinces are obliged to follow the supply chain management (SCM) processes in line with the Preferential Procurement Policy Act.

(b) No specific percentage of the budget is allocated for local black communities per se;  however, in principle Provinces follow the PPPA, whether its the open tender (centralised procurement), or transfers to schools (decentralised procurement).  The  PEDs' quarterly reports in the last two years show that a total of 3 599 SMEs and Local Cooperatives in black communities, benefit from the NSNP. 

Reply:

1(a) The Department ensures 100% compliance to Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes and all financial management policies and procedures as well as instructions from National Treasury are adhered to. This has led to a material decrease in irregular expenditure in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21.

1. DBE disclosed the irregular expenditure as part of a drive to clean up the accounting of infrastructure projects.
2. ASIDI started in 2012 and SAFE started in 2018.
3. DBE assessed all procurement processes on ASIDI and SAFE.  This revealed the following deficiencies in the procurement documents:
4. 1. Tenders not advertised for 21 days;
   2. Local content – no SBD6.2 included;
   3. Non-compliance to Preferential Procurement Regulations;
   4. Non-compliance to CIDB regulations;
   5. Non-compliance to mandatory subcontracting; and
   6. Non-compliance to Implementing Agent own SCM policies.
5. The bulk of these projects have been completed and schools are already benefiting from the use of the facilities provided.
6. Some implementing agents have applied for condonation from National Treasury.  This process has not been concluded

Response to question 1.(b)

1. Allocation of projects to be implemented to Implementing Agents are done in Batches that can range from anything from 15 large schools to over 200 sanitation projects. A single process issue (such as not including a SBD6.2) in a bulk tender process, can thus have a large monetary impact as all the expenditure in a batch will have to be declared Irregular Expenditure.
2. Expenditure may be multi-year or across financial years and process issues in previous years influences the Irregular Expenditure declared in the current financial year.

Response to question 2.

1. The DBE implemented a standard operating procedure to check all procurement processes to avoid a repeat of this historical default. A checklist has been introduced in the SCM directorate to ensure that all procurement complies to SCM processes

Reply:

(a)(b)(i)(ii)

Table 1: Number of schools and learners uploaded on the Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) by province, in 2022

 

Province	Schools	Number of  Learners
Eastern Cape	5 343	1 717 684
Free State	1 052	762 885
Gauteng	3 174	2 425 339
KwaZulu Natal	6 119	2 366 550
Limpopo	3 890	1 744 803
Mpumalanga	1 801	1 091 246
North West	1 572	848 070
Northern Cape	596	302 589
Western Cape	1 887	1 261 054
National	25 434	12 520 220

 

Note: 

Due to the rigorous quality control measures embedded in the LURITS, the system can reject records e.g duplicated learners or learners without grade or subject allocations, to ensure better quality of learner data.

This however is mediated by a stringent process to identify, verify and quality assure the rejected learners and to ensure all learners are accurately accounted for in the Sector before finalising the annual statistics.

Reply:

The average overall attrition rate of teachers in public schools ranges between 3%-5% which is relatively low by international standards; and thus, suggests a high retention rate overall. The Department, through its internal analysis and collaborative research with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and partners, such as ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, has taken note of the high retirement wave in the next 10 or more years; and working closely with the latter! to address this concern.

The research into the retirement of South African teachers was also done by ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, which acknowledged that South Africa's universities appear prepared to deal with the retirement of teachers, and that university output is on a sound trajectory, and should be able to deal with a demand for a larger workforce.

In addition, and in anticipation of the injection of a high number of new entrants into the system, the Department will intensify the rollout of a comprehensive induction programme. In short, the programme provides holistic support to new teachers, covering not only personal development, but professional and social support. This induction programme will ensure a smooth assimilation of young teachers into the system.

Reply:

(1) Before commencement of the phased implementation of the Gender Responsive Pedagogy for Early Childhood Education (GRP4ECE) Toolkit, the following stakeholders were consulted:

• National Consultative Forum (NCF) of School Governing Body (SGB) Associations;
• Heads of Education Department Committee (HEDCOM);
• Broad Management Meeting (BMM) of various units of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) implicated;
• Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC);
• South African Council for Educators (SACE);
• Academic Institutions that provide training of ECD Practitioners;
• Department of Social Development, the Government Lead on Children; 
• ECD Training Institutes; and
• Civil Society Organisations representing the Social Inclusion in Education Working Group (SIiEWG) - as per the detailed list previously provided to the Honourable Member.

(2) Following the pilot in KwaZulu-Natal, the current phased implementation is concluding in Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and North West in December 2022. As per the reply to Question 4307 on 28 November 2022, there is no indication of further rollout, pending identification and allocation of new resources to support rollout. 

Reply:

(1)(2)(a)

Table 1 below shows that majority of schools (5 875) are English single medium schools followed by Afrikaans (1 004) single medium schools. With regards to schools that uses African Languages as single medium, majority of schools are IsiXhosa Single Medium. 

(b) Dual Medium schools are schools that uses two languages of instruction by a teacher in a lesson, switching from one language of instruction to another during a lesson. The Department does not collect information on Dual Medium Schools.

(c)

Table 2 below shows that the majority of parallel-medium schools are found in KwaZulu-Natal  (3 807) teaching in IsiZulu and English follwed by the Eastern Cape (3 614) teaching in IsiXhosa and English.

Reply:

1. (a); (b) (i) (ii); (ii)

Province	Number of Schools with Generators
Eastern Cape	255
Free State	18
Gauteng	39
KwaZulu-Natal	192
Limpopo	33
Mpumalanga	38
Northern Cape	10
North West	42
Western Cape	6
National	633
These  schools can have other forms of Electricity supply Information on interrupted power supply not available

2. (a) (b) (c) 

See table attached

Reply:

No credit cards have been issued to either the Minister or Deputy Minister.

Reply:

1. Yes

2. Yes.

The DBE's TeacherConnect Application service is operational since April 2020. It provides information and resources to teachers and the public via the WhatsApp number 060 060 3333. 

Services offered include single-sign access to a zero-rated learning environment with SACE-accredited teacher training and other DBE-related resources.

Resources and services are currently teacher and school-management focused, though learners, parents and other members of the public may register and access appropriate resources and services. 

The TeacherConnectchat is also being used to provide orientation and support resources to youth who are appointed as school assistants and the schools that they are placed into through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI).

TeacherConnectChat users may also opt-in for relevant communication based on their needs and interests. Cohort-targeted surveys (by subject or role etc.) have a high response rate and have provided valuable supplemental information for the DBE on teacher experiences and needs. 

All data are treated according to POPIA-compliant best practices, with the user having complete control of what communication they opt in for. Clear and straightforward instructions to opt out are given in every communication. 

3. a) The application does not receive any voted funding. Currently it is funded through Donor funding. The total set-up and running costs for the WhatsApp bot, from April 2020 to date is R4,263,244.46.

        3. b) The number of:

           (i) schools- 11,254 (on TeacherConnectlearn)

          (ii) teachers- 17,300 (registered users)

          (iii) learners- 13,333 (registered users)

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii)The Department of Basic Education in collaboration with the Departments of Health as well as Social Development are implementing the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP). The Health Services Package for the ISHP includes health screening (such as screening for vision, hearing, oral health and general health), onsite services (such as deworming and immunization), and health education for each of the four school phases.  According to the data received from the Department of Health that is extracted from the District Health Information System, the learners reached through health screening in 2021 were 74 529, and those learners referred for eye care were 296 nationally. in 2022, the number of learners reached through health screening was  257 407, those referred for eye care were 22 462. Referrals are done to different health care facilities for further examination and care. 

b) Annually, learners are provided with consent forms for parents to sign, in order for learners to be able to receive health services. The consent form is often accompanied with the information that is giving parents details on the health services that learners will receive in that particular year.  

Reply:

(a) 135 509 refers to the number of bursaries awarded between 2013 and 2021, not the number of recipients, as the number of recipients was 43 014.  Bachelors of Education degree (B Ed) is a four-year degree; and therefore, one person will receive a minimum of four bursaries in the four years of study at universities - meaning that 43 014 recipients received +/- 135 509 bursaries in their four years of study.   The indicator on Funza Lushaka is a cumulative target / indicator, and it is expected that the Department of Basic Education reports on the number of bursaries awarded each year, i.e., the "Number of Funza Lushaka bursaries awarded to students enrolled for Initial Teacher Education per year”

(i) changed streams and/or (ii) dropped out and (b) is the reason for the discrepancy of students that registered versus the 33 113 who graduated and/or were placed?

Reply:   

(i) (ii)

The DBE does not have the details of the students who changed streams; as well as those who dropped-out.  such information may be requested from universities via Department of Higher Education and Training.

(b)

There are no discrepancies, the difference is between 43 014 and 33 113.  33 113 reflects returning bursars (students), i.e., bursars that are currently studying at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Reply:

(a)(i) Total Nr = 11	(b)(i) Job Titles:	(b)(ii) Annual Remuneration Package:
1	Household Aid	R130,092.00
2	Household Aid	R130,092.00
3	Food Services Aid II	R128,166.00
4	Chief Registry Clerk	R285,735.00
5	Assistant Appointment and Administrative Secretary	R578,841.00
6	Parliamentary and Cabinet Officer	R922,137.00
7	Administrative Support and Coordinator	R978,726.00
8	Private and Appointment Secretary	R1,054,356.00
9	Portfolio Coordinator	R1,070,169.00
10	Media Liaison Officer	R1,173,231.00
11	Chief of Staff	R1,308,051.00
(a)(ii) Total Nr = 9
1	Household Aid	R128,166.00
2	Household Aid	R130,092.00
3	Receptionist	R181,599.00
4	Driver/Messenger	R184,308.00
5	Chief Registry Clerk	R277,362.00
6	Parliamentary and Cabinet Support	R336,171.00
7	Community Outreach Officer	R766,584.00
8	Private and Appointment Secretary	R908,502.00
9	Head of Office	R1,105,383.00

Reply:

Yes, the Department has applied its mind in these considerations. That is why the Department has not established any stance about unisex school facilities. Through the consultations underway, we hope to gather responsible, credible and suitable recommendations for inclusion in the guidelines.

Reply:

The question has been referred to the Limpopo Department of Education and a response will be provided as soon as it is received.

Reply:

(1) No, because the ECD centres participate on a more tailor-made intervention programme called Gender Responsive Pedagogy for Early Childhood Education (GRP4ECE), which is meant to promote gender equality through play-based learning, thereby addressing discrimination, School-related Gender-based Violence (SRGBV) and bullying on the basis of gender.

(2) Yes, once the internal consultation with stakeholders is complete and the Draft Guidelines are put out as the latest version for public comment. 

Reply:

1. National School Safety Framework

The Department has trained schools on the implementation of the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) which is a guiding framework in addressing all forms of violent incidences in schools including gangsterism. The NSSF empowers schools to identify and manage all safety threats in schools, establish school safety committees comprising of stakeholders such as teachers, police officers, school governing body members and learner representative council members. Furthermore, The NSSF also empowers schools to develop incident reporting mechanisms, establish collaborations with external stakeholders such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Department of Social Development and civil society organisations, as well as develop school safety plans and policies to respond to safety challenges.

2. Protocol to Deal with Incidences of Corporal Punishment in schools

The Department developed and published a Protocol to Deal with Incidences of Corporal Punishment in schools to highlight the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools and to provide Provinces, Districts and schools guidance on how to deal with issues of corporal punishment. The protocol foregrounds the following areas:

• The steps to be taken by provincial, district, circuit and school Senior Management Team (SMT) in reporting the incidents of corporal punishment in schools;
• The complaints procedures are outlined and the measures to be taken at every level of the system are explicit and include the labour relations processes in response to perpetrators of corporal punishment as well as sexual abuse and harassment;
• In line with the NSSF the Protocol further supports schools in ensuring safe and supportive learning environments that use protective behaviour, positive discipline, restorative justice and positive behaviour intervention support systems.

3. Protocol on the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in Schools

The Department developed and published a Protocol on the Management and Reporting of Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Schools, which highlights the illegality of sexual harassment and abuse committed against children in schools, and to provide Provinces, Districts and schools guidance on how to deal with issues of sexual harassment and abuse in schools. The Protocol foregrounds the following:

• The various key legislation that protect children against sexual harassment and abuse which include the Employment of Educators act, 76 of 1998, the South African Council for Educators Act 31 of 2000, the Children’s Act of 2005 and Criminal law (sexual offences and related matters) amendment act, 2007 act 32 of 2007;
• The steps to be taken by provincial, district, circuit and school SMT  in reporting the incidents of sexual abuse and harassment in schools;
• The key stakeholders that schools are required to work with in dealing with cases of sexual harassment and abuse in schools.

4. Partnership Protocol between the Department of Basic Education and the South African Police Service (SAPS)

The Department also has an established Protocol with SAPS to address crime and violence in schools The Protocol has enabled all schools to be linked to their local police stations, SAPS conduct searches and seizures in schools and conduct crime awareness campaigns in schools. Regularly, schools work with SAPS and local community police forums and social workers to address gangsterism issues. Constantly, searches and seizures of illegal drugs and weapons are done in schools and anti-gangsterism campaigns in collaboration with the Department of Social Development and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development are conducted in schools.   

5. Inter-Departmental Campaign on the prevention of Violence, Bullying, Corporal Punishment, GBBV, Learner Pregnancy, Drugs and Substance Abuse

The Department and its partner Departments: Social Development, Justice and Constitutional Development, Correctional Services, the South African Police Service and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies have also embarked on an Inter-Departmental Campaign on Violence Prevention. This Campaign raises awareness on issues such as the prevention of bullying, corporal punishment, gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and drugs and substance abuse in schools. The Campaign has been championed by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education and is supported by other Deputy Ministers from the partner Departments. The Campaign has been targeting districts with high levels of crime and violence known as hot spots. The Campaign includes build up events that take groups of learners through priority content areas related to violence prevention.

Thus far, the Campaign has been rolled out in four provinces: Gauteng (Gauteng West District), Limpopo (Sekhukhune East District), Mpumalanga (Nkangala District) and the North West (Dr Kenneth Kaunda District).  The Campaign also involves Senior Management Teams, School Governing Bodies, learners, parents and ward councillors of the participating schools, in this way the Campaign is a whole school community engagement. The Department intends to continue rolling out the Campaign in other outstanding provinces during this financial year and into subsequent years.

Moreover, districts in collaboration with provincial education departments and civil society organisations also conduct regular awareness raising interventions that advocate for the prevention of violence in schools.  These provincial led programmes include school assembly talks, public debates and dialogues amongst learners.  The DBE monitors these awareness programmes through the District Monitoring of School Safety Programmes annually.

6. Codes of Conduct and Policies

The Department compels all schools to develop and adopt a code of conduct to address ill-discipline of learners. School codes of conduct are aligned with the Constitution of South Africa and child-protection legislation; and are communicated and adopted/ agreed to by all school stakeholders such as SMTs, School Governing Bodies and Learner Representative Councils. School codes of conduct are further supplemented by anti-bullying policies, alcohol and drug abuse policies which contribute towards creating safe and enabling environments in schools.  

Reply:

1. Learner Transport Programme is a shared responsibility between the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Transport. The provisioning of learner transport programme is a provincial competency and the National Departments of Basic Education and Transport monitor the provisioning of learner transport programme in provinces.

Province	(a) Number of Learners	(b) Learner Transport Routes	(c ) subsidized by her department
EC	125071	1608	Learner Transport programme is funded through the equitable share allocations to provinces and not subsidized by DBE
FS	9524	397
GP	190857	677
KZN	73933	672
LP	57636	399
MP	69725	524
NC	25878	408
NW	64450	671
WC	64843	566
TOTAL	681917	5922

2. There are no Public Private Partnerships as the Learner Transport programme is funded through the equitable share allocations to provinces.

Reply:

(1) Yes

(2) Due consideration has been given to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as the supreme law of the State, which prohibits violation of rights of all citizens.

(3) Human rights compliant education practice is an ongoing discourse; and the concern is that educators may not all be technically ready to implement the guidelines once published.  Therefore, the Department of Basic Education is working with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), South African Council for Education (SACE), Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), and the Commission on Gender Equality to ensure proper sensitisation of educators and school communities to circumvent this concern.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) will be collaborating with the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), South African Council for Educators (SACE), South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), School Governing Body (SGB) Associations, South African Principals' Association (SAPA), Education Faculties of Universities and Civil Society Organisations on a dissemination and sensitisation programme for schools.

(b)(i) As the document was endorsed by Council of Education Ministers (CEM), it will need to be re-tabled at CEM for final approval and publication, followed by a dissemination and sensitisation programme for schools.

(ii) The DBE has commenced consultations and engagements with relevant education stakeholders nationally.

(c) The DBE is currently in the process of consultations and engagements with relevant education stakeholders, working through Provincial Educations Departments (PEDs) and Education District Offices.

(i) The DBE is ambitiously aiming to conclude the consideration and incorporation of submitted comments by March 2023.

(ii) Due to delays already experienced in carrying out the consultations that are underway, the process may take a further three (3) months to June 2023 before publication.

(iii) Comments may be sent to [email protected] by 31 December 2022

Reply:

The online system prioritises place of residence, primary feeder school and place of work and not parental choice for placement of learners. Parental choice is considered after all qualifying learners have been placed.