Questions and Replies

Reply:

The questions asked have direct implications for the work of the Members of Executive Council (MECs) of Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and not the Minister of Basic Education. The Hon Member is therefore advised to submit the questions to the MECs for education in PEDs. 

Reply:

The question asked has direct implication to the work of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of the Eastern Cape Department of Education, not the Minister of Basic Education and therefore the Hon Member is advised to submit the question to the MEC for education in the Eastern Cape province.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education requested and assigned Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) to assist with shifting the Early Childhood Development (ECD) function from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to the Department of Basic Education(DBE). GTAC is a legally constituted government component of the National Treasury and provided technical and advisory services on the ECD function shift.   

Reply:

The Department has no policy on civvies. This is an SGB driven programme to raise funds for an identified project and has never been made compulsory to learners in schools where such practice is adopted.

Reply:

The configuration of Education Management Information System (EMIS) at the current stage does not support the collection of this type of information. 

Reply:

The question asked has direct implication to the work of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of the Northern Cape Department of Education, not the Minister of Basic Education and therefore the Hon Member is advised to submit the question to the MEC for education in the Northern Cape province.

Reply:

The expenditure of the South African Police Service (SAPS) on catering and accommodation since February 2018 was incurred in the fulfilment of the constitutional and statutory responsibilities of the police.

Like all other expenditure items in the SAPS budget, catering and accommodation are a normal part of the cost of running a police service.

This includes instances where officials have to be accommodated away from their normal place of work due to specific operational needs and deployment requirements. Examples in recent years include public order interventions in various provinces, securing the national and local government elections, deployments in response to COVID-19, and deployments to police the July 2021 unrest.

There is no reason to replace a Minister on the basis of expenditure that forms part of the operational requirements of a police service.

Reply:

The question asked has direct implication to the work of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of the Northern Cape Department of Education, not the Minister of Basic Education and therefore the Hon Member is advised to submit the question to the MEC for education in the Northern Cape province. 

Reply:

The question asked has direct implication to the work of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of the Northern Cape Department of Education, not the Minister of Basic Education and therefore the Hon Member is advised to submit the question to the MEC for education in the Northern Cape province.

Reply:

(1) and (3) The two questions have direct implication to the work of the Members of Executive Council (MECs) of the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces, not the Minister of Basic Education and therefore the Hon Member is advised to submit the two parts of the question to the MECs of the two provinces. 

(2) The Minister of Basic Education in South Africa signed a cooperation agreement with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education of Zimbabwe on 18 August 2022. The agreement is for cooperation in the field of basic education; including sharing best practices in curriculum, teacher development, national examinations, assessments, and infrastructure.

Reply:

(a) The National State of Disaster that was promulgated in South Africa due to COVID-19 pandemic created a unique situation which disrupted the school calendar thus impacting on the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for 2020 and 2021 academic year. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) worked in collaboration with Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) and other stakeholders such as Teacher Unions and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) to put together a framework for curriculum recovery plans post the COVID 19 lockdown. The framework revised school calendar and curriculum reorganization and trimming as some of the strategies to create opportunities for curriculum recovery. The framework further motivated for a nationally driven process of careful Curriculum Content Mapping (CCM) that informed curriculum reorganization/trimming to cover the curriculum. 

The DBE used Curriculum Content Mapping to develop the Recovery Annual Teaching Plans (ATPs) and to revise the Programme of Assessment as broad policy to assist schools with guided pacing and sequencing of curriculum content and assessment for Grades R-11. The process was done in a manner that the final learning outcomes are not compromised and that teachers to cover the essential core content in each phase, in preparation for the subsequent phase, laying the necessary cumulative foundation for the final examinations and assessment for progression. The DBE further ensured that assessment for learning is placed as an integral to curriculum delivery and completes the learning cycle. The DBE trimmed number of School Based Tasks in all the subjects to ensure that more time is committed to teaching and learning. The June Examination was also removed in all the grades to consolidate teaching and learning. The DBE also increased the number of school days by reducing the school holidays in 2021 to ensure that teaching and learning are prioritised.  

(b) The DBE has encouraged the learning losses are recorded in each and every subject in each province increased the number of school days by reducing the school holidays in 2021 to ensure that teaching and learning are prioritised. The PEDs are encouraged to develop catch-up plans to recover the learning losses. The Recovery ATPs also ensured that they built in content from the previous grades that is core and fundamental as part of revision before starting with the teaching of the new content for the current grades. The DBE in collaboration with relevant stakeholders also broadcast (TV and radio) lessons in various critical subjects to assist learners catching up on the learning losses. The DBE distributed different Self Study Guides (Grades 10-12) in various subjects to assist learners as part of recovering the learning losses. 

Reply:

Unsafe learning environments and exposure to violence reduces the quality of education for all learners. Affected learners may avoid or participate less in class or drop out of school altogether. Learners and educators, including support staff who are exposed to violence are at increased risks of anxiety, psychological stress, and depression. To this end, Department of Basic Education undertakes a quarterly district monitoring exercise on all Safety in Education, Sport & Enrichment in Education and Social Cohesion & Equity in Education programmes. This monitoring exercise is reflected in the Annual Performance Plan (APP), Indicator 5.1.3: Number of districts monitored in the implementation of the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), Social Cohesion, Sport and Enrichment Programmes. In terms of the APP, this indicator is scheduled for monitoring quarterly, targeting the 75 districts per financial year.

The NSSF remains our primary strategic response to school violence. It is a comprehensive approach that coordinates and consolidates all school safety interventions in the sector.  The NSSF is based on a social ecological systems model which locates the school within its broader community.  It relies on collaboration and partnerships for a more coordinated approach to responding to school violence. The NSSF provides the framework within which:

a) All schools have active school safety committees and school safety plans based on an audit of needs are in place and are reviewed frequently.

b) School perimeter is secured (fenced) and access controls (guard and/or surveillance) are in place and managed. Infrastructure plans for 2018/19 are informed by the Audit of the Districts’ school fencing coverage which highlights the schools that need to be prioritised.

c) School codes of conduct are aligned with the Constitution of South Africa and child-protection legislation; and is communicated and adopted/ agreed to by all school stakeholders.

d) Corporal punishment is prohibited by law and alternatives on positive discipline are implemented in all schools.

e) Protocols are in place to inforce consequence management timeously and is consistently applied when responding to contraventions that put the learning environment at risk.

f) Schools have systems in place to report violent incidences and criminal behaviour at local police station, to district and provincial office bearers and SACE.

g) Schools have established relationships with their intergovernmental counterparts: Departments of Social Development; Health and Justice, to progressively ensure services such as counselling services (SBSTs); medical examinations and access to justice are effective and in the best interest of the child.

For the reporting period 2022/2023, the DBE is conducting monitoring and support in seventy-five (75) districts on the implementation of the NSSF.  This includes the functionality of School Safety Committees.  Provinces and districts have committed to rolling out training to all schools to ensure that all School Safety Committees are trained, including all school personnel (educators and support staff). 

Reply:

The Dinaledi schools and Technical Secondary School's Recapitalisation Conditional Grants were subsumed by the introduction of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Conditional Grant, following a review by the DBE in 2015, it was decided that these grants would be merged. The strategic goal of the MST Grant is to strengthen the implementation of the National Development Plan and the Action Plan to 2019 by increasing the number of learners taking mathematics, science and technology subjects, improving the success rates in the subjects and improving teachers’ capabilities. The purpose is to provide support and resources to schools, teachers and learners in line with the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for the improvement of mathematics, science and technology teaching and learning at selected public schools. 

The Grant's purpose is to provide support and resources to schools, teachers and learners in line with the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for the improvement of mathematics, science and technology teaching and learning at selected public schools, to be provided as follows:

School support:

o 485 schools supplied with subject specific computer hardware and related software in accordance with the minimum specifications prescribed by CAPS including coding and robotics pilot schools 

o 232 technical (including pilot schools for the vocationally oriented curriculum) and agricultural schools’ workshop tools, machinery, equipment and consumables for technology subjects repaired, maintained and/or replaced in accordance with the minimum specifications 

o 1256 laboratories supplied with apparatus and consumables for mathematics, science and technology subjects in accordance with the minimum specifications including coding and robotics kits.

Learner support:

o 50 000 learners registered for participation in mathematics, science and technology olympiads/fairs/expos and other events based on a structured annual calendar including support through learner camps and additional learning, teaching and support material such as study guides.

Teacher support:

o 1500 participants attending specific structured training and orientation for teachers and subject advisors in subject content and teaching methodologies on CAPS for electrical, civil and mechanical technology, technical mathematics, and technical sciences 

o 1000 teachers and subject advisors attending targeted and structured training in teaching methodologies and subject content either for mathematics, physical, life, natural and agricultural sciences, technology, computer applications technology, information technology, agricultural management and technology subjects

Reply:

How will the minister address these issues across the board? What are the prospects of having them permanently employed by the department? 

1.Learner Support Agents Recruitment, Roles and Responsibilities and Working Environment.

• Learner Support Agents are placed in schools by the Department of Basic Education and sector partners supporting the implementation of Co-curriculum programmes including the USAID and the  Global Fund. To ensure that the implementation is standard and LSAs are not exploited, the DBE has developed a standard contract for LSAs which articulates the roles and responsibilities of the LSAs and schools. Provinces also conduct an orientation workshop for the school community and the LSAs on the contracts, roles and responsibilities .
• Furthermore, the Department is in the process of developing the LSA Operational Framework which aims to standardise the LSA programme and provide a clear field guide for the implementation and management of LSA programme across the country.

2. Prospects of them being permanently employed.

• The LSA offering is an empowerment or learnership programme which seeks to assist young people by giving them an opportunity to get skills and work experience. They are employed through the EPWP Code of good practice which clearly outlines the nature of the employment – e.g. Section 4 (Beneficiaries of special public works programmes), Section 7 (Duration of Participation), Section 8 (Forced labour is prohibited), Section 9 (Unemployment insurance), Section 10 (Payment), Section 11 (Hours of work), Section 13 (Health and Safety) amongst others.

Reply:

Please find attached the response on Single medium, Double Medium, Parallel Medium. 

Reply:

Attached please find the response. 

Reply:

1. The Minister took the decision to withdraw the policy on incentives for teachers after consideration of implementation challenges that Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) had been experiencing since the inception of the policy. These implementation challenges included the practicalities related to the identification of qualifying posts and the availability of funding to sustain and extend the policy have affected its effectiveness. These challenges, compounded by the current budget constraints that most PEDs are facing, has resulted in a decision to terminate the policy.

2. Although the policy was contained in a Ministerial determination as opposed to a collective agreement with teacher unions, the Department consulted with unions that are party to the Education Labour Relations Council. The consultation with teacher unions on the intention to withdraw the policy was finalised on 14 February 2022.

3.There is currently no specific plan. However, a number of developments have occurred since the determination of the policy in 2008 which are directly or indirectly addressing the supply challenges that the incentives policy aimed to address. There has been a rapid  growth in the supply of  teacher education graduates  from an annual output of about 7000 graduates in 2008 to about 30000 in 2022. In addition, as part of the implementation of the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme, a portion of bursaries are reserved for the district-based allocation targeting rural districts. This is in addition to targeted recruitment in scarce skills subjects.

Reply:

The management and Governance of this school is the competence of provincial authority of the Free State Province's Member of the Executive Council (MEC)  for Education.  The Honourable member is advised to refer the question to the MEC.

Reply:

The Minister and Department of Basic Education are not directly responsible for the operation of schools. The Honourable Member of Parliament is advised to refer the question to the relevant provincial education department.

Reply:

The information requested in the question falls within the Executive purview of the Member of the Executive Council of the Eastern Cape Department of Education, not the Minister of Basic Education.

Reply:

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

Reply:

What are the educational requirements for early childhood development (ECD) workers?

• The Department of Basic Education is training the ECD practitioners on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) from birth to four years on NQF level 4, which is the minimum qualification for ECD practitioners.

What is the total number of ECD workers in the Republic and the provincial breakdown?

• The Department released the ECD Census Summary Report on 01 April 2022, which tells us that there is a total of 198,361 staff employed in ECD Programmes. The information on the provincial breakdown will however be available when the full report of the ECD Census is finalised and released. 

Reply:

The DBE has intensified its monitoring activities of  the Eastern Cape DoE Infrastructure Programme.  Meetings with the provincial team are held twice every month. Monitoring addresses planning, budgeting, expenditure, procurement and project management. These are interrogated and a sample of projects are visited. Based on the findings from these visits, remedial actions are devised with the province and monitored by the DBE. Monitoring deals with both programme and project issues. 

1.  Programme matters include - 

- The pattern of overall expenditure being achieved;

-Comparisons of expenditure to projected cash flows;

- Progress being made with key groups of projects [eg. Water, sanitation, libraries, laboratories, Grade R]; and

- Management of the portfolio of projects [ie evidence that the programme of projects is being managed effectively through the project cycle].

2.  At the Project level the focus is on ensuring -

-that PSP appointments are being made;

- that planning and design processes are progressing;

- that the tender process for the appointment of contractors is progressing, that construction is progressing satisfactorily, [i.e. on programme, on budget, at acceptable quality…]; and

- that projects are being handed over and closed out and that final accounts are being wrapped up.

Reply:

While the DBE responded to the initial question about the work we do with the Department of Social Development around provision of the psychosocial support to learners and educators with the intention of building resilience, minimizing mental health problems and ensuring continuity of teaching and learning in schools; the current question needs specifics about the three provinces which is the responsibility of the Members of the Executive Councils (MECs) of those provinces and not the Minister. 

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education is not aware of assertions made that of the 125 000 pupils eligible for scholar transport in the Eastern Cape, only 10 000 will be accommodated due to budget constraints.

However, Information received from the Eastern Cape Department of Transport who implement the Learner Transport Programme in the province indicates that for the 2021/2022 Financial Year, there were 111 127 learners who were eligible for Learner Transport Programme and of these, 125 423 learners were transported which was 112% more than the total need.

For the 2022/2023 Financial Year, there are 127 455 learners who are eligible for Learner Transport Programme and of these, 102 998 learners are targeted to be transported which is 81% of the total need. This leaves out 24 457 who are in need and qualify for learner transport due to Budget constraints

The Shova Kalula National Bicycle Project is an initiative of the National Department of Transport which was introduced as a pilot project in 2001. The project is an intervention to improve mobility and access to basic needs. The project aims to alleviate transport pressure on poor households and ensure access to public transport and schools.

The Department of Basic Education is not fully privy of the project schedule and thus request the Honorable Member to redirect the question to the Department of Transport as the custodians of the project. 

Reply:

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 03/06/2022

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 22/2022

2189. Mrs D van der Walt (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education: to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

. (1) What (a) is the total number of girls who gave birth in 2021 in each province in each age group from 12 to 19 years and (b) monetary and/or otherwise support do the specified (i) learners and (ii) their children receive from her department; (2) what steps are being taken by her department to educate the learners with regard to the (a) long-term career implications, (b) monetary costs of raising a child and (c) implications of falling pregnant at a young age without finishing school?

Response

1. (a) According to data from the Department of Health, the total number of girls who gave birth in the 2021 financial year in each province in each age group from 12 to 19 years are provided below,  and

Province	Number of deliveries to girls aged 10-19 years (April 2021 - March 2022)
EC	12 582
FS	4 444
GT	13 814
KZN	24 230
LIM	11 287
MPU	8 840
NC	2 662
NW	5 635
WC	6 543
RSA	90 037

 

1. (b) Schools are required to provide an environment where all pregnant learners can access professional information advice, referrals, treatment, care, counselling and support. Therefore, other departments also have a role to play in ensuring that the pregnant learners are linked to services such as antenatal and postnatal care provided by the Health Department; and the Department of Social Development and SASSA for access to the Child Support Grant and other social support, amongst others. The department protects the rights of learners to education including continuation of schooling through accommodating reasonable absence due to pregnancy and provision of continuous educational support post-delivery while facilitating earliest return to school. Furthermore, through partners such as Global Fund, learners are given Early Childhood Development  (ECD) Vouchers so that they can leave their children in ECD Centres while the learner is continuing with schooling.

 2.  (a) The Comprehensive Sexuality Education that is offered through Life Skills and Life Orientation, educates all learners about goal setting and how they can reach their full potential. Furthermore, the department also holds Career Jamborees and Future Choice where learners get to see different career paths that they can choose.

 2. (b) and (c) The Career Jamborees and Future Choice campaigns are held with other government departments, including health. Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights information and services are provided, which includes content on the consequences of early and unintended pregnancy. 

Reply:

a) School closures and lost contact time

After schools closed on the 18th of March in 2020, in response to the initial spread of COVID-19 in South Africa, a phased approach to reopening schools was adopted by the government. This meant that the amount of time that schools were closed varied across grades. Moreover, once schools were reopened they had to adhere to social distancing rules, which had the inevitable effect that most schools adopted some form of rotational timetabling. The overall effect of school closures and rotational timetabling meant that in some grades up to 60% of the 2020 school year was lost, as the figure below shows.

 

Figure 1: School days in 2020 by grade

 

After schools were reopened, contact teaching time was still compromised throughout 2020 and 2021 due to rotational timetabling systems. A large survey of no-fee primary school schools in the North West Province in term 3 of 2021 revealed that in 60% of the 190 schools visited, the school was on a rotational schedule. These findings are roughly in line with patterns observed in no-fee schools in Limpopo Province (Ardington & Henry, Funda Wande Limpopo Evaluation, 2021). A Department of Basic Education analysis of 2021 Term 3 administrative data on attendance suggested that approximately 22% of contact time in Term 3 of 2021 was lost nationally, but that in schools where rotational timetabling was still being implemented the amount of lost contact time was as much as 50%.

 

 

Figure 2: School attendance in 2021 in the North West Province

(b) (i) Measures in place to make up for lost time: The Three year Recovery Annual Teaching Plans (ATPs), which is a trimmed curriculum, provides guidance on core content, concepts and skills per subject and grade that teachers should prioritise. Mediation sessions have been conducted by PEDs on the implementation of the Recovery Annual Teaching Plans. A directive has been issued to schools to focus on formative assessment to ensure that more time is allocated to teaching. The Assessment for Learning (AfL) approach has been promoted at all levels in the system. Mid-year examinations were replaced by controlled tests. The weightings of school based assessment versus examinations has been reviewed so that a greater weighting is allocated to school based assessment conducted by the teacher in the classroom. Remote and Digital Learning programmes such as Radio and television lessons are broadcast for catch-up. The Education Assistants and Reading Champions were employed and placed in schools to alleviate some of the teachers’ administrative responsibilities, to ensure that teachers focus on the teaching and learning. The DBE has officially declared that 2022 to 2024 will be focussing on learning recovery, based on the Recovery ATP (trimmed ATP), even though normal schooling has resumed across all schools. This will allow schools more time to recover the learning losses. Teachers have been advised to first assess the learning deficits, for each of the sections of the work to be taught, so that learners can be taken from where they are, to where they need to get to.   

(ii) Provinces do report on the implementation of measures put in place to counter-act learning losses and the DBE monitors the implementation of these measures on an ongoing basis. However, given the extent of the learning losses, it may be pre-mature to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning recovery at this early stage. Evaluation studies in this regard are part of the DBE plan and will be implemented in 2023 and 2024.  

For other details on how much contact time was list, please see attachment.

Reply:

(a) There are currently no legislated norms and standards for learner to educator ratio in public schools. The post provisioning norms apply what is referred to "ideal maximum class size" for each subject which ranges from six (6) learners per class in the case of Music, to 37 for subjects that accommodate large class sizes. As referred, these are ideal measures that the sector strives to achieve through continuous improvement in providing resources. It must also be noted that actual class sizes experienced by learners at schools are an outcome of various factors in the provisioning of educators. These include, among other factors, availability of classroom space; distribution of learners within and across grades; an increase of learners in certain geographic areas; time-tabling; and school size.

(b) Improving the class size towards a subject-specific ideal class size is an ongoing process.

Reply:

1(a) The Eastern Cape Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education initiative has 2 295 teachers who are able to teach through the medium of IsiXhosa and Sesotho.  

1(b) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is in the process of putting a plan in place to promote all the nine previously marginalised official African languages as languages of learning and teaching beyond Grade 3. 

2. The DBE is collaborating with the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) to put a plan in place to promote the nine previously marginalised official African languages (IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, IsiNdebele, Siswati, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga) as languages of learning and teaching post Foundation Phase. The DBE is establishing a task team comprising different stakeholders. The Old Mutual is part of the Task Team. So is the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. We are still in the very initial stage of the plan and trying to identify and bring in all the relevant stakeholders. 

The DBE, through the Eastern Cape Education's own initiative, piloted the Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education wherein IsiXhosa and Sesotho were utilised as languages of learning and teaching for Mathematics and Science and Technology beyond Grade 3. The learnings from the Eastern Cape Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education pilot taught us to be very prudent on dealing with a programme of this nature.

3. The DBE has a working relationship with the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (DHESI) on teacher production. The DHESI will be part of the African Languages Mother Tongue Education Task Team. The different options of accelerating teacher training in Mother-Tongue Based instruction will be explored by the Task Team and use of Teacher Training Colleges, could be one of the options. However, Teacher Training Colleges do not fall under the jurisdiction of the DBE.    

4. Research worldwide shows that learners learn best through their home languages. The DBE has continuously been conducting research on the impact of learning in one's home language. The Early Grade Reading Studies (EGRS) were designed as nested Randomised Control Trials led by the DBE in collaboration with other academics. The EGRS studies focus on the Foundation Phase, evaluating different interventions for supporting the teaching of reading. The studies aim to build evidence about what works to improve the learning and teaching of early grade reading in South African schools.

EGRS was a comparison of the cost-effectiveness of three promising intervention models to improve reading outcomes in Setswana as a Home Language. The interventions were (i) a structured learning programme with lesson plans and integrated materials as well as centralised training, (ii) the same structured programme with lesson plan integrated materials but with on-site coaching, and (iii) a parent involvement intervention.

Of the three interventions the coaching showed a substantial positive impact after two years of intervention. Learners who received two years of this coaching intervention were approximately 40% of a year of learning ahead of the students in the schools that received no intervention. The gains were sustained when the same learners were measured in Grade 4, one year after the intervention they were still about 40% of a year of learning ahead. A further follow-up on these learners was conducted in 2021 to measure long-term gains and the data thereof is currently being analysed. 

An improvement plan was developed based on the recommendations. This was adopted by Cabinet and the implementation of the improvement plan has been ongoing. Documents relating to EGRS are attached.

Reply:

1) Over 10 000 teachers have been provided training across all provinces. The DBE has also, through a partnership with UNISA, provided training on coding and robotic to 986 Foundation Phase teachers, subject advisors and provincial coordinators to date. 

2) The selection of schools for the pilot included schools in townships, rural areas as well as those providing multi-grade teaching including school for learners with special education needs. 

Reply:

(a) The public schools' sector loses between 18 000-22 000 (4.5%-5.5% of the overall educator population) educators annually due to natural attrition, in the main, driven by resignations, retirements and deaths. Analysis of excess deaths shows that there was a notable increase in deaths during the height of COVID-19. However, on the whole, the numbers were still within the range in terms of the annual attrition rate experienced by the sector. Therefore, educators that the sector lost due to COVID-19 deaths were continuously being replaced as part of the overall replacement of educators due to natural attrition. 

(b) The replacement of educators lost due to attrition is an ongoing process.

Reply:

Finetown Secondary School was only closed for two days. The challenge of overcrowding is common in schools serving informal settlement due to non-stop immigration to such areas which cannot be planned for.  The department requires an amount over 5 billion Rands to build over 16 000 additional classes to overcome overcrowding in the sector, Finetown Secondary included. Such funding is currently unavailable to the sector due to budget constraints as the country focuses on rebuilding flood ravaged areas of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West.

Reply:

Information received from the North West Provincial Department of Transport and Roads (NWDoTR) through the North West Department of Education (NWDoE), indicates that the province experienced the budget depletion for the financial year 2021/2022 during the said period of interrupted service.  Therefore, the NWDoTR was unable to pay learner transport operators for the months of January, February and March 2022. 

When the budget for the new financial year 2022/2023 was loaded, all outstanding payments were processed. Therefore, at this moment there is no stopped or intention to stop payment intended for learners of Rakoko High School.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education collaborates with the Central Drug Authority (CDA), a statutory body established in terms of the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse Act, 2008 (Act No. 70 of 2008). The DBE supports the implementation of the CDA Drug Master Plan, as reflected in the annual report.

The DBE has developed the National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Alcohol and Drug Use Amongst Learners in Schools, accompanied by Drug Testing Guidelines, which are currently under review to ensure these remain abreast of evidence-based developments in the field.

In addition, the resource High-on-Life Toolkit, was co-developed with the African Youth Development Agency and is used to capacitate District Co-ordinators to prevent the abuse of substances in schools.

In the course of 2021 through 2022 financial years, the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education are leading a multi-sectoral programme in all nine provinces towards the Prevention of Violence, Bullying, Corporal Punishment, Gender-based Violence, Discrimination and the Abuse of Alcohol and Substances in Schools. 

Reply:

1. (a) (b) (c). In 2011, the Department of Basic Education (in collaboration with the nine Provincial Departments of Education), determined the number of schools with no toilets.  A total of 1 053 such schools were included in the scope of the Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative (ASIDI).

At present, 1 039 of these schools have received a full set of appropriate toilets in accordance with the minimum uniform norms and standards for public school infrastructure.  The balance of 14 schools are scheduled for completion in 2022/23.

In 2018, the Department of Basic Education, again in collaboration with the nine Provincial Departments of Education, determined the number of schools that are dependent on basic pit toilets. A total of 3 482 such schools were included in the scope of the Sanitation Appropriate For Education (SAFE) programme.

At present, 1 962 of these schools have received a full set of appropriate toilets in accordance with the minimum uniform norms and standards for public school infrastructure.  The balance of 1 520 schools are part of the DBE plans for this current financial year.

Reply:

(a), (b) (i)(ii). The National Department does not collect the requested information as part of its routine monitoring and support framework. The Department will, however, request each Provincial Education Department to provide the information as requested. The information will be provided to the Honorable Member of Parliament once it is obtained. 

Reply:

(a) The provisioning of Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSMs) is a provincial responsibility. However, DBE guides provinces on the procurement processes which detail the activities and timeframes in line with the LTSMs sector plan.

Thereafter DBE monitors if provinces observe the timeframe set. According to the reports received from provinces, all schools received their LTSMs as per their orders for 2020/21 financial year. The Hounourable Member is requested to direct the question through the provincial legislatures, where there are province-specific questions or concerns.

(b) Provincial reports to DBE show that all schools received their ordered LTSMs. Provinces have assured the DBE that where there are shortages, the provinces are currently receiving requisitions from schools to address these shortages.

Reply:

The question  has been addressed by the Revised Directions published in the gazette on 4 April 2022.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education does not have any commercial contracts with the Russian Federation.

Reply:

a) Zero. 

b) The National School Nutrition Programme's mandate is to provide school meals to Q1-3 primary and secondary schools, and identified special schools. The Department has no knowledge of any schools falling into these categories that are not included in the programme.

Reply:

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

Reply:

The closing of a school is a provincial matter and should be referred to the Member of the Executive Council of the relevant province.

Reply:

All Provincial Education Departments have paid their invigilators, except for two PEDs, where there are outstanding payments. In the case of the Western Cape, 22 of the 2007 invigilators that were appointed have not been paid. The 22 outstanding payments emanate from administrative issues relating to incorrect banking details, awaiting deceased estate details, and individuals blocked on Persal due to different reasons. In the Eastern Cape, 594 of the 1192 invigilators have not been paid, due to incomplete or late submission of documents by the invigilators. However, this has now been finalised and the outstanding payments were made.   

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education partnered with the Department of Social Development (DSD) as efforts to ensure the provision of psychosocial support to learners and educators with the intention of building resilience, minimizing mental health problems and ensuring continuity of teaching and learning in schools. All Provincial Departments of Education refer learners to DSD, particularly for statutory services in relation to child abuse cases.

Working with the Gauteng Department of Education, the DSD has employed one hundred and thirteen (113) social workers, eighteen (18) Social Work Supervisors and ten (10) Social Auxilliary Workers, and attached them to the Education Districts. The contact details for the DSD supervisors have been provided to schools and School Based Support Team members should they need to escalate cases.

To strengthen psychosocial support during COVID-19, the Free State Department of Education partnered with the Department of Social Development (DSD) around placement of Social Work Interns at District level. Fifty four (54) social work interns were placed in the respective Districts and hotspot areas within circuits. Orientation of these Social workers on the psychosocial needs in the context of COVID-19 was conducted by the DBE and the Province. The placement has since been terminated.

The North West Department of Education has partnered with the DSD by referring learners with psychosocial support needs to social workers within the DSD and networking with DSD to provide trauma debriefing and counselling of learners. They have established an Inter sectoral collaboration with Health and DSD in terms of identification and support of learners.

In KwaZulu-Natal Education Department, each school in the Province has been linked to the Health facilities and DSD service office for the provision of health and psychosocial support services respectively.

Mpumalanga Department of Education has been in discussion with DSD on how they can assist with the Social Workers employed by DSD. Currently, they have a working partnership where districts have contact details of DSD district coordinators, for case referral purposes.

The Northern Cape Department of Education refer cases that need further support to Provincial and District Structures of the DSD and Health. The Province conducts monthly meetings with DoH and DSD.

Reply:

The question asked by the Honourable Member falls within the purview of the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), not the Minister of Basic Education. Attached please see response from KZN. 

Reply:

(a) The nine criteria that constitute the reporting in terms of the Inclusive Basket framework, are as follows:

        (i)     Overall Achievement (%).

        (ii)    Mathematics Participation (%).

        (iii)    Mathematics Achievement (%).

        (iv)    Physical Science Achievement (%).

        (v)    Technical Mathematics Achievement (%)

        (vi)    Accounting Achievement (%)

        (vii)   Admission to Bachelor Studies (%)

        (viii)  Distinction Achievement (%)

        (ix)   Throughput rate (%) 

       

(b)    The rationale for the Inclusive Basket of Criteria, is to move away from a single determinant of the performance of the schooling system (i.e. Overall Pass Percentage) to a more comprehensive set of quality indicators that more accurately reflect the performance of the schooling system at the end of Grade 12. The specific subjects which include Mathematics, Physical Science, Technical Mathematics and Accounting, represents the priority subject fields that need to be promoted in the schooling system. Accounting has been added as a proxy subject for the Business, Commerce and Management subjects, and Technical Mathematics added as a proxy subject for the Technology stream. Admission to Bachelor Studies and the Distinction Achievement are strong indicators of the quality of the achievement and throughput rate reflects the efficiency of the system.

(c)  The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) made a decision that the Inclusive Basket of Criteria will be piloted for a few years so as to obtain feedback on the uptake of this new system of reporting and to ensure that the criteria are appropriately selected. Therefore, over the last three years the criteria have been amended based on feedback on what should be the priority drivers in the system and there has been a shift from aggregating the individual scores of the selected indicators to reporting on each of the criteria individually. The Inclusive Basket of Criteria has been used as the secondary mode of reporting, while overall pass percentage remained the primary reporting tool. This will be reviewed once again this year and a decision will be made as to how the Inclusive Basket of Criteria will be used in 2022 and beyond.

(d)  (i) Table representing the Performance of the Nine PEDs, in the 2021 NSC Examination, in terms of the Inclusive Basket of Criteria.

Province Name	% Achieved	% Accounting Achieved	% Mathematics Achieved	% Physical Sciences Achieved	% Technical Mathematics	% Maths Participation	% Bachelors	% Distinctions Achieved	% Throughput
EASTERN CAPE	73.0%	76.4%	46.6%	62.3%	50.7%	48.0%	34.3%	3.7%	66.2%
FREE STATE	85.7%	81.9%	66.6%	75.1%	73.5%	36.4%	39.9%	3.5%	58.7%
GAUTENG	82.8%	81.9%	68.2%	73.5%	63.4%	31.2%	43.8%	5.2%	70.4%
KWAZULU-NATAL	76.8%	70.1%	54.2%	71.2%	63.0%	36.9%	37.1%	5.0%	73.5%
LIMPOPO	66.7%	65.2%	54.5%	67.8%	53.6%	42.7%	26.7%	2.4%	70.1%
MPUMALANGA	73.6%	71.4%	54.0%	61.5%	78.0%	42.8%	31.5%	2.4%	77.3%
NORTH WEST	78.2%	79.6%	71.5%	77.5%	48.4%	23.9%	33.8%	2.8%	61.5%
NORTHERN CAPE	71.4%	80.8%	59.2%	65.2%	59.8%	21.1%	30.3%	2.1%	58.1%
WESTERN CAPE	81.2%	80.1%	73.4%	78.3%	63.2%	26.3%	45.3%	7.2%	73.4%
NATIONAL	76.4%	74.7%	57.6%	69.0%	60.1%	36.8%	36.4%	4.2%	69.8

(d) (ii)  Annexure A, Representing the Performance of the Seventy Five Education Districts in the 2021 NSC Examinations, in terms of the Inclusive Basket of Criteria.  

Reply:

DBE plans to eradicate pit toilets on the original list of schools which were identified at inception of the SAFE initiative during the 2022/2023 financial year.

Reply:

a) What are the criteria for the admissions for the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme?

     (i) There are criteria for first time applicants who include the District and Community-based recruits and the returning or existing students who are already enrolled at an HEI. The              criteria are stipulated as follows:

A. For 1st time entrants to a Higher Education Institution

• An exemption, endorsement, or ‘admission to bachelor degree studies’ pass at Grade 12 level.
• At least a level 4 pass at Grade 12 level in the subject which leads on to the priority area/subject in which the applicant will specialize to teach.
• For students who wish to specialize in the Foundation Phase, a pass in Mathematics or at least level 4 pass in Mathematical Literacy at Grade 12 level is required. In addition, a level 4 pass in the Home Language is required.
• Students who wish to specialize in the teaching of Technology subjects, including CAT, and who do not have these subjects at matric level, must have at least a level 4 pass in Mathematics.
• If the institution’s admission requirements are higher than the bursary requirement and vice versa then the higher requirement will apply.

 

1. For existing bursars

• The student must have passed at least two-thirds (66.6%) of all the subject modules studied in the last year of study at the university.
• The student must have passed at least two-thirds (66.6%) of the priority subject area modules studied in the last year of study at the Higher Education Institution. This should include specific province-specific subjects of students selected through the District and Community Based teacher recruitment programme.
• For the Foundation Phase, Language, Mathematics and Life Skills will form the priority subjects for purposes of the re-awarding of the bursary.
• If a student is doing one priority subject, he/she must pass it to qualify for re-award.
• The student must be progressing to the next level/year of study.
• The students must achieve at least a 55% average across all subject modules.
• Students who register and fail a module twice in a year, that module will be counted twice for purposes of determining the course load and the number of modules failed.
• Students who fail to meet the above will have their bursaries temporarily withdrawn until they redeem themselves by meeting these requirements, where they will again be considered for funding.

B. What are the criteria for a student wanting to change subjects when receiving the scholarship?

            Students are not allowed to change subjects, once awarded they have to adhere to the subject until the qualification is completed.

        b. (i) The number of learners have that been accepted for mathematics and science,

• For 2022, selections at HEIs are still being conducted and the data will be made available after the outcome of the selections have been concluded. However, the table below illustrates the number of Mathematics and Sciences students for the previous academic year (2021).

   

SUBJECTS/MODULES	Number of students
Mathematics	5958
Physical Science	1970

Source: FLIMS SUBMITTED Q4 LIST

 

       b. (ii)  The number of student passed with mathematics and science in the past three academic years is indicated in the table below:

       

Mathematics and Physical Science Pass Rate in the past three academic years
Subject	2019	2020	2021	Total
Mathematics	1500	2355	2408	6263
Physical Science	430	687	807	1924

 

      b. (iii) The number of drop out of their studies before completion?    

• No drop-outs from the Funza Lushaka bursars, however, one (1) student was reported as deceased.                         

Reply:

The question is more relevant to the provincial administration since it is the responsibility of the employer, who in terms of section 3(1)(b) of the Employment of Educators Act is the Head of the Provincial Education Department (PED) to implement policies with regards to the Code of Conduct and safety measures at schools, as well to enforce disciplinary code and procedures against all employees employed at the provincial level.

The question should therefore be forwarded to the relevant employer (PED) for a response.

Reply:

Posts whether teaching or otherwise on the establishment of the Provincial Department of Education in Limpopo are the responsibility of the Head Of the Department of Education in Limpopo to fill since he/she is the employer and not the Department of Basic Education.

For this reason, the honourable Ms Tafeni is requested to direct this question to the MEC or Head of Department of the Limpopo Provincial Department of Education for a response.