ATC120307: Report Oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, dated 6 March 2012

Basic Education

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, dated 6 March 2012

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, having undertaken oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, reports as follows:

Executive Summary

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education conducted oversight visits to underperforming districts in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo andMpumalanga between 10 and 19 January 2012. The purpose of the oversight was to assess the state of school readiness for 2012 in these districts and provinces. The Committee focused on crucial areas such as the state of the school environment, the supply and training of teachers; readiness to implement the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS); the state of registration of learners; the delivery of textbooks, workbooks and stationery; and, the availability of learner transport and school nutrition to qualifying learners.

As part of the oversight, the Committee received briefings from officials of the Provincial Departments, districts and teacher unions on aspects of school readiness. The Committee also visited a total of 20 schools, 14 secondary and six primary schools, where members held meetings with stakeholders in order to learn first-hand the state of school readiness and to discuss the challenges faced by schools.

Key findings

Overall, the Committee found that while there were indications of positive preparations made in terms of readiness to start the school year in 2012, provincial departments and districts experienced major challenges in certain areas.

On a positive note, some districts and circuits reported that they had implemented some interventions and initiatives to assist schools to deal with poor performance. The visits to schools showed that some schools had developed plans detailing strategies for learner improvement which include holding morning, afternoon, weekend and holiday classes. These efforts need to be harnessed and scaled up throughout the system. The Committee also found that the National School Nutrition Programme, which advances learner wellness and thus impacts on quality teaching and learning, was also running well in many schools, despite a few glitches in some schools.

Major challenges that cut across the provinces visited included a chronic shortage of subject advisors to support teachers, the shortage and utilisation of staff in critical subjects such as mathematics and physical science, the persistent delay in the delivery of textbooks and workbooks to schools and the late admissions of learners. These issues are of major concern to the Committee as they impede the enhancement of teaching and learning.

In addition, the termination of temporary teachers at the beginning of the school year, sometimes depriving learners of educators, severely compromises effective teaching and learning. On the other hand, temporary teachers find themselves in the unenviable position with respect to their lack of employment and placement. There is a need for a more amicable solution to this challenge.

In respect of CAPS training in preparation for implementation in the Foundation Phase and in Grade 10 in 2012, the Committee found that, although teachers received training, there was a need for further targeted training in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. In Mpumalanga where many teachers did not receive this crucial training, there was a need to ensure that it is fast-tracked as planned. The Committee will closely monitor the roll-out of this training.

The Committee also found that there was a need to revive the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) across provinces as it is not as active as expected. The absence of the QLTC compromises efforts to address challenges of learner discipline and parental involvement identified in several schools.

Another finding was that provinces encounter shortages of learner transport for those who qualify. There is a need to ensure that additional funds are made available to accommodate such learners.

Besides these common challenges, specific provinces experienced further challenges. In the Eastern Cape, the Committee found that the Libode District experiences serious staffing and infrastructure challenges needing to be addressed as a matter of urgency. It was also found that the work of the district was hampered by the location of its office in Mthatha, outside the district. The Committee notes that this requires urgent attention.

In Limpopo, the Committee found that the key challenge was that the tranch of the norms and standards allocation to schools had not been received, which was essential for schools to buy their basic needs. Notably, this was now receiving attention from the national Department of Basic Education and the matter would soon be resolved. Essentially, there is a need for a speedy resolve to serious challenges of capacity that gave rise to the Section 100 1 (b) intervention in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

The oversight visits have provided the Committee with an opportunity to identify areas that need to be strengthened to improve learner outcomes. The findings and recommendations contained in this report should help in assisting the districts and provinces to improve their preparations for school readiness.

1. Introduction

1.1 The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education conducted oversight visits to underperforming districts in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga between 10 and 19 January 2012.

1.1.1 From 10 – 12 January 2012 the delegation visited the Libode District in the Eastern Cape and held meetings as follows:

· Libode District Office – Meeting with Members of the Provincial Legislature and officials of the National Department, Provincial Department and Organised Labour.

· Schools Visited by the delegation included:

o Ntshilini Senior Secondary School

o Ntshilini Junior Primary School

o Nogemane Senior Secondary School

o Ngqeleni Senior Secondary School

o Zanokhanyo Senior Secondary School

o Buntingville Primary School

o Ndamase Senior Secondary School

1.1.2 From 15 – 19 January 2012 the delegation visited the Mopani District Office as well as the Greater Sekhukhune District Office in the Limpopo Province. The Committee held meetings as follows:

o The Mopani District Office and Greater Sekhukhune Office - Meeting with Members of the Provincial Legislature and officials of the National Department, Provincial Department and Organised Labour.

o Schools Visited by the delegation included:

o Seshigo High School

o Maalobane Senior Secondary School

o Mosibudi Senior Secondary School

o Tshweni Senior Secondary School

o Matome Modika Senior Secondary School

o Kgothala Senior Secondary School

o Tloukwena Primary School

1.1.3 From 18 – 19 January 2012 the delegation visited the Bohlabela District Office in the Mpumalanga Province. The Committee held meetings as follows:

o Bohlabela District Office - Meeting with Members of the Provincial Legislature and officials of the National Department, Provincial Department and Organised Labour.

o Schools Visited by the delegation included:

o Langa Senior Secondary School

o Mathipe Senior Secondary School

o Ndimande Primary School

o Malengeza Primary School

o Madizi Senior Secondary School

o Mhlangana Senior Secondary School

o Sefete Primary School

1.2 In the spirit of co-operation the Committee had invited officials from the Ministry and Department of Basic Education to form part of the overall delegation on the oversight visits.

1.3 The purpose of the oversight visits was to assess the state of school readiness for 2012 in these provinces. There was an additional need to provide support to the provincial departments of education, the districts and schools in identifying the challenges and assisting in finding effective solutions to many of the challenges being faced.

1.4 A number of focus areas had been identified for monitoring school readiness. These include checking the state of the school environment, the availability of textbooks and workbooks, the supply of teachers, teacher training and readiness to implement the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), the provision of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) and checking adherence to the expectation that teachers and learners should be in class on time. These focus areas form part of key interventions and priorities set out in major government plans to ensure that enabling conditions for quality teaching and learning are established. As part of its oversight, the Committee has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that these priorities are implemented, particularly as they are linked to the improvement of quality basic education as Government’s Priority Outcome 1.

1.5 In line with the Committee’s resolve as set out in its five year Strategic Plan (2009-2014) to focus oversight on schools and districts with the most challenges in the provision of quality education, the Committee selected underperforming provinces andschools for oversight visits based on the 2010 NSC results. The results of the 2011 NSC examination were released too close to the dates of the oversight which did not allow for the necessary logistical preparations to be made in time. Though there was a slight improvement in 2011 in some schools sampled, the results were still below standard. Schools were also selected in terms of their proximity to each other and the size of the school.

1.6 The visit to the Eastern Cape coincided with a visit by the Hon Deputy President to the same regions. Further, the Portfolio Committee’s visit to Mpumalanga coincided with the oversight programme of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature which was conducting oversight visits at selected schools in Mpumalanga since the commencement of the school year as well as a similar visit by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon M Gigaba. It was agreed that the Portfolio Committee would continue with its oversight and monitoring separately from that of the Deputy Presidency, the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and the Hon Minister of Public Enterprises.

1.7 This report provides a summary of the key issues that emerged from the interaction with stakeholders, officials of the national department and provincial departments as well as the committee’s deliberations, observations and recommendations.

2. Delegations

2.1 Oversight in the Eastern Cape.

Portfolio Committee on Basic Education: Hon H H Malgas, MP (ANC) (Chairperson), Hon N Gina MP (ANC) (Whip), Hon Z S Makhubele MP (ANC), Hon J J Skosana MP (ANC), Hon D Smiles MP (DA), Hon A M Mpontshane MP (IFP) and Hon W Madisha MP (Cope).

2.2 Oversight in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

2.3 Parliamentary Staff: Mr L A Brown (Committee Secretary), Mr D Bandi (Content Advisor),

Mr L Mahada (Parliamentary Researcher) and Ms A Nkwandla (Committee Assistant).

3. Oversight visit to the Eastern Cape

3.1 Meeting at Libode District Office

The Acting District Director, Mr S.A. Ngewana, gave an overview of the performance of the Libode District in the 2011 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations and the challenges facing the district as outlined below.

a) The performance of Libode District in the NSC examination

The Libode District had 42 schools that had NSC Examination Centres in 2011. Of the 5 766 learners who wrote the 2011 NSC examination, only 2 252 passed. The percentage achievement for the district was 39.1 percent. The Libode District was the least performingdistrict in the country. It was the third district with the highest number of learners after Port Elizabeth and East London with 7 012 and 6 284 learners respectively in the Eastern Cape. This had a potential to negatively affect school support from the district.

b) Challenges

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the following challenges:

· Infrastructure: The district was fairly poor in terms of development and infrastructure. The area still had a huge backlog of mud structures. The newly build Smuts Ndamase Senior Secondary had at least 15 feeder schools and still continued to underperform. There was a need for a junior secondary school to be converted into a senior secondary school.

· Leaner Teacher Support Material (LTSM): Although all the necessary orders were placed, approximately 30 percent of the necessary materials had been received.

· Teacher training: Although educators received CAPS training, there was an indication that further education and training was required.

· Vacancies: Teacher vacancies stood at 1063 (with 272 additional educators). The district relied heavily on novice/underqualified teachers and temporary teachers in Grade 12 particularly in the deep rural areas. Once permanently appointed, many suitably qualified teachers opted to migrate to towns where there are better socioeconomic advantages, leaving the province with the initial problem. District submissions for the filling of vacancies had been declined due to the moratorium on posts. The provincial department had vacancies at their provincial offices with a chronic shortage of curriculum advisors especially in the critical subjects of mathematics, science and life sciences. There was also a shortage of circuit managers in the Libode District which hampered effective and efficient support for schools.

· Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC): Although the district was one of the first to launch the QLTC, there was a need to revive the campaign as it was not as active as expected. There was earlier resistance from the unions regarding the QLTC.

· The size of the district and location of its office: The large size of the district coupled with its rural nature negatively affected school support from the district. Regarding the location of the district office, officials found it extremely difficult operating in Libode while their offices were located far away in Mthatha.

· National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP): All the necessary funds for the NSNP had been transferred to schools. Some schools did not benefit from the programme due to their positioning within the quintile system. There were schools that did not have a kitchen to prepare meals – assistance from the province was being given in this regard.

· Scholar transport: This had been taken over by the Department of Transport. Although transport was being provided, not all scholars benefited. At least 56 000 learners in the province received transport. The rest would only be accommodated in the next financial year.

c) Responses

The Department felt it needed to relook at its infrastructure programme as they progress to the end of the financial year. They would further look at the sanitation programme and establish if there are any funds available for more desks and other furniture. The issue of the mud structures remained a priority for the Department. The Department would further look at the issue of vacancies and see how best they would be able to be of support.

d) A Report by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU)

· Matric Results: SADTU noted with dismay the poor 2011 matric results in the Libode Mega District and acknowledged that such results were a result of many factors. However, it was their view that a turn-around plan owned by all education stakeholders in the district was paramount. SADTU was engaged in the process of affecting a situational analysis of the 14 Senior Secondary Schools to establish all the causal factors of the poor performance.

· Termination of Temporary Teachers: This severely compromised effective teaching and learning in the Libode Mega District at the beginning of 2011, noting that there were schools wherein staffing was almost entirely dependent on the services of temporary teachers - Cibeni Senior Secondary School was a clear example (of 13 teachers 10 were temporary teachers). As a result of such terminations a High School (Ntshilini SSS) had never had a Grade 12 Maths teacher for 2011. This had a direct impact on the overall pass rate obtained by the school.

· School Support: The number of high schools in the district (42) and the proximity and geographical spread of the district compromised effective and efficient support for teachers by subject advisors. Functional schools needed effective management and governance structures - and an effective management required proper, effective and consistent support, guidance and mentoring from the district office. The support from the School Management Teams (SMTs) was not effective and/or lacked objectivity. Continuous support for School Governing Bodies (SGBs) was non-existent. This assertion was derived from research conducted by the SADTU Ngqeleni Branch in 2010, wherein it was discovered that there was a school that last received support from the district office in 2003. SADTU acknowledged the fact that the district had about three vacancies for Circuit Managers (EDOs).

The shortage of subject advisors for the Senior Phase (in the GET Band) amounted to challenges pertaining to teaching and learning in that phase (The Phase had about two subject advisors to accommodate nine Learning Areas offered); especially when one noted the periodical changes in the curriculum.

· District Planning: SADTU was of the opinion that the district office had no effective plan and vision for improved learning and teaching. There was also a disregard of education stakeholders in the district, especially SADTU.

· QLTC: The district launched the campaign but the translation of the prescripts of the QLTC Document into practice never materialised. Despite SADTU hosting a QLTC Indaba in 2011, to develop a programme of action to give mobility to the campaign, very little materialised. The union was convinced that a functional District Education Forum would be a long term positive investment towards making education a societal issue.

· The Location of the district office: The district office was under the jurisdiction of another municipality and defeated the very notion of bringing services closer to the people. SADTU called on the immediate re-location of the district office closer to the communities. Of further concern was that Circuit Managers were centrally located and not close to the circuits they were meant to service.

· District Office Functions and Powers: SADTU was concerned that the district office had been left with no powers and functions especially on the filling of vacancies and effecting of payments due to personnel. It seemed that districts were merely conveyor belts between schools and the provincial office.

· Vacancies: SADTU noted that the high number of unfilled posts was a serious handicap to the core business of the education department. Noting the proclaimed financial deficiencies of the education department in the province it was not unreasonable to project a continued unhealthy education state in the district.

SADTU made a commitment to continue to support initiatives to address the challenges faced in the district and province.

e) Recommendations

The Committee made the following recommendations:

· The Provincial Department of Education should deal with the issue of vacancies in all critical areas as a matter of urgency.

· The Provincial Department of Education should look into the issue of office space for officials in Libode, even if it was just a satellite office.

· The national Department of Basic Education, working with the Provincial Department of Education (PDE), should step up support for Libode District and build its capacity to support schools. This should include providing support in developing credible school improvement plans to address poor performance in schools.

· The Department should consider reviewing the processes involved with the distribution of funds to provinces as well as the procurement policies of the district through the province.

· The Portfolio Committee would await a report from the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) on the profiling of all senior secondary schools to determine the causes for the low pass rate.

· The Portfolio Committee requested a detail report from the provincial department on the state of affairs in the districts as well as all challenges being faced – and how they would be dealt with. It was important that the provincial department was able to supply specific timelines in addressing vacancies as well as the relocation of the district offices.

3.2 Visits to Schools

3.2.1 Ntshilini Senior Secondary School

a) Overview

The school did not perform well in the 2011NSC Examinations with figures of 75 learners having written the exam and only 9 learners having passed (a pass rate of only 12 percent). The pass rate for 2009 was 75.6 percent and for 2010 it was 8.1 percent. The school was a relatively small school with 431 learners and 12 educators (six temporary educators) and a shortage of nine educators. Ntshilini Senior Secondary was a Quintile 1, Section 21 School. The school had only one HOD for all curriculum activities.

b) Observations

The Committee made the following observations which included challenges faced by the Ntshilini Senior Secondary School:

· Although all stationery procured had been delivered, the school had not yet received any textbooks.

· The CAPS sample books had been received and workshops had been arranged for educators.

· Although QLTC was launched, there was a lack of implementation.

· Despite the fact that the Departments of Transport and Public Works had donated a classroom and a library, the school still had a shortfall of classrooms thus creating overcrowding. This would be alleviated with the building of the new classrooms.

· There were no recreational facilities at the school.

· The NSNP was running well and learners were receiving meals.

· Although schools benefited from scholar transport, many learners were not accommodated as the list sent by the school had been cut by the department.

· The school received support from the district in the form of workshops for teachers.

· The school faced a shortage of teachers which impacts on performance. A huge challenge was the fact that the school did not have an educator for Maths and Science for Grade 12.The school was trying to address the challenges faced in respect of finding an educator for Maths and Science - proper housing facilities were being arranged for such an educator. The province did not provide any rural allowance for teachers due to budgetary constraints. The school also had a high dependency of temporary teachers.

c) Responses

The Committee received a commitment from the Department that the vacancy for a Maths and Science educator would be filled by the coming Friday via the Funza Lushaka Scheme. The Department would work to ensure that educators were suitably qualified. The Department would further ensure that temporary educators were appointed soonest. The Department would also investigate the problems with delivery by the publishers of textbooks.

d) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The vacancy of the Maths and Science teacher should be filled as a matter of urgency. The Department should ensure that educators were suitably qualified for their tasks and that temporary educators were appointed soonest.

· The Department should investigate the matter of textbooks not having been delivered and report back to the Portfolio Committee.

· The Department should ensure that relevant subject advisors were deployed to the school.

3.2.2 Ntshilini Junior Secondary School

a) Overview

Ntshilini Junior Secondary School was a Quintile 1 school with 24 educators. Currently the school had only 20 educators with four educators having gone on maternity leave without replacement. It was a feeder school to Ntshilini Senior Secondary School. The school’s nutrition programme was running successfully. All educators were involved with the QLTC and had received the necessary training.

b) Challenges

Challenges noted at the school included the following:

· The school faced staffing challenges since four teachers would be taking maternity leave in January 2012 without being replaced. The school was also in need of an administrative clerk to do the necessary administrative duties. Neither could the school appoint general assistants due to a moratorium on these posts.

· Although the school had placed the necessary stationery orders in November the previous year, the school had not received any stationery to date.

· Due to funding constraints the school was unable to address the replacement and refurbishment of neither furniture nor any renovations to the school.

· The school did not have any specialist educators for learners with special needs.

· The school could not participate in the Annual National Assessment (ANA) for 2011 as they were barred from doing so by organised labour.

c) Responses

The Department indicated that unfortunately there was a moratorium placed on the posts of caretakers/general assistants. The Department was currently working on a new organogram. The Department had eight practitioners in the district office that provided support to learners with special education needs. It was noted that the district was conducting training on special needs education but had yet to receive a list of special needs learners from the school.

d) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The school should submit their list of learners with special needs to the Department as a matter of urgency to facilitate the necessary support from the district.

· The Department needed to ensure that the school received the programme details related to orphans and foster-care grants.

· The Department needed to address the matter of the moratorium on certain posts.

3.2.3 Nogemane Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The school was a Quintile 1 school and had an enrolment of around 600 learners. They were facing a challenge because there were seven temporary teachers who were not requested to report to school in January 2012. There were clear signs of management fear as teachers were reluctant to present matters to the Committee.

b) Challenges

The school faced the following challenges:

· High dependence on temporary and inexperienced teachers.

· High levels of vandalism.

· Lack of support from the district office.

· Textbooks not having been delivered to date.

· Teachers were not trained for CAPS and were not ready to teach.

c) Recommendation

The principal was advised that he should attend district and cluster meetings where issues of infrastructure and the allocation processes of temporary teachers were discussed. The indication was that the principal did not understand how these processes unfolded throughout 2011.

3.2.4 Ngqeleni Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The school was a Quintile 2 school and learners did not pay school fees. The school had 21 teachers with an enrolment of 560 learners. The school was in an appalling condition with six old brick and mortar classrooms and four prefabricated classrooms in a dilapidated state. There were insufficient classrooms. The scholar transport and the school nutrition programme were running efficiently. Stationery and textbooks had been delivered at 95% and 80% respectively. Grade 12 results at the school were poor.

b) Challenges

The principal at Ngqeleni Senior Secondary School highlighted the following challenges:

· The school had a shortage of four teachers, employing 17 instead of 21. The school had been without a Mathematics teacher for a considerable time. There was neither a Head of Department nor a Deputy Principal - and therefore internal moderation could not be conducted in all subjects.

· Certain routes did not have scholar transport and as a result, learners travelled long distances.

· The community was not supportive and few members of the SGB were active.

· The school had neither fencing nor security personnel since 2008.

· Drug abuse was rife at the school and the community at large - even amongst girls.

· Ill-discipline among learners was a serious problem.

· Learners did not attend weekend, winter and spring classes.

· Learners from feeder schools were not ready for FET schooling particularly in English and Xhosa subjects. Learners joined the school with a poor foundation.

· The teenage pregnancy experienced at the school stood at 16 leaners for 2011.

· History was the lowest performing subject because learners lacked language skills to express themselves. In some instances it forced teachers to code switch between English and the mother tongue.

· The departmental support focused more on Grade 12 instead of other internal or gateway grades.

· Infrastructure at school was demotivating.

· Primary teachers concentrated on only part of the syllabus.

· Subject knowledge was a problem for many teachers in primary schools.

c) Responses

The principal indicated that the school had a 2012 school improvement plan. Matters relating to afternoon studies, discipline for teachers and learners, weekend classes and training to bridge the content gap in some teachers had been planned.

d) Recommendations

The principal was advised to have a credible school improvement plan for the school to address matters that were hampering the achievement of excellence in Grade 12. The school improvement plan should include targets for the year 2012. Attention should also be given to homework policy, studies and extra classes, and regular meetings to assess progress.

3.2.5 Zanokhanyo Senior Secondary School

a) Overview

Zanokhanyo Senior Secondary was a Section 21, state funded school. The school staff establishment indicated 18 but the school currently had 17 educators with seven temporary educators. The school recorded a huge drop in their matric pass rate. The school pass rate for the past three years was as follows:

· 2009 - 88.9 percent

· 2010 - 12.2 percent

· 2011 - 6.0 percent

b) Observations

The Committee observed the following at Zanokhanyo Senior Secondary School:

· The poor quality of learners received from feeder schools in the area.

· Very little authority from the office of the principal - many felt that he was not doing his job (requests to the Department were never followed up by the principal) and that he was absent too frequently.

· The school experienced a shortage of subject advisors to give the necessary support.

· Learners and educators were not motivated and the environment was not conducive to learning and teaching.

· The school was reluctant to admit repeaters since it was felt that they had a negative influence on other learners.

· Due to the school not implementing the retrieval policy in respect of the replacement of textbooks, they had a shortage of support material as many learners did not return textbooks after Grade 12.

· All educators received the necessary CAPS training and were ready to implement.

· The school was in desperate need of funding to maintain the fencing and general security of the school.

· The school participated in the nutrition programme but needed a kitchen for the preparation of meals.

· The school had applied for scholar transport as many learners came from different areas. All the necessary applications were completed for scholar transport to no avail.

· Many of the parents of learners were illiterate and the school received very little support from them – they hardly attended meetings. The problem was exacerbated by unruly, ill-disciplined and non-cooperative learners.

c) Challenges

Zanokhanyo Senior Secondary School faced the following challenges:

· There was lack of leadership and management from the principal.

· There were not enough classrooms resulting in overcrowding and congestion.

· The school received very little support from subject advisors who only visited during moderation.

· The QLTC needed to be re-launched.

· The school had no administrative office block, except for a temporary structure built

by Government. (They were using a classroom as an administration block).

· The ablution facilities were in a dilapidated condition.

· The school experienced vandalism on a regular basis.

· There was no scholar transport for learners.

· The school lacked a kitchen for NSNP meals to be prepared.

· Many parents were illiterate parents and offered little support

· Learners were often unruly, ill disciplined and non-cooperative.

· The school recorded high numbers of teenage pregnancy.

d) Responses

The Department had launched agreements and partnerships with SAPS and the Departments of Health and Social Development in respect of many of the challenges identified. The Department was studying the reports and findings in respect of dealing with the issue of leadership at the school. Motivational speakers were being arranged to engage with both educators as well as learners. The Department agreed that issues of leadership, discipline and management needed to be addressed. The Department stressed that the issue of timeously applying and approaching the Department in respect of vacancies and temporary appointments needed to be adhered to.

e) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that the Department deal swiftly with the issue of the lack of firm leadership at the school. The Department needed to resolve the issue of the lack of support by subject advisors. The Department agreed that they needed to re-launch the QLTC, tighten wasteful expenditure and strengthen the involvement of subject advisors. The Committee further requested that the Plan of Action should reach the Committee within seven days. The Department possibly needed to implement the wellness programme to handle some of the issues raised.

3.2.5 Buntingville Primary School

a) Observations

Buntingville Primary was a Quintile 2 school and learners did not pay school fees. It was a feeder school to Ndamase Senior Secondary School. At the time of the oversight, the school had 300 learners with 11 educators including the principal. The NSNP was running well and no scholar transport was necessary as the school admitted learners from the surrounding community. There had not been any report fromNdamase Senior Secondary School pertaining to learners from Buntingville Primary School having enrolled there – leaners were well prepared for the transition and the relationship between the schools was amicable. Challenges around learner discipline had been successfully resolved.

b) Challenges

The Portfolio Committee was informed of the following challenges faced by the school:

· Teachers did not receive any kind of training or workshops from the Department.

· In respect of the school staff establishment, the issue of understaffing needed to be addressed.

· Stationery had not yet been delivered and the school had not yet been informed of the delivery date.

· Not all workbooks for 2011 had been delivered. Even the second term delivery was not complete. To date the school had not received workbooks for 2012.

· The community was not supportive of the activities or running of the school.

· The SGB was not functional.

· Infrastructure was a problem with the school having one mud classroom and two zinc classrooms.

· The principal felt unfairly treated in that he was uninformed regarding the processes he should follow in order to acquire temporary teachers or to be placed on the waiting list for infrastructure improvements.

c) Recommendations

The principal was advised to contact his district and circuit office in order to be guided on the correct channels and processes to follow. There was a clear indication that the principal did not attend meetings where matters relating to infrastructure planning and deliberations on deployment of temporary teachers were discussed. The circuit manager advised him to take on the minimal administrative duties he has to handle as a principal of a school.

3.2.6 Ndamase Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Ndamase Senior Secondary School was a Quintile 2, Section 21 school and one of the older, more established schools in the area. The post establishment for 2012 stood at 47 with approximately 1 029 learners. The school had two permanent Heads of Departments (HODs), three administrative clerks and 17 support staff (general workers and hostel personnel). The post of HOD was advertised but due to a dispute over the interview and selection process, this was still in abeyance.

Although some educators were not trained, the majority received the necessary CAPS training. All the necessary LTSM had been ordered and most had been received. There was a need to check what the shortfall was by the following week. Currently, the school hostel was empty, and not in use due to staffing problems. The school boasted an increase in its matric pass rate from 30.2 percent in 2010 to 49 percent in 2011. Although there was an increase in performance, the school generally had seen a drop in its performance over the past few years. Part of the reasons for the improved performance over the past year included:

· Visits from the province to strategize around the curriculum.

· Afternoon classes were implemented.

· Educators adhering to set targets.

· The monitoring of results throughout the year.

· Motivational speakers from different fields addressing educators and learners.

· A successful winter school arranged by the district office.

· The school organised a camp for learners and educators.

The NSNP was going well since all learners were being fed daily. However, the school had no scholar transport despite the fact that they had applied in the past.

b) Challenges

The Portfolio Committee was informed of the following challenges faced by the school:

· Divisions amongst educators and the principal.

· Drug use by learners was prevalent – two learners were caught selling dagga at school.

· The school urgently needed the relevant drug testing kits to test learners.

· Crime in and around the school was high.

· Not all educators were able to attend the CAPS training

· Tension, mistrust and suspicions amongst educators still existed.

· The issue of temporary teachers needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

c) Responses

The Department indicated that there was a dispute regarding the filling of the HOD post. The Department indicated that the filling of the HOD posts would be done in accordance with the time-frames and sequences as agreed to with the unions for implementation in 2012 post provisioning. Other HOD posts had been advertised though no Bulletin had been posted yet. The Department further indicated that scholar transport would be supplied this year though they would use the school figures of the previous year. The Department was struggling to reduce the over-admission to the school. The Department had a school committee working directly with the district office. The Department indicated that staff was in place to operate the hostel with a large array of equipment having been installed. The procurement of equipment for the dining hall had been put to tender and was being finalised. A further tender was out for the service provider for the preparation of meals.

d) Recommendations

The Committee requested that the Department forward a report on the issue of the hostel as well as a detailed report on the problems in respect of the CAPS training – and how this was going to be resolved.

4. Oversight Visit to Limpopo

4.1 Meeting at Mopani District Office

The Mopani District was recently divided into the Tzaneen and Giyani Districts. The Acting Senior Manager of the newly formed Tzaneen District, Mr L.R. Maake, gave an overview of the performance of the Mopani District in the 2011 National Senior Certification (NSC) examination and an outline of the state of school readiness in the district as follows:,

4.1.1 Performance of the Mopani District in the NSC examination

The district had 169 schools that had NSC Examination Centres in 2011. Of the 18 846 learners who wrote the NSC examination, only 10 121 passed. The percentage achievement of the district stood at 60.1 percent. The districts experienced many challenges at schools. There was a huge content gap, especially in the key subjects due to educators not being properly qualified. However, there was an improvement in the pass rate for 2011.

a) Observations

The Committee noted the following key issues and challenges that were raised regarding the state of readiness in the district:

· LTSM: All schools had received their LTSM but the textbooks for Grade 10 had not been received at the time of the oversight.

· Staffing: Many schools still had problems with additional educators though this was being dealt with through absorption where there was a need. All temporary teachers had received termination letters and the district was awaiting further instructions regarding the redeployment of these teachers. The district also had a shortage of curriculum advisors and hardly any educators with scarce skills. There was a heavy reliance on employing foreign educators at schools across the district to teach scarce skills. The timing of the redeployment of excess educators needed to be reviewed as it affected planning at schools and caused disruptions.

· Learner pregnancy: The Giyani region (covering at least 900 schools) had noted approximately 300 learner pregnancies for 2011. At Mavalani High School, the learner pregnancy figure stood at 27. The district was attending to the problem.

· Management of the districts: The Tzaneen and Giyani Districts were running effectively with constant interventions by the province.

· Psychological services: The Tzaneen District was not satisfied with the number of posts for psychological services (only three for the whole district) given its size.

· Scholar transport was a major challenge in the district needing special attention.

b) Responses

The district had a dedicated office to deal specifically with scholar transport. Tenders were being processed with owners of transport vehicles. Almost all schools were participating in the NSNP. Not a single circuit was sufficiently staffed with curriculum advisors. The district had made a submission to the province to advertise for curriculum advisors. The few curriculum advisors that were available were strategically spread over all the circuits. In respect of the high pregnancy rate, there was intervention from different departments to address the problem – there had since been a marked improvement. In respect of infrastructure, classrooms were not in a satisfactory state and the Department was trying to provide mobile classes where they were needed. District support started at Circuit Management Level who informed the district of any matters requiring attention. The district, in turn, approached the province for further intervention where needed. The district had a meeting with the province in respect of textbooks not having arrived. Service providers did not interact with the district,they delivered materials directly to schools. The district had requested schools to provide the necessary data/information on materials both received and outstanding.

c) Recommendations

The Committee made the following recommendations:

· The Provincial Department should consider redeploying excess educators during the last quarter of the year to avoid disruptions in the schools planning.

· The district should supply a full breakdown of classroom shortages.

· The Provincial Department and the district should supply the Portfolio Committee with their School Building Plans

· The National Department must give a report on when textbooks would be arriving at schools.

· The schools needed to supply the district with a list of all overage learners.

· The province needed to supply timelines in respect of the filling of all vacancies.

· The Department needed to give increased support to the districts.

4.2 Visits to Schools

4.2.1 Maalobane Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Maalobane was a Quintile 3 school with approximately 500 learners. The pass rate for the school for the last 3 years was:

· 2009 - 14.8 percent

· 2010 - 20.6 percent

· 2011 - 22.6 percent

The post establishment stood at 25 but the school currently had only 21 staff with four vacancies. With all its timetables in place the school was ready to teach learners from day one. Although teachers had been workshoped, the school had yet to receive its Grade 10 materials. The Department was in the process of the absorption of temporary educators. CAPS training occurred late the previous year and coincided with the busy exam period. No effective or timeous notice of training was received. The timing of the training needed to be revisited and further workshops and training on CAPS needed to occur. The school was still awaiting the necessary textbooks. The National Department would only start delivering from 17 – 31 January 2012. The QLTC was established with meetings at circuit level involving allstakeholders. Except for the inadequate facilities for Science, the school had no problems with infrastructure (classes, furniture etc.). The NSNP was running very well the only problem was the late payment to service providers.

b) Challenges

Maalobane Senior Secondary alluded to some of the challenges being faced:

· There were no educators for the scarce skills subjects and the school was reliant on foreign educators.

· The issue of the timing of the termination of temporary teachers during crucial final exams time and their re-absorption back into the system at the start of the new school year needed to addressed.

· Parents were not involved with learners and the school, and did not attend meetings.

· The learners were unruly, ill disciplined and non-cooperative.

· There was late payment of NSNP service providers.

· Norms and Standards as well as the NSNP were experiencing budgetary constraints.

· There was no rural allowance.

c) Responses

In respect of ill-disciplined learners and parental involvement, the school called in a motivational speaker to address the parents and learners. Only a few parents attended. The school hired individuals to supply and bring firewood for the preparation of meals and

remunerated them from the school reserve funds. At the time there were no reserve funds available, which created late payments. There was an agreement that further CAPS training for teachers were required. The provincial department had a management plan in place to deal with the absorption of temporary educators. There was a need to examine all the human resources issues that needed to be addressed. There would be a centralizing of all Curriculum Advisors at a district level and schools and circuits would be able to access them from the pool. The district had not received the communiqué in respect of temporary teachers having to remain until March 2012.

d) Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee was not satisfied that materials delivery would only happen from 17 – 31 January 2012. The Portfolio Committee expected a report on the following:

· Temporary teachers and teacher absorption plans of the province

· Continued Teacher Development plan

· Infrastructure Plan of the district

· The number and enrolment of Dinaledi Schools, Special Schools and other schools with learners with special needs.

4.2.2 Mosibudi Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The school had under-performed for the past three years. The school received stationery and the Grade 10 CAPS books. The staff establishment was supposed to be 21 posts while one remained unfilled since 2011. The school received a teacher from Teach-SA though he was leaving them soon, which would create a gap. There was a temporary teacher who held the position for the past four years. The school had a foreign national temporary teacher from Zimbabwe who had been in the post for 18 months. The school readiness was not complete in terms of the learner registration. The school would be using the first week of school reopening to wrap up the learner registration.

b) Challenges

· Most challenges were of academic nature.

· It was difficult to fill in the vacant positions with all the restrictions placed by the provincial department.

· It was difficult to fill a scarce skill position particularly for Maths and Science.

· There was poor content knowledge amongst the educators due to curriculum changes. In some instances teachers were forced to teach subjects they did not train for.

· There was a serious shortage of textbooks.

· There was a lack of motivation amongst learners.

· There was very little support from the community.

· There was very little coherence of the main stakeholders in the school.

· In the 2011 year, the school received only one portion of allocated funding. In December no funding was received. The flow of funding from the department was not satisfactory.

· Nutrition was running very well.

· Most of the learners are from the local village therefore there is no need for scholar transport.

· QLTC was in place only on paper and not in reality.

· The principal was not satisfied with the level of support from the circuit and district and he requested increased support from them.

c) School Governing Body (SGB)

SGB concerns raised in respect of the principal were as follows:

· The principal should account for his plan of action to address the poor results.

· What was he doing about the shortage of books?

· The principal should try to unite the groups within the school.

· The school had not had an SGB meeting for six months

· The principal had a monopoly and did not comply with requests from the SGB.

· There were no regular staff meetings to address a number of issues.

· The principal worked with the financial officer instead of the deputy principal. The circuit knew about this problem.

· The principal favoured some teachers over others.

· The principal lacked commitment to work with other teachers and the SGB

· The principal did not efficiently monitor work of teachers.

d) South African Democratic Teacher Union (SADTU)

The following challenges were raised by SADTU:

· There were no curriculum advisors in the district. There was only one subject adviser for the foundation phase.

· The union was worried that the subject advisors only visited schools during moderation of Continuous Assessment marks with no other support during the year.

· There was a need to address the confusion over temporary educators.

· There were no teacher development programmes within the district and the province.

· There was no rural allowance and this discouraged educators

· There was a problem with quintiling of schools.

· Funds from the Department were deposited into schools in tranches and only one tranch was deposited in August 2011 and the second tranch for 2011 had not been deposited at the time of the oversight in January 2012.

f) Responses

· The district would be strengthening the monitoring of school work by teachers and they appealed to the Heads of Departments (HODs) to also check the teachers’ work.

· Norms and standards funding to schools was the prerogative of the province which currently did not have funds.

g) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The school should have an improvement plan noting that they were last in the circuit.

· The school should mobilize support from parents in order to deal with bully learners in the school.

· The school should look at mechanisms to strengthen teaching and learning methods, with the support of district officials.

· The Province should, as a matter of urgency, find a way to deal with the temporary teacher phenomenon.

· The district should step up targeted support to the needy schools.

· The school should use the district psychological services to motivate learners.

· The district and the relevant circuit should examine and assist in finding lasting solutions to the alleged leadership challenges at the school.

4.2.4 Tshweni Senior Secondary School

a) Overview

Tshweni Senior Secondary School achievements in the matric exams for the past 3 years were as follows:

· 2009 - 12.9 percent

· 2010 - 17.1 percent

· 2011 - 41.7 percent

The school was a Quintile 3, no fee school with a staff establishment of 25. Currently the school had 23 staff with seven temporary posts.

b) Observations

The Committee observed the following:

· Educators received the necessary CAPS training at the end of the previous year.

· The school received textbooks for educators but was still awaiting Grade 10 textbooks.

· The school had no scholar transport - learners travelled great distances to and from school.

· The NSNP was running well except for shortage of kitchen staff to assist with the preparation of meals.

· The school had also constituted its QLTC committee.

· The main reasons for the increase in the percentage pass rate was the intervention of the circuit, the implementation of programmes as advised and dedicated and determined educators.

· It was noted that learners only did Maths literacy – learners lacked calculators and the basic skills.

· The school did not have a laboratory.

· Use of the ablution block was dangerous as it was very dilapidated. Most of the school infrastructure was old and dilapidated.

· There was an urgent need for more curriculum advisors in the district, especially in the Sciences. A submission in this regard had been made to Head Office but no response had been received. The human resources department was continually reminded of thecrisis.

· The school had also a backlog in terms of paying their electricity bill to Eskom since 2007. Eskom had indicated that they intended disconnecting the schools power by the following week if no payment was received.

b) Challenges

Some of the challenges being faced by the school included:

· The timing of termination letters to temporary teachers at the critical examination period.

· Building infrastructure disintegrating.

· The shortage of curriculum advisors.

· Only one tranch of the Norms and Standards funding for 2011 had been received by schools, the second tranch had not been deposited

· No LTSM and CAPS material had been received.

· There was a lack of cooperation from parents.

· The school experienced 10 learner pregnancies during 2011.

· Educators were not happy with the CAPS training received and had requested more training.

c) Responses

It was decided that due to the poor performance in Maths, the school would gradually phase out the stream. The workbooks, according to the National Department would be delivered by 27 January – 1 February 2012 with CAPS material having been posted to schools already. The school should check their postbox for any materials having already been delivered. The district has decided to spread the curriculum advisors to all the circuits and schools. A programme had been drawn up for the curriculum advisors in respect of their visits to various schools. Temporary teachers had been instructed to return to their schools until a new directive had been given.

d) Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee recommended that:

· The school should pursue the option of applying for the indigent subsidy in respect of the Eskom account.

· The issue of the temporary educators needed to be addressed urgently by the province.

· The Provincial Department and the district should consider including the school in their infrastructural development plan.

· The Provincial Department and the district should resolve the issue of the lack of adequate support by curriculum advisors.

· The school should be considered for inclusion in the learner transport scheme since some learners travel long distances to and from school.

· The district should assist the school with strategies to improve parental involvement.

· The school should be considered for interventions from the district and departments such as Health and Social Development to address the high rate of teenage pregnancies.

4.2.5 Matome Modika Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Learner enrolment was at 604 with 22 teachers. There was a shortage of one teacher as per 2012 staff establishment. They were hoping the matter would be resolved soon. The School Management Team (SMT) had five members but at a co-opted level. They did not have master and senior teachers. They had seven temporary educators of whom three were teaching scarce skills subjects. The school did not have enough classrooms. It had 12 classrooms of which four were used as staffrooms. There was no need for scholar transport.

b) Challenges

· The school did not have an administration block and laboratory for science. They had adapted one classroom to store books. There were not enough toilets.

· There were no equipment for practical investigations and experiments.

· Learners did not have calculators.

· Textbooks were insufficient in school. In other subjects such as history there were no textbooks.

· Although the district was striving to achieve better results the challenge was the shortage of subject advisors.

· The parents support was a considerable challenge. They did not attend meetings even when there were critical issues to be discussed.

· They had recently finalized forming the QLTC at school and were awaiting training.

· The school was not satisfied with the dire results. There was a meeting on the first day of school to plan on how to improve the results. Their challenge was on few subjects.

· The main challenge was the content gap and weak capacity in some teachers. This had a bearing on teacher development.

· Another key challenge was that learners were on their own at home because parents were working far from homes.

c) SGB - Members of the SGB added the following challenges:

· The learners were not serious about their education. When called to bring their parents to school they called people who did not have the responsibility for their education.

· On the day of the payout of grants the learners did not attend school.

· Learners were unruly and even insulted the security guards.

d) PEU Concerns

· The Professional Educators’ Union (PEU) noted that the matter of wrongly placing the school at Quintile 3 was a disadvantage.

· The matter of the temporary teachers needed to be addressed.

e) SADTU Concerns

· The circuit was too large which affected the quality of curriculum support.

· The challenge of infrastructure was considerable, especially laboratories and libraries.

· Learners’ support material had not been delivered to school and teachers were expected to be ready to teach on the day of school reopening.

· Curriculum advisors should not only visit schools when they are assessing CASS marks but should also visit when it is necessary to support the schools.

· The department was failing schools by depositing funds late. As of January 2012, many schools did not have money for chalks and other school needs.

· May schools in the area were located next to the shebeens.

f) Responses

The school’s improvement plan was in writing. They were aiming to achieve more than 60 per cent in 2012. Learners, teachers and HODs had committed to improving the results in 2012. The school planned to encourage learners through prize giving, offering extra classes and giving more written work to learners. There were also plans to invite motivational speakers. The school was the only school on Quintile 3 in the ward which disadvantaged them. The learners had shown an improvement on absenteeism and playing truant since 2011.

g) Recommendations

The Committee made the following recommendations:

· The matter of temporary teachers should be speedily resolved.

· There was a need to conduct a thorough analysis of all the problems in the school by all stakeholders.

· The Provincial Department and the district should consider including the school in their infrastructural development plan.

· The district should intensify targeted teacher development support at the school.

· The school should be assisted with strategies to improve parental involvement.

4.2.6 Seshigo Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The delegation from the Provincial Department of Education was led by the Acting Senior General Manager, Mr M Mhlongo. The SeshigoSecondary school was not an underperforming school but it was in desperate need to build a technical workshop. All educators had received the CAPS training but no books were received for LTSM. The school currently had 47 educators (with five vacancies) and four temporary educators in substantive posts. Due to a shortage of technical skills in the past, the school introduced technical subjects in 1986. These included engineering graphics and design, civil technology, mechanical technology and electrical technology. The school utilised the old hostels as a technical workshop. The Department had supplied some technical equipment in the form of machinery and drawing boards. Scarce Skills subjects offered were affected by the non-provisioning of resources. Unfortunately, the hostels were no longer in use and the technical subjects were now accommodated in an ordinary classroom. The enrollment for the technical subjects increased to 767 learners from a low base.

Learners benefited from the technical classes as they:

· Used the acquired knowledge in furthering their engineering studies at Universities,

· Started with N4 at FET Colleges – unlike their counterparts who start with N1,

· Were easily admitted to FET Colleges.

b) Challenges

· Due to the distance between workshops and the main campus there was vandalism and

theft.

· There were no security guards due to financial constraints.

· There were no proper storage facilities for workshop equipment or workstations.

· There was a limited intake of learners due to the shortage of physical and human resources

· The school required additional computers for learners.

· The school required the following according to their needs:

- Standardized workshops for practical assessment tasks.

- Water supply.

- Classrooms.

- Science laboratory.

- Ablution facilities.

- Administration block.

c) Responses

Issues raised by the school were brought to the attention of the Department and were receiving attention. However, there were financial constraints being faced by the Department which hampered progress in implementation. Stationery was delivered to all schools although no textbooks had been delivered. Schools with temporary teachers in substantive posts would be absorbed by the schools – those not in substantive posts would have their employment terminated. The Department would also look into the issue of security at the school. After a two-day workshop, the district had presented its needs to the province and would be forwarding their infrastructure plan in the near future. It was necessary for the issue of the construction of the workshop to be elevated to a higher level.

d) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The Provincial Department should consider assisting the school with its infrastructure needs. A few options were suggested to possibly source some funding. These included looking into the Recapitalisation Grant for Technical Schools to possibly source some funding; seeking to access Virements for the construction of the technical workshops or considering approaching the Department of Public Works for assistance.

· The Provincial Department should submit a copy of their absorption plan.

4.3 Meeting at Greater Sekhukhune District Office

a) Observations

The Committee received a broad overview of the district from the General Manager, Mr M T Maphwanya and his team from the Provincial Department of Education. The Committee noted the following key issues and challenges that were raised regarding the state of readiness in the district:

· Size of the district: The district consisted of 33 Circuits each with around 30 schools per Circuit – this came to just over 900 schools in the district.

· Performance: The district was known for its underperformance in the past due to political volatility and unrest. This had since improved after fruitful engagements with the surrounding community.

· Staffing: A major area of concern for the district was understaffing, particularly in the Sciences. The district also had too few Curriculum Advisors but optimally used those that they had to service all Circuits. As the district was deep rural, it was difficult to attract educators in the scarce subjects (Sciences) – the district therefore relied heavily on foreign educators (which came with its own challenges). The services of the temporary teachers had been extended to 31 March 2012. The main problem was those temporary teachers who were not covered by the staff establishment. The district was liaising with their social partners to identify all available vacancies. The other challenge was the permanent staff who was additional educators to the staff establishment.

· CAPS training: There was overall dissatisfaction with the CAPS training received and the timing of the training (running concurrent with exams).

· Infrastructure: The Department was trying to ensure that all schools were up to standard in respect of infrastructure development.

· Norms and standards funding: No payments had been made to schools in respect of Norms and Standards.

· LTSM: Textbooks had been delivered to schools although the CAPS material was not received on time.

· NSNP: The NSNP was progressing well with the only challenge being that some special schools did not participate. There were times when parents had discouraged their children from eating the meals prepared but this had been addressed.

· QLTC: The district had all the necessary QLTC committees constituted.

· Learner pregnancy: Learner pregnancies were rife in the mining areas but withdrawals from school had been on the decrease.

· Scholar transport: Scholar transport was being provided but the road infrastructure deterred service providers.

· Rural incentive: The district had a rural incentive and those who qualified received the necessary approvals.

b) Responses

The Department had a special team looking specifically at the human resources issues (temporary educators, excess educators etc). There was a commitment to absorb all temporary educators in the system. The Department agreed that the CAPS training was too late and had not achieved its goals. There was a need to give the necessary support to those educators who did not receive the necessary training. Financial constraints were the cause for some CAPS material not being delivered. The issues of only the first trounce for Norms and Standards having been received was brought to the attention of the Minister.

c) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that the district supply the Committee with a written report on their turn-around strategy.

4.4 Visits to Schools

4.4.1 Kgothala Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The results analysis for the School in terms of matric results for the past 3 years stood as follows:

· 2009 - 16.9 percent

· 2010 - 15.3 percent

· 2011 - 16.2 percent

Kgothala Senior Secondary was a Quintile 1 school with currently about 500 learners and 26 staff. The Post Establishment for the school stood at 21 for 2012. The school was in excess of a Head of Department. Educators attended CAPS training arranged by the district with positive feedback. Unfortunately, no CAPS material had been received to date. In respect of the LTSM, stationery was received but was not what the school had ordered. The school made the necessary follow-ups on the matter with further submissions. The advice given was that the school should not return what was received. The NSNP was running well for the school. Learners at the school lived in close proximity to the school and therefore no scholar transport was required. The school had established its QLTC. A major problem for the school was the cross-border issue which created much political tension, unrest and volatility – the school seemed to be the focal spot during this time. This affected the morale of the educators and learners.

The school had started with a school improvement plan in conjunction with the Circuit, with a management team meeting with staff to plan strategies to boost performance. The school was trying to gather information from other schools that did well in Maths, Physics and Accounting to see how to better their performance in these subjects. The school also arranged extra lessons, winter enrichment classes and continuous monitoring of class work. The school also wanted to start collaborative teaching by utilizing the expertise of qualified and experienced educators. The SGB was established but still needed to appoint certain members. The school was experiencing disunity and internal politics between staff and the principal which lowered the morale of educators.

b) Challenges

Challenges faced by the school could be summarised as follows:

· The lack of committed parents and learners.

· Disunity and internal politics between staff and the principal.

· Political unrest and volatility in the surrounding community.

· A shortage of Maths and Science educators.

· No incentives to attract educators to rural areas.

· No CAPS material received.

· An incorrect stationery order received.

c) Responses

The provincial department would investigate the issue of the incorrect stationery order being delivered to the school. The issue of the Norms and Standards was also being attended to.

d) Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee recommended that:

· The Provincial Department should give the necessary support to the district and the school in dealing with the challenges faced.

· The Department needed to urgently look into the issue of incentives for educators in attracting them to rural schools.

4.4.2 Tloukwena Primary School

a) Observations

The school is a Quintile 2 school. The enrolment was at 503 with 14 educators but one of the educators had been redeployed and they remained at 13. For 2012 they anticipated the enrollment to be at 618. The new staff establishment had allocated them 11 CS1 educators. The school received stationery on time.

b) Challenges

· The school was understaffed.

· The school did not have a deputy principal yet and was short of one CS1 educator.

· Three classrooms were blown away in June 2011.

· There were not enough classrooms; they were given mobile classes in January 2011.

· The school was very old and needed renovation. Many classes had many cracks.

· The staffroom was very congested.

· There was a lack of parental care and parents did not attend parents meetings and this contributed to a challenge of disciplining the children.

· There were insufficient curriculum advisors for the intermediate phase.

· Zulu textbooks were not delivered in 2011.

c) SADTU Concerns

· Some schools would not be functional from the 18th January until the end of April due to the temporary teacher debacle and the issue of funds not transferred to schools by the province.

d) PEU Concerns

· Discipline was a challenge in the school.

· There was a clear indication of stakeholder collapse in the school and the community.

· There was only one subject advisor in the foundation phase.

· There was a transport challenge in the circuit and the district for the support personnel.

· It seemed that the district and the province were focusing only at exit levels rather than entry level.

· Subject advisors were multi tasked within the district.

e) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The district and province should consider including the school in its infrastructure plans

· The district should assist the school with strategies to improve parental involvement and to deal with learner discipline.

5. Oversight visit to Mpumalanga

5.1 Meeting at Bohlabela District Office

The District Director, Mr J Nsibande, and his team, outlined the performance of the Bohlabelo District in the NSC examinations and the challenges facing the district as follows:

5.1.1 The performance of Bohlabela District in the NSC examinations

In respect of the NSC results in the Mpumalanga Province the Bohlabela District stood at 51.2 percent. The district had a marked improvement from 28.2 percent in 2009 to 51.2 percent in 2011. Though the district had improved, it still fell within the districts below 60 percent and had been earmarked for support by the National Department. Out of the 15 districts that needed support, it stood at number 14. The Bohlabela District was formerly known as Bushbuckridge.

Performance of schools visited in Bohlabela District
	2009			2010			2011
	Wrote	Passed	Pass percent	Wrote	Passed	Pass percent	Wrote	Passed	Pass percent
LangaSeniorSecondary School	213	21	9.9	203	40	19.7	123	20	16.3
MathipeHigh School	151	23	15.2	135	13	9.6	166	27	16.3
MadiziSeniorSecondary School	115	28	24.3	135	20	14.8	64	17	26.6
MhlanganaSeniorSecondary School	198	20	10.1	194	39	20.1	106	34	32.1

a) Observations

As of the previous day, all LTSM had been delivered to all schools. The Department had appointed a service provider to manage all the deliveries to schools. The NSNP was all up and running and ready for the New Year. The district had some challenges with scholar transport as not all areas would benefit from the transport. The district was leading in terms of infrastructure challenges and addressing them (especially unsafe structures and mud schools). There was unfortunately no provincial QLTC structure in place as the province experienced challenges with Unions when they planned to launch. The situation had now improved and the province aimed to launch before the end of February 2012. Although many schools improved on their results, there were those who were performing below 20 percent. The province did not perform well with the ANA in 2011. Interventions in place to assist included:

· The Department conducting its own common assessments (provincial annual assessments)

· Identifying all poor performing schools to receive special attention

· Letters sent to all schools to outline initiatives to deal with poor performance (with time lines)

CAPS’ training was offered but not all educators participated (including members of organised labour).

b) Challenges

The district had the following challenges to deal with:

· A shortage of subject advisors.

· The quality of learners from primary schools – many learners were not adequately equipped for high school.

· Task audits – there were not many classroom activities.

· Dilapidated school buildings.

· No capacity building for educators.

· Poor management of exams – memoranda often did not respond to question papers.

· Overcrowding in schools.

· Due to budget constraints most projects could not be implemented.

· Poor workmanship on projects undertaken.

· Quality of Assessment Tasks.

· Promotion requirements.

· Incorrect progression.

· An overloaded curriculum not supported by enough educators.

· Developing “working” improvement plans.

· Disengagement from labour unions.

· QLTC structures were not functional.

· It is worth noting that during the Mpumalanga leg of our oversight, the region the Committee visited experienced torrential downpours and flooding. This hampered the delegation from accessing some of the schools on its itinerary. Needless to say, schooling during this period was severely affected. Many schools had no option but to close for the period as they were inaccessible during this period.

c) Responses

Within the district, all results had been analysed and measured against performance. There was a plan submitted in respect of the shortage of subject advisors. The posts had been advertised and would be filled by April 2012. There was a huge problem with most senior staff being in acting positions. There was a moratorium placed on all posts as the organogram was not responding to the system. This moratorium was waivered for the Bohlabela District and the process of filling posts had been ongoing. The district had also introduced Saturday classes, Autumn and Spring Schools as well as employing the services of motivational speakers. Many of the learners came from child-headed families. The district would be calling all underperforming schools to submit school improvement plans. There were ongoing quarterly assessment tasks with a promotional requirement standard set. There was a need to meet with schools to try and trim the streams offered.

d) Recommendations

The Committee made the following recommendations:

· The Provincial Department and district should supply a full report on the appointment processes and procedures for those educators who still needed to be placed.

· The Provincial Department should work to complete the filling of the “Acting” positions and supply the Committee with timelines for the completion thereof.

· The Provincial Department should supply the Committee with a report on Infrastructure (budgetary constraints, unsafe structures, mud structures).

· The district should provide the Committee with its District Improvement Plan and the school improvement plans of all the schools visited.

5.2 Visits to Schools

5.2.1 Langa Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Langa Senior Secondary School, a Quintile 1 school, had been an underperforming school for some time. The staff establishment for the school was 25 with three excess educators and 530 learners. Scholar transport was not provided as the learners all live in the vicinity of the school. The NSNP was running well. The QLTC was established but was not functional. The school had no problems with stationery but unfortunately did not receive the necessary textbooks or teacher packs. The Circuit Manager gave support through regular visits to the school and assistance with complaints. Learners performed poorly in several of the content subjects with the lower grades not performing as well. The main reasons for the underperformance were the lack of parental support, a shortage of resources and dilapidated buildings at the school. The school had no proper fencing and posed a security risk. There was a lack of commitment from the learners. The school had arranged many extra classes and winter classes but learners never attended. The school was experiencing disunity and internal politics between staff and the principal which lowered the morale of educators. An Education Forum had been established to look into the matter and produce a report.

The Education Forum met with parents, learners and the school management team to look into the matter of the division at the school. It emerged that there was infighting amongst staff and the principal resulting in no team work. It was alleged that the principal did not involve staff in any policy decisions, which were not correctly implemented. This led to learners being demotivated, leaving school and adding to the unemployment rate in the area. There were no staff meetings held to share advice. There was a recommendation from the Forum that the principal be redeployed.

b) Challenges

The school faced many challenges as follows:

· Infighting between the principal and staff. The principal was unwilling to take advice from anyone. There was no division of labour since the principal did not delegate tasks. The principal did not trust his staff or members of the SMT - there was no debate since the principal dictated everything.

· Policies were not implemented particularly on the curriculum. There was no monitoring and control of curriculum implementation.

· There was a lack of team work within the structures governing the school.

· There was poor communication due to the lack of staff meetings.

· Learners’ work was not monitored and controlled due to the lack of a working relationship within the school.

· Ill discipline, absenteeism and drug abuse amongst learners had affected the performance of the school.

· The relationship between the staff and the principal was deemed irreparable.

· The appointment of service providers was a challenge.

The Education Forum had the following recommendations for the school:

· Redeployment of the principal.

· All stakeholders to have a bosberaad to discuss, debate and commit themselves to assist the school.

· Teamwork to be restored amongst staff, SMT and the principal.

· A need for policy implementation.

· Staff meetings to be held where debates and inputs assisted the school.

· All stakeholders to be more involved.

· The erection of a palisade fence to stop learners from leaving school and to assist in curbing drug abuse during school hours.

· Morning, afternoon, Saturday and holiday classes to be compulsory for educators and learners.

· A monitoring instrument should be a must for both learners and educators.

c) Responses

Educators did not receive the necessary CAPS training due to a moratorium imposed by the labour unions. The district indicated that they had not received sufficient funding for all infrastructure projects. The QLTC needed to be revived as the elected committee did not materialize. The principal had not received a warm welcome when he started at the school a situation that continued to this day. He had requested that the Circuit Manager intervened in this matter. In 2009 the Minister of Education paid the school an unannounced visit and all of the challenges were raised with the Minister. There were clear reports and clear recommendations that needed to be followed up. The Department committed to accept the list of outstanding textbooks and promised to assist. It was important that a retrievement policy was implemented. The Department promised to take drastic steps to address the challenges of the school and requested the assistance of the stakeholders. In respect of the CAPS training, the Department promised that all educators would be trained within dates acceptable to all parties and the involvement of the unions.

d) Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee recommended that:

· The district should urgently address the problem of disunity amongst the staff and principal.

· The district should give the Committee a programme of action in dealing with the multitude of challenges, taking into account the recommendations from the Education Forum. It was important that all stakeholders were able to compromise for the sake of the learners.

· The district, together with the Provincial Department, should report on the issue of the building infrastructure.

5.2.2 Mathipe Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Matric results in Mathipe were below 20 percent in the last three years, which affected the system. The learner enrollment dropped from 895 in 2011 to 815 in 2012 as a result some teachers were facing redeployment to other schools. The school had not received all the stationery but had received what was ordered. They had not received textbooks.

There was a QLTC structure but it was not effective. The nutritional programme was functional but there was no water in the school and therefore learners would not be able to eat. They did not have an infrastructure problem; the only challenges were a lack of laboratories and a library. There were no effective extramural activities at school level and even at circuit level. Many learners were heading families.Teachers were cooperative and there was a very good and sound relationship. There was a code of conduct for teachers. The school accommodated everybody including learners with challenges.

b) Challenges

· The school was experiencing learner pregnancy challenges.

· Learners were not cooperative; they stayed away from extra classes.

· There was no unity at the school.

· Teachers lacked commitment and needed to change their mindset.

· Most learners reached Grade 12 without being ready for Grade 12 examinations.

· The learners were doing academic subjects in school like Maths, Science and Accounting.

· There was not enough mentoring of teachers by school management.

· The community was a problem to the school.

c) SGB Concerns

· The SGB appealed to the staff to stop holding meetings and workshops during school hours.

· Learners played truant.

· There was a tendency at the school that saw learners came to school to eat and then left afterwards without attending lessons.

d) PEU Concerns

· The school indicated that healthy communication between stakeholders did not exist.

· The school did not have an improvement plan.

e) SADTU Concerns

· The school needed support in terms of school management and the monitoring of curriculum delivery.

· Overall, there was a struggle with management and the principal was not doing his job. He had been in and out of suspension for various reasons.

· The teachers refused to attend the development workshop

· The principal had been stripped off powers to be the chief invigilator and powers had been given to the HOD

· Prolonged absence of the principal from the school was a cause for concern.

f) Circuit Manager Concerns

· The Circuit Manager was concerned that teachers were not addressing the gist of the problem.

· The Circuit Manager encouraged all stakeholders to assess whether they were playing their role effectively.

· There was evident disconnection between the principal, SMT and the teachers.

· Teachers needed to admit openly whether they taught all the lessons and gave quality assessment?

g) Response

The district office was going to look at ways to bring stability to the school and to support the school in drawing up a school improvement plan.

h) Recommendations

The Committee recommended the following:

· There was a need for the school to acknowledge whether they were actually performing their duties. All role players needed to strive for unity in the school.

· All matters relating to the conduct of the principal should be handled by the province with immediate effect.

5.2.3 Malengeza Primary School

a) Observations

The school was in Quintile 2 and was semi Section 21. It received funding in tranches. The school had received stationery for 2012 but they were uncertain as to whether it would cover all the learners. The request was made based on the 2011 enrollment of 600 learners. Approximately 121 learners wrote the Provincial Annual Assessment (PAA) and 104 learners underachieved in English while in mathematics they also underperformed. After they reviewed the results of PAA, they developed an improvement plan for 2012. Teachers committed to respect time, periods and the class register.

b) Challenges

· The school had a challenge of parent’s lack of support to school programmes.

· They had a challenge with English as a medium of instruction. Learners could not spell simple words and could not construct a sentence. This challenge could be attributed to both teachers and learners.

· They did not receive enough support from the CI as a school.

· There was a discipline collapse with learners.

· Common papers were not guided by a programme explaining classroom activities.

c) SGB Concerns

· Meetings held during school hours disturb learning programme.

· There was no clerk in the school.

· There was poor communication between the department and teachers.

· The community was dangerous and difficult to deal with.

d) Recommendations

The Committee recommended that:

· The circuit and the district should attend to the issue of the school not understanding the QLTC.

· The school needed to intensify the use of control to maintain discipline in the school.

5.2.4 Madizi Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

Madizi Senior Secondary School was a Quintile 1 school with a 2012 staff establishment of 17 educators with two excess educators. Currently the school accommodated 497 learners. There were a multitude of factors for the low pass rate of the school. This included not having a Maths educator since 2009, with the new incumbent only starting late in 2011. The school did have early morning and late afternoon classes. Another problem was the streams of subjects – the school introduced a Commercial stream but learners did not achieve well. The school was now gradually phasing out the Commercial stream.

The school had received all the necessary LTSM on time. All educators attended the CAPS training but the problem was that the trainers did not arrive. Many of the educators then joined CAPS training with other circuits. The Department had assured all that the training would soon be provided. All CAPS material had been received for learners and educators (including educator packs). As learners all resided in the area around the school, scholar transport was not needed. The NSNP was running smoothly at the school with no problems. The QLTC was established (included the SGB) but was not functioning as well as it should. The school received much support from the district through regular visits to the school to assist educators. With the overcrowding at the school they had requested that classrooms be renovated and extra classrooms built. The school had no administrative block, laboratory or library.

b) Challenges

Challenges faced by the Madizi Senior Secondary School could be summed up as follows:

· As some parents lived and worked on neighboring farms, the school experienced problems with parental involvement and support.

· CAPS training needed to be redone.

· Overcrowding – there was a need for extra classrooms to be built.

· The school needed an administrative block, a laboratory and a library.

· The QLTC needed to be revitalized.

· The school was faced with a challenge of ill disciplined learners.

c) Responses

With the two excess educators, one HOD and one temporary, the principal needed to include the HOD in the staff establishment. The HOD would not be removed and would remain with the school until such time that there was a new directive in respect of vacancies. When the school had finalised its admission of learners, the school would be able to apply for an ad hoc post for the one temporary educator. If there was no increase in the learners’ admission statistics ten days after admission closed, the temporary teacher would need to be moved to a vacant post. Schools would receive a response from the Department on the extension of contracts up to 31 March 2012. The Department mentioned that budgets remained a huge challenge in respect of infrastructure. There was a greater demand for infrastructure than what was received.

d) Recommendations

· The district should assist the school with strategies to improve parental involvement and to deal with ill discipline amongst learners.

· The Provincial Department, together with the district, should ensure that the QLTC is revitalized as planned.

· The Provincial Department and the district should consider including the school in their infrastructural development plan.

5.2.5 Mhlangana Senior Secondary School

a) Observations

The school was in Quintile 1. Although the school had improved its matric results from 20 percent in 2010 to 32 percent in 2011, its performance was still below the acceptable pass rate. The school showed that it had challenges. However they have developed an improvement plan to address the challenges.

There were no serious challenges on the LTSM. The school received stationery from last year and did not have challenges. They also received textbooks for grade 10.

Teaching and learning took place on the first day of school but was ineffective because classes were leaking due to rain. Approximately 400 learners attended school on the first day of the school year. All educators reported for duty. Admission was conducted in 2011 and would continue until the end of January.

b) Challenges

· Three educators were additional to the staff establishment. This could have a negative effect on the delivery of the curriculum if they were redeployed.

· Educators were not trained for CAPS even in other schools in the area.

· The SGB was functioning very well, the relationship was a lively one and meetings were held regularly.

· School nutrition was operating very well apart from the fact that last year they requested to have a gardener and she was not being paid to date. Thus the school was using its own money to pay the gardener.

· There was a need for scholar transport and it was not being provided for. However, most of the learners use bicycles.

· The QLTC committee was formed but it was not functional.

· There were enough classrooms though there was no administration block, laboratories nor a library.

· In 2011 there were no challenges on the part of learners and educators in terms of discipline.

· The school is dissatisfied that some learners who choose maths and science are not competent.

· For a long time there has been only one teacher for maths and science.

· The school receives minimal support from clusters and the support is only during moderation time.

· Learners cannot interpret the questions

· The language proficiency of learners was a cause for concern.

· Learners do not attend extra classes because they are heading families.

· Accounting has a serious challenge because there has never been a steady educator for a long time. At the time of the oversight, they had a temporary accounting teacher.

· Learners perform very poorly in external tests but do well in internal assessments

c) SGB Concerns

· Children are not interested in their own education

· Parents do not come to school to see how their children are performing.

d) SADTU Concerns

· The school is misplaced in the circuit. They are politically near to Manyeleti instead of Cottondale. The demarcation barrier is a challenge and it is a disadvantage to the school.

e) Responses

The district noted that the staff was divided; staff was violating admission policy, failing to understand the handling of temporary teachers in the school, failing to be objective on handling matters of subject content and seems not to attend the cluster meetings. The school did not have a retrieval policy for books, there was a clear indication of poor management in the school, there was poor advocacy in terms of QLTC, and teachers were not truly informed about the performance of other schools around them. Further:

· The province would prioritize the school on operational matters

· The school must address its own internal differences and be committed to unity in the school.

f) Recommendations

· The district should step up its support to the school to assist in addressing the academic challenges encountered.

· There is a need to fast track processes to deal with the absorption of teachers in order to facilitate the employment of new educators.

· There is an undertaking to realign the school into the correct circuit

5.2.6 Sesete Primary School

a) Observations

Sesete Primary School is a Quintile 1 school with 714 learners and a staff establishment of 25 educators and three support staff. The school had received all the support material required. Educators were workshoped on CAPS the previous year. Educators had not received the necessary CAPS textbooks and workbooks but were ready to implement CAPS with the knowledge gained. As learners lived in the vicinity of the school, no scholar transport was necessary. The school had also received all the necessary funds and allocations from the Department. The NSNP was going well, although Grade R was not included in the programme. The QLTC had been established and was functional. The school was doing well overall, this included academically and in sport – the school had received numerous awards and trophies. The School received support from the district as well as the Department with circuit clusters and programmes in all learning areas.

b) Challenges

Some of the challenges being faced by the school included:

· A need for an extra administrative clerk

· A shortage of classrooms (the school requires an additional 8 classrooms).

· No storage facilities for computers.

· The need for a computer room, a laboratory and a bigger library.

· There was no running water at the school.

· The school had no sports field.

c) Responses

The school performed poorly in the ANA of 2011 due to the wrong language ANA material received. To improve on the ANA results the school had introduced Read and Speech Competitions as well as speed tests. The school also needed a kitchen to prepare meals. The school had some learners with learning problems – but the school had two educators qualified in remedial classes.

d) Recommendations

The Provincial Department and the district should consider including the school in their infrastructural development plan.

6. Conclusion

The oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga have provided the Committee with an opportunity to assess the state of school readiness for 2012 in these provinces and the districts visited.

The Committee noted that while there were indications of positive preparations towards school readiness for 2012, the provincial departments and districts experienced major challenges in certain areas. Common challenges that cut across the provinces visited included a chronic shortage of subject advisors to support teachers, the shortage and utilisation of staff in critical subjects such as mathematics and physical science, the persistent delay in the delivery of textbooks and workbooks to schools and the late admission of learners. These issues are of major concern to the Committee as they impede the enhancement of teaching and learning.

The findings and recommendations made by the Committee should assist in identifying areas that need to be strengthened and to make contributions to find effective solutions to challenges encountered by districts and schools.

7. Overall recommendations

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, having conducted the oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and considered the issues that were highlighted, makes the following general recommendations:

The Minister of Basic Education should ensure that:

7.1 The Provincial Departments of Education (PEDs) deal with the issue of vacancies in all critical areas as a matter of urgency. These include vacancies for subject advisors, circuit managers and teachers in critical subjects such as mathematics and physical science. A report on timelines for the filling of posts should be submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly within two months of the adoption of this report by the National Assembly.

7.2 To attract and retain suitably qualified educators to deep rural areas, the PEDs should prioritise and scale up the roll out of motivational incentives. The implementation of these incentives should be closely monitored to ensure that they have the desired effects. Sufficient funds should be made available for these incentives.

7.3 The national Department of Basic Education, together with the Provincial Education Departments, should deliver timeously to schools sufficient Learner and Teacher Support Material, including textbooks and workbooks. There is a need to ensure that schools enforce the policy on textbook retrieval to ensure that the required textbooks are returned to school. Principals failing to implement this policy should be held accountable.

7.4 The national Department of Basic Education, together with the Provincial Education Departments, should find a more amicable solution to the challenge posed by the termination of temporary teachers. There is also a need to fast track processes to deal with the absorption of teachers in order to facilitate the employment of new educators.

7.5 Given that transport is one of the keys to access, it is critical that the Provincial Education Departments, together with the Department of Transport, make transport available to all qualifying learners to ensure that they are able to travel to and from school.

7.6 The Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) should be revived across provinces to make education a societal issue.

7.7 There should be a speedy resolution to serious challenges of capacity that gave rise to the Section 100 1 (b) intervention in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

7.8 The Provincial Education Departments should intensify the CAPS training, taking into account the varying levels of training needs of different schools.

7.9 The Provincial Education Departments should progressively address the challenges facing individual districts and schools as identified in this report. In this regard, a report back should be submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly within two months of the adoption of this report by the National Assembly, in order to ascertain progress made.

Report to be considered.

Documents

No related documents

ATC120307: Report Oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, dated 6 March 2012

Basic Education

Documents

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