ATC120823: Report of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation on its follow up oversight visit to the Eastern Cape from 13-16 March 2012, following the Intervention by the National Department of Basic Education, dated 08 August 2012
NCOP Education and Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture
Report
of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation on its follow up oversight
visit to the Eastern Cape from 13-16 March 2012, following the intervention by
the National Department of Basic Education, dated 08 August 2012.
SECTION A:
ENGAGEMENT PROCESSES WITH KEY EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS
1.
Introduction
The Select Committee on Education
and Recreation, having undertaken an oversight visit to the
On Tuesday, 13 March 2012 delegation
visited the region of
Education Leadership Institute
Meeting with members of the provincial legislature and officials of the
provincial Department of Education.
This visit was a follow up to the
one the Select Committee embarked on in August 2011. At that time, the Select
Committee held meetings with members of the provincial legislature, unions and
other relevant stakeholders on the intervention tabled by the Minister of Basic
Education on the National Council of Provinces in terms of section 100 (1)(b).
The Committee also interacted with the MEC for Education in the
On Wednesday, 14 and 15 March 2012
the delegation visited the region of King Williamstown District and
i.
Mzontsundu Senior Secondary School - Meeting with
relevant stakeholders, educators, the school governing body and provincial and
national Department of Basic Education officials.
ii.
Mgcawezulu
Secondary School Meeting with relevant stakeholders, educators, the school
governing body and provincial and national department of Basic Education
officials.
The purpose
of the oversight visit was to get progress reports from all the relevant stakeholders
and the Department of Education on the implementation of the intervention in
terms of section 100(1) (b) of the Constitution. The visit formed part of the
Committees oversight responsibility to monitor and support progress in the
implementation of education priorities, more specifically the expectation
pronounced during the 2010 State of the Nation Address, for both learners and
educators to be in school, in class, on time, learning and teaching seven hours
a day. The Committee also aimed to assess the impact the intervention had in
terms of the level of delivery of learner and teacher support material (LTSM),
provision of school nutrition programme, provision of infrastructure, including
water and sanitation and scholar transport.
This report provides a summary of
the key issues that emerged from the interaction with stakeholders, officials
of the national department, provincial departments as well as the committees
deliberations, observations and recommendations.
2.
Delegation
Select
Committee on Education and Recreation:
Hon M W Makgate, MP (ANC
Parliamentary
Staff:
Mr M Dlanga (Committee Secretary: Select Committee on Education and
Recreation); Dr H Baloyi (Committee Researcher); Mr S Mthonjeni (Committee
Assistant)
Eastern
Eastern
Cape:
Hon M Makupula, MEC for Education, Eastern Cape; Adv M Maanya, Head of
Department, Department of Education, Eastern Cape; Mr T Moniwa; Mr Z Tom; Mr F
Sokutu
3.
Briefing
by the MEC and Department for Education, at the Education Leadership Institute
in
3.1
Overview and
welcoming by Hon M Makupula, MEC for Education
The MEC welcomed the delegation of
the NCOP to the province. He indicated that the visit by the Select Committee
should be understood in the context of co-operative governance.
He indicated that the role of the task team
needed to be clarified. The challenges at the Eastern Cape Education Department
can not be limited to administration. It was further reported that the
Ministerial task team which also consisted of MECs had only met once. This was
the structure that was appointed by the President of the Republic. The MEC
wished the Committee success during its fact finding mission in the province
and indicated that the visit by the NCOP Select Committee should be viewed in
the context of trying to find amicable solutions to the challenges faced by the
Education Department in the
3.2
Briefing by
Adv M Maanya: Head of Department, Department of Education,
Adv Maanya drew the Committees
attention to the challenges faced in the Department as follows:
The department has developed an
implementation plan with all the terms of reference of the intervention. In the
implementation of the intervention, the department is essentially implementing
the turnaround plan as approved by the Executive Council. These are also being
reinforced by various Executive Council, MEC and the Executive management
resolutions taken as a result of a number of subsequent reports and
recommendations of the Legislature.
At the opening of the schools in
January 2011, the Department faced challenges in four key areas, namely; the
termination of temporary educators, delivery of the stationery to section 20
schools, the suspension of the scholar transport programme and the problems of
the implementation of the school nutrition programme. The causes of the
problems are set out hereunder:
3.2.1
The
finalization of 2012 school post establishment/Employment of Educators
the post
establishment for 2012 was completed on time and a total of 64 752 posts were
declared for the 2012 school year. A total 63 331 posts were provided and
distributed to schools.
Based on the
2012 post basket of educators, a total of 8 269 new vacancies were created
whilst a total of 6 715 educators became additional to the post establishment
at various schools.
The movement
of teachers is one of the most important elements to the successful
implementation of the 2012 post provisioning. The movement of additional
educators has not been completed. To deal with this challenge, 1 910 temporary
educators were appointed against 2013 vacancies. All the 1,910 temporary
educators are properly and professionally qualified and include Funza Lushaka
bursary graduates. A total of 1, 098 of the identified educators have since
been issued with placement letters, and placed. The placement of teachers has
worked well in areas where there were no additional educators, despite the fact
that temporary educators were meant to be an interim measure pending the
permanent filling of the substantive vacancies.
The relevant
delegations were issued to district directors in August 2011 to fill substitute
posts. The department also made provision for a maximum of 500 substitute posts
in the 2012 post provisioning model as approved by the MEC on 30 September
2011.
This process has been delayed by
the lack of consensus in the interpretation of the agreement that was reached
with organized labour on the re-instatement of temporary teachers. A mediator
has been appointed to help with the interpretation of this agreement.
3.2.2
School
Nutrition Programme (NSNP)
All feeding schools have received four (4)
tranches for feeding and spending. A business plan has been developed and
approved for ILIMA AGRI PARKS, an intergovernmental and inter-institutional
initiative to promote local production and community involvement in the
National School Nutrition Programme as part of the provinces war on poverty
campaign. A process is underway to obtain required approvals from Treasury and
Department of Basic Education and finalizing the participation of other
departments.
The first
phase, which will start in April 2012, will cover 500 schools in the Districts
of Fort Beaufort and Dutywa, where Agri-Parks have been established through
support of the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform. The
development of procurement and control systems of this initiative is also
underway and the deadline for the project is April 2012.
As part of
the school readiness, plans were put in place for feeding to resume in all
targeted schools in the 2012 academic year. Monitoring is taking place mainly
by the district staff that is often faced by challenges of lack of capacity. A
task team which is comprised of Department of Education, Office of the Premier
and Provincial Treasury was established to strengthen amongst other things,
monitoring systems. A project plan was also developed and only awaiting
approval of heads of Departments for Education and Provincial Treasury.
The NSNP has
been decentralised in the province and approved by the Executive Council and
Department of Basic education in the 2010/2011 financial year and this target
has been met.
3.2.3
Scholar Transport
A decision has been taken
that the Department of Education remains responsible for determining
requirements and the Department of Transport for physical transportation of
learners. The new model makes provision for applications by learners and
verification of routes which were done in 2011. The function shift to the
Department of Transport was completed successfully on 1 April 2011. A
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with clear roles and responsibilities between the
two departments was signed in August 2011 and is being implemented.
A safer more
reliable programme resumed, which was first limited to farm school learners
whilst the planning for 2011 was completed. The programme was fully resumed on
18 July 2011. For 2011, 614 schools and 56 461 learners are participating which
is within the R206 million budget that was made available by the Department of
Education to the Department of Transport.
Through a partnership with the department, the Department of Transport
and the Chamber of Eastern Taxi and Bus, local economic development is ensured
by contracting operators on a rotational basis (7000 operators at a time). A steering
committee was established and it includes the department of education, the
service provider and the department of transport.
As part of the
2012 school readiness, scholar transport programme resumed in January in all
approved routes. The programme was fully rolled out on 18 July 2011 according
to the budget limitation of R206 million that was made available by the
Department of Transport. The total number of learners currently benefiting is
approximately 53 461 at 614 schools. Verification of the actual 2012 number of
learners is underway and was completed by 27 January 2012 at the same time that
admissions in schools were completed.
3.2.4
Supply of Stationery and textbooks / Learner Teacher Support
Material (LTSM)-
The department allocated a budget of R881 million for
LTSM to schools. An amount of R164 million was spent on stationery and the
balance was spent on textbooks. In the 2011/12 financial year there were 4480
section 21 schools and 1,132 section 20 schools. The procurement for 2012 has
already commenced and all section 21 schools received their transfer payments
timeously and have accordingly purchased both stationery and textbooks directly
from the book sellers before December 2011. The stationery has already been
delivered to all of the 1,100 section 20 schools that placed orders. A total of
18 section 20 schools did not need any stationery for 2012 due to late delivery
of stationery in 2011 which is being used for 2012.
The delivery of the stationery has occurred
for over 95 % of section 21 schools and others received theirs in February
2012. A Provincial Steering Committee comprising the LTSM officials,
district
directors, publishers and
booksellers has been established to meet monthly and deal with all the
impediments to the timeous delivery of the LTSM to schools, an agreement with
regard to this has been reached on a wide range of issues.
After an
internal review of the process, a new proposal was accepted to ensure that
procurement and delivery of books was done on time for 2012. This included
section 20 and 21 schools as well as grade R classes and special schools. The
new process was necessary as the department was no longer intending to procure
through a general tender with manufactures but rather through usage of
accredited local small medium and enterprises across the province.
There was a
delay in the provisioning of workbooks in 2011 and this was due to the Department
of Basic Education not providing the Department of Education in
All
districts and schools have been directed to fully implement the retrieval
policy. Monitoring systems have been developed as part of the improvement in
the control environment for the 2012 school year onwards. A report on
compliance will be done on a quarterly basis in 2012 as part of regular
monitoring by districts and the department.
The Department
of Education in the
3.2.5
School
Infrastructure Development Programme-Priority mud and unsafe schools-
The
department has put in place a rapid infrastructure plan to provide 400
temporary classrooms and address 52 of the 114 storm damaged schools.
Approximately 388 of the 400 classrooms have
been completed and occupied. Tenders have been awarded for the balance of 62
storm damaged schools and are scheduled to be completed by end March 2012.
The 2012/13 project list has been
completed and submitted to the Provincial Treasury on the 27 January 2012.
Based on the final staff establishment, 15 214 additional classrooms may be
required to meet the curriculum needs of schools for the 2012 school year. The
department is finalizing a needs assessment to prepare for the 2012 school
year.
Industrial Development Trust (IDT)
was instructed to provide water, sanitation and fencing to 92 schools. Tenders
have already been awarded and work is expected to be completed by 31 March
2012.
The Department of Education is
working with the Department of Roads and Public Works and Treasury to address
management issues and reinforce a 2008 Executive Council resolution for the
Department of Roads and Public Works to lead and direct infrastructure
development in the province.
A meeting was held with DBE on 18
January to secure agreements on the acceleration programme and budget
adjustments to facilitate refurbishment of schools. Regular fortnightly
meetings are being held with the implementing agents to monitor expenditure
performance and to establish more reliable cash flow projections.
Accelerated Infrastructure Delivery
Initiative Programme is aimed at eradicating mud structure schools in the
province. The programme is funded and managed by the Department of Basic
Education. DBE established that site handovers to contractors on all 49 mud
schools took place on 12 and 13 January 2012. The completion date for these
schools has been delayed from end March 2012 to end August 2012. The provision
of basic services, water, sanitation and electricity was underway.
4.
Stakeholder Meeting at the
The meeting was officially opened by
Hon M W Makgate, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education and
Recreation. The purpose of the meeting was to ascertain progress made since
August 2011, when the Select Committee visited the schools.
4.1
Progress made since the last visit of
the Select Committee
The following were the challenges
that were raised by the principals of various
Schools in the King Williams town
area:
The Principal of the school made a
presentation and reported as follows:
4.2
Schools Nutrition Programme:
it was
reported that the school was currently running the programme since beginning of
January 2012. One of the classrooms had been converted into a kitchen.
4.3
Scholar Transport
: The school
is still faced with the same challenge. Learners walked long distances to and
from school. The school had been applying for this programme since 2007. Some
learners walked approximately 17 and 24 kilometers to get to school. This led
to learners being victims of rape. The scholar transport policy specified the
criteria taking into consideration the age of learners. The school had
approximately 65 learners who qualified to be transported and the number has
now decreased to 36. The district office determines the routes. The Department
of Transport indicated that no new routes would be introduced in the current
financial year. Verification of learners was done and some learners did not
qualify. The department saved approximately R 500,000 .00 after the
verification process was completed. The district was not allowed to channel
funds to other programmes.
4.4 Substandard school Furniture:
The school
had old furniture. Even though there was enough furniture, the school would
appreciate getting new furniture.
4.5
Temporary Teachers:
The school appointed a temporary teacher in October
2011; however the contract of that teacher was terminated in December 2011, now
the teacher is currently doing voluntary work at the school.
4.6
Discipline:
The teacher that was on sick leave for three months
when the committee visited the school in 2011 is back and teaching. The other
teacher was mentally challenged and has since been put on special leave due to health
reasons. Absenteeism is a challenge amongst learners. The principal had regular
meetings with management and a leave registry was developed.
4.7
Learner Teacher Support Material:
LTSM was delivered before the end
of 2011 and the school received textbooks on time. The school ordered textbooks
late as there were challenges with the supplier. There are still outstanding
textbooks that must be delivered by the supplier.
4.8
Infrastructure, Laboratories, Water and Sanitation:
the ablution
facilities have since been fixed and toilets are in a good state. In 2011 the
school had one tap and now there are two taps and a water tank. The officials
from the provincial department of education visited the school in 2011.
Measurements were taken and sent to the infrastructure directorate. The school
has since received a science kit, and used its own money to procure same. A
submission for the building of a laboratory has been made to the district and
the intention is to begin construction of the laboratory before the end of
March 2012.
4.9
Curriculum:
The head of the department and the principal hold
monthly meetings. The monitoring tool is used to evaluate the classroom
performance. The district has since roped in subject advisers to the school.
The schools are clustered due to the fact that it was not possible to have
subject adviser of each school due to vastness of the district. The criteria
the district is using to identify schools that need assistance is to identify
those with results below 65%.
5.
Engagement at Mgcawezulu Senior
Secondary, Zwelitsha
This school
was situated in the small
o
School Nutrition Programme:
o
Learner Teacher
Support Material
o
Scholar
Transport
o
Infrastructure
The
committee discovered that nothing has been done in this specific school with
regard to the above mentioned challenges. The department made a number of
undertakings during the 2011 visit of the committee and none of those were
fulfilled.
SECTION B:
ENGAGEMENT PROCESS WITH THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE
On Thursday, 15 March 2012, the
delegation visited the
The purpose of the oversight visit
was to get progress reports from all the relevant stakeholders and the
University Administrator on the following:
o
The status of registration for 2012 in the University;
o
Turn around strategy of the University to overcome
challenges;
o
Plans and mechanism in place to improve enrolment planning
so as to produce graduates, and
o
Report on NSFAS application process, number of students that
have received the loan.
At the end of the programme the
delegation toured the University and observed the status of the residences,
sports facilities, clinics and the infrastructure of the University.
1.1.
Report by Professor Van Staden,
1.1.1
Overview of the University:
The University is situated in the
rural areas of the
The health programmes offered by the
university include amongst others MBCHB and other health related fields.
The medical doctors are all fully accredited
by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
The health and law faculties are offered at
the main campus at
The university has campuses in
Butterworth (Ibika) and Mthatha (Zamukulungisa). These two campuses run
programmes on electrical and mechanical engineering.
The university has just been accredited by
the Engineering Council of South Africa.
1.1.2
Status of the Registration for 2012 at the University
the
University has developed an enrolment plan. The plan is in line with the Human
Resource Development Strategy. The registration for 2012 has been running
smoothly. Approximately 6,300 first year students have been fully enrolled. The
university boasts an enrolment of 1,300 students for post-graduate programmes.
A total of approximately 24,000 students have been enrolled for the 2012
calendar. It was anticipated that the university was likely to exceed the
24,000 mark as registration was still in progress during the committees visit.
The university aims to enroll 30 % of students in science and technology for
the 2012 calendar year.
1.1.3
Turn around strategy
after it was discovered that the university was in
financial trouble, the Minister of Higher Education and Training intervened and
the university was subsequently put under administration.
The administrator was appointed to ensure
good governance and administration. Currently there is no management as the
council was dissolved and the technical committee took over.
The vice chancellor was released from his
contract early, as his contract was only due to end in December 2011.
1.1.4
Progress made since the Universities merged:
The report was that there has been very little progress since the
universities merged.
Although the
universities have merged, the three institutions still function the old way.
There has not been an integration of the three universities. The time tables
are still different and the institutions are still on separate payrolls.
1.1.5
Review of the statute:
A process to review the statute has been initiated.
The three campuses of the university are bankrupt. The university does not have
a revenue stream income. It relies on a government grant. It is estimated that
the current student debt is approximately R 300 million. There is also
unnecessary traveling between different campuses. Student governance is also in
the process of being reviewed. The Student Representative Council (SRC) has
been dissolved and an interim structure has been put in place. The processes to
review all the lease agreements the university has entered into have been
started.
1.1.6
State of
1.1.7
Status of the residences:
The Administrator gave a brief report on the
status of the residences and indicated that the detailed information is
available on the Higher Education Sector Committee that was appointed by the
Minister of Higher Education to review the status of university residences.
The total number of university beds
is approximately, 7500. 4, 700 of those are private residences which the
university has leased.
1.2
Presentation by the SRC Representative and worker unions:
The representative of students
highlighted the following:
o
Information
and Communication Technology
: The ICT has not been administered
well, students continued to experienced challenges with results loaded in the
ICT.
o
Debt
collection
: students who have long settled their accounts
continued to receive letters from universities debt collectors.
o
Procurement
processes
: University employees doing business with university, this poses
conflict of interests.
o
Student fee
increase
: no proper consultation was done to increase fees. The university
students come from poor backgrounds and others can not afford to pay school
fees ranging from R6, 500 to approximately R13, 000. Student fees have been
increased by 150%.
o
Resources:
the
university laboratories are not up to standard, inadequate equipment and lack
of resources. The university does not have proper lecture rooms. No proper
furniture or computer facilities at the university. The environment for
teaching at the university is not conducive due to lack of basic resources. The
morale among university staff is at the lowest level.
o
Good
governance:
it was reported that students are committed to ensure
good governance within the university. There was also no objection to the
implementation of National policies. The policies on expelling students for
poor performance should also address poor performance on lectures and make provision
for adequate resources. The university was spending 80% of the allocated budget
on non-academic programmes. The students and worker unions welcomed the
forensic investigations that have been instituted by the administrator.
o
Staff
development:
the university did not have a programme in place to
develop its staff. University lecturers did not get an opportunity to visit
other universities for best practices and exchange programmes.
o
Admission/registration
process:
Student representatives and unions were not happy with the manner in
which the registration process has been managed. Late applications by students
cause delays to academic programmes.
1.3
Challenges
The following are the challenges that
were raised by the administrator of the WSU:
o
Poor managements of the University loan book;
o
High rate of HIV and Aids;
o
Poor management of the university finances;
o
University libraries: open for half day.
o
Lack of properly qualified academic support/ lecturers;
o
Insufficient lecture rooms
o
Maladministration of university finances
o
Lack of proper ICT infrastructure
o
Too much use of consultants/ outsourcing
1.4
Responses to the challenges
Members of Parliament, Members of the
Provincial Legislature and Officials from the administration team deliberated on
the engagement and responded as follows:
-
It was reported that the university has a
relationship with overseas universities. The relations were forged in
terms of research programmes. The university has also entered into a
library programme with the
-
It was acknowledged that part of the challenges
faced by WSU were mainly on funding. Proposals have been submitted to the
Department of Higher Education and Training. The plan is aimed at
introducing Masters Programmes to solve socio-economic challenges in the
region.
-
The university lecture room capacity was 17000
since merger. An amount of R400 million has been received by the
university. The money is allocated to build projects and a master plan has
already been developed.
-
The term of the administrator and the technical
team was 24 months; it was not a permanent structure. The term can be
extended by the Minister of Higher Education and Training
-
The campuses have been using different pay rolls.
The administrator was looking at merging the payrolls and having only one
payroll system. Executive management had its own payroll.
-
It was acknowledged that the ICT system of the
university was two versions behind normal expectations. Plans are at an
advanced stage to upgrade to the latest version. The ICT would also be
used to track list of creditors of the institution.
-
The university received audit qualifications with
matters of emphasis in 2011 financial year. The plan is to ensure clean
audit with no matters of emphasis in the next financial year.
-
The university has not completed an investigation
on maladministration allegations.
It was acknowledged that amongst the challenges was the fact that
80% of the budget was spent on salaries. A process of verification of
staff was initiated. This process requires staff to submit copies of their
qualifications. The report was not yet ready.
1.5
General Recommendations
Having
been briefed by the Eastern Cape Department of
Education (ECDE) and having conducted an oversight visit to the Eastern
Cape (EC)
and Walter Sisulu University, and
interacting with various role players and stakeholders, including the Eastern
Cape MEC for Education; the Chairperson and Members of the provincial Portfolio
Committee of education; the HOD and officials of the EC Department of Education
(ECDE); the Administrator of the WSU ; officials of the EC Department of Roads
and Public Works; various education teacher unions as well as principals educators,
representatives of
students in the
Eastern Cape, the Select Committee on Education and Recreation recommends as
follows:
-
That the Eastern
Cape Department of Education should continue to work hand in hand with the
Department of Basic Education, with a collaborative approach to bring
about a sustainable turnaround and to ensure efficient and effective
delivery of educational services in the province;
-
That the
Eastern Cape Department of Education should submit a plan to address the
challenges faced by two schools in King Williamstown, namely Mgcwawezulu
and Mzontsundu Primary School within 14 days;
-
The Department
of Basic Education should submit a report to the Council on the ASIDI
programme for the
-
That Council should
continue to monitor the intervention regularly and make further
recommendations to the national executive if and when necessary;
-
WSU should
engage the Engineering Council of South Africa and Institutes for
Chartered Accountants to ensure that students are accredited on completion
of studies
-
WSU should
develop a plan to address the financial challenges faced by the
university;
-
The
WSU to submit a master plan to attend to
the provision of proper building infrastructure
-
There is a need for improved communication channels between the
administrator and all the university stakeholders including unions and
students representatives.
Appreciation
The delegation, led by Ms M W
Makgate MP, thanked the Members of the Provincial Legislatures, Provincial
Departments of Education and the Administrator of the
Report to be considered.
Documents
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