TUESDAY, 8 JUNE 2021 Watch video here: NCOP Plenary (Vitual )
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
The Council met at 10:03.
The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Just to remind delegates that the rules apply and the processes are equally applicable for the virtual sitting.
Before we proceed, hon members, I would like to remind you of the following: Firstly, that the virtual sitting of the NCOP constitutes a sitting of the NCOP.
Secondly, that delegates in the virtual sitting enjoy the same powers and privileges that apply in the sitting of the NCOP.
Thirdly, that for the purpose of the quorum, all delegates in the virtual platform shall be considered present in the House.
Fourthly, that delegates must always switch on their videos.
Fifthly, that delegates should ensure that the microphones on their gadgets are muted and must always remain muted unless you have permission to speak.
Sixthly, the interpretation facility is active.
Lastly, that any delegate who wishes to speak must use the
‘raise your hand’ function.
Having done all of this, I’ve been informed, hon members and delegates, there will be no Notices of Motion or Motions Without Notice.
The hon delegates, before we continue with the policy debates I would like to welcome the Minister of Basic Education, the Minister of Higher Education and their Deputies to the House.
We will now proceed to the First Order of the day.
APPROPRIATION BILL
(Policy debate)
Vote No 16 – Basic Education
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Chair, let me acknowledge you, Cabinet colleagues present, members of the NCOP, MECs present, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the entire Basic Education Sector, we wish to thank the NCOP for inviting us to table our 2021-22 budget at this debate of 2021-22 Budget Vote 16 – Basic Education.
Chairperson and hon members, as much as the Basic Education sector, working with its partners, including teacher unions, national governance associations, our civic associations, the public and private sectors, ... [no sound] ... tried to save the academic year of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating ... [no sound] ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: We are losing you, Minister. just to speak on the mic and be a bit slower.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Chair!
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Please proceed and don’t change
your position.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: ... ok, thank you, Chair. I am saying as much ourselves, the teacher unions, parents, governing associations, the private and public sectors, tried to save the 2020 academic year, but indeed the coronavirus pandemic had a devastating ... [no sound] ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: We are losing you, Minister. Definitely there is something that is not right. You on breaking.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: ... I keep on breaking? I am
sorry, don’t know what is happening. Am I clear now?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, if you can just keep it at that.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: ... thank you very much, Chair. It’s making me tense. As I have said, we lost a lot of valuable time but also lost a number of our people. We lost the head of department, HOD, of the Eastern Cape, we lost the President of National Teachers’ Union, NATU, and also lost an
MEC because of the pandemic. We continue to say, may their souls rest in peace.
Chair, we have lost lots of teaching time but we can’t be complaining because we tried ... [Inaudible.] ... to make sure that we can salvage whatever was left of the year. The adjustments that happened last year did affect our allocations that we are going to be reading now. And that the allocations we are reading now are allocations of a reduced budget from 2020.
For instance, our overall budget for this year comes to
R27, billion, which is an increase of 15,5%, but it is a 15,5% of what would have been reduced last year. On Conditional Grants, we have been given R20,7 billion, which is an increase of 20,2%. We have also been allocated R16,2 million for systematic improvement of language and numeracy in the foundation phase. We have also been allocated R19,9 million to make sure that we can start allocating money to technology for Grade 7-9. We are very grateful of this allocation because indeed they help us to roll in some of these new initiatives that we had started in the current financial year.
We also have an allocation of R3,7 billion, as transfers to school and it is an increase of 5,7%. And we have also been allocated R1,6 billion, which is a transfer that comes through Department of Basic Education, DBE, and again, is an increase of 1,4%.
The presentation that we are making to the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, in October 2020, the Minister of Finance did give to us as a department R7 billion last year, which was used for the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. That money was divided as follows. The national department got R1,2 million which was used for project management, support and monitoring. We allocated more than R6,9 billion to provinces which was used by provincial departments to pay stipends of teacher assistants, and Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF and R2,4 billion of that money was used to save posts, because some of the schools especially the independent schools – because of the covid challenges were unable to pay salaries posts, so the state gave them R2,4 billion to save posts. And from that process we saved quite a number of posts.
From the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, we can report that we created more than 320 000 employment
opportunities for the youth, and the money that was given to us in the saving of posts, we have managed to save 27 662 posts.
Chairperson, I will also read through the allocations that have been given to different provinces. For instance, the Eastern Cape Department of Education has been allocated R35,1 billion, which is a reduction of 3%, the Free State Department of Education has been allocated R15,5 billion, which is a reduction of 0,1%, Gauteng Department of Education has been allocated R53,5 billion, which is an increase of 1,1%, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been allocated R53,2 billion, which is a reduction of 5,3%, Limpopo Department of Education has allocated R32,6 billion, a reduction of 3,5%, Mpumalanga Department of Education has been allocated R22,3 billion, which is an increase of 0,4%, the Northern Cape Department of Education has been allocated R7,1 billion, which is an increase of 0,6%, the North West Department of Education
is allocated R18 billion, an increase of 1,8%, and the Western Cape Department of Education has been allocated R24,5 billion, which is a reduction of 0,4%.
Therefore, the total adjusted budget allocation for Provincial Education Departments combined, is R288,7 billion, which is a
total reduction of 2,4% for all the provinces combined. Specifically, the total provincial 2021-22 budget allocations, were reduced by 8,4%, as five of the provincial Departments of Education saw reductions in their baseline allocations. As I have indicated before that the reductions of this year’s budget is based on the reductions that we experienced last year.
With regards to the strategic realignment of the Basic Education Sector priorities, we want to remind the members of the NCOP we had prioritised a number of areas. That the basic education sector priorities, we had committed ourselves amongst others, to build a very solid foundation for a quality and efficient education system, as well as contribute in providing permanent solutions to the architecture of our education system.
We therefore, wish to remind the House of our Action Plan for 2024. “Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2030”, giving expression to the following areas which are informed by the declaration in the Constitution, the National Development Plan, NDP and also by our international and continental commitments. Therefore, the Constitution, the NDP, and all other commitments and conventions they do provide us with the
moral imperative and a mandate as government both at the national and provincial levels, to make the social justice principles of access, redress, equity, efficiency, inclusivity and quality educational opportunities, to be available to all citizens. Our collective role, as the basic education executive and administrative authorities, is to ensure that the social justice principles, provide a uniform foundation for our work.
At the outset, we advise the hon members of this House and the public to visit our DBE website, where we have posted more details on our programmes.
We want to remind members that our first priority in this term has been to priority the strategic relocation of Early Childhood Development, ECD, from the Department of Social Development, DSD, and the Department of Basic Education.
Chairperson, we must concede that the complexities of this process were major but were not overwhelming, can report that great progress has been made. I am happy to report that, as the two Ministries, we have managed to crack the codes and many processes have begun. A systematic process for the relocation of ECD from the DSD to the DBE is at an advanced stage and proclamations are going to be signed. We are going
to cater in the first phase the two years of ECD before Grade One, on section of compulsory education. We are also realigning the process to our amendments to the Bill.
The second priority which we also have to remind members was around the realignment of our curriculum so that we have a strategic implementation of a curriculum with skills and competencies of a changing world in our public schools.
Amongst others, I did report that we were introducing robotics and coding in our schools. I can report that on 19 March 2021, we gazetted our coding and robotics curriculum for comments, in preparation for training of officials and the appointment of service providers that are going to help us in this sector. I can report that the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority ETDP-SETA, has assisted us with amount of about R7 million towards this process. I am happy to also report that the private sector like Sasol has really worked hard very hard with us to make sure that we finalise the curriculum and are benchmarking it.
Chairperson, last year, I did also report that we are expanding our programmes and can report that for instance, the Maritime Studies have become part of the bouquet of subjects we already offer and particularly as part of the ocean-based
economy which contributes about $6 billion towards our
country’s Gross Domestic Product.
We are also excited to say at the end of this year there is going to be a cohort of learners which are going to write Marine Sciences.
We also have to say in partnership with the Gauteng province and the Department of Transport, we have introduced Aviation Curriculum. we are proud that the country will introduce another unique South African subject offering, that includes all the occupational work-areas within the aviation milieu.
I want to report to this House that we are also excited that we have established the guidelines and management of Focus schools which are going to help us to enrich our curriculum by providing additional skills which are skills of the future. We have a total of 103 schools in all nine provinces, have been audited, to pilot the occupational subjects.
Chairperson, I also want to say, we reported last year that we will up our game around the Information Communications Technologies, ICTs in our sector. Fortunately, with the advent of coronavirus, we were forced to leapfrog and can say that
since then, we have provided 191 special schools with the ICT devices, assistive technologies, as well as appropriate software for teaching and learning. We were supported by Vodacom, MTN, Liquid Telkom, and Cell C. They made a number of devices available to our schools.
Again, Last year, I had reported to this House that the Ministerial Task Team on the Development of History for Grades 4-12 had developed the History content framework for Grades 4- 12, including a review of topics including historiography, material culture and archaeology, African history, heritage and local history, including labour history, language, gender and culture history, inland history, and world history.
Currently, the Ministerial Task Team, its packaging dedicated in in writing sessions, to sequence and packaging the identified content, to ensure that there is alignment in terms of articulation, sequencing, progression, and conceptual development.
We can report that the next area we are focusing on is the Incremental Introduction of African Languages. Even in that respect we have made lots of progress. We also can say that in the list of subjects that we have brought into the milieu we have looked at Khoi, Nama, San languages, as well as the South
African Sign Language. We had thought that by last year we would have brought in Kiswahili, but because of covid challenges and the pressure that we had we were not able to start with Kiswahili programme.
The other exciting programme that we want to report on is the introduction a General Education Certificate, which has been provisionally approved by Umalusi and the standardisation process has happened. And we do plan that we will roll out the programme of the General Education Certificate in 2023.
We have again drafted the National Assessment Framework, which will serve to co-ordinate assessments conducted in the General Education and Training Bands. It’s a basket of purpose-driven assessment from entry levels to Grade 9. We also have finalised our work around systemic evaluation.
Chairperson and hon members, we have repeatedly presented national and international evidence that learning outcomes in our entire education system have been on an upward trajectory. However, we are mindful that the gains we have made, are currently threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We feel that despite the gains in learning outcomes we have realised, we are currently faced with mounting evidence from our researchers of significant and continuing learning losses. Hence as the sector have agreed that in the third terms, depending what the infections are we will start inviting all our primary learners back to school so that we can have some normality in the sector. Because it is affecting us badly.
On 19 May 2021, the Council of Education Ministers, CEM, unanimously supported full attendance of primary school learners at the beginning of the third term. CEM also unanimously agreed to suspend contact sport, and all events related to the 2021 South African Schools Music Competitions. We were doing that in view of the reported incidents of infections that came from our schools.
Chairperson, I can report that as the basic education centre we will continue to intensify compliance with the non- pharmaceutical COVID-19 protocols, and ensure that our educators and support staff are also prioritised for vaccination.
In conclusion, Chair, I wish to report that we recently conducted School Governing Bodies, SGB, elections which were
very successful. We have in total more than 250 000 SGB members. We are in the process of training and inducting them in the sector.
We also want to thank our international partners, sister departments which have helped us a lot. I want to take this opportunity to single out the South African Council for Educators, SACE, Umalusi, National Education Collaboration Trust, NECT, our teacher unions, the national SGB associations, the principals’ associations, for assisting us and continue assisting us through counsel and advise and giving us impeccable support that we need.
I wish to thank the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, the NCOP Whippery, and the hon member in the select committees. We cannot forget to acknowledge the members of CEM and the heads of education departments that have also assisted us to be this far. Finally, I really want to thank my colleague, the Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, the director-general and officials, from both national and provincial departments, for the ongoing support and co-operation they have been given to the sector. I thank you, Chair.
Mr M E NCHABELENG: Good morning and thank you.
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members and the people of South Africa. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the MEC for Education in Limpopo, Mme [Ms] Boshielo, for having performed very well, particularly with the procurement of personal protection equipment, PPEs. They’ve done the right things and done them the right way. We thank you and we are proud of you.
The ANC supports Budget Vote 16: Basic Education. In order to create a national democratic society, we need to educate our society to build such a democratic egalitarian society which does not discriminate others on the basis of race and class.
The Department of Basic Education is entrusted with a critical mandate for our nation. Educating children and the youth is a foundation and cornerstone of developing a country and to improve the socioeconomic wellbeing of its people.
The cognitive development of children is honed by their education; hence the quality of education contributes in the learning outcomes. This is why the ANC has placed Education as an apex priority of government to address the inequalities in education and to improve the quality of education for all.
This is important due to the centrality of quality education for human capability development.
The inequalities in our education system due to its history of the two education systems during apartheid one been privileged for white people and the other underprivileged for black people.
Closing this inequality gap has been a key priority of the ANC government in order to enable all South Africans equal opportunities through opening the doors of learning and culture, as the Freedom Charter says.
In this month of the youth let me also remember the 1976 generation who fought against bantu education. Their struggles where not in vain as we today have schools across the class divide becoming top performing.
The Basic Education budget vote responds to the various challenges facing our society and the education sector. The fact that we have made progress in many areas does not mean that we have realised the education system we want for the country. This is because the inequality in the sector
continues to exist and those who are impacted are the poor and black in the main.
The coronavirus pandemic laid bare the backlog in closing the gap of basic services such as water and sanitation. The pandemic also exposed how the sector requires more infrastructure development in dimensions as many schools have less and/or poor infrastructure capacities.
The learner/teacher ration target should be the standard we attain in order to enable quality teaching and learning.
Access to digital devices is also skewed amongst provinces and schools. During the hard lockdown learners from privileged back grounds had digital devices to continue learning while the poor did not have any. The Department of Basic Education had to develop a multi modal approach in order for learning to continue, through radio, tv and workbooks delivered to learners. This was a real show of love and commitment by the Minister and her team.
This is an are the department should focus in expanding access to digital devices and connectivity in our schools.
The changing world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution requires digital skills.
Despite the difficulties of the pandemic we must commend the department for supporting schools to continue learning under the pandemic during a period of a lot of unknowns and during the current conjuncture. It requires leadership and commitment from all public sector workers and we salute the department for this.
The impact of learning loss due to closure of schools has a severe impact on the learner in the long term. This impact is estimated at 74% for the year 2020. This is the impact of school closures for learning. Recovering the loss time is as good as not possible as the period of schooling has not been extended and not even under consideration due to its ripple effect on higher education and market skills demands.
We also welcome the matriculants outcomes of 2020, hon Minister, because they demonstrate the correctness of the decisions taken by the Cabinet in ensuring that schools are reopened. And you were the champion of this campaign, hon Minister, we celebrate you.
The department is still continuing with the Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative, ASIDI, to eradicate the mud schools and schools with inappropriate infrastructure. The ASIDI programme also addresses issues of water and sanitation.
For the financial year 2021-22, the ASIDI programme will build
21 new schools and provide 1 000 schools with sanitation facilities at the tune of R2,3 billion. This is not the only infrastructure programme in basic education as our provincial department also spent significantly on infrastructure from their provincial allocations and the Infrastructure Grant managed by the national department. So, together with the provincial departments we will definitely win this war, much towards winning it.
The education infrastructure grant is allocated R36,7 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF. This is to realise the Medium-Term Strategic Framework to eradicate learning under the trees, eradicate mud schools through, eradicate the sanitation backlog in schools; and all this will be done by the Department of Basic Education.
One of the issues which have led to a great financial loss for the department is the vandalism which we saw during the year
2020, this, during the hard lockdown. This is an issue all social partners working with law enforcement state agencies to speed up this process and ensure that those involved get arrested and it happens in due course, and that some of the things, if they can be retrieved, we should also retrieve those stolen properties from the schools. These school infrastructures are properties of the community and should be protected for generations to come.
Another impediment in the sector is the disruption of construction works by groups of business forums which do not follow procurement processes to provide services but yet they want to provide the services. This causes delays in the projects that are under implementation.
Local economic development is an important imperative of distribution of income across the country but local contractors should follow due processes, for them to participate. National and provincial departments should ensure that procurement processes take local economic development into consideration, this will avoid the disruptions which are negatively impacting delivery of infrastructure resulting in funds been returned due to lack of spending. This delays economic development. But again, we need to intensify our
public education in the form of public participation meetings to explain to our developers and our immediate business people what processes to follow when you want to participate in the construction of schools or participate in the business within the education system.
One of the recent social ills which affects learners is bullying in our schools. This was placed in the public domain through the incident of Lufuno Mavhunga who ended up taking her life due to the humiliation she endured; may her soul rest in peace. There are many other learners who are bullied in our schools. It is important, hon members, that we make sure the department continues to address this issue systematically.
Incidents of sexual harassment and rape in our schools should disturb all of us in this House and society as a whole.
Perpetrators of such acts should not be allowed nowhere near the education system even at an administrative level, they must be far away from schools. If we are to build a society which embraces values of human dignity such persons should not be allowed in the public service.
Gender-based violence and femicide, GBVF, is the second pandemic, as described by the President. We should unite
against these social ills which are a manifestation of patriarchy.
Our basic education curriculum should focus on these aspects to ensure we embed the values enshrined in our constitution.
Our education system should not only respond to the current material conditions but it needs to adapt to the changing world of production. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is going to significantly change production and economic activities.
The future will surely be more technological and digitally based.
The President, in his state of the nation address, spoke of the introduction of coding and robotics in our education system to prepare our learners for the current emerging skills need and a future of technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, internet of things, block chain technologies and other inventions.
The only constant thing in society is change itself. The conditions in which I grew up as a child and the conditions the youth of the 80’s and 90’s grew up in is are also different. Our children today, unlike us, grow up in a period
wherein the flow of information is rapid. The advent of internet and the expanded access to digital technologies have meant that our children are highly able to use these instruments like cell phones and play games in the internet.
This means that we need to expand access to connectivity and digital devices. The department has to adapt its educational content to respond to this changing conditions and to teach learners on how to use the internet as different cyberbullying and adult content is easily accessible in the internet; also the parents must play an important role in ensuring that their children do not go beyond what they are allowed to peruse in their phones and laptops.
The department’s entities such as the South African Council of Educators, SACE, and Umalusi have been allocated budgets which support their mandates. These entities are critical in supporting the education sector and the department to ensure the quality of teachers and their conduct and the quality of the education standards.
The South African Council of Educators should be supported to ensure that all teachers reported for sexual harassment and other abuses are processed in an efficient manner as this acts
impact learning and psychosocial stability of students in our schools.
The teacher development programme by the department is commendable through the Funza Lusaka bursary scheme which provides support for many students who are absorbed in the department with an 86% absorption rate. The department will be awarding 11 500 bursaries. This is a welcomed intervention for the current and future needs of our education system.
The ANC supports Budget Vote 16 of Basic Education Department and I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms D C CHRISTIANS: Hon Minister and hon Chairperson, the COVID-19 pandemic has left deep and indelible effects on the lives and learning of children in South Africa. A recent study has found that, although children have not been friend and face of the pandemic, they are in fact amongst its biggest victims. It is no secret that because of decades of inequality, later further exacerbated by a failing government, that many vulnerable children were further deprived from their only hot meal or reprieve from abuse, because of the extended periods they are unable to attend school.
These inequalities, have further highlighted the challenges such as the disparities in digital literacy, access to the internet and internet enabled devices, which are of course, are key considerations in remote learning. The impact on educational staff also needs to be acknowledged. At the start of 2021, it was estimated that more than 2000 teachers have lost their lives. Teachers were placed under additional strain, when they were required to provide remote learning, even though most teachers and learners, do not have the required technology, or pedagogic understanding, to undertake effective remote and online learning.
This has placed an added moral and emotional burden, on teachers around the country. Chairperson, quality education is a constitutional and international human right. It includes access to safe, clean and adequate school facilities. However, this undisputable right, is clearly being denied to too many learners across this country. This downward spiral of education continues, despite the fact that the department receives one of the largest budgets, specifically the increase to R27 billion for the 2021-22 financial year.
However, Chairperson, the department is also seeing cuts to its salary budget, while funding for consultants is one of the
biggest increases in its budget. This means, less money for internal capacity in government, while more money flows to private parties. Minister, while the School Infrastructure Backlog Grant that funds the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative receives R2 billion in 2021-22, it is discouraging that over R400 million, will be taken from the grant over the next three years. The enduring question is, when will this department commit and allocate sufficient funds, to address longstanding, and ongoing infrastructure failings at our schools.
By March 2020, just before COVID-19 struck, it was reported that only 266 out of 3,988 schools that needed it, had benefitted from the President’s own 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education Campaign to address inadequate sanitation. Only 30 schools were built from the Sanitation Appropriate for Education, SAFE, budget, and only 21 earmarked in this 2021-22 financial year. Minister, I would like to invite you to the Northern Cape to show you exactly which schools should urgently be allocated funding for infrastructure.
In Kimberley, for example, Homevale High School, which serves an impoverished community, is on the verge of collapse. All
the classroom windows are shattered, the desks and chairs are in an advanced state of decay. There’s also a broken pipe that has been leaking water for the past year. They need seven additional teachers, and even more concerning, Minister, is the fact that a section of the school building has been held up by scaffolding for the past five years. The provincial department visited the school after I wrote to them, however, nothing has been done to date. What are they waiting for?
Another tragedy like the collapsed bridge at Driehoek High School in Vanderbijlpark?
Additionally, this very same school had a matric pass rate of only 37%, and the school next to them, Emmanuel High school had a 7% matric pass rate. It is no secret, Minister, that the Northern Cape also had the lowest matric pass rate last year. Additionally, Minister, in Barkly West, also in the Northern Cape, community members have embarked on a strike action in Mataleng, because of a half built school which has been left undeveloped for the last five years. In Kimberley alone, Chairperson, there are at least a dozen dilapidated school structures, many of these deficiencies, are in breach of the government’s own minimum norms and standards for educational facilities.
Furthermore, across the country, there are still more than
3 100 pit toilets, yet, only 1000 have been targeted in the budget. This, leaves thousands of learners vulnerable to accidents and possible death. There are still mud school structures, asbestos structures, vandalized schools and thousands of schools deemed unsafe due to no fencing. Chairperson, the budget shows approximately R8 billion been allocated to the National School Nutrition Programme for 2021-
22. This is the same amount that the government originally said it would spend on the program, when it published the previous budget in February 2020.
How is this humane, considering that so many parents have lost their livelihoods during this past year, and more children than ever before go to school hungry every day? Chairperson, the scholar transport system remains an additional concern for thousands of children. Recently, we saw more than 37 000 Eastern Cape pupils have been left stranded without transport to schools, because of the transport department’s budget cuts. It remains a concern for thousands of children who are exposed to danger and hazardous terrain as they walk to and from school every day.
Underspending on basic education is a further concern, as the budget shows a concerning trend of underspending. Recently, published data shows that government spending per learner on basic education, decreased by an average of 2,3% between 2009 and 2018. The February 2020 budget showed a further downward trend by cutting the total basic education budget in real terms, possibly, the first time this has happened in the democratic era, a trend that is now continuing in the current budget. Since 2016-17, funding for education as a percentage of the total budget has decreased from almost 19% to around 15%.
Minister, education departments must be held accountable for how allocated money is spent. Last year, the Department of Basic Education spent R818 million irregularly which is up from R210 million in the previous year. A further concern, Minister is that, our learners and the effect the long-term effect the cancellation of school sports is having on the youth. Studies show that while all COVID-19 protocols should be observed when participating in sport, sport and other physical activities offers a lot of benefits for children and young people.
It improves cardiovascular health, strength, body composition, and overall fitness. Exercise even has immune system benefits. The youth in our country need a positive outlet to express their energies and frustrations, and sport has always been a healthy alternative. Minister, lastly, it is policy implementation on provincial level that is failing our country as well as our young people. The poor implementation of policies and the funds been stolen by cadres, will see the complete destruction of basic education and further drive already vulnerable communities further into poverty and inequality. I thank you.
Ms M N GILLION: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs, hon members, the people of South Africa, our country is officially in the third wave of the global corona virus pandemic. The third wave poses a lot of risks, socially and economically. It also poses a risk to the education sector and how the department should approach this time of turbulence and uncertainty. More losses of time for teaching and learning in our schools will be tragic and will require significant efforts to cover the lost ground due to closure of schools last year.
One of the key policy priorities of the ANC in the Sixth Administration is the early childhood development (ECD) migration from the Department of Social Development to Basic Education. This is to ensure that the provision of education for the cognitive development of the children is done through Basic Education. This will support efforts of the department in ensuring that Grade R and Grade RR are compulsory for all children to make sure that they are ready for Grade 1.
When children are taught correctly at an early stage, the prospects of academic excellence and progress is greatly enhanced. Reading with meaning is one of the priorities of the department and in order to improve such learning outcomes, the foundation of every child I s important.
The President, in his Sona, emphasised the ECD migration as a priority of this Sixth Administration because when our ECD sector is effective and lays a good foundation, our children will perform better when they get in the schooling system.
This is a long-term strategic importance for the sector.
The ECD migration will be concluded in April 2022. The committee urges the two departments to speedily confront he complexities of this migration and Basic Education should be
prepared to take our ECD sector to a high level of learning outcomes for all, particularly the poor.
The department’s target of increasing the number of five-year- olds in Grade RR of 95% by 2024 is important to improve the preparedness of children before they start schooling. The complexities in the sector will create a lot of challenges in transitioning to a comprehensive ECD sector, which provides quality childcare and teaching for all.
Mathematics and Science remain a key area of priority of the department, as these subjects support the urgent demands of our economy, in order to increase industrial production and innovation. In order to be competitive amongst other nations, we need to continue to improve our Science and Mathematics learning outcomes.
The 2019 trend in international Mathematics and Science study indicated that there is progress that is being made in our education system. This is a positive indicator that the opposition will never acknowledge.
Poverty, unemployment and inequality are endemic in our society. It is for this reason that the Department of Basic
Education allocates significant resources to support two programmes, which focus on alleviating poverty and supporting the poor. This is the National School Nutrition Programme, which provides healthy food for learners, addressing the problems of food hunger in our schools which impacts negatively on the learners’ performance. The department also provides meals during this pandemic to spike the low uptake.
This demonstrates how the department prioritises the wellbeing and success of learners. This Budget Vote supports 19 950 schools, which will be provided with nutritious meals on each school day.
Another aspect, which mainly affect the poor and those living in rural areas is the fact that other learners stay in far- flung areas from school. Other students would have to walk tens of kilometres to go to school, which exposes children and the girl child to various safety risks and abuses. The National Scholar Transport Programme is an important intervention by the department to address the problem facing many learners across our country.
One of the key policy areas we should begin to access and evaluate is the impact of the scholar transport, as it relates
to learners who travel to far-flung areas, whilst passing a number of schools next to their homes. This is also enabled by the right of parent to place the learners in the school of their choice, subject to availability of space.
It is also very unfortunate, Minister, that the so-called best-run province in this country is currently being taken to court by the parents because of unplacement of learners in the Western Cape. Shame on you, MEC Debbie Schafer.
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English:
Learners drop out of schools due to various reasons and the department’s policies provides support for the wellbeing of learners so that they become focussed on the education. Though the he drop-out is not extremely high, any learner who leaves the education system should always be of great concern. We urge our communities and all political parties to continuously campaign and encourage our children and our youth to be committed to their education.
The overall programme of the department of school improvement is important to ensure that all our schools should be able to provide quality education with good performance outcomes. The fact that good performing schools are not just reserved ... [Inaudible.] ... urban areas or schools with ... [Inaudible.]
... but our schools in rural areas and the townships also have high-performance outcomes and matric results.
Issues of governance and management of schools are important to provide support for the functionality of all schools.
Schools’ institutional cultures are important. leadership provided by principles should earn a high level of discipline and commitment of learners to perform to thebest of their ability.
We welcome the smooth running of school governing bodies across the country. Our SGBs should strengthen the efforts in developing and supporting our schools to improve the learning outcomes and to also ensure that schools’ safety is on top of the agenda. The ANC supports this Budget Vote because in this Vote lies a better future for our country and its children. I thank you.
Mr F GADE: Thanks hon Chair of the NCOP, Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon members of the House, Minister of Basic Education and Deputy Minister of Basic Education, participants through virtual platforms and media houses. Chair allow me to reflect just on the policy priorities of the sector. Chair, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that the teaching and learning should take place anywhere, anytime. This means that the parents have indelible responsibility and the role to play in the teaching and learning of our own children.
Thus, Eastern Cape Reading Plan comprises of providing readers every year for all young children from grade Reception Year, R to grade three, to take home and meet with the families. The department will also make an available some guidelines on how parents can assist their children to read for minute. We remain, hon Chair committed to the country’s vision of providing children with to access to quality, holistic childhood development, so that the children reach their full potential.
The Department of Basic Education and the sector in general, is preparing its own system for the early childhood development, ECD, function from the Department of Social Development to Basic Education.
It is crucial, Chair to note that at the centre of this function is still the process to improve the development of the children and the quality of the ECD education and providing the best support to the children from the early age and onwards.
The sector has established relevant governing structures, hon Chair, to support the migration phase, namely, the human resource, finance, budget, legislation and contracts, immovable and movable assets, communication and stakeholders’ engagement, monitoring and evaluation, data information and as well as the ECD programme implementation.
These work streams are to ensure simplest transfer of the function and are providing regular feedback to relevant ministries.
Key, in the ECD function hon Chair and members, the shift to migration will be to ensure there is no interruption on the service delivery. As the department we are really thankful and appreciate the support of the Member of the Executive Council, MEC for the Social Development, the support of the Minister for Basic Education and the support of the Minister for Department for Social Development.
Chair, as a province currently, we are having 228 projects in various stages of construction. The department construction programme and the build environment economy has been severely affected by the pandemic of COVID-19. It is worth noting that these construction programmes will be resuscitated in current financial year and as well the next financial year in 2022.
With all project under construction resuming phase in manner of approach. Chair, I wish to reiterate that the importance of partnership in the execution of our own school infrastructure programme. As submitted at this august House, the
private-public partnership can be a leverage and the important mechanism for addressing our school infrastructure backlog, Chair.
We will continue to engage with Treasury and other relevant government structures including private sector and civil society partners, in exploring all options to resourcing and supporting our role out of our school infrastructure programme.
The Department of Basic Education has put a circuit school landscape plan to ensure that the rationalisation process is implemented orderly to make sure that learners have access to
quality education within the schools in the same circuit. Where a school is closed resourced like learner support material, furniture and finances are going to be transferred and relocated to other schools nearby.
Chair, our basic education sector plan states that the
COVID-19 pandemic and associated closures have brought to the fore the weakness of information and communication technologies in many schools in the province in particular and gaps with the regard to digital content for the learners and teachers in the country in general.
It is for that reason Chair, that the pandemic undoubtedly presented a new challenge but it can also be served as a catalyst for innovations in areas of e-learning and
e-governance and as well as e-administration for the province and generally for the country entirely.
The Eastern Cape Department of Education services is in excess of 5000 schools, the bulk of which are situated in the rural areas, hon Chair. To facilitate bridging of the gab and considering the difficulty in rolling out the infrastructure in deep rural areas of the province.
The department is exploring a project targeting a minimum of 1000 schools, in the poorest ... [Inaudible.] ... using satellite technologies so as to bridge the digital divide. All learners no matter their social economic circumstances, must be afforded the best opportunities to participate fully in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, hon Chair and members.
The Department of Education has approved the piloting of coding and robotics programme in primary schools, these include Grade R, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 and Grade 7. This is response to the rapid technological advancement brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution in education.
Learners will be provided with the foundation for future work and careers in computerised base programmes solving in line with emerging trends and how to live and work. This contributes to one of our four pillars which is based on education transformation plan, hon Chair.
Chair, sited here in this august House, we should always be reminded that we are here on behalf on behalf of the people that had voted us and mandated us to lead the society in general.
Formulate relevant policies, coordinating resources so that goods and services can be distributed to the public. Hon members, through you, hon Chair, this calls for a certain calibre of leadership, because for any task or project to be achieved in a meaningful manner to fulfil the public desire and the responsibility. We are not only required to have a budget, relevant resources and strong systems for a particular or the project to be catered out and successful.
We are required to have an element of trade of ethics, this is an element that is necessary for any leader of any nation to institutionalised an organization to ensure that tasks are accomplished in the interest of the people that all of us we seek to lead, Chair.
Hon Chair, it is in the absence of ethical leadership, that in times of this turmoil we have people benefiting unlawful in the personal protective equipment, ppe, contracts which are currently a subject of investigation by the Special Investigative Unit, SIU. It is also in the absence of ethical leadership that are constantly receiving reports of unlawful activities or irregular spending on our institution and organisation that deprived the poor, the marginalised communities in the entire country in general.
Hon Chair, we also want to ... [Interjection.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Your time is up, hon member.
Mr F GADE: Thank you Chair, thank you so much, thanks for the opportunity you have given to us [Time expired.]
Ms S B LEHIHI: Chairperson, 74% of South African youth are unemployed. This is directly related to the broken-down education system we have in this country.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Try to speak louder and closer to the microphone.
Ms S BLEHIHI: It is young black people ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You are loud and clear. Please proceed.
Setswana:
MODULASETULO WA KHANSELE YA BOSETŠHABA YA DIPOROFENSE: Ee, ke
a go utlwa.
English:
Ms S B LEHIHI: Chairperson, 74% of South African youth are unemployed. This is directly related to the broken-down education system we have in this country. It is young black people who have to endure a lifetime of suffering, because they are failed by the government. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated for all to see that well-resourced schools, with properly trained teachers, and social support services for both learners and teachers, can withstand almost any challenge.
While schools were closed during level 5 lockdown, many well to do schools managed to keep learning going, while millions of poor black students in townships and villages had nowhere to go. At the end of each year, we see the exclusive Independent Examination Board schools prospering, because they are able to put the basic structures needed for a prospering education system in place.
Many public schools continue to operate under the logic of colonialism and apartheid, so many years after democracy, with schools serving white communities properly resourced and schools serving black communities being no different to dumping sites. As a consequence, today a child’s experience of
education still very much depends on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of their skin. We still have two education systems in one. One is white, well-resourced and prosperous, and the other is black, under-resourced, and forever in crisis.
Lack of school infrastructure, non-delivery of textbooks, unqualified teachers and shortage of qualified teachers, poor mathematics and physics teaching, violence inside classrooms. All these are problems exclusively faced by schools that cater for black children. Schools in rural areas, in townships and in farms, which cater primarily for black and poor leaners, are littered with problems of underperformance, of poorly trained teachers.
And as we have argued before, the department has done very little to stem the tide of dropouts in these poor schools. Every year for the past seven years, we have noted that only half of those who enter Grade 1 are able to finish their Grade
12. Almost half a million learners get lost to the system every single year. They will grow up to be unskilled, unemployed and unemployable. All of them are black. A black government makes it difficult for these half a million black learners to get an education. Apartheid may have fallen from
statute books, but it is very much alive in the manner we provide education to our children.
There are many causes for this, which are solvable if the department can get its house in order. These are: Pervasive poverty which makes it difficult even for the most capable of learners to focus productively on their school work. Undue influence of South African Democratic Teachers Union, SADTU, over the functioning of schools, to an extent that they have practically taken over powers to even appoint teachers. Poor planning and execution of existing plans. This leads to such terrible deeds such as non-delivery of text books, poor school infrastructure, and no interventions at chronically poor performing schools. Deeply embedded corruption and ineptitude within the department, leading to employment of unqualified teachers to teach leaners in rural provinces. Lack of content knowledge by the teachers of the very subjects they are meant to teach.
These problems require comprehensive solutions, one that won’t be implemented by the department of education alone, but which must be led by it. This is what needs to happen to solve basic education problems in this country: The department must lead a process to restore back the dignity of teaching. This must
entail reviewing the salaries of teachers, to ensure that they are properly paid. There must be universal standards for quality basic education for all. This must mean that there must be the same norms and standards for school infrastructure, for learning and teacher support materials, for provisioning for pupils with disabilities across all schools, be they rural or urban.
There must be a comprehensive review of the funding model for schools. The current funding model promotes inequality. Well to do public schools are allowed to charge school fees to make up for the inadequacy of government funding, while poor schools are made to be no-fee schools, with very little government support. Quality of education must never be directly proportional to wealth; it must be universal. We reject this Budget Vote. Thank you, Chair. [Time expired.]
Mr X NGWEZI: Thank you very much, hon Chairperson, and greetings to the hon Minister, colleagues in the NCOP, please bear with me with the background, hon Chairperson, its work, work and everywhere work.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, I understand. [Laughter.]
Mr X NGWEZI: Both our education departments continue to suffer due to the pandemic and the uncertainties in these departments. For basic education, the situation is worse. The uncertainty in the Department of Basic Education and the choices made by this department makes things harder for our children and our teachers. For instance, how is it possible to go ahead and open schools when the COVID-19 infections are rising each day? And we are in the 3rd Wave.
Where is the considerations of the health and wellbeing of the learners? While acknowledging the importance of educating our children at a young age, and while we are aware that it will be difficult to recover the lost ground, the IFP does not believe that education must come at the expense of human lives. We certainly don’t want to place our teachers in a position in which they have to worry about their lives and learners.
The Department of Basic Education must also adopt urgent matters to create a conducive environment for children in the schools. The bullying of learners must be addressed so that no learner finds themselves in a position in which they fear going to school because of bullies.
Concerning the Department of Higher Education and Training, the IFP is very concerned about the abuse of funds at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS. This wastage occurs at a time when NSFAS is dropping students every year for lack of funds. Sustainable solutions must be found so that no university student is left behind. This can only happen if we cut wasteful expenditure and protected the funds entrusted to NSFAS.
Also, the department must ensure that NSFAS makes funds available to students on time so that they don’t have to suffer indignity while waiting for their funds to be processed. Hon Chairperson, the IFP will support this Budget Vote No 16 and Budget Vote No 17, so that the challenges that our teachers and learners are facing in schools can be addressed and also in the higher education sector. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Ms P BOSHIELO (Limpopo): Hon Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, the Minister of Basic Education and Deputy Minister, hon members, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all.
Hon Chairperson, I thought we were debating the budget on higher education when I heard the previous speaker speaking. I thought it was Budget Vote No 16 – Basic Education.
We thank you for this opportunity as we take part in this virtual debate of the Department of Basic Education Vote No
16. The times we are operating in are different and unprecedented for us as a sector as we endeavour to provide quality education to all the learners in Limpopo.
In basic education, we are continuing under these very trying and difficult circumstances presented by COVID-19 to protect the rights of all children in our schools. We continue to play our role with our school communities in the global efforts to change the cause of COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that we comply with all the health protocols to slow the spread of the virus.
Needless to say, we have worked with partners in the province, from teacher unions, government associations, civic society, private sector and our communities to save the academic year. As we speak, Limpopo is occupying position seven in the national rankings, two places above where we were in 2019. We applaud the resilience of our learners who fought tooth and
nail to perform excellently despite the COVID-19 challenges. We shall continue to work together in this academic year, to ensure that the difficult and different circumstances are made bearable for the sector in the interest of our children whose future we must secure.
We understand fully well our mandate and it has been made very clear in our Constitution that education is an alienable right for all. The Constitution of our country serves our children’s rights and stresses it in section 21(a) the respect and protection of the right of the basic education for everyone.
We do not take for granted this constitutional mandate because basic education is an essential function for our nation.
Hon Chairperson, the advent of COVID-19 had implications of what resources are allocated to the Department of Basic Education. Resources to deliver on this mandate are required so that learners receive their education under the safe environment as per the safety protocols and the health guidelines that we need to adhere to, in our endeavour to slow down the spread of the virus. Ultimately to flatten the curve and save lives.
In the midst of the COVID-19 and its disruptive nature, we need to protect the right to basic education to our children. We need to educate our people on what they must do in order to avoid COVID-19 infections. We need to actively build a bridge to a prosperous future. However, at the same time with the understanding that the storm is still very much with us.
COVID-19 has changed us to rapidly learn to live in the new normal.
Hon Chairperson, the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled us to accelerate our efforts towards embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Access to technology is no longer meant for the privileged few, but it is a basic necessity for all.
The pandemic has compelled us to accelerate our interventions on the use of digital means of education. For this purpose, we have in this financial year 2021-22, allocated a total budget of R228 million, to roll out our e-learning. A two pronged approach will be followed in the roll out of the e-learning strategy. The first one is being implemented at 106 Mathematics, Science and Technology, MST, schools which have been provided will all the smart classrooms.
The second one will be the provisioning of tablets to learners and laptops to educators in schools in the province.
Given the available budget, the department will be implementing e-learning to two grades. Grade 1 and Grade 8. There are 142 123 learners in Grade 1 and 125 645 learners in Grade 8. To this effect, we will need R355 million to cater for Grade 1 learners and R340 million to cater for Grade 8 learners.
With the available budget of R228 million, we have decided to stager the provision of tablets to R19 000 in Grade 1 and
R16 000 in Grade 8 in Quintile 1 to 3 schools with the goal of covering all the schools when funding becomes available.
Laptops will be provided for educators from the R228 million budget that we have since set aside so that our learners can be taught accordingly.
Hon Chairperson coding and robotics are designed to provide learners with knowledge, values and skills needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As part of rolling out this project, in the 2021-22 financial year, the province will be piloting this project in a 133 primary schools.
As the department we will be offering in house training course to 200 targeted educators through the department’s coding club. This club is composed of educators who are knowledgeable in this field and will thus be used as an important resource in rolling out this project.
We have also taken a decision to resuscitate the 16 former Dinaledi school to increase performance of maths, science and technology in the province. This 16 schools are now part of the MST Conditional Grant.
Hon Chairperson, knowing that Limpopo is endowed with natural resources, we are working very hard to collaborate with the private sector and other key stakeholders to strengthen and support technical high schools to equip learners with relevant skills in the province, especially in the area of mining.
Agriculture is identified in the Limpopo Development Plan as a strategic economic development sector. It is critical that our agricultural schools are supported to be able to produce learners who are ready to pursue farming as a career and also pursue education studies in the field of agriculture to specialise. The department is working hand-in-hand with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to provide
professionals and technical assistance in the identified eight agricultural schools in the province.
Hon Chairperson, we also need School Governing Bodies, SGBs, to advance the democratic transformation of the schooling system and to provide a platform for the active participation of school communities. As we speak, our schools have constituted their School Governing Bodies where there are disputes in terms of eligibility, such matters are being handled as per the available prescripts, so that in the end, we have credible governing bodies playing a critical role in the management of the governance function in schools.
With regard to the basic education employment initiatives, 52 055 employment opportunities were filled by youth, between the ages of 18 and 35.
The other aspect of the Basic Education Employment Initiative, BEEI, was the fact that we saved 2 258 jobs from Quintile 4 and 5 and independent schools. We did this in order to save the posts and protect the curriculum delivery at schools given the hardships imposed by the pandemic which affected the payment of salaries of SGB appointed educators.
At the moment the teaching and learning is taking place at our schools. Our schools are also implementing differentiated timetabling as part of adhering to the strict requirements of the safety and health COVID-19 protocols. We continue to emphasize the importance of wearing masks which we have provided to our schools, the importance of sanitizing from time-to-time and keeping the safe social distances in order to keep each other safe in our schools.
Chairperson, we wish to appreciate the good work that our schools continue to do under the most trying times. Our stakeholders across our province, are also playing their role in ensuring that our schools are supported and learners are not interrupted from going to school.
These are indeed difficult times and the virus has outstretched our limited budget. Nevertheless, as a sector we are expected to fulfil our constitutional mandate and ensure that services reach the deserving members of the community, particularly children of this province.
Our plea to the NCOP is to support us, so that we are able to provide quality education to all our learners during this uncertain and difficult times. It is important to remind all
stakeholders and the broader community that education is a societal matter and that together we can do a lot more as we build the future for our children. Let us grow South Africa together. Thank you very much, hon Chairperson. [Applause.]
Mr M A P DE BRUYN: Thank you, Chairperson. It is a fact that the coronavirus 2019, Covid-19, had a devastating and lasting impact on our education, but it’s also important to admit that there were devastating failures before Covid as well. As we depend on education to provide the future leaders and the workforce of tomorrow, we must ask ourselves, what is the quality of those leaders and workforce going to be? With the current standards I fear that we have a lot to be worried about in the future.
Afrikaans:
Om waarlik ons jongmense te bemagtig vir die toekoms is gehalteonderwys en standaarde nodig. Dit kan slegs realiseer as daar aan die nodige infrastruktuur voldoen word, ’n kwaliteit kurrikulum en onderwysers wat bemagtig is om hul werk te kan doen. Die verhoging in die begroting is ’n positiewe, maar soos met elke ander departement, is die groot vraag, gaan die fondse reg en verantwoordelik bestee word? En as ons die verlede as ’n voorbeeld moet gebruik is dit
ongelukkig baie onwaarskynlik. Mens kan nie help om te wonder Waar is al die miljarde rande wat vir onderwys begroot was in die laaste 26 jaar heen nie, veral nie as ons kyk na honderde skoolgeboue oor die land, wat in ongebruik staan of waar die toestande so haglik is, dat dit net sowel in ongebruik kon wees nie.
Waar is al die tegnologie wat voor begroot is? Waar is die basiese hulpmiddels vir onderwysers waarsonder hulle elke dag steeds moet klaarkom en dan steeds van verwag word dat ’n sekere slaagsyfer gehandhaaf moet word? Soos met elke ander departement word die Onderwys besteel en dit ten koste van ons jeug wat in die nabye toekoms die leisels gaan moet oorneem.
English:
Instead of empowering our youth with quality education, this department rather fall’s back on practices where grades have to be adjusted by schools to ensure the required pass rates to ensure funding, or systems where a student can only fail once per phase and then passes based on age instead of merits.
Surely, this can’t be seen as empowerment, but rather as a setup for failure in the future, and once again the youth are the ones that will be suffering in the future. The promises and budgets of the past two decades have amounted to very
little and only by prioritising new schools, decent curriculums, sufficient aid and equipment for teachers and reinstating mother tongue education and better standards will there be hope for south Africa’s and its education. Thank you, Chair.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Thank you, Chair. I
wish I’m audible.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, you are audible.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Thank you, House
Chairperson. Greetings to the Ministers present, especially Minister Motshekga, Deputy Ministers, hon members, the Deputy Chairperson of the House, permanent delegates, member of the executive council, MECs, for education, ladies and gentlemen sanibonani [greetings.] This month of June, House Chair, is always known as a Youth Month and this year we commemorate the 45th years anniversary of the class of 1976, under the theme “The year of Charlotte Maxeke, growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed societies.” This class of brave and courageous young men and women was not just distinguished; it was distinguishable in its generational mission of freedom in their lifetime. This was the rallying call for ...
[Inaudible.] ... their struggle against the brutal and unjust regime which was declared a crime against humanity.
Our sector honours this outstanding young people in our continued efforts and commitment towards improving the lives of South Africans by restoring and growing the economy in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic which was exacerbated other challenges the country has been experiencing including the quest to provide quality basic education to all South African children.
House Chairperson, we are pleased as a department that the allocation of curriculum policy support and monitoring has increased to R2,4 billion which is an increase by 10,3% from the 2020-21 baseline. This will certainly assist to boost the department stable and progressive curriculum does not only international benchmark, but also transformative and fully incorporates the 21st century skills and skills for a changing world. The department in collaboration with a provincial education departments and teacher unions have developed the recovery annual teaching plans for monograde and multigrades schools for the 2021, academic year. The Annual Teaching Plans, ATP, were mediated by teachers to teach us by the provinces. The ATP and the presentation to meditate them are
available on the website of the department. The focus of the ATP is on prior foundational skills.
In the Foundation Phase baseline assessment were administered in home languages and first additional language to determine the learning losses of the previous year. We have made inroads on all official languages and South African Sign Language enjoys the status of an official language in the education sector. The department has collaborated with several stakeholders including Pan South African Language Board to start work on the promotion and development of the Khoekhoe Nama language. We are conducting an audit to Khoi, Nama and San communities in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western cape and Free State provinces in order to plan on how these languages should be phased into the schooling system.
The introduction of Kiswahili in the National Senior Certificate, NSC, will go a long way towards decolonising education in the continent. It will promote social cohesion and also assist in the Africa continental free trade area and world’s largest free trade that was launched in January 2021, to unify Africa as a single market to develop the continent. Kiswahili the widely spoken language in the continent is projected to be the business language of Africa and will play
a significant unifying role. To get the system ready for implementation we have collaborated with the national education collaboration trust and develop Grades 4 to 6 South African language toolkit to incremental introduction of African languages, in IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, IsiNdebele, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Sepedi, plus Nama and Kiswahili. The Grades 4 to 6 toolkit includes structured learning programmes and have been integrated in the electronic resource packs.
A few samples of material will be printed to the districts and provincial officials. Provincial and district language subject advisors and teachers who were trained on the utilisation of the Grades 4 to 6 South African language toolkit in March to May 2021. Hon House Chair, in response to the 2019-20 state of the nation address mandate of ensuring that every 10-year-old can read for meaning by 2020, the department has conceptualised the integrated reading sector plan which has informed the development and implementation of reading strategies in all provinces. Central to the sector plan is primary school reading intervention program which comprises four sub-programmes that is early grade reading assessment, early grade reading study, read to lead campaign and national reading coalition.
Through these partnerships we have been able to train more than 30 000 teachers on how to more effectively teach reading for understanding, who in turn supported about 1,5 million children since the inception of the program. We have also upskilled more than 7 000 senior management teams to be able to support their teachers. As part, House Chair, of the Basic Education employment initiative, we have placed 23 000 young South Africans as reading champions in schools in all nine provinces to be part of the massive reading revolution drive. Furthermore, we have heeded the President’s call for a reading movement by establishing the President’s reading cycle through hosting virtual reading clubs. We are doing this in collaboration with ... [Inaudible.] ... under the banner of read to lead. All South Africans are invited to join this exciting monthly events which happened every last Thursday of the month and we also invite members of the NCOP to this.
House Chairperson, with the severe shortage of health professionals, social workers, psychologists and counsellors in the country, it’s important to find implementation modalities that can reach as many learners and educators as possible. At the same time, building the resilience of teachers to adapt to the challenges they may face, the department has collaborated with the Department of Social
Development and other partners in ensuring the provision of psychosocial support. In addition, the provincial education departments have received immense support including human resource in the form of social work interns. These are in the different provinces; additional personnel are being provided for psychosocial support. Free State Department of Education has partnered with the Department of Social Development for the placement of social worker interns at district level. 54 social worker interns have been placed in the respective district and hotspot areas within the circuit and in addition
50 change agents have been appointed by the province.
In Gauteng, House Chair, the Department of Social Development employed 110 social workers and attached them to education districts before the Covid epidemic. In Limpopo 170 learner- support agents have been appointed. In additional, 121 learner-support agents were appointed and their term ended in March 2021, and 117 social workers have been appointed to date, in Limpopo province. The KwaZulu-Natal province has set up transversal teams which consist of Department of Health, Social Development and nongovernmental organisations to respond to various crisis that arise in schools.
Hon House Chairperson, the past year was very hard on the infrastructure programme. There was no construction in quarter one due to the hard lockdown, even quarter two was tough as we still experience restrictions in the number of workers ... [Inaudible.] ... and restrictions on the travelling of workers between provinces. Despite all of these, we managed to make significant progress in the provision of school infrastructure during 2020-21. The Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, Asidi, and the safe programs are both scheduled for completion in 2022 to 2023. In Asidi there are sub-program to replace 362 inappropriate structures, we have already completed 281, the remaining 81 will be done in the next two years.
On water supply there were 1 228 school projects, 1 104 have been completed and the rest will be completed in the next two years. On electricity supply, hon House Chair, 373 schools were identified and they were all completed. On appropriate sanitation, 984 schools have been identified and 925 are completed, and we are just remaining with 59 which we will complete in the next two years. Under the same programme, House Chair, focusing on the eradication of basic kits toilets at 2 850 schools, the department has already completed 748 sanitation projects, the remaining 2 102 projects are schedule
for the next two years. In this regard, we wish to express our gratitude to our valued partnership with China, South Korea and the United States of America for extending hand on water and sanitation. Hon House Chair, on the safety where members are complaining about we launched a programme of school safety intervention initiative on the 28 of May and that program is continuing and it will be taken to all the other provinces.
As I conclude, hon House Chairperson, I must thank and commend the resilience and the leadership of our Minister, the MECs in all the nine provinces, parents, teachers, learners school management teams, community leaders, and valued partners including the Select Committee on Education, Culture, Sports and Recreation for trusting us with the mandate of providing access to quality basic education for the children of South Africa. I thank you House Chair.
Mr M R BARA: Hon Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Ministers and members of the House, I want to greet you this morning. Chairperson, Covid-19 has proven that its impact cuts across human beings in different ways. It has affected lives negatively whether you are young or old. That is why it is important that we safeguard particularly the young ones to the best of our ability. The young ones are the future of our
country and therefore we must have them in our hearts and minds all the time.
In these dark times the one thing we must and can give them is a proper education so they can have a brighter future.
However, during this period students or learners spend 50% of their time at schools. This is the time when they do five days in two weeks at schools. This is due to the Covid-19 induced mode of attendance. What remains of interest is whether there is an ability to cover the normal school work in half the time and what strain this may have on the students and teachers.
The longer the students stay out of school the higher the risk of dropping out. Additionally, students who are out of school, particularly girls are at an increased risk of vulnerability, exploitation, teenage pregnancy, etc. In spite of the call to return back to school by the department, it remains to be seen in the light of a third wave upon us this time around. At this point, I want to say that there are learners in Gauteng, not only in the Western Cape who are not yet back at school but are looking for schooling around in Florida, in Gauteng. So, I just wanted to correct that in the light of what hon Gillion stated that it is something that needs to be looked at and highly considered.
We need to find ways and means to make schooling more accessible to learners without internet or rather make internet more accessible to the learners. That would be meeting learners half way instead of having to be at school under the current circumstances. These are the measures we have to take as our teachers have not been vaccinated. In Zambia, there is a district like Chikuni where children stay far from school. The distance from would be about 50 kilometres and therefore they cannot travel to school because of poverty. These boys and girls also have to assist at home in farming due to lack of income. These children access education through radio broadcasting and they are doing well.
The Zambian modern partners partnered with big business getting them to sponsor radio broadcast as part of their corporate social investment span. It is very successful and noting the low levels of literacy in Zambia parents are tuning in too. This calls upon the private sector to play its role in the future of our children. There must be a rethinking of how to make a success out of different circumstances.
Public-private partnership is therefore essential for the success of our learners. There is quite a number of schools that require social development within this department. The
budgetary cuts of R1,9 billion when there are mud schools that must be removed from the priority list, how is that possible if there have been such budgetary cuts? How is that going to be achieved? There are schools that were damaged by fire during the Covid-19 lockdown. These schools require budgetary increase in order to deal with those damages.
There is R122,8 million cut from getting rid of pit toilets while there are still 2 111 other schools with children at risk of using pit toilets. There is R123 million cut on school nutrition while most learners are already without meals. How does the department expect meaningful learning when learners do not get food at schools? A hungry child cannot learn, Minister. Gauteng senior government officials pay R63,5 million to companies whose contracts were deemed irregular by a Special Investigative Unit.
In a matter of weeks, the directors of seven companies were in a shopping spree of designer watches, jewellery, luxury cars, plastic surgery, etc. They have amassed this cash in endeavours to decontaminate Gauteng schools during the Covid-
19 lockdown and blew more than R40 million at a go. How do you allow acts like these to occur when we know our children are sitting in classrooms hungry?
With the coming new wave of Covid-19 it is a concern what situation of educators in our schools is going to be. With the number of educators who have comorbidities, it would be interesting to know as to how many of the teachers have chosen to take early retirement or just resign that would leave the department in a bad situation in trying to find placements especially with the limitation on the budget.
It would be critical that teachers get Covid-19 vaccines as soon as possible as they are also frontline workers. That would ensure that education at schools continue without hindrance of Covid-19. Until such time, it would be irresponsible to have Grade 1 to Grade 7 learners return to school particularly with the third wave of Covid-19 upon us in South Africa.
The exposure of these learners to unvaccinated teachers poses a risk that should have been avoided by the vaccination of teachers. Covid-19 remains a huge setback of our Department of Basic Education. Job losses of parents due to Covid-19 has extended to more learners on the school nutrition programme.
It is therefore more important for the department to find creative ways of curbing the impact of this ordeal on the young ones. I thank you Chairperson.
IsiXhosa:
English:
English:
Mr M NHANHA: Hon House Chair, on a point of order: I do note that the chat function is disabled. Is there a reason for that, Chairperson?
IsiXhosa:
USIHLALO WENDLU (Nks W NGWENYA): Andazi ukuba uthetha ngantoni sana.
Mnu M NHANHA: Mam’uNgwenya, apha kuZoom asikwazi ukubhalelana sithumelelane apha entlanganisweni njengoko siqhele ukwenza njalo.
English:
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms W NGWENYA): Okay!
Mr M NHANHA: So, it says chat is disabled and I wanted to check if there is any reason for that. Thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms W NGWENYA): Thank you, hon Nhanha. I will ask the Table to assist me. Hon Phindela?
Adv. M PHINDELA: House Chairperson, the function is active. I have just confirmed now.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms W NGWENYA): Thank you very much Adv. M Phindela.
IsiXhosa:
English:
House Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and hon members, the quality of education of a country has a relationship to the prospects of economic development. Beyond the economic aspect, education is a right in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution. It is a right which enables the creation of equality to opportunities to participate in the economy socially. Education, learning and knowing is the only way humans can self-produce.
This Budget Vote on Basic Education is a critical vote if we are to realise the society our Constitution seeks to create. Our education is an important component of creating a national consciousness of the value and principle enshrined in our Constitution, and the objectives of creating a national democratic society. Many of social lists such as gender-based violence, abuse, racism, and sexism requires education as contributing factor to change the social behaviour.
National consciousness is important for the nation, as it enables the understanding and responds to the challenges which face our society, which is mainly the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and equality. House Chair, as the ANC we send our condolences to those who have lost their lives on duty due to the pandemic. We also salute the commitment of our
teachers and sector stakeholders. This Budget Vote responds to the vision outlined in the Ready to Govern Document of the provision of free and compulsory education, being based on the equalising of the per capita expenditure between black and white education.
This will be done within a framework which ensures that, resources are redistributed to the most disadvantaged sectors of our society, in particular rural women and mental or children with physical disability. The distribution of resources by the democratic government responds to the development depth among our schools has been on of it milestone. Addressing inequality in our society requires the redistribution of the revenue collected by the state to better the poor, thus addressing poverty.
The narrative of the DA and the EFF on government not closing the infrastructure and resources gap is unfounded and not based on evidence, contrary to the narrative by the opposition which is oppositionist, illogical even on matter of progress of the nation. The balance of evidence demonstrates the significant progress made. We today have the top performing students coming from your most rural areas, and schools in rural areas and townships have laboratories and other
educational facilities, which only existed in schools in urban areas or schools designed for the privileged minority.
The department will also be piloting the implementation of robotics and coding, which should enable dynamism of our learners in the global political economy which is based on completion. Reading is one of the areas of learning which needs to be strengthened. The weaknesses of reading with meaning by the age of 10 impacts negatively on the cognitive development of the learner. The strengthening of early childhood development, ECD will contribute in decreasing these weaknesses. The sustainable and effective pedagogics to improve reading is through building and reading culture in the country, as a reading nation is more conscious and free.
If we ensure that schools have libraries and children are taught reading books at a young age, this will positively contribute to improve reading with meaning. This does not only apply to learners at lower grades, but all grades. Critical thinking skills are developed through reading and expose to various knowledge. The comprehensive development of children and youth is important.
The level of sickness related to obesity and other health ills can be decreased through ensuring our schools have adequate sporting facilities. This is good for the wellbeing of the students. Psychosocial support is an important service our schools should be linked to. Abuse in our society is prevalent such that, our society do note to effectively to act of abuse when they simmer.
The ANC resolves that, working with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and other social partners such as the association of various sports, South African sports clubs and sport sponsors should develop a special compact to ensure sport as the integral part of the education life of all students. The fact that other students have adequate sporting facilities and others don’t, is an inequality which requires government to implement programmes which will address the anomaly. Many sports players develop in their schools and are part of schools within institutional culture to the development of the learners.
Hon members, the lesson from the bullying incidents in Mbilwi and many schools across the country, is a societal problem of violence and weak social relations. The family is an important
unit which has a unique cognitive development of children and the social behaviour they adopt.
We welcome the support the department has provided in creating awareness and ensure that they strengthen school safety committees. The Deputy Minister has been leading campaigns in this regard. Let us all unite against bullying and cyberbullying. Let us protect learners from abusing and create a culture of reporting these incidents in our schools.
The rollout of the campaign themed, “School safety violence and bullying prevention initiative’s” aim is to mobilise learners, parents, teachers and key stakeholders in promoting a safety learning environment for equality education. The influence is not only limited to the family. but social institutions such as religion, education and friends. This shows the importance of moral generation at a family level and broader society.
With the digital world and the influence of social media, it is important that our efforts in the education sector encompasses all role-players including school governing bodies, SGBs, quality learning and teaching committees and traditional leaders. In essence, it is a societal
responsibility. W Leal Filho emphasises the importance of critical engagement in society to bring about transformation.
The problems of drugs and alcohol which at all times find their way to schools and communities requires enforcement, because this erode the focus of learners. Enterprises which sell alcohol should be monitored to comply with the legal requirements o