KZN Department of Education wishes to correct certain misconceptions that have been paraded by SADTU on various media platforms prior to their planned protest action
The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal wishes to state that it has noted that there is a planned protest march by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) in KZN Province tomorrow, 13 October 2017. We have also noted with interest the timing of this particular protest march which will take place just less than 10 days before the official commencement of the National Senior Certificate Examination which is a crucial period for all our learners to launch their desired future. Exams are scheduled to commence on the 16th of October 2017 and finish on the 28th of November 2017.
This year close to 198 000 candidates have registered for the National Senior Certificate in KZN Province. With just less than 10 days left, we can confidently say that we are ready in terms of conduct, administration and management of the 2017 National Senior Certificate. We are satisfied that all measures are in place to ensure an incident-free examination. We urge every stakeholder to support the writing of the 2017 examination in our province. We further urge our communities to support all learners by creating the right environment for proper study throughout the examination time.
Parents at home should also take interest in the studies of their children all the time. Our learners know very well that teachers have played crucial roles in their academic development and preparation. We expect great things from our class of 2017 more especially from districts that have let us down in the past in terms of performance. It is obvious that the planned protest march comes as a destruction as the whole province gets ready for the all-important matriculation examinations. Here are the following facts that may assist SADTU to at least appreciate the work that is being carried out by the Department of Education to ensure that the system is functional and effective.
On the alleged failure to transfer financial allocations to schools leading to dysfuncitonality in schools.
In previous years the department has noticed that learner numbers are not correct as a result of some learners appearing in more than 1 school. This puts a huge financial burden on the department. The department therefore resolved and informed schools that in allocating resources to schools it will use learner ID numbers in-order to eliminate duplications. The schools were requested to supply missing learner ID numbers or an affidavit after which they would have been provided with resources which were not originally provided. A number of schools have complied and have in fact been provided with their resources accordingly.
On reduction of kilometres travelled by office based staff.
The department is experiencing an increase in demand for services while there is no concomitant increase in resources. Requests for funding to Provincial Treasury always return with an unsatisfactory response and a suggestion that we reconfigure our activities in-order to realise savings that can be utilised on pressing issues such as Compensation of Employees. The department therefore resolved to temporarily limit business kilometres from which it is spending a fortune. The department is also of the view that controls around this expenditure are not effective in some areas and hence should be tighten up.
Dilapidating Infrastructure
The department has always delivered on infrastructure programmes. However, the sheer size of backlogs which are estimated at R44 Billion has meant that there will always be delivery deficit because the department has been allocated an average of R2.4 Billion in the last, three years for an example. The infrastructure plan which identifies and prioritises backlogs in schools is prepared on an annual basis. The prevalence of storm damages also places a big burden of the financial resources as it decreases the ability of the department to stick to its plans and erodes the limited budget allocated for infrastructure.
The Department is conscious of the decreasing budget in the 2017/18 MTEF and is streamlining its delivery systems so that the schools with highest needs receive highest priority. As the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal we stand firm on our policy of “no work no pay”. We will however continue to open doors for constructive bilateral engagements with any of our stakeholders including SADTU.
Enquiries:
Kwazi Mthethwa
Media Liaison: Deputy Director Office of the MEC For Education
Cell: 078 264 6165
Fax: 086 654 6089
