Remarks by the Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga at the presentation of the 2014/15 Annual Report before the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Cape Town
Honourable Chairperson,
Honourable Members and Colleagues,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
We thank you Honourable Chairperson and Members for offering us this opportunity to present before you and people of South Africa our 2014/15 Annual Report.
My opening remark is what should be a universal quote, it reads thus, “I read a book one day and my whole life was changed”. These powerful words were uttered by Professor Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature. He captured in one short sentence the essence of education. Reading, it should be understood, is not a portion of education, it is actually the education.
It is within this context Honourable Chairperson that everyday our efforts are about putting the education of the child first. For us reading is the hallmark of a good quality education.
We must acknowledge that the education sector has experienced tremendous transformation since the birth of democracy, 21 years ago. As we take stock of the work that has been done in the sector, it is vital to acknowledge the great strides that have been accomplished although much more still needs to be done to fulfil our abiding vision that of providing quality education to all South African children regardless of race, class or gender in our lifetime.
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)
Some of the great achievements to date include the roll-out of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) throughout the system in 2014. Our national curriculum is the culmination of our efforts over a period of seventeen years to transform the curriculum bequeathed to us by apartheid.
From the start of democracy we have built our curriculum on the values that inspired our Constitution (Act 108 of 1996). The Preamble to the Constitution states that the aims of the Constitution are to:
- Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
- Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person;
- Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; and
- Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
Our recalibrated Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement seeks to achieve these noble founding principles of our democracy. We believe that the curriculum as it stands is an anchor to free the potential of all our children.
Annual National Assessment (ANA)
We have over the last three years administered the Annual National Assessment (ANA) to over seven million learners. We will continue to administer ANA in a foreseeable future as it is a great diagnostic tool to inform the entire system of both the challenges and opportunities. The administration of ANA 2014 was preceded by focused interventions by DBE in all problematic areas identified in the preceding year. The 2014 ANA results marked a significant milestone in basic education in more than one sense:
- Firstly, this is the first ANA that involved the entire GET Band (Grades 1–9), although Grades 7 and 8 were a pilot project, based on the strengthened Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
- Secondly, 2014 is the year that His Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa, singled out in his State of the Nation Address in 2010, as the year by which at least 60% of South African learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9 should achieve acceptable levels of achievement in both Literacy (Language) and Numeracy (Mathematics).
While on ANA, Honourable Chairperson, I must admit that we are all disappointed that there has been such controversy with regard to ANA 2015. Our premise is that ANA remains a very important assessment tool in the sector in the absence of any other remodelled diagnostic tool. It was with this in mind that we have decided to reschedule ANA 2015 for December instead of next year.
In this regard, I must reiterate that when we resolved to proceed with ANA this year, it was not some sort of a power trip to “draw the line in the sand”, as reported in some media. At the core of our decision was the protection of the integrity of the system. We strongly believe that if you tamper with the integrity of the assessment tool at the eleventh hour, you are likely to devalue the entire education system. There is no education system in the world that is not assessed.
Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSM)
As our system has matured over the years, we have reached near universal coverage in terms of the distribution of Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSM). Given the challenges presented by manual systems of ordering and delivery of learner and teacher support materials (LTSM). It has become increasingly evident that the institutionalisation of an electronic system for ordering and delivery of LTSM (textbooks, stationary, additional educational support materials and workbooks) must be expedited.
As directed by the National Development Plan (NDP) we are on course to provide universal coverage of one core textbook per-learner; per-grade; per-subject, which also takes account of inclusive, learning material such as braille and sign language. The Draft LTSM Policy has been finalised and released for the public comments, the process ended on 08 October 2014.
National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)
Our anti-poverty package through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) has reached more than nine million learners daily over the past few years. We are pleased with the fact that the (NSNP) provides nutritious meals to 20 727 Quintiles 1–3 primary, secondary and identified special schools nationally.
The DBE through the NSNP programme has received support from various companies and organisation. The relationship with companies such as Tiger Brands Foundation and Kellogg’s South Africa has afforded us the opportunity to push back the frontiers of poverty, inequality and unemployment. To equip teachers and principals who to manage the programme, nine (9) workshops on financial management were conducted in the Limpopo Province. This is in preparation of NSNP funds that will be transferred to schools.
Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI)
We have also demonstrated the state capacity in dealing head on with the infrastructure backlogs through the ASIDI build programme. To date, the ASIDI programme has delivered 123 state-of-the-art schools, 520 provided with water, 395 given decent sanitation and 293 connected to electricity.
As a result of improved infrastructure, a higher proportion of younger children are accessing classroom facilities that far exceed the Infrastructure Basic Norms and Standards.
National Senior Certificate (NSC)
The National Senior Certificate (NSC) results have shown an upward trajectory since its launch in 1996. I am glad to announce that the national pass rate, with the inclusion of the results of the 2015 Supplementary examinations, now stands at 77.1% an increase of 1.3% from the 75.8% achieved in the 2014 NSC examination. This means that the number of candidates that obtained admission to Bachelor studies has increased from 150 752 to 152 018; an additional 1 266 more candidates to those announced in January earlier this year.
Teacher Development
It is quite often said that the quality of education cannot exceed that of its teachers. In this regard teacher development has been one of the major focus areas in 2014. This was our quest to improve the quality of classroom teaching. To achieve this every teacher must have the requisite level of knowledge and be deployed accordingly in the right grade.
In a bid to ensure that we have we have the correct teacher, teaching the correct subject in front of the class at all times, we have embarked on across the system teacher profiling exercise. The teacher profiling project has provided us with useful and accurate information which will assist the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) to deploy appropriate teachers to class rooms without undue delay.
In addition, we have re-launched 131 fully functioning Teacher Training Centres of which 60 are fully ICT compliant thanks to the Vodacom Foundation sponsorship. In order to develop teachers for the future, we have awarded over 14 349 Funza Lushaka Bursaries in the 2014 academic year alone. During the year under review, we managed to appoint a record of 3 875 qualified educators who are under the ages of 30 and below.
Early Childhood Development (ECD)
An audit on the Early Childhood Development (ECD) services has been conducted by the Department of Social Development, and the draft report provides details on the access of children to pre-Grade R services, qualifications of ECD practitioners, the status of ECD practitioner training, as well as the status of curriculum implementation in ECD. A team of national officials from the Departments of Social Development, Health and Basic Education have undertaken a consultative process with a focus mainly on the training of ECD practitioners and curriculum implementation for children from birth to four years of age.
During the period under review we recruited an impressive 21 542 ECD practitioners for Grade R alone. It is evident that educating the nation is indeed a shared priority.
School Governing Bodies Elections
We are pleased that parents and guardians are involved in the children’s by being part of the School Governing Body. The School Governing Body (SGB) elections were held from the 6th – 26th March 2015. These are the third largest exercise of our democratic voting rights in our country after Local government elections. There were roughly 23 000 school participating on these elections, where 250 000 SGB members elected in office.
Indeed education has become a societal issue, we owe a debt of gratitude to all those who contributed to all the achievements in the sector. These include thousands of educators, teacher unions, school principals, and volunteers in any capacity. We also acknowledge the special role offered by the School Governing Body Association, Learner Representative Councils, civil society, parents, the business sector and non-government organisations – all of these people work relentlessly with us to improve quality of basic education in our county.
Mass Literacy Campaign
Equally pleasing is that a total of 421 440 learners completed the Kha Ri Gude mass literacy campaign.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Honourable Chairperson, I present before you the DBE Team led by our new Director General Mr. Mathanzima Mweli. I take this opportunity to thank our former Acting DG Mr. Paddy Padayachee who steered the ship through some stormy waters.
Honourable Chairperson, we hereby present the Annual Report of the Basic Education for the 2014/15 financial year.
I thank you!
