MEC Mthandeni Dlungwana: KwaZulu-Natal Education Prov Budget Vote 2017/18

Budget policy statement 2017/18 Mr M. E Dlungwana, MPL MEC for Education Department of Education KwaZulu-Natal

Speaker of the Legislature, Hon Lydia Johnson
KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Hon. T. W Mchunu
Chairperson and Members of the Education Portfolio Committee
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Mayors, Councillors and Amakhosi
Head of Department of Education, Dr E. V Nzama
Senior Management of the various Departments
Our Social Partners
Labour Movement
Members of the Media
Distinguished guests
Learners and Educators from various schools
Ladies and gentlemen

Good day! Sanibonani! Molweni! Dumelang! Goeie middag!

1. Introduction

Madam Speaker, we feel very honoured and humbled this morning as we present our very first budget vote since our appointment to serve the province in this capacity.  We are highly grateful to the Honourable Premier and the African National Congress for the confidence they have shown us; and for their support and guidance which keep us on the right track.

This is the first budget vote that as the MEC for Education and the Head of Department, Dr E. V Nzama we present on behalf of our Department to this very important Institution and the province at large. This budget vote aims to continue to improve the quality of teaching and learning across all grades and across all schools in our province. It is a budget that broadly will enhance the quality of education and also at our own scale contribute towards a call for Radical Economic Transformation as we can no longer justify exclusion of the masses from the main stream economy. As a system, we cannot continue to produce youth who join the masses of the unemployed after completing matric.

The conversations that we often have with our partners in education and the communities at large, both formal and informal, make us wiser each day and inform decisions we make. Such conversations assist to focus our thinking in dealing with challenges and opportunities that present themselves in education. We therefore have a reason to ground our delivery today on a theme that says we are “championing quality education - creating and securing a brighter future for all”

Honourable Members, there is an undeniable positive impact of education in the eradication of persistent and racialised poverty, unemployment and extreme inequalities. Education provides an opportunity where the child of the destitute can be in a position to change the socioeconomic profile of their family. The ANC government has played a role in this through opening the doors of learning. Where those who could otherwise not access education, be it primary or tertiary can now do so.

It is against this background that our government has put education in the apex as part of the radical economic transformation. We have correctly traced our challenges from the colonial and apartheid legacy. The programme for radical economic transformation seeks to correct an anomaly where the majority of our people, in particular Africans are excluded in the prime economic activities in our country.

The concept of radical economic transformation has been describe in many ways. In his State of the Nation Address 2017, the Honourable President JG Zuma  aptly described  radical economic transformation as “…fundamental change in the structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership, management and control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor, the majority of whom are Africans and females…”

Leading the radical economic transformation means being decisive about transferring the means of production, control of the economy from a few and strategic sectors of the economy which remain highly monopolised and foreign-owned. It means being decisive about driving programmes to transfer economic power to the majority. It is for this reason that the department of education sees its role in the programme for radical economic transformation as twofold, thus:

i. Strengthening the technical and vocational education and training for greater links with industrial and agrarian economy skills demands. Technical and Agricultural Schools are at the centre of our programme for Radical Economic Transformation.

ii. The Department spends a lot of money to procure goods and services from the private sector.  It is our intention to use our buying power to leverage in value chains that are monopolised by a few companies. We want to see more black companies getting involved in the productive economy. This means black companies must be assisted to get involved in specialised fields such as the production of materials that are incorporated into works. The Infrastructure Programme, National School Nutrition Programme and Learner Teacher Support Materials Programme are the immediate candidates that the Department will target for Radical Economic Transformation.

2. The Kwazulu-Natal schooling landscape

In that context Madam Speaker, we feel it is only fair for us to enlighten this house about the size and scope of our Department. This, we do because we wish everybody to understand why commonly a bigger share of the budget is often channeled to us. We, however, keep asking for more based on the strategic significance of the Department, derived from its size and responsibilities, as a beach-head towards transforming our society.

The Province of KwaZulu-Natal has the second largest population in South Africa, with ±11 267 million people. It covers an area of 94 361 square kilometres much of which is rural with limited infrastructural resources.

Breakdown of schools in KwaZulu-Natal in 2016

KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of schools in the country. Just in 2016, the breakdown SNAP survey showed the following statistics:

In South Africa, ± 25% of teacher population and ± 25% of learner population come from this province.

In 2016, there were 2.8 million learners and 96 335 teachers in public and independent schools. This by far makes us the largest Department only second to the South African National Defence Force. Our learner population is indeed a ‘demographic dividend - bonus’ from which the country and the province should invest to improve the quality of life of all citizens.

3. Social ills and school safety

Madam Speaker and Honourable members, please allow us to start by raising an alarm on the recurrences of violent crimes and incidents substance abuse in and around our schools. The issues of school safety are currently our major concern.
 
Principals of schools, teachers and support staff must feel safe in their workplaces in order to effect discipline measures which will create a suitable environment for all school communities to coexist.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms, the violent conduct of a hardened cold-blooded criminal who stabbed two learners at Ekhandleleni Secondary School, one of whom succumbed to his stab wounds and passed-on on the spot; and also the violent killing of a learner at Vuyiswa Mtolo Secondary School in KwaMashu, who was stabbed by another learner inside school premises. The death of a single learner is one too many.

We are also horrified by the cold-blooded murder of a dedicated female teacher, Ms Priscilla Mchunu from Laduma High School in Umgungundlovu, who was gunned down at school. Not only that the incident was barbaric and horrific but she met her untimely death in front of a class full of Grade 12 learners while teaching on a Saturday.

Ms Priscilla Mchunu will always be remembered as a steward of education. A great teacher who led our academic improvement programme for Grade 12 from the front, someone around whom many others learnt. The deviant activities of a few rotten apples in and around our schools must be defeated.

May all the souls of our fallen teachers and learners.

Further to that, we are faced with some of the teachers who continue to abuse our learners both physically and sexually. Between 2016 and 2017, we had a number of cases such that of Ekucabangeni High School.

In the 2017 State of the Nation Address, His Excellency President J.G Zuma said “…government, working with society is fighting social ills that are tearing communities apart, such as drugs and substance abuse. From Soshanguve to Rosettenville or KwaMashu to the Cape Flats, communities are in difficulty because of drugs.”

In the same view, we wish to acknowledge and applaud the sterling work done by all those who continue to put their lives and safety at risk to protect learners, teachers and schools in their communities; and we sincerely encourage them to continue making education a societal issue.  We can assure these communities that their efforts will guarantee a brighter future for our children.

We have in the recent past experienced a lot of instabilities in schools which result from an array of factors.  These pose the biggest risk as they force schools not to concentrate on the stable delivery of teaching and learning. However difficult these challenges; we do not wish to make them a ‘fixation to become a swan-song of indecision where bold decisions are required.’ It is part of our responsibility to ensure that there is order in our schools. While there are negative forces who are bent on ‘making the instabilities reign, ours is to reign in the instabilities’

Madam Speaker, in February this year we constituted a Response Team to address these instabilities in schools. This we did in order to ensure that every school achieves ‘Basic School Functionality’ which is a pre-requisite for quality teaching and learning. As we respond to instabilities, we continue to emphasise sustainable measures to school management. We want our managers in schools and districts to immediately act when there is a breakdown of normality in schools and when unexpected events which have a destabilising effect occur in schools. Incompetent and neglectful management will not be tolerated and must be eradicated!

Honourable Members let me also call on everyone to unite against all social ills affecting communities and eventually spilling over to our schools.

If as a society we all unite against social ills, we will be able to frame a society with high moral values and contribute towards a peaceful and prosperous nation which we all strive for.

We are highly grateful to you Madam Speaker, for having deployed Honourable Members of the Legislature to visit our schools as part of their oversight duties. We also applaud the Honourable Premier for turning the focus of Operation Sukuma Sakhe to schools. The significance of these is that they afford all of us opportunities to either directly intervene on the spot or alternatively compile reports that assist the Department to provide necessary remedies to a variety of challenges in schools.

We cannot also forget to thank Honourable Members for alerting us on issues they pick up on their own in their constituencies. The list of these is endless. We, however, would like to cite an example of Ntulabakayise Secondary School in Umkhanyakude District which had been under construction for several years. All such cases are receiving our necessary attention and we want to ensure that such practices come to an end.

Learner Pregnancy and Keeping Girls in Schools

Noting the prevalence and consequences of learner pregnancies in schools and the barrier this presents to effective learning and teaching, addressing learner pregnancy has been prioritised by the Department of Education.

We have risen to the challenges of HIV and AIDS, learner pregnancy and substance abuse by putting in place a campaign, entitled “My Life, My Future!”

The programmes supporting the turnaround strategy, under the My Life My Future Campaign, have three main objectives viz.:

• Increasing school retention for learners experiencing social, health and behaviour related barriers ,
• Reducing social ills like learner pregnancy and substance abuse, while increasing knowledge of the dangers of HIV and related conditions
• Promoting achievement behaviour among learners.

For the 2017/18 financial year, we have allocated a budget of R56 million for this programme.

In preventing learner pregnancy, the department provides for sexual and reproductive health education as part of the Life Orientation/Life Skills subject for all learners in the province.

In addition to the curriculum programmes, the department is also implementing other 5 critical initiatives targeting schools with the highest rates of learner pregnancy.

These are: Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) which is a joint initiative implemented in 3731 mostly disadvantaged schools by the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development.

One of its key components is health education focusing on imparting knowledge, skills, values and positive attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health with a strong focus on preventing learner pregnancy.

Soul Buddyz Clubs in which we work closely with Soul City. This programme involves 1600 primary schools and more than 40 000 learners.

KwaZulu-Natal has won the top prizes for the past three years in National Soul Buddyz Competitions as a province rendering the most effective care and support for vulnerable learners.

Peer Education programme in which at least 2600 Learners in 520 secondary schools with the highest rate of learner pregnancy have been selected and were trained as peer educators to contribute to the wellbeing of other learners by modelling healthy behaviour; setting and shifting peer group norms; supporting peers to find relevant information and help; and above all, demonstrating healthy academic decision making and social skills.

Keeping Girls in schools programme (KGIS) which is a Department of Basic Education programme implemented in partnership with the South African Sugar Industry Trust Fund (SITFE) and the Media in Education Trust (MIET).

This programme also focuses on female learners in schools with high rates of learner pregnancy. The focus is on strengthening the capacity of schools to support female learners academically, emotionally and socially so that they remain in school until they complete Grade 12.

It inculcates knowledge, skills and values for girl learners to focus on their career development and avoid behaviour that could lead to pregnancy, school drop-out and HIV infection.

The programme incorporates Career Development Support Programmes, Health Education, Homework Assistance and Peer Support. In 2017/18 the programme will be targeting 13 000 girl learners in the province.

Baby, Not Now! : A Learner Pregnancy Prevention Programme targeting both boys and girls and aims to educate them about the likely outcomes of engaging in premature sexual activity.

4.  Achievements of the department in 2016/17

The Department enters the 2017/18 financial year after 23 years of phenomenal achievements to transform the education system:

• Access to early educational opportunities have been substantially increased, mainly due to the rapid expansion of the Grade R programme.
• Primary school-aged children are almost universally enrolled, and this has been the case for some time now. Late entry into Grade 1 and late completion of Grade 1 has decreased noticeably over the past years. 

• The proportion of youths attaining National Senior Certificate passes has been significantly increasing over the past years.

We are now paying more attention in improving the quality of schooling, especially in the acquisition of foundational skills for learning such as reading, writing and numeracy. Our focus is also improving the quality of passes at all levels of the system. The 2016 NSC results have shown that our schools from Quintiles 1, 2 and 3 have tremendously improved quality passes. This is a demonstration of the maturity of our education system as demonstrated by ability of our schools to ‘reach the same final state from different initial conditions and in different ways.

Renaming of a school from Klipriver to Dr Joseph Shabalala Secondary School

We are proud of having renamed a school in Ladysmith from Klipriver to Dr Joseph Shabalala Secondary School in honour of our living legend who is a multi-Grammy Awards winner. The plague was unveiled by the Honourable President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr J. G Zuma on 1st April 2017.  

The Department has successfully completed Quarry Heights Primary School, Hibiscus Coast Primary School, Emadungeni, Indawana High Schools, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Isolemamba Secondary School, Mzamo Secondary School, Umvuzo Secondary, Ntulabakayise High School, Mampunga Primary School and Mpumelelo High School.

Incentive Grant and Budget

The Department was successful in obtaining the incentive allocation from National Treasury through the Department of Education due to its ability to plan and spend on the infrastructure allocations.  An amount of R168 million was allocated in 2016/17. In addition, the Department received an additional allocation, as part of the portion that was withdrawn from Free State Province, because of its good spending pattern.

Fencing

A total of 879 fencing projects were identified for fencing of which 691 were completed in the 2016/17 financial year. The security of learners and teachers has been enhanced as a result.

5. Curriculum management and delivery

Honourable Members, we continue to heed the call to “Open the Doors of Learning and Culture” which has been a central pillar in our struggle to build a better life in a land that belongs to all who live in it.

In short, the primary mandate for this Department is to deliver quality education for all. This demands that a significant portion of the budget is devoted to programmes that are directed at enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. Where gaps are identified, specific intervention strategies are implemented across all grades. That too, requires substantial amount of funding. Currently R50 million has been set aside for that purpose.

The 2016 NSC results revealed that our system is indeed maturing since the first cohort of CAPS in 2014. That being said, we continue to consolidate curriculum implementation with improvements in the overall learner attainment.

Provincial Academic Improvement Plan for 2017 and beyond

After a two-year decline in matric results during 2014 and 2015, the province managed to achieve three major things in the 2016 academic year.

• Firstly, the province succeeded in arresting a decline in the overall pass percentages with every district pass percentage improving. Some better than others of course.
• Secondly, the province has improved the overall pass percentage by 5.8% when compared to that of 2015.
• Thirdly, the province improved the quality of passes by increasing the number of bachelor passes. All this indicates that KwaZulu-Natal is on an upward trajectory.

We will be approaching the 20117 NSC examinations with greater sense of confidence after the 2016 improvement which also recorded improvements in Mathematics performance from 33.2% in 2015 to 37.9% in 2016 and in Physical Science from 51.8% in 2015 to 57.7% in 2016.

To maintain momentum of the 2016 improvement we have enhanced our 2017 plan for both GET and FET phases which we are funding at R50 million.

The plan focuses sharply on critical educational and administrative aspects which include basic school functionality to ensure conducive atmosphere for effective teaching and learning;  effective curriculum delivery and learner attainment which is informed by the National Strategy for Learner Attainment and the call for task on time and task on task; teacher development for continuous development of teachers for the implementation of the modern curriculum; career guidance to empower learners to make informed career choices; promotion of reading, writing and numeracy as foundations for effective learning and stakeholder participation for support and monitoring and to make education a societal issue.

Our focus is very clear. We want nothing less than 76% overall pass rate in the 2017 NSC. We will achieve this by, among other things:

• Eliminating the “0% pass rate schools”. We had 9 such schools in 2016;
• Ensuring that no school performs at 30% and below; and
•  Increasing the number of “100% pass rate schools” from 85 to 170 schools which is a target of 100% increase.

To achieve these targets, the province has organized extra classes for learners in schools that performed below 30% in 2016. These extra classes are in the form of resident clustered centres, clustered day centres and stand-alone day centres. Key subjects targeted are Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, Geography, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy and Physical Sciences.

The first round of boot camps for struggling and progressed learners from schools that performed below 30% in 2016 was conducted during the Easter school holidays. More camps will be conducted during the winter and spring vacation.

Extra classes to support high performing learners are also scheduled for winter and spring holidays. Other support programmes include:

• Saturday classes;
• Radio lessons;
• Newspaper supplements;
• Revision material; and
• 100 days countdown to examinations.

In the process, we are paying particular attention to Umlazi, Pinetown and Ilembe Districts as part of our focused strategy to further improve results in 2017.
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, we are highly confident that our efforts will again yield positive results in this year. This in fact, is our commitment to this noble house and the province at large.

New Assessment Measures

In the meantime, we are also getting ready for the new national assessments for Grades 3, 6 and 9 which will be introduced in the near future. Currently, the province has introduced an effective feedback system on learner attainment. All schools submit their results quarterly for analysis and focused interventions. This will ensure that the department gets information on the performance of the system per quarter and introduce relevant interventions, support mechanism and teacher development programmes where necessary.

Teacher Development Institute

Teacher Development is part of our ongoing programmes to improve the quality of teaching and learning. To this end, we continue renovate and refurbish our Provincial Teacher Development Institute that will offer teacher development programmes and ongoing professional support. This Institute will link up with the District Teacher Development Centres, commonly known as Education Centres, in providing professional teacher development programmes. ICT driven programmes will be feature of teacher development from these centres.

Incremental introduction of African languages

The Language in Education Policy (1997), as entrenched in the Constitution clearly recognises and elevates the eleven designated languages in South Africa regarding their educational use and their use within home and public environments. The promotion of multilingualism and the protection of linguistic rights in the schooling system are constitutionally rooted in the Bill of Rights.

The Department of Basic Education took a decision to strengthen the teaching of African languages through the Incremental Introduction of African Languages (IIAL) in all public schools in Grades 1-12.

An audit revealed that a total of 686 schools in the province were not offering African Languages and neither of them had a teacher who was able to teacher any of the indigenous languages. Many of these were former Model C schools.

As a start, 15 schools were selected to pilot the project of Incremental introduction of IsiZulu in 2014/15 and these were supplied with qualified educators. We must state that while the project was being piloted, another 372 schools started the introduction on their own.

During the second phase of audit, it was discovered that only 314 schools have not started the process. In the first year of roll-out, which was in the year 2016, an additional 201 schools were included to make a total of 216 schools that are now offering IsiZulu. Currently, the province has 98 schools that do not offer isiZulu and the challenge has been attributed to unavailability of teachers. The nature of the implementation is incremental.

Curriculum transformation

Maritime Education

The Department is expanding maritime education to expose learners to the maritime sector as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP) and further outlined in objectives of Operation Phakisa for the Blue Economy which was launched by the President in October 2014.
This year, there are twenty (20) schools offering Maritime Economics as part of their curriculum in KZN spread across eight (8) districts, with 1600 learners in Grades 10-12 as compared to five (5) schools in 2014.

Three (3) of these schools  are now offering a full suite of Maritime Studies subjects (i.e Nautical Sciences and Maritime Economics) in Grades 10 to 12.
A budget of R5 million has been allocated for this programme in 2017/18.

Technical Subjects with Specialisation (CAPS 2)

The Department is also fully aware of a need to strengthen teaching of technical subjects to meet the demands of the changing economy. To this end, a new curriculum with specialisations in Grades 10 and 11 technical subjects is already being implemented. These specialisations are: Welding, Fitting and Machining, Construction, Woodworking, Civil Services; Motor Mechanics; and Electrical Technology specialisation fields.

A total of 413 teachers were trained for implementation of this curriculum as from 2016. For 2017/18 financial year the Department has allocated R5 million to support implementation of Technical CAPS subjects.
Our short-term to medium-term goal is to increase the number of schools that offer technical subjects especially in the rural areas. We have a firm belief that this move will assist in reducing the levels of unemployment in the province.

Our approach is very clear. We want to build and fully equip few more new technical schools. In addition, we want existing big secondary schools to offer at least one technical subject.

Agricultural High Schools

Our focus is also on strengthening the teaching of Agricultural Science in schools as a measure to contribute towards food security for the future generations. Four schools in the province have been recapitalized into full Agricultural Schools. These are:

• Weston Agricultural College;
•  James Nxumalo Agricultural School;
• Vryheid Landbou Skool; and
• Shakaskraal Secondary School.

Through our partnership, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to provide support in maintaining these Agricultural focus schools.
There are other 571 schools in the province that offer Agricultural Science as a subject.

Currently we are in discussion with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development with a view of signing a new Memorandum of Agreement that will assist us in increasing the number of Agricultural High Schools and also increasing the number of schools that offer Agricultural Science as a subject.

Three stream model

The Three Stream Model is the concept whereby the country is rolling out three streams of curriculum that will cater for diverse interests and abilities of learners across the spectrum. All along, the country had an Academic Stream which is done by 80% of learners and the Technical Vocational Stream done by the remaining 20% of learners.

The Technical Occupational Stream is being introduced as a curriculum to cater for all learners who will show interest in a skills based curriculum.

The implementation realities of the Technical Occupational Stream have necessitated that it be restricted only to schools of skills that currently accommodate learners with special needs and there are 5 such schools in the Province.        

Teachers have already been trained to pilot this new curriculum in 2017 while plans are in place to update the equipment in preparation for 2018. An amount of R3 million has been allocated for this programme.

With the new diversified curriculum, we want to empower our youth to create jobs instead of being job seekers. This stream will ensure that learners who cannot benefit maximally from the academic stream, will leave school fully equipped with necessary skills. This is the area where we believe that the Radical Economic Transformation agenda will make a difference.

6. Turning the tide on special education

Inclusive Education: Curriculum Differentiation

Curriculum differential remains one of the priorities for this Department in order to ensure that learners with special needs receive quality education. We continue to standardize procedures for screening, identification, assessment and support of learners with barriers to learning. There are 73 Special Schools, 101 Full Service Schools and 24 Inclusive Schools in the province.

Inclusive Education is one of our key priorities and we are implementing various strategies to ensure curriculum differentiation in order to meet curriculum needs of all learners. We want to increase number of Special Schools in areas where they do not exist; upgrade and renovate existing Special Schools; build Support Centers in Full Service Schools; upgrade mainstream schools in line with Inclusive Education White Paper 6 (2001); adapt the curriculum for learners with special education needs; avail learner transport; and provide specialised LTSM to enhance teaching and learning.

Specific focus on supporting Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Over the past few years, there has been a growing concern about the lack of special programmes and appropriate support for leaners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism is an extremely complex neurological condition that some studies show that it affects 1 for every 42 boys and 1 for every 189 girls. The Department currently supports learners who experience this condition through established Autism units within our Special Schools.

There are NGOs as well that have approached us on the plight of these children. We highly appreciate their support.

The Department of Basic Education is in a process of developing a support strategy that will be implemented in all provinces.
 
During this financial year, as a province we want to establish a school for Autistic learners who are in severe Autism spectrum. We are therefore going to engage Autism South Africa to request that they partner with us. The aim of this partnership is to dip into their resources and expertise so that we are able to expand the knowledge of our teachers.

Mobility of Special School Learners

In 2016/17 we procured 15 buses with a seating capacity of 35 passengers each for distribution to special schools. Benefitting schools included:

• Siphosethu Special School
• Bawelisile Special School
• Thathezakhe Special School
• Truro Special School

We want to ensure that each special school has at least one bus. More buses will be procured incrementally over the years.

Plans for 2017/18 on Inclusive Education

Included in our plans for 2017/18 on Inclusive Education are:  

• Rigorous training on Screening Identification Assessment and Support (SIAS) and Curriculum Differentiation for Foundation Phase Educators.
• Rigorous training on South African Sign Language implementation (SASL) for Senior Phase and Grade 11 educators.
• Training of additional 50 teachers and 25 Teacher Assistants on Blind Education programs including Braille.
• Training of 102 educators on Technical Occupational learning programmes as part of the new Technical Occupational Stream.
• Procurement of at least 50 new buses for Special Schools as replacements to buses which are now due for disposal.

We appreciate the additional R5 million funding through Conditional Grant. This amount will assist in improving quality of Inclusive Education in the province.

7. Early Childhood Development

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is one other priority for the Department. It is for this reason that universal access to quality education in Grade R remains one of our goal. We want all Grade 1 learners in public schools to have gone through Grade R as studies show that quality Grade R improves chances of success throughout the schooling years.

We do not only focus on high enrolments in Grade R but we also focus on providing appropriate resources and infrastructure.

Infrastructural resourcing for Grade R classes

During our recent visit to Machi Primary School in March this year, we observed that Grade R learners were using inappropriate pit toilets that may result in very unfortunate incidents. Something had to be done before any of our young lives could be lost. We instructed the District Office to provide appropriate ablution facilities for Grade R as a matter of urgency. We will make a follow up to ensure that the instruction was carried out.

8. Procurement and delivery of LTSM in public schools

Through central procurement, the province has been able to deliver 100% of ordered textbooks and stationery to schools by 30th November every year. This has become part of the province’s criteria to assess our state of readiness for the new school year.

This ensures that our schools are ready for teaching and learning on the first day of each school year. The beginning of the year school functionality monitoring reports confirm this yearly. Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, this is the process in which all of us participate and therefore we all bear testimony to this best practice by our Department. We are able to achieve this through our innovative LTSM provisioning model which is adapted to unique landscape and demographics of the province.

This is a multi-faceted LTSM procurement model that allows for:

• Centralised LTSM procurement;
• School-based LTSM procurement; and
• District-based LTSM procurement.

We are satisfied with the steady increase in the overall textbook coverage. To strengthen our position, we are putting emphasis on the implementation of textbook retrieval policy at school level and there are clear indications that it is beginning to bear fruit.

We are fully aware of challenges facing some of the Quintile 4 and 5 schools regarding textbook coverage which we are addressing. Part of our strategy is to re-look at the quintile ranking system.

In a number of these schools, textbook coverage is low as a result of the national funding policy. It is true that the South African Schools’ Act empowers these schools to raise funds to supplement our funding for LTSM. Needless to say, some of these schools struggle to raise such funds due to socio-economic challenges facing our communities.
 
We understand that quality education comes at a cost. As a result, we are setting aside a budget of R1.3 billion for the provisioning of 2018 LTSM for Grades R to 12. We are also trying our best to make funds available for library material in schools.

9. Integration of IT and ICT in teaching and learning

The Department has an obligation to deliver quality education to support economic growth and social development. Given that the country is rapidly moving towards a knowledge economy, there is a need to deliver a quality education that will increase access, promote equity and bring about redress.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the potential and capacity to enable the attainment of these ideals. However, government’s response to an effective use of ICT in Education as set out in the White Paper on e-Education (2004) is yet to be achieved.

The National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 sets out succinct human resource development goals to improve the quality and delivery of public services.  In light of this, a radical change in the way basic education is provided is required in terms of urgency, agency and efficiency.

Inadequate funding, lack of human resource capacity at all levels of the education system, low levels of school e-readiness and the shortage of appropriate teacher knowledge and skills to effectively apply e-Learning pedagogies in the classroom are some of the challenges affecting the rollout of ICT to support teaching and learning.

The procurement process set aside through Operation Phakisa in 2016/17 resulted in thirty (30) Maths, Science and Technology (MST) Focus schools being supplied with ICT infrastructure, ICT gadgets and broadband connectivity.

To improve our IT system and service delivery we have set up a server that will store and process data using a web-based Business Intelligence Tool.  An amount of R 10 million was also spent on the acquisition of new ICT Server infrastructure in 2016/17.

Through these efforts we are laying a foundation from which the ICT vision of our Department can be launched both in terms of administration requirements as well as the delivery and management of the school curriculum.

The current financial year will also see the implementation of a mobile App to facilitate the reporting, via a smart phone, of school-based incidents as they happen. This will allow learners to instantaneously report bullying, sexual harassment or any activities that infringe on their right to human dignity, privacy, freedom, security and the right to learn.

An amount of R62 million has been set aside to look into ICT and IT infrastructure upgrades and other essential ICT services including improvement of information security and the business process automation.

A dedicated www.kznschools.gov.za domain will be established and formally registered. This will be the home of E-content and E-Learning portal managed by the department allowing learners to interact with learning material at the comfort of their homes or schools.

This Portal will house revision past papers, video tutorials and other essential study material that will aid learners in their studies. In addition, the Microsoft Schools Agreement is now in place to allow the department in its efforts of creating corporate email accounts for all KZN Government school based officials.

ICT plans for 2017/18 include:

• Incremental rolling out of 2-in-1 tablets, one educator laptop, a projector, connectivity and digital media for quintiles 1, 2 and 3 schools.

As we speak, at least 261 schools from Umkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo are receiving deliveries of 30 tablets, a server, a trolley, a digital board, a secure safe and Wi-Fi connectivity each.

10. Infrastructure development and maintenance

 Honourable Members, the Infrastructure Development continues to experience budget cuts since 2014/15 due to compensation of employees. This creates unhealthy reliance on Conditional Grants which always come with their own priorities and conditions.

We instructed the District Office and our Infrastructure Component to attend to this matter by providing temporary relief to the school and including it in the 2017/18 projects.

Despite this, the Department is proud of its investments in the schools such as:

• La Mercy Maths and Science Academy in Pinetown,
• Mandla Mthethwa School of Excellence in Umkhanyakude,
• Welabasha and Siphumelele High Schools in King Cetshwayo,
• Malezulu and Pholela Special Schools in Harry Gwala,
• Mpumelelo High School in Uthukela,
• Ukukhanya KoMsinga Special School in Umzinyathi just to mention the few.

Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, we want to assure the people of KwaZulu-Natal that when we visit schools we do it for a purpose. Whenever we observe matters that require urgent attention we attend to them immediately. We can cite our visit to Dingulwazi School in Phongola as an example.

When we visited the school on 24th march 2017, we observed a serious shortage of classrooms. The school has enrolment of over 1700 learners which resulted in some of the classrooms accommodating around 120 learners each.

An audit has shown that at least 800 schools still asbestos roofing and removal of this is being prioritised as it poses a health risk to our learners and teachers.
Another challenge for this department is the issue of sanitation especially in rural schools as correctly observed by the Honourable Premier. The matter demands our urgent attention. The current financial constraints, however, do not allow the Department to move with necessary speed.

Adding to the strain of the finances is the unpredictable weather which causes damages to the already existing infrastructure, thereby forcing the Department to channel other funds towards repairs. As an example, in 2016/17 there were 354 storm damaged schools reported costing an amount of R262 million to repair.

Based on this experience, the Department is forced to consider setting aside an amount equivalent to this for 2017/18.

School Furniture

Furthermore, the department has set aside R25 million for the procurement of school furniture for new schools that are due to be completed within the financial year. Within the norms and standards allocations, existing schools may address minor shortages emanating from breakages or increase in enrolment. In addition, R10 million has been set aside to deal with schools whose enrolment might have drastically changed year on year.

As we present this budget vote, we are very concerned about some of the school infrastructure projects that have not been completed over a number of years. Such incomplete projects include Lubelo High School (Umkhanyakude District), Chief Lokothwayo (Pinetown District), Inkanyezi Yamachi High School (Ugu District), Ntshongo Primary School (Harry Gwala), Sibutha High School (Ugu District), Mahlokohloko High School (Mzinyathi District) and Mdombolo Primary School (King Cetshwayo District). We have already engaged the Implementing Agents regarding this and our message was very clear. We will not hesitate to take the projects away from them should they continue to fail to meet our project deadlines.

What worries us most is that the Department has paid service providers in full for some of the incomplete projects. To that effect, we are conducting an audit per district and we assure this house that there will be serious consequences for any wrongdoing.

The school infrastructure budget for 2017/18 will be mainly utilised for upgrades and additions where the Department will be addressing issues of over-crowding, shortages of specialist rooms and building of water and sanitation facilities throughout the province.

The number of new projects for 2017/18 are as follows:

1. Upgrades and additions: 1 719 projects
2. Refurbishment and rehabilitation: 622 projects
3. New assets (schools): 51 projects

11.Learner transport

Honourable Members, the Department has been providing dedicated subsidized learner transport to deserving learners since 2008. The demand for this service increases each year and the Department is struggling to cope due to financial constraints.

Honourable Speaker, we are proud to report that we are at advance stage of taking learner transport services back to the Department of Education from the Department of Transport. Indeed it has not been an easy process as we had to first address all the issues that led to the transfer of this responsibility to the Department of Transport in 2011.

We are currently tying all the loose ends to ensure smooth transition. It is important at this stage to indicate that the Department of Transport will continue to play a critical role in supporting our Department. One of their key roles will be to check learner transport for roadworthiness as we do not wish to expose our learners to unnecessary risks.

For this we are highly grateful to Honourable Kaunda, the MEC for Transport.

As we take this service back to Education, we will also make a positive contribution to the Radical Socio-Economic Transformation agenda. This, we will ensure through the manner in which learner transport operators will be appointed and the overall management of the programme.

We are proud to announce that on 20th April 2017 we officially launched the Ferry Boat programme at Nkovukeni as another mode of learner transport. Provision of this mode   of transport was informed by an audit which revealed that at least 181 schools have learners that cross rivers or dams on their way to schools. As a result, eight (8) ferry boats were procured of which four (4) have been delivered and distributed to:

• Nkovukeni;
• Nkonjane; and
• Hlengiwe,

The Department is aware of a similar need in other areas and this will soon be attended to within the MTEF.

We regard this matter as one of the priorities that top our list. We are making every effort possible to ensure that this mode of learner transport is made available to all deserving schools. Our efforts include taking away from the Office of the MEC an amount of R10 million to fund the purchase of additional ferry boats in 2017/18.

12. National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)

The NSNP was initiated in 1994 as a poverty relief programme for learners in quintiles 1, 2 and 3 who in the main come from destitute families. It is a government strategy aimed at addressing economic inequalities and reducing unemployment by creating job opportunities.

It provides nutritious meals to 2.2 million learners in 5250 schools throughout the province through a standardised menu on a daily basis. We have set aside R1.4 billion to ensure continuity of this service

In the 2016/17, this service was provided by 1900 service providers. The process for appointment of the 2017/18 service providers is at its final stages. In addition to these service providers, the programme also enhances economic opportunities for local SMMEs and Co-operatives as indirect beneficiaries who are, for example the producers and suppliers of fresh vegetables. This is done in collaboration with District Municipalities.

Honourable Speaker, the department prides itself for having created 10 973 jobs to parents of learners who are employed as food handlers to prepare meals for the learners.

13. Norms & standards

The acceptable benchmark for compensation of employees to the total budget is 80% but this Department exceeded this by 3% in the 2016/17 financial year. This difference was R 1.3 billion against a budget of R 45 billion in education which should be allocated to Goods and Services and other areas of pressures to manage service delivery.

The trend may worsen in the next MTEF period. In reality, the Department remains with approximately 9% for operational expenditure.
Honourable Speaker, it is in this context that as a province we are unable to meet the minimum allocation of R1242 per learner as nationally prescribed for quintiles 1, 2 and 3.

Instead the province only allocates R955 putting a strain on schools as they struggle to meet LTSM requirements, payment of municipality bills and other essential needs.

Small schools that have learner enrolment below 20 cannot be funded through this model, their allocation is fixed at R28 791.
Transfers to schools

Madam Speaker, every year the Department transfers approximately R1 billion to schools for Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) and non-LTSM.  In line with the reform of improving financial administration and governance in schools, a need has been identified to ensure that all schools follow an approved and standardised set of financial policies, processes and procedures.

Currently the approaches to financial administration are fragmented and left to individual school administrators to discharge. This presents challenges of:

• Inconsistent and unintegrated financial reporting;
• Fragmented financial interpretation and analysis;
• Exposure to misrepresentation and therefore unreliable financial information.
• Compromised ability by the department to manage and monitor the performance of schools against their plans;
• Missing deadlines for submission of audited financial statements.
• Inappropriate management of financial records for the schools which makes auditability cumbersome and expensive.

It is against this background that the Department has decided to focus on a programme to develop a consistent approach to financial administration and reporting across all schools.  The immediate plan is to ensure that schools are audited by an accredited set of auditors at year end.  We hope this will help to eradicate collusion and misrepresentation of financial affairs to conceal fraud and corruption, and introduce common standards over how school financial statements and reports are presented.

SA-SAMS and EMIS

As stated before, we are trying to move fast in transforming our system from manual to electronic system. SA-SAMS is improving management of schools data but we have not reached a stage where all schools can utilise this tool. The result is that we are unable to accurately ascertain the numbers of learners in our schools and that affects our budget allocation negatively.

Added to that is a significant number of learners in the province who do not have ID numbers. Such learners are not considered when national allocates funds resulting in under-funding of the province. That puts enormous strain to the coffers of the province.

We will engage other government departments and other relevant structures to assist in securing proper documentation for the affected learners.

Impact of quintile ranking on school allocation

As Honourable Members may be aware, the “per learner” allocation is the process through which schools are funded in line with Norms and Standards for School Funding. This is based on quintile ranking of schools. In quintiles 1 to 3 schools current per learner allocation in the province is R955 whereas quintiles 4 and 5 are funded far below that.

Any school that was inappropriately given a quintile 4 or 5 ranking is severely compromised in terms of allocation of funds, especially when it comes to provision of resources.

When we were consulting with community of Ntuzuma recently, Cllr Mhlongo of Ward 43 raised a question around the issue of Quintile policy. She said it cannot be correct that a feeder primary school is Quintile 1 or 2 while the High School across the road is 4– 5. This means that the kind of services allocate to the learner is expected to have changed after passing Grade 7.

The point we want to emphasize today is that we acknowledge the challenges facing schools that were given inappropriate quintile rankings especially in townships. We are giving this matter necessary attention with a hope that we can resolve it and begin to fund the affected schools appropriately. It may not be as quick as we would want but we are committed to address it once and for all.  

14. Preparations for the 2018 academic year

Learner admission

Honourable Speaker, we will always strive to ensure that teaching and learning take place on the first day of each school year. As a result, the 2018 learner registration processes started in March this year.

Our target is to finalise learner this process in August which will gives us ample time to deal with any challenges before the end of the year. Our goal is to completely eliminate the culture of registering learners in January when schools re-open.

Honourable Members, we must emphasise this, some of the schools have successfully utilised various forms of discrimination just remain white elephants.

This is done through a variety of limiting methods like exorbitant fees charged by these schools making education unaffordable to the working class and sometimes the use of waiting lists which ordinary parents have no access to. This is tantamount to ring-fencing hence we cannot continue with business as usual.

It cannot be correct that a public school, funded by our Government through this Department, continues to charge fees as high as R100 000 just so that a certain class of society is excluded.

We feel that now is the time to flatten the ground and ensure that all schools are accessible even to the poor. We are going to begin the process of consultations relating to how school fees can be regulated.

Part of our engagement may be to look at how other provinces deal with learner admission including the best practices from Gauteng which currently uses an online system to place learners on a first-come-first-served basis.   

Early finalisation of PPN processes

We are currently looking at circumstances that led to delays in finalizing the deployment of teachers who were declared surplus in their schools in 2016 through the PPN processes. We had hoped to finalise the deployment before schools re-opened in January 2017 but it did not happen.

We do require a strategy that will assist us to fast track this process. In addition, we need to negotiate with Organised Labour and all relevant stakeholders for an agreement that will allow this process to be conducted once in a multi-year term. For example, a three-year period would be reasonable and may ensure more stability in schools.

On the other hand there is a growing call for the Department to consider a separate PPN for schools in quintiles 1 to 3. The argument is that these are disadvantaged schools and should not be treated the same with schools in quintiles 4 and 5. Branch Corporate and Legal Services will advise us whether we can elevate this request to national for consideration.

Initiatives to increase learner retention

The Department has introduced several initiatives to promote learner retention mostly targeting girl learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2016/2017 those initiatives included:

• Provision of school uniforms for 22 400 Orphans and Vulnerable Children; and
• Provision of sanitary towels to 520 833 learners who are from quintile 1-4 schools costing the department R20 million.
• NSNP
• Learner transport, including ferry boats

This initiative was hailed by a wide range of people and compliments were received on social media, through the press and television. This program even received a special mention during the Budget Speech by the National Minister of Finance. We are going to increase the scope in 2017/2018 to reach more girl learners, however, we wish to state that the demand exceeds the resources available and any assistance from other sectors will be greatly appreciated.

15. Human resources and tools of trade

Non-filling of critical posts

Honourable Speaker, while we support our government effort to implement priorities within much tighter budgetary constraints, the challenges brought about by the freezing of substantive vacant posts have become costly to ignore. The months and years following the onset of austerity measures have severely affected the Department capability to deliver in areas of financial and human resource management. There is also growing evidence of work overload and emotional burnout from our employees who have to double-up by performing additional functions above their core duties.

We observe with great concern the growing number of officials and teachers who take sick leave and we believe that many of these cases can be ascribed to the non-filling of critical posts.

It is against this background that we have prioritised the filling of critical office based vacancies, particularly in HR and Finance as well as support staff posts for clerical personnel and security guards in schools.

We request that funds be set aside to improve the post provisioning norms of ours schools so as to enhance effective teaching and learning and for filling educator vacancies that become vacant as a result of attrition including office based educators such as subject advisors and circuit management that directly support schools.

In order to improve and build capacity within the Infrastructure unit, the Department has filled 69 technical posts utilising DORA funding with the aim to manage certain projects internally. The employment of these technical staff forms part of the Infrastructure Development Management System (IDMS) which addresses some of the challenges including improving infrastructure planning and attending to problematic projects, monitoring and evaluation, and quality of completed work ensuring value for money for all the projects.

Creation of new posts

We are fully aware of the consequences of having not created new educator posts since 2009. This has put a strain on our teachers who are facing diversified curriculum and increasing learner enrolments every year. Creation of new posts cannot be delayed any more.

Tools of Trade

The department has set aside R 11.6 million towards the purchase of additional desktops and laptops for the 2017/18 financial year, in addition a further R3.5 million has been set aside to improve the email and security systems in 2017/18 financial year.

16. Transformation of the schooling system

Honourable Members, in our quest for quality education for all, we embarked on Transformation of the Schooling System which addresses amongst others, the following:

• Consolidation of small and non-viable schools;
• Elimination of non-viable satellite and mud schools
• Streamlining of typologies of the schooling system; and
•  Renaming of schools that have unsuitable names for educational institutions.

The streamlining of typologies involves separation of schools into primary schools that accommodate Grade R to Grade 7 learners and secondary schools for Grade 8 to Grade 12 learners.

So far, the Department has been able to consolidate or merge 171 non-viable and satellite schools, streamline typologies of 121 schools and finalise change of 51 school names. As you would understand, when a school is closed learners need to be transported to the new premises at a cost to the Department.

This comes with the demand for learner transport which is already overstretched. In addition to this, is the issue of feeding when the new school did not have NSNP.

The department still has a total of 865 schools to rationalise consisting of 664 Primary Schools and 201 Secondary Schools. This will be done in phases until completion March 2018.

In December 2016, the Department appointed a Project Team to put more focus on the implementation of transforming the remaining schools. Although this team is led by a Director from Head Office, all twelve (12) districts have nominated a coordinator who forms part of the broader committee and is responsible for reporting through the district Director.

17. Co-curricular activities to enhance teaching and learning

School sport

We are proud to announce that our drive to make sports facilities accessible to learners, including learners with disabilities, is beginning to bear fruit. The school sport programmes now fully cater for learners with disabilities.

Learners who are deaf and visually, intellectually, physically and mild mentally impaired are participating fully in school sport programmes.

We encourage participation of all learners in sport, including participation in indigenous games because we believe in the saying “A healthy mind in a healthy body”.
To strengthen school sport, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and the Department of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on 7th April 2017. Through this MOA, the two Departments will work together in the delivery of sport and arts programmes in all schools in the province. We are really grateful to Honourable Sithole-Moloi and her Department.

18. Stakeholder and inter-departmental collaboration

In order to meet our high aspirations in a very complex education sector, the Department has increased collaboration with other government departments including the Department of Health (DOH) for health education and vaccination programmes. Apart from collaborations with the Department of Social Development (DSD) around ECD programmes, there is also collaboration focusing on the early identification and support of learners experiencing barriers to learning. The Department is in the process of building relations with disability support organisations to expand liaison for continued assistance and support.

We value inter-departmental collaborations and stakeholder participation in education. As the Honourable President declared, ‘education is indeed a societal matter’. We know that the transition to adulthood can be a challenge for children, especially for those with special needs and their families. The importance of support in this regard cannot be over-emphasized. The transition we refer to requires careful planning and maximum utilisation of opportunities and experiences during their school years that will help them better prepare for life as adults.

This sentiment has been expressed often by them. Starting the transition process early and co-ordinating it with other provincial departments and other relevant stakeholders is part of our commitment to the affected families.

Currently we are in talks with the Department of Science and Technology to see how best we can collaborate our efforts in simplifying the lives our learners. We will be focussing on the most rural schools and continue to expand as more funding is made available.

Focussing on young people between the ages of 5 to 18 who require significant additional educational, medical and social support which is beyond that required by youth in general, we will promote the development of an interdepartmental protocol to realise the vision in the Education White Paper 5 for children with special needs and their families.

We are proud to announce that we have partnered up with the Sugar Industry Trust Fund for Education (SITFE), which is administered by the South African Sugar Association, on a number of exciting projects for the benefit of our learners.

These multi-million rand projects will see provision of funding support to Izingolweni Education Centre and Science Laboratory in Port Shepstone, career development aimed at keepings girls in school with a focus on Ugu, Harry Gwala and UMkhanyakude districts, building of a state-of-the-art science laboratory for a rural high school in Jozini, ECD programmes for 96 centres.

The sugar industry is contributing a total of R5.5 million towards these projects. This is in addition to SITFE – which has been in existence for 52 years and awarding 41 bursaries every year to academically deserving students from disadvantaged backgrounds to study at institutions of higher learning.
These partnerships prove that working together with the private sector, we can help our people and build a winning province.
 

19. Budget for 2017/18

The allocated budget for the department in the current financial year is R47, 476 599 billion which will be distributed as follows:

20. Forth coming events in 2017

• The 2017 National Association of African-American Studies (NAAAS) International Congress will be hosted in Durban during the period 31st July – 4th August 2017.
• The South African Schools Choral music preparations have started. District competitions will commence on 1st May, Cluster competitions on 16th May, Provincial on 31st May and the National competitions in the first week of July 2017.

21.Conclusion

In conclusion Honourable Speaker, we feel we have a duty to thank our organization, the ANC, for giving us the responsibility to lead one of the biggest departments in the country. Our sincere gratitude also goes to the Honourable Premier, all Members of the Executive Council, the African National Congress Sub-Committee on Education and Health for their continued support and guidance.

Furthermore, our gratitude goes to the Education Portfolio Committee, Finance Portfolio Committee, Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Provincial Treasury and the office of the Auditor-General (AG) and all other oversight structures who ensure that we execute our mandate optimally.

Our sincere gratitude also goes to our social partners such as Organized Labour, School Governing Body Formations and parents.
We also like to thank Heads of Departments who are serving in the Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster for their commitment towards the improvement of the quality of education in KwaZulu-Natal.
 
Lastly, our appreciation also goes to Dr E. V Nzama, the Head of Department, his Top Management, all officials and employees of the Department.

We cannot forget to thank our families as well who continue support us even under very challenging situations that we have to face in executing our duties.
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, we firmly believe that the budget we presented today will go a long way in ‘Championing Quality Education – Creating and Securing a Brighter Future’ for all learners currently in our system and the future generations.
We wish to close with a quote from the longest serving President of our glorious movement, the African National Congress, Oliver Reginald Tambo when he said “The Children Of Any Nation Are Its Future. A Country, a Movement, a Person That Does Not Value Its Youth and Children Does Not Deserve Its Future.

I would like to thank my organization, the ruling party, the African National Congress for entrusting us to lead this department, Honourable Premier, Mr T. W Mchunu for continuous guidance, the Head of Department Dr E. V Nzama for continuous support and lastly my family, especially my wife uMaMgenge who is always on my side despite long hours away from home due to the nature of work that we do.

I thank you!