Madam Speaker Honourable Premier Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members of the Executive Council Honourable Chief Whip and Leaders of Opposition Parties Honourable Members of the Legislature
Leadership of Teacher Unions and COSAS Leadership of School Governing Body Associations Invited guests from the education community
Officials of the Department of Education
Honoured guests Comrades and Friends
Thobela!
June 16, 1976
Honourable Speaker, our presence here today signifies a memorable reflection of the struggle waged by the June 16 generation that became a catalyst in the history of many struggles fought by generations of leaders of our liberation movements in the fight for a free and democratic South Africa.
As we commemorate the 39th anniversary of the Soweto Uprisings during this month, let us also not lose sight of the very same importance of the linkage between the objectives of the 16 June youth revolution and those of the country’s democratic constitution whose 21st anniversary we are also celebrating. It is for this reason that we need to reflect on the successes, milestones and challenges in advancing the interests of the youth of today so that they contribute to the strengthening of our democracy and the development of the country in general.
In confronting the many challenges that in the future face our young people, the ANC government continues to see education as an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice. The ANC government affirms its belief that education has a fundamental role to play in personal, economic and social development. The ANC government, however, does not see education as a miracle cure or a magic formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, but as one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war. As Horace Mann, an 18th century educationist said, “Education, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men – the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”
At a time when educational policies, internationally, are being sharply criticized or pushed, for economic and financial reasons, down to the bottom of the agenda, the ANC government maintains its conviction to realising the education goals of the Freedom Charter and that of the June 16 generation.
Challenges that face the youth of today are somehow different to those of the June 16 generation who were victims of racial, class and gender discrimination and inequalities. Whilst our democracy has brought about a number of opportunities for the youth they however are confronted with a number of challenges with regard to their participation in the mainstream of South African life, particularly with regard to access to opportunities offered in the education, health and economic sectors.
As part of the province’s prioritisation ofyouthempowerment, in line withthe Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation agenda, the department of education will facilitate youth access to economic opportunities through training, learnerships, internships, etc. We are committed to ensuring that when our learners progress to the world of work or further study, they are adequately equipped with all the necessary skills to be effective in the modern workplace and to meet the demands of further and higher education.
Our youth can no longer become mere spectators in the development of the country, particularly with regard to participation in the mainstream of our economy. We need to accelerate the turn around strategy of the national youth development programme so that we reduce the number of unemployed youth and establish diversion programmes for them.
As we celebrate the contribution of the June 16 generation to our freedom and democracy, we cannot overlook the profound gains we have made in advancing youth interests and the gains brought about by our democracy. The increasing access to social wages for the poor and increased access of the poor to basic education, are some of the critical gains and successes we need to highlight.
The challenge, however, remains as to how to enable the youth to claim a share in this economy, how to create an environment that enables the youth of today to take advantage of the programmes meant to improve their conditions?
Honourable Members, today we table the budget for Vote 5: Education. A budget designed to tackle the challenges facing us in improving the quality of learning across all grades.
The call to Open the Doors of Learning has been a central pillar in our struggle to build a better life in a land that belongs to all who live in it. Today is an opportunity to reflect on progress in meeting this objective and chart the way forward to 2030.
Our analysis is based on the firm belief that the key outcome of the social transformation goal of the African National Congress government is to secure total human dignity for all South Africans, regardless of societal position or station. Consequently, our strategies for social transformation must seek to empower people to lift themselves out of poverty while creating adequate social security to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
At the same time we recognise that improvements in education and skills levels are fundamental pre- requisites for addressing poverty, unemployment, promoting decent work and building a more equal society.
Honourable Members, the provincial celebration of Youth Month during June was different to previous years. Jointly, with the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, we have engaged youth on opportunities for skills needed for employability and opportunities for employment through information sessions and exhibitions. This was done in partnership with SETAs and public and private sector partners. In addition, we have provided a platform for motivational engagements between the youth and senior social and political leadership including the Premier, provincial MECs and national Ministers. In total, we reached over 100 000 youth from across the province.
The Budget
It’s my pleasure to be here today to announce the details of my first budget against the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.
Over the last few months since I was appointed MEC for Education, I have had a series of conversations with our education partners about priorities and where additional investment should be targeted as our economic recovery takes hold. At these meetings the partners have been setting out their views on priorities for future investment. I plan to continue this dialogue with partners to assist me in delivering our agreed framework of five-year priorities for the education sector in Gauteng. I fully appreciate the sacrifices that all education partners have made in recent years, as well as their commitment to providing quality education against a very difficult financial backdrop and continuing upward demographic pressures.
The 2015/16 Budget is a start in that process. However, this Budget is set against the background of dire economic trends. Earlier this year, the MEC for Finance announced that within the MTEF, the Education budget is thirty eight percent of the provincial budget - an investment in education of R36 billion. With the assistance of the Premier and the Executive Council, I have been able to contain the impact of rapid growth with the allocated Budget. For the first time in recent years, the 2015 Budget includes a net increase of over R4 billion from the previous year to the overall level of spending on education, compared to the budget that was available in 2014.
The largest portion of the budget is allocated to Public Ordinary School Education. The budget increase in Public Ordinary Schools is as a result of increases in budgets for Learner Support Material and Transportation costs for monitoring the implementation of programmes in schools.
I am glad to present a budget plan that aims to focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom as well as bring education into the 21st century. This is a clear sign of our determination, as Government, to prioritise areas such as education which are essential to social transformation. It is my contention that improving education quality will pay a very real dividend - an investment that has enormous socio-economic benefits.
While our plans and programmes are extensive, I want to highlight three key programmes for 2015/16.
Firstly, TURNING AROUND SPECIAL EDUCATION IN GAUTENG
Our record of the last two decades in expanding educational opportunities is a source of both pride and disappointment. Since 1994, enrolment in our schools has grown from just over 1,3 million to over 2 million learners across primary and secondary schools. Access to basic education is near universal and the completion rates at school leaving level are progressing towards near universal. The gender gap in respect of enrolment is at an amazing zero in primary schools with more girls completing schooling at Grade 12 than boys.
As Members know, I have been driving social cohesion in education as a critical pillar of a transformed education system. All children benefit when all learners are made to feel they belong and education is sensitive and responsive to individual differences. This principle applies equally to children with special needs. As South Africans, constitutionally, we are bound to the mainstreaming of all individuals into society regardless of race, gender or health and Inclusive Education is one of the most effective ways in which to promote a socially inclusive and tolerant society.
We have made progress in correcting the massive and scandalous neglect, prior to 1994. The learning needs of children with physical or other disabilities and impairments were declared an urgent priority in our reconstruction programme that was committed to the development of all our human resources.
Since 1995 we have increased the number of special schools from 106 to 138, including schools of focused learning. We have increased the enrolment in special schools from 26 096 to 44 604 learners. Despite these gains, and knowing that education is a fundamental right and an essential tool to achieving the goals of equality, development and social cohesion, the gains we have made in respect of education for children with special needs is not as great as we have seen with ordinary schooling. For many reasons, including stigma and access, many families with children with disabilities are not accessing the necessary support from government.
We are committed to building an inclusive education system where services are available in an integrated system of special schools and ordinary schools where learners with special needs can access quality education. The services available in ordinary and special schools will be categorised based on the continuum of disability from learning challenges and from mild to severe disabilities.
There are key elements to make this work.
- Firstly, a continuum of placements, support and services should be made available for all learners. It is always assumed that every learner’s first placement is in regular education then a special school. Secondly, recruit sufficient licensed educators and practitioners to address the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of all learners.
- Thirdly, extensive development of educators and non-educator professionals must be prioritised as apart of every teacher’s and paraprofessional’s workday.
- Lastly, Involve parents and learners as partners in the decision-making process.
- Special Education, in the context of inclusion, will be prioritized in the provincial agenda ensuring that existing facilities are optimally used, by making public funds available to redress current deficits and imbalances urgently and by mounting a provincial advocacy campaign to raise awareness around the issues of the needs of learners with disabilities.
Lever 1: Early identification and appropriate support provisioning
In 2015 the Department will supplement the Department of Health’s (DoH) screening and process of identifying special needs children by screening learners and identifying learning barriers in Grade R and Grade 1. The Department will be translating and distributing the assessment tool and a user-friendly guide in a range of official languages to assist in the identification of learners. In support of the District Based Support Teams the Department will establish a mobile assessment and support team to render services across Gauteng. These support teams will lead support that will filter through from District Based Support Teams to the School Based Support Teams to supporting teachers and learners across the province.
The early identification process and assessment will aid in developing and implementing Individual Learning Support Programmes. This will also lead to the implementation of an effective referral system between stakeholders to fast-track diagnosis and support. The Programme focuses on offering programmes of support and not the traditional resourcing according to disability category. Additional teachers and ECD practitioners will be trained to identify and refer learners to the District Based Support Team for further referrals. The Department is investigating the feasibility of establishing early identification and intervention centres at current facilities across the province to assist the District Based Support Teams to facilitate appropriate placement and provide ongoing support.
Lever 2: Teacher and Support staff development
To provide quality education to all learners in the Province, District officials will be capacitated to offer curriculum support to schools in terms of the CAPS as well as curriculum differentiation and adaptation.
This will include assessment processes. Additional accredited training programmes for therapists, psychologists, counsellors, nurses, social workers and educators to ensure quality support in line with current curriculum and support trends will be sourced.
Training programmes in South African Sign Language (SASL) will be conducted for all staff at schools for the deaf, as well as improving Braille competencies for teachers and support staff at schools for the blind. Additional support programmes will be introduced to capacitate District Based Support Teams and School Based Support Teams to support and understand more complex diagnosis like austism.
Lever 3: Resourcing, School Management and Governance Development
To improve the quality of teaching and learning in the LSEN sector, quality and up to date LTSM is needed as well the relevant and or required assistive devices together with the relevant technical support. The Department will explore the relevant ICT programmes on the market to assist in introducing the CAPS curriculum for South African Sign Language (SASL). Schools are encouraged to procure appropriate and alternative LTSM to support learning from the available resources in the LSEN schools catalogue.
The Department is exploring life skills programmes that comprises of 20% theoretical work and 80% skills training for severely intellectually disabled learners. In addition vocational programmes are being designed for learners with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. This programme will include 50% theoretical work and 50% skills training.
The Department is speeding up the Special and Full Service Schools infrastructure and maintenance by building and upgrading programmes to specifically respond to the universal specifications for accessibility.
We are in the process of determining the facility needs at current Special and Full Service Schools to respond to specialized needs but also to address overcrowding. A Collaborative agreement has been reached between the Department and the Department of Infrastructure Development to ensure that physical upgrades will be done in Full Service Schools to ensure access for learners with disabilities in schools. This will include, ramps, rails and bathrooms that can accommodate wheelchairs and related equipment.
To fast-track improved performance in the LSEN sector, the Department is contemplating the introduction of Inclusion coaches to assist with onsite support to teachers and support staff at the LSEN schools. The Department has mastered the provision of educational support to public ordinary schools and will venture into providing specialist support to special education learners. This will include providing specialised scholar transport to LSEN and Full Service Schools, formalizing the interim norms and standards for funding and post provisioning in the sector as well as including the sector in the reimbursement for exemption of schools fees.
In 2011 when the Department adopted the Inclusion Strategy, the aim was to consolidate and expand the inclusive education sector in order to give each learner access to the support needed to achieve optimally and live to the best of their ability. To meet our high aspirations the Department is maintaining a centralised database to record LSEN numbers and indicate programme offerings to improve learner ability. Due to the lack of space at our special schools a centralised waiting list is being maintained to assist with the placement of learners at the earliest possible time. It is our target to eliminate the waiting list.
Lever 4: Stakeholder Participation
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) and the Department of Social Development (DoSD) especially with 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.
Interdepartmental collaboration
We know the transition to adulthood can be a challenge for children with special needs and their families. The purpose of transition planning for youth with special needs is to identify opportunities and experiences during their school years that will help them better prepare for life as an adult. This sentiment has been expressed often by them. Starting the transition process early and co-ordinating it with other provincial departments is part of our commitment to these families. As an interdepartmental collaboration the protocol will delineate the roles and responsibilities and the services to be rendered by each department.
With a focus on young people between the ages of 5 to 18 who require significant additional educational, medical/health and social/environmental support, 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 to improve access to existing resources and supports and ensure that a co-ordinated transition planning process occurs for children with special needs and their families.
Specific focus on supporting Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Over the past few months, parents and NGOS have approached me on the plight of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Learners with Autism are faced with a lifelong developmental disability that affects their ability to communicate and relate to other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them. Autism is a lifelong, extremely complex neurological condition that affects 4-5 boys for every 1 girl.
As a result, we have developed a plan to support learners with Autism, jointly with all stakeholders e.g. Autism South Africa through a phased in approach. This plan commits us to ensure appropriate curriculum delivery with the required support to learners with Autism. The first year of implementation, 2015, marked the commencement with the appointed of class assistants where learners with autism and other disabilities such as physical disabilities are enrolled. This process will ensure that teachers in the class receive the relevant classroom support. Collaboration with the GCRA and MGSLG will ensure the capacity building of these class assistants in order to maximise the support to the learners.
We have also committed to appropriately skill and develop educators, practitioners, support staff, school management teams and SGBs. To date the Department has conducted extensive training using expert service providers. This endeavour already reached more than a 1 000 educators. Whilst the orientation on autism is continuing, the department is moving on to providing more specialised training and capacity building opportunities. Working with identified Special Schools as Resource Centres funding has been provided to provide school-specific support in addition to general capacity building opportunities.
GDE wants to extend a word of appreciation to its stakeholders who have worked tirelessly with the Department to support learners with Autism. Quality support provisioning to learners with Autism will only be possible within a framework of collaboration with all stakeholders.
Most importantly, we will work towards expanding access in 2016. This will be done by increasing access to children with Autism by increasing the number of special schools across the province and increasing access to independent special schools by making available increased subsidies. It is anticipated that as many as 16 schools are being planned to meet the increased demand.
The Turnaround plan for Special Schools and Full Service Schools will be funded through the existing budget. The cost of implementation will be R104 million in 2015/16. In total, we will spend R1,9 billion on Special Education.
Secondly, ICT IN SCHOOLS
Gauteng continues to face three big challenges: teaching quality is not of a uniformly high standard across all schools; learners are not sufficiently engaged across the system and many schools are not well-managed. To overcome these challenges, Gauteng has a vision to be a top performer on par with developed countries, and we believe we will achieve this by introducing increasingly “paperless classrooms”: a combination of technologies to address these gaps in teaching quality, learner engagement and school administration.
The provincial TMR framework includes the modernisation of public education and improvement of standards of performance of the whole system. Youth access to information in today’s digital era is regarded as a right rather than the preserve of the privileged few. Given the legacy of our past, achieving equity in this regard is imperative to ensuring all our learners have the skills for the 21st Century: namely critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, to name but a few.
Against these visions, the Department has developed strategies for what an effective modern education system looks like, namely the DBE e-Education guidelines; the GDE’s 10 pillars for education transformation; and the GDE ICT and e-Education strategy. Information Communications Technology (ICT) in education will be a cornerstone of the transformation.
The GDE ICT and e-education strategy will use technology to improve education outcomes – in particular, learner achievement and attainment – rapidly and at scale. It will enhance teaching quality, access to materials, learner engagement and school administration by training teachers and introducing devices and smart software into the classroom.
The case for ICT in schools and e-Learning is clear. Across the world, systems are increasingly using technology to boost their education results. Targeted technology programmes in India, Malaysia and Kenya have achieved improvements of between 10% and 35% in learner test scores, while Nigeria and Uruguay have seen improvements in attendance, motivation and collaboration. Emerging low-cost private schools, such as Rocketship in the USA or SPARK Schools in South Africa, are using technology to deliver affordable quality education. Preliminary results suggest that learners at these schools are performing better than their socio-economic peers.
However, technology is not a silver bullet that will resolve all of Gauteng’s education challenges! School administration needs to work and teachers need to have the required curriculum and teaching knowledge. Technology is a catalyst to help teachers deliver more engaging classes and become more efficient at preparing lessons and assessing learners.
The vision will be realised through a two-step process: first, starting with a Tech-Enabled Learning model, and eventually leading to a Blended Learning classroom model. The use of technology is fundamental as it is the most effective way to ensure that training is delivered; that lessons are standardised to allow for effective and rapid delivery; that there is consistency across all schools; and that the GDE is able to measure progress through immediate access to teacher and learner test scores and usage statistics. This is no easy task. This programme is the biggest undertaken by the GDE and bigger than what most other school systems have tried. The programme will involve challenges in strategy and stakeholder management; project management tools and processes; team capabilities and mindsets; governance and portfolio oversight; and technology design and vendor selection.
The GDE will introduce Tech-Enabled learning by 2019 based on four principles. Firstly, the solution will be piloted at selected schools. After incorporating lessons learnt, the solution will then expand across Gauteng. Secondly, the GDE will define criteria that schools must meet before they can advance to Tech-Enabled and Blended Learning to ensure that the right administrative foundation is in place and that teachers have the requisite curriculum and teaching knowledge and skills. Thirdly, ‘no regret’ moves
– such as accelerating SA-SAMS uptake – will be implemented immediate. Fourthly, the GDE will build a delivery platform to help manage quality, schedule and cost.
Currently, we are rolling out a Tech-Enabled Learning environment, which is based on systematic use of smart boards and digital exercises and lessons. Teachers continue to lead the learning, but use a smart board to deliver static and dynamic content. Learners use tablets to complete exercises, research and on-the-spot assignments that show the teacher how well they understand the content. This model will be rolled out to the majority of schools by 2019. The benefits of Tech-Enabled Learning are numerous and meet the GDE’s objectives of delivering quality, equitable education. Teachers will engage in training to improve curriculum knowledge and pedagogy. Additionally, they will leverage standardised lessons that ensure they have material to meet CAPS objectives and free up lesson preparation time that can be used for addressing specific learner needs. Learners will have access to engaging material through interactive and multimedia content. These features will support GDE in consistently delivering quality, equitable education across schools.
The GDE’s long-term aspiration is to create a Blended Learning classroom. This model builds on Tech- Enabled Learning by employing more multimedia in lesson delivery and creating a more learner-paced educational environment where the teacher manages multiple groups of learners working on different tasks. The additional benefit of Blended Learning is that it allows learners to move at different paces and employs techniques and supporting technology to make material accessible to learners with different learning speeds and styles. To do this, the GDE will further develop teachers, learners and the establishment.
Full transformation will require incremental updates to teacher training, improvements in school infrastructure and the accelerated distribution of educational devices across all schools. Given the scale of transformation required, particularly with respect to teacher capability-building and the starting position of many schools (poor-to-fair), the majority of Gauteng’s schools will likely complete the first step only – Tech-Enabled learning – by 2019. To move to Blended Learning, a comprehensive classroom technology and people solution will be required, at the school, district and centre levels. First and foremost, teachers must be trained to deliver this solution. The supporting infrastructure must also be in place: e-Content, devices, connectivity, network and support, and analytics.
When a school is selected, it will need to put the required teacher training and infrastructure in place. By the end of 2019, between 5% and 10% of schools (100-200) are expected to have full Blended Learning in place. The rest should have Tech-Enabled Learning and be ready to graduate to Blended Learning.
Key to our strategy is teachers and principals who will be benefitting our intensive training programmes that will orientate and train them in the integrated use of the new technology and deliver the curriculum effectively in the classroom. Our teachers are being provided with the necessary training on various teaching methodologies and innovative techniques for encouraging our learners to learn effectively. This includes intensive training on how to ensure that the smart classroom technology is utilised and sustained, and courses on developing skills to produce content for lessons.
All 59,000 teachers at GDE schools will have to be highly skilled and deeply knowledgeable in their subjects. They will teach lessons at all of Gauteng’s 2 080 schools with digitally interactive content presented via electronic resources such as smart boards and personal devices. Teachers will be able to facilitate learning at different paces in line with the CAPS requirements for each grade and subject. Additionally, learners will use engaging, adaptive exercises and undergo digital assessments that will enable teachers to offer immediate help. Finally, a ‘paperless’ office will replace cumbersome administration processes, and digital tools will capture and process information.
In 2014/15 we began a process of modelling the schools of the future in 7 schools. I am happy to report that we have transformed the day-to-day educational practices in these schools. Our preliminary assessment of the intervention in the 7 schools is a measurable change in the attitude and behaviour of the teachers and learners showing a noticeable improvement in attendance and punctuality. The Department has put in place an educational monitoring system that will begin a process of measuring the impact of ICT on learning in these 7 schools. When we introduce the 2014/15 Annual Report, I will share our findings on the short-term impact on the introduction of ICT.
The GDE has invested over R 800 million in E-learning in the 2015/16 financial year and projected to over R 2 billion over the MTEF period. This will contribute towards the rollout of the Local Area Networks (LANs), infrastructure, equipment and devices to schools. We have all seen first-hand what a LED board, a laptop and connectivity can do to stimulate the classroom learning. I am happy to report that our electronic textbooks, content and resources catalogue is offering exciting products available for teachers, learners and parents, which can assist both during and after school.
This financial year:
- 16 schools that achieved 100% pass rate volunteered for twinning or identified as special intervention schools will receive the complete model for the school of the future;
- All Grade 12 classroom in the 375 no fee schools will be resourced with LED boards, e- content, teaching devices for teachers and infrastructural improvements including toilets;
- 17 Teacher Development centres will be equipped to replicate the classrooms of the future to support the training strategy to equip teachers for the new classrooms;
- And we will establish 18 Harry Gwala Technical Centres to support teachers and learners;
- 200 schools will be connected to the Gauteng Broadband network by the Gauteng Department of Finance. The GOL computer laboratories will be repositioned to support school based training and 2 000 smart classrooms will be introduced in 341 schools. 22 schools have been earmarked for good performance and commitment to twinning and sharing resources and expertise.
I would like to recognise schools such as Norkem Primary School and Randfontein High School for recognising the importance of ICT in education and through their own efforts and resources are implementing the concept of classrooms of the future.
Thirdly, BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE- SANITATION
I have to concur with the civil society organisations that have raised, sharply, with me, the sorry state of sanitation in many of our schools. Indeed, as many of them have pointed out, a healthy and clean schooling environment is the right of every learner. We cannot promote healthy living through the curriculum, yet continue to have unhealthy and unsanitary conditions in our schools.
We will treat the question of sanitation as a departmental priority, but also engage key stakeholders as part of a comprehensive IGR response. This will include the National Department of Water and Sanitation and Municipalities, etc. so that we address this matter speedily and decisively.
Regrettably, children and young people continue to talk to me about the toilet facilities in school – they have a right to health, dignity and respect. This is not a trivial issue and the least we should expect from a society which values our children and young people is that we afford them the same standards as we expect as adults. We want to ensure that our young people have access to high quality toilet facilities in their schools. We know that this is an important issue for them, and I expect SGBs, school principals and other stakeholders to take this onboard and ensure that sanitation is prioritized as a daily function.
Learners‘ toilets project an image of a school – good or bad – and have an effect on learner morale, behaviour and potentially health. The state of the school toilets can often be of great concern to learners and visiting parents. Well-maintained hygienic toilets provide a visible indication to learners and parents that the school values and respects the health, safety and well-being of its learners.
According to UNICEF, factors related to water, sanitation and hygiene affect the children’s right to education in many ways. In an atmosphere of poor health, children are unable to fulfil their educational potential. School is important for cognitive, creative and social development of children. Schools partly determine children’s health and well-being by providing a healthy or unhealthy environment. Although water and sanitation facilities in schools are increasingly recognized as fundamental for promoting good hygiene behaviour and children’s well-being, many schools have very poor facilities. Conditions vary from inappropriate and inadequate sanitary facilities to the outright lack of latrines and safe water for drinking and hygiene. This situation for example contributes to absenteeism rates of girls.
Last year, during my first 100 days we focussed on emergency repairs to toilets in 576 of our schools to the tune of R100 million. While in some schools, only the sewers were unblocked but in most of the schools the toilets were rehabilitated to the standards required. But we also experienced shoddy and poor quality work by some of the contractors. I have requested that the Department takes action against contractors that provide poor quality and that they be removed from our database or be blacklisted.
This year, during the school holidays, we are focusing on the replacement of toilets at 50 high-risk schools. We will spend R50 million on this programme. We will also be working with a company, who as part of the CSI, will train and support the appointed contractors, on how to procure quality materials and guarantee quality work. In addition, there are donors wanting to contribute to the cost of toilet rehabilitation. We are engaging with them and one has already committed funds to the project.
Almost 70% of the work we undertake in the rehabilitation of toilets arise out of vandalism, both by learners and people from the outside. The responsibility for the maintenance of the schools remains with the SGB and the principal of the school. Annually funding is provided to schools through their subsidies to enable day-to-day maintenance repairs to be undertaken. 12% of the subsidy is earmarked for day- to-day maintenance. It is therefore not expected that schools will contact the department for blockages and leaking taps. It is, however, a matter for individual schools in conjunction with their respective district office to determine whether school toilets can no longer be repaired safely, or that they do not meet the requirements of the Norms and Standards for school Infrastructure and replacement, upgrade or improvement. This will then be escalated to the Head Office so that the identified toilets form part of the departments planned maintenance programme.
I want all district officials, school governing bodies, school management teams, RCLs and teachers to monitor progress and ensure that we see sustained improvements through our efforts. It is important for schools to keep on top of hygiene and maintenance. Once a toilet becomes run down it is much more difficult to clean. If it’s in a bad state, it is also not much of a deterrent to vandalism.
2015/16 BUDGET AND EDUCATION QUALITY INTERVENTIONS
I would also like to highlight other key investments to realise the goals under each pillar:
Pillar 1: Curriculum and Assessment
A significant portion of the budget is devoted to the intervention strategies in the Foundation, Intersen and FET Phases to improve the quality of learning in the province.
Primary school interventions will mainly focus on improving learner performance in language and mathematics. The interventions will be mainstreamed into the line-functions as part of normal curriculum implementation and management through head office and district office subject facilitators. The department will incorporate the principles of the strategies into the teaching and learning methods and processes in the province. The overall focus will be on assessment, teaching and learning, learner support and support of school management. Teachers will be supported in content development and curriculum delivery.
The incremental introduction of isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Xitsonga and Afrikaans will be rolled out in 12 pilot schools in the province. Consultation sessions have been arranged with affected schools to get the support and buy-in from the parents and the school community. The department is in the process of training and developing the teachers who will introduce the African languages into schools. LTSM are being procured for successful implementation in pilot schools.
The budget for the foundation phase is R126,2 million for Literacy learner achievements and R105,5 million for Literacy Resources. An additional R5,3 million will be allocated to a Library Information Systems. This system will provide access to learners in schools that do not have access to a library.
The department will implement a revised method of support to improve mathematics across all phases, with a focus on the intermediate phase. Teachers will receive revised lesson plans that cover background content to assist with content gaps. The revised lesson plans include the use of the mental mathematics kits and structured scaffold content with class work and homework activities. The resources will benefit intermediate phase mathematics teachers as well as district officials, principals and heads of departments.
The Intersen phase resources include homework booklets for learners to reinforce key concepts learnt and textbooks with embedded assessments in preparation for the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). Priority schools will get DVDs based on content and pedagogical training for teachers. The department will provide LTSM to schools to progressively support the implementation of digital materials. The grade 3 to 7 resources will include lesson plans, graded readers, teacher resource packs, worksheets, handwriting charts, posters and workbooks for language and mathematics
A total of R114,4 million has been allocated for the Intersen Strategy, which will be rolled out to ensure that GDE achieves its educational objectives quicker and more effectively. The strategy focuses on improved teacher competencies and pedagogical knowledge. Further improvements are on classroom practices, teacher professional practices and learner performance in Mathematics and English First Additional Language.
To further improve the FET phase in our secondary schools, with special emphasis on the Grade 12 results in Mathematics and Science, the Department will invest R185 million in the SSIP programme, which incorporates the MST strategy. The SSIP programme will be expanded to include Grades 8 and 9. The Department will also invest a further R21,2 million for MST resources and R65,1 million for learner achievements in support of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy, which is aimed at further improving the quality of MST teaching and learner performance in both primary and secondary schools in the province.
I am confident that our strategies and intervention plans will deliver the results we are working towards in the Annual National Assessments and in matric.
Pillar 2: Teacher Development and Support
The Gauteng Professional Teacher Development Strategy is aimed at qualitative improvements in mathematics, science and technology, literacy, school safety, inclusion, Grade R, performance management(Integrated Quality Management System) and Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD). The key to this strategy is that if pre-service training delivers the quality teachers we need, it reduces the burden on in-service training programmes in needing to get teachers classroom ready. In-service training focuses on improving the quality of teaching and learning through CPTD in priority areas, with a focus on ICT. The strategy seeks to successfully capture and share organizational knowledge and information through Communities of Practice (COP) or Communities of Learning (COL) and the establishment of an intranet portal.
In total we will spend over R220 million on Human Resource Development which includes R43,7 million for Literacy Teacher Development and R34 million for Intersen Teacher Development in support of literacy training. This includes the budget for Maths training under the MST Strategy.
Pillar 3: Leadership and Management
Head office and district office support will be repositioned to give deepened direct support to school management by introducing the notion of virtual districts. Good district management is essential as districts are solely responsible for curriculum and core issues in the support of curriculum delivery in schools. The role of HR and Finance will be a central function enhanced by ICT. Managers take responsibility for their functions in supporting schools, also ensuring that resourcing to schools is provided timeously. Managers and officials will work with integrity and honesty in all aspects, including recruitment, appointments and procurement. They will also provide the necessary leadership to ensure that statutory and policy compliance are non-negotiable. School management teams will be trained to support the use of technology in schools and classrooms to improve learning.
District Administration will receive an allocation of R47 million for this financial year.
Pillar 4: Infrastructure Development and Maintenance
The department’s Infrastructure plan will ensure the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, the building of new schools and additions to existing ones. The 2015/16 infrastructure programme will prioritise and address basic services at schools such as sanitation while addressing the backlogs in classrooms and specialist rooms. In addition, there will be greater focus on school maintenance using maintenance teams, the building of schools and the provision of classrooms in areas where there is high pressure. The promulgated infrastructure norms and standards will be implemented and monitored to ensure the provision of basic services and the efficient and effective use of cleaning services to improve sanitation and ensure clean schools.
The department is also working in partnership with the DID in identifying and purchasing land for the development and completion of turnkey solution schools. We will also work with local government, provincial and national departments to ensure coordinated and accelerated delivery of school infrastructure and improved maintenance across all spheres. All new departmental school projects will be aligned to the e-learning framework, schools of the future.
The focus area in school maintenance will be to ensure that all school have basic services including functional toilets with running water and electricity.
Infrastructure development received a budget of R2,6 billion for the 2015/16 financial year. The budget increased by R908 million or 53,8 percent from last year. In the 2014/15 financial year the Infrastructure development budget received an additional R118,3 million for the provision of alternative construction technology (ACT) for Grade R classrooms. Additional funds will be allocated in this year to cover contractual commitments resulting from contracts awarded for the construction of 18 new schools and the second phase of one existing school. A further R336,5 million is allocated towards rehabilitation and refurbishment of existing school facilities, R471,2 million is allocated towards upgrading and addition and R415,2 million is allocated towards maintenance. The increase in the new construction programme emanates from the need to comply with the regulations of minimum norms and standards for public school infrastructure.
Pillar 5: Planning, finance and resourcing
The department has plans in place to ensure that all budgets are spent according to plan and cash flow requirements. The current allocation has been split into 87 percent which directly impacts on classroom outcome, and 13 percent that indirectly impacts on the classroom. Over the MTEF; 88 percent will directly impact teaching and learning while 12 percent will indirectly impact the classroom
Pillar 7: Social cohesion
Improving nutrition
As part of the poverty alleviation programme the department will provide a nutritious meal to all learners in no fee schools. The department, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD), plans on maintaining the number of fully sustainable food gardens at schools to assist in providing the needed nutrients in the food provided to learners. The Department is currently proving a warm meal to 1 174 638 learners in No fee schools. The Department will be spending R678 million on the School Nutrition Programme.
Increasing access to schooling
Due to budgetary constraints the total number of no-fee schools in the province will be maintained and not expanded. The national threshold funding for no-fee schools has been increased to R1 116 per learner in ordinary schools. The subsidies to all schools, including Independent Schools, amounts to R2,7 billion.
To further increase access to schooling, the department will provide scholar transport to 70 000 learners transporting them to 360 schools across the province. To provide a safe transport service, the department, in partnership with the Department of Roads and Transport, embarked on a programme to have all transport vehicles tested before they are allowed to transport learners. The Department will spend R461,2 million on scholar transport.
Extra School Support Programme
The ESSP provides after-school support for homework and school sports. The programme provides learners with caring and supporting individuals available beyond normal contact time. 4 300 homework assistants will assist with homework support for grades 1 – 7 in no-fee schools, and a further 4 300 sport assistants will facilitate sporting activities. The ESSP contributes to job creation by providing unemployed youth with work experience, accredited education, on the job training and skills that will assist them in future job searches.
A total of R19,3 million is allocated to the rollout of the After School Services and a further R126,5 million will be spent on homework and sport assistants. A R135 million will be invested in the intensification of the Psycho‐social Services which include the early identification of learners with minor barriers and the distribution of assistive devices in the Foundation Phase to all primary school learners.
School safety programme
The department employs 4 500 patrollers to assist in creating a safe and secure school environment. In collaboration with the Department of Community Safety, SAPS and Social Development’s Ke Moja campaign and other safety programmes will continue, including search and seizures operations which raids unlicensed liquor outlets and shebeens. The Department will be spending R12,5 million on School Safety in the 2015/16 financial year, which includes the advocacy, and development of school safety programmes in all priority schools including the training of Occupational Health and Safety Officers. A further R113,5 million will be spent on school patrollers as part of the School Safety campaign.
School sport
The Wednesday Sports Programme will continue in no-fee primary schools. The programme will include athletics, swimming, winter sports, cross country and summer sports. Special schools sport will focus on Multi-Discipline learners with special educational needs (LSEN) athletics competition, football, physically impaired/blind/deaf sport programme and the intellectually impaired sport programme. The sports programme is a big contributor to the ESSP as the recruitment and selection of a new cohort of sport supervisors forms part of the programme. The department will be responsible for scheduling the employment of sport coordinators and the Department of Sports, Arts, Recreation and Culture (DSARC) will be responsible for the equipment, training and competitive sporting events. The sport coordinators will be trained in partnership with the Sports SETA during the July school holidays at FET colleges across the province. The training will lead to a formal qualification.
In partnership with the DSARC, various arts and culture programmes will be introduced to schools. This includes the SASCE Music Programme, debate, public speaking and magnet music schools. The values in education section will focus on social cohesion programmes, dialogues on various topics and celebration of national days and national symbols.
Pillar 8: School functionality including community Involvement
Parental Support
In making education a societal priority, we will ensure stakeholder involvement in schools in a manner that adds value to the attainment of the core outcomes. The Department will spend R22,9 million to mobilise civil society, faith-based organisations and the private sector to support the inputs and outcomes of a quality education system. We will also urge young learners to participate actively in school programmes in order to change their attitudes and commitment to school work. The Department will train in excess of 60 000 parents as part of the family support programme.
Pillar 9: Skills Development
In responding to the employment, growth and development initiatives, the Gauteng Master Skills Plan has identified four key pillars. These are:
- Strengthen the Capacity of the Education System in Gauteng;
- Develop targeted interventions for responding to the skills needs of Government in Gauteng;
- Enable the Economic Growth of the Province through education, training and skills development; and
- Partner with sector organisations to respond to the skills needs and provide access to work experience.
Strengthen the Capacity of the Education System in Gauteng
This will focus on the transition from school to the work place including bursaries, career guidance and technical education. Career guidance and counselling will be offered to Grade 8 and 9 learners in priority schools in the 2015 academic year. Advocacy and career booklets on Technical High Schools and FET Colleges will be distributed during the counselling sessions. In addition, a separate document on parent guidelines will be developed to support caregivers to assist children in choosing careers and pathways.
The Department through the MSP will provide an additional 2 030 bursaries to learners from no-fee schools. Giving the top three learners from each priority school a bursary and the rest of the bursaries will be allocated based on academic performance. The FET Colleges will create pathways for dropout learners from Grade 9 and above to register in FET colleges in the NC (V) level 1 programme. The Department is partnering with the private sector and NYDA to increase the number of bursaries for FET learners.
Develop targeted interventions for responding to the skills needs of Government in Gauteng
The Masters Skills Plan will continue with management and leadership initiatives for top, middle and junior managers across the province to improve management and leadership capacity as well as to respond to specific transversal skills gaps considered a priority and urgent for service delivery in the province. This will include training government officials in the province in scarce skill areas of government.
In support of the economic growth strategy of the province, Tool Making, Foundry, Aerospace, Automotive, Jewellery, ICT, Furniture and Tourism will be supported through various skills development programmes.
These programmes include Artisan Development for Business Sectors, Expanding Learnership and Intern Programmes, Enforcing Experiential Learning Opportunities, Facilitating Short Skills Programmes and encouraging entrepreneurial education.
The Department will continue to establish partnerships to improve the coordination with key role-players and stakeholders in the provincial skills development sector. This will include partnerships with SETAs and the private sector in programmes promoting learnerships, experiential learning and work-shadowing. Areas of priority will include the signing of MOUs with business partners to promote skills development.
The Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) will receive an allocation of R362,4 million. These funds are for the continued expansion of the Master Skills Plan (MSP). The MSP funding includes the provision of bursaries to the top three learners from No-Fee schools and other learners based on their performance.
Pillar 10: Access to quality Early Child Development (ECD)
The department has made great strides in achieving the millennium development goals set in 2009 regarding the universalization of Grade R. To achieve this goal it is planning the expansion of Grade R to all public schools as well as the registration of new Grade R sites and the procurement of additional classrooms to meet the demand.
The department will identify 750 Grade R and pre-Grade R (Grade R: NQF L4 and NQF L6, Pre-Grade R NQF L4 and Training of Pre-Grade R, Curriculum ECD Sites and Staff) practitioners for training to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. As part of quality education the department will continue testing Grade R learners with learning difficulties to identify barriers, such as dyslexia and psycho-motor disorders, and provide simple assistive devices. Consultation and meetings with local government and ECD providers are being initiated for updating the Grade R database to facilitate expansion. Further consultations and meetings on the department’s plan are being conducted with SGB associations, unions, principals and other stakeholders.
The Department has an allocation of R783 million for the 2015/16 financial year, showing an increase of 6.7 %. We have also allocated R142 million for capital assets, hence increasing it by 20% from the budget allocated in the previous financial year. All new Grade R centres have been allocated a total of R163,4 million for the procurement of start -up kits to enable them to start operating. Teacher Development of pre-Grade R practitioners will receive R17,8 million while the training of Grade R practitioners will receive R14,4 million. This is part of our efforts to attain the universalization of Grade R by 2015 with high quality practitioners.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Honourable members, this is my first budget as MEC for Education to implement the new Strategic Plan. It’s not possible to accommodate all funding demands from the education sector in one budget. But this is a positive start. I am pleased to be part of a Province that has made great strides in education and take immense pleasure in sharing the visible gains made in Education by my predecessor, especially, in closing the gap in quality education between the fee paying schools and the no fee schools as well as achieving universal access to schooling. I look forward to continuing a dialogue with education partners to assist me in establishing a framework of funding priorities for the education sector.
Let me end by paying tribute to our Premier for his sustained commitment to quality education; to my colleagues in the Executive Council for their support; to Mr Boy Ngobeni, our Head of Department and the team at GDE for their hard work and dedication; to Comrades and members of the Portfolio Committee for their insight and oversight; the ongoing work that each and every member of this House does to make education a national priority; my family for their loving support and last but by no means least to the many thousands of principals, educators and school governors in our province who, despite daunting challenges, make their learners’ education their number singular priority. I would also like to thank the educator and public sector unions for their continued support.
In closing I would like to quote the vision from National Development Plan (Chapter 9):
“We are Africans.
We are an African country.
We are part of our multinational country.
We are an essential part of our continent.
We feel loved, respected and cared for at home, in community and in public institutions.
We learn together……We love reading
Each community has:
A school;
Teachers who love teaching and learning;
A local library filled with the wealth of books; A librarian;
All our citizens read, write, converse, and value idea and thought.
We are fascinated by scientific invention and its use in the enhancement of our lives.
We live the joy of speaking many languages.”
Ke a leboha
Thank you
