delivered by the
MEC for Education Dr A Motsoaledi
20 March 2006
Hon. Premier
Hon. Speaker
Hon. Colleagues in the Executive Council
Hon. Members of the house
Teachersâ unions
Our stakeholders in education
Senior Management team in the Department of Education
Principals of schools
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Introduction
Last year we started our budget speech by reminding the house that Education
is a lifelong process that starts from the cradle and end at the grave. Hence
we started our speech by outlining our plans in Early Childhood Development
(ECD). It is no different this year.
2. ECD (Early Childhood Development)
In 2005, we have outlined in this Departmentâs budget speech, our countryâs
commitment to ECD. However we have told you that while ECD should start from
age zero, due to lack of funds, the Department was catering for only five
yearolds in Grade R (what is commonly known as the reception year).We had told
you that we are sponsoring 1 008 Grade R community sites for R18 m, and that
the other grade R sites are in our public ordinary schools, enabling us to
cover far rural areas.
We had also told you that due to this lack of funds the age group 0 â 4
years have been left to the Department of Social Development, non-government
organisation (NGO) private sector and some municipalities. However Hon.
Speaker, I am happy to announce that this year, things have changed. From the
Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) we have been allocated an additional R29
m.
With this money, we are going to train 1 000 Early Childhood
Development(ECD) practitioners giving them fine skills to work with 0-4 year
olds. They will do National Qualifications Framework Level (NQF) 4 and receive
a National ECD certificate after two (2) years.
We shall train a further 1 000 ECD practitioners for NQF LEVEL 1.
We shall further put 700 cooks in learnership programmes for R500 per
learner per month so that they learn skills of preparing appropriate food for
0-4 year olds.
Seven hundred gardners will also go through learnerships for a similar
stipend, so that they help to establish fresh vegetable gardens for our ECD
sites. The academic benefits for fresh vegetable daily are very obvious and
well known.
Honourable Speaker when you speak to the Minister of Education, Hon. Naledi
Pandor about Early Childhood Education, one of the important issues she will
always raise is the cleanliness or rather more appropriately the nakedness of
walls in the grade R classes.
She will tell you that grade R learners are not adults; after all they are
only five years old. They canât read, they canât write. They learn by touching,
feeling, painting and seeing. They also learn by playing around.
Unfortunately Honourable Speaker, due to scarce resources, we have always
been denying them this opportunity of learning in the only way they
understand.
The Department has decided that this year, we have to start solving this
anomaly.
Hence we shall in this financial year buy:
* educational toys
* maths and science kitsâ (you have to start early to be a scientist)
* educational toys of different sizes and shapes
* wall charts and wall posters.
We shall spend R21 620 000 for this purpose.
3. Infrastructure
Honourable Speaker, ordinarily, when you go to school you are supposed to
find a classroom and desk and other basic schooling facilities. But there is
nothing ordinary about the apartheid past of our country. Hence 12 years after
the first democratic elections, we are still struggling but trying very hard to
provide the most basic of necessities.
Last year, we were dealing with the problem of schools under trees. We were
busy constructing classrooms across the length and breath of the province to
respond to the Presidentâs directive to bring an end to this problem.
Most of the construction has been completed and a small number are still in
the finalisation stage. We were unable to complete in time, we have been
providing mobile classrooms. In fact the demand of mobile classrooms in Limpopo
far outstrips the supply.
Many people mistakenly thought that once we have removed learners under
trees, then we have satisfied all our infrastructural needs.
I wish to warn against this assertion because it is not correct. The issue
of children under trees was just one of the many infrastructural backlogs we
have to deal with. This year, we shall deal with another rather more daunting
task in Limpopo. It is even more widespread that the problem of children under
trees:
3.1 dilapidated / condemned / storm damaged schools
Honourable Speaker, we all know that Africans in South Africa, specifically
in rural areas, are attending schools in very dilapidated buildings because
they were forced to built these structures on their own without any help from
the state. The state only came into the picture 12 years ago with the dawn of
democracy.
Last year, we had announced in this house that after completion of the
programme of schools under trees or in shacks, we will start another programme
of repairing or renovating these dilapidated structures.
However, I wish to inform this house that we have been mercilessly overtaken
by events, because a large number of these structures have either been losing
their roofs or collapsing at a breathtaking speed.
Honourable Speaker, by June last year the number of this storm damaged or
collapsed schools stood at 133. By November last year the figure jumped to 153
in Sekhukhune alone, on 19/10/2005, 14 schools collapsed (in one day). Over the
festive season the figure moved to 160 and it was 180 by the time the schools
reopened. While we welcome the rains, we in Education also do so with
trepidation.
By now Honourable Speaker the numbers of collapsed schools stand at 237. I
have to mention this Honourable Speaker because most often than not, when a
school collapses learners are moved under a tree. This makes the plan to remove
kids under trees to become a moving target! The funny thing about this
collapsing of schools is that it is more widespread in Vhembe than any other
District. Even with the small quake that started in Mozambique, nothing
collapsed in Mozambique but a number of schools collapsed in Vhembe.
Hence our need for mobile classrooms is unending!!
Engineers have informed us that most of our storm-damaged schools are beyond
repair, or it will be much more expensive to try and repair. The Department, in
conjunction with the Department of Public Works, have taken a decision to
rebuild them, and do so in three (3) phases.
3.1.1 Provision of classrooms (Phase I)
The first phase, which will be in this financial year, will be provision of
all classrooms needed in these 237 schools.
This first phase will cost us R272 515 000 and will commence as early as
next month.
3.1.2 Admin structures and laboratories (Phase II)
The second phase, to commence next year, will be the construction of
administration blocks, computer laboratories and science laboratories.
3.1.3 School halls, libraries and sports facilities (Phase III)
The third and last phase will commence in 2008 and will provide a school
halls, libraries and sports facilities.
With this Honourable Speaker, by the end of 2008 we will have a 237 brand
new schools in the place of the old dilapidated or storm damaged
structures.
3.2 Brand new schools and / or school off-shoots
Honourable Speaker, last year we explained to the house that when we were
dealing with the programme of school under trees and shacks, we realised that
the government was actually putting up classrooms annually in some of these
schools. But they persist in using trees and shacks.
We had realised that the problem is that of growing populations, new
settlement like squatters and Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)
settlements.
I am delighted Honourable Speaker, to announce that this financial year, all
our architectural plans and scoping exercise have been completed and we shall
commence as soon as tenders are out, the construction of twenty (20) new
schools. Like the storm-damaged schools, we shall build them in three (3)
phases following the same format as I have mentioned earlier so that by the end
of 2008, we shall have twenty (20) brand new schools with all the facilities.
The first phase of this programme will cost R90 million.
By this announcement Honourable Speaker, we are ushering a new era. The era
of building classrooms is over; we have now entered an era of building
schools.
3.3 Circuit offices
Honourable Speaker, the most basic unit of school management is a circuit.
It is also the nearest government authority to any school. But there are simply
no offices in most of our 144 circuits.
Some circuit inspectors use tribal offices or church halls as their
offices.
Management in our schools will never fly with this state of affairs.
I once visited a circuit office where a very serious administrative blunder
was committed by the circuit managers. As I was driving there I was fuming and
hopping mad because such blunders are costly to the well-being of our schools.
But when I arrived there and saw the office in which they were working, I just
froze and my anger was immediately displaced by pity!!
So Honourable Speaker the Department has decided that this malady must come
to an end. We are planning a modern type of a circuit. Each circuit office will
serve an average of 30 schools.
It will have offices for circuit manager, labour officer, school governance
officer and in future, curriculum specialists. Each circuit office will also be
a resource centre for the 30 schools.
Hence it will have a small computer laboratory, a small science laboratory,
a media centre and a facility for storage of learner support materials so that
when schools reopen each year, learner support material will just move from
each circuit into the cluster of 30 schools.
We were supposed to be starting construction this year, unfortunately all
our money has been taken over by storm-damaged schools. Hence this year we will
just have to plan and wait.
4. No fee schools
Honourable Speaker, last year on the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom
Charter, our Minister of Education, the Honourable Naledi Pandor, in her budget
speech in the National Assembly, mentioned seven doors of learning and culture
which needs to be opened in line with the freedom charter.
We know that one of the most problematic doors which have closed out a large
number of our people out of education is that imposed by fees. We know that
free universal access to education is impeded by this factor.
While the government has tried its best to protect learners who could not
pay fees from being victimised by uncompromising school masters, this year, the
government has moved many steps towards resolving this problem.
As the Premier has announced during the state of the Province address,
learners in Limpopo in 2 310 schools will be exempted from paying school fees
this year.I wish to take this opportunity to add further details to the
Premierâs announcement. Honourable Speaker, it is important for members to
understand this issue of exempting some schools or some learners from paying
school fees while others are still going to continue paying. Your
constituencies will be looking for answers from you. Some people may feel that
they have been unfairly left out and may actually lodge emotional appeals with
you as their leaders.
Schools have been divided into what is called quintiles, according to their
poverty levels! There is quintile no. 1 to quintile no. 5.In the previous
years, to allocate money for schools, money which was called norms and
standards, the quintiles were determined by the state of the school. I.e. a
school with electricity water, fencing, toilets, face brick etc was regarded as
rich and was classified quintile no. 5. It would get very little help if any.
Quintile 1 schools are of course the poorest.
However, Honourable Speaker, this year the system has changed. We know
longer use the state of the school to determine its quintile level. We know
that all schools belong to municipality wards. Statistics SA has got poverty
levels of each ward in our municipalities. This is the method which is being
used.
Schools in the same ward will fall under the same quintile and their status
is determined by the poverty levels in that particular ward. With this method
it is obvious that schools in most wards in the towns and cities will fall
under quintile 5 and will require minimal help from us whereas schools in far
rural areas will be quintile 1 and 2 and require our maximum help!
The criteria to classify these schools in this manner have been set up
nationally using figures from Statistics SA as I have said. The instruction is
that each Provincial Government must not spend less than R523,00 per learner
including LTSM (Learner Teacher Support Materials).
Using these guidelines, the money has been allocated as follows:
Quintile 1:
Learners: 512 687
Schools: 1 268
No fee subsidy per learner: R277
Financial implication of no- fee subsidy: R142 014 299
LTSM per learner: R250
Financial implication LTSM: R128 171 750
Total required: R270 186 049
Quintile 2
Learners: 474 558
Schools: 1 042
No fee subsidy per learner: R277
Financial implication of no-fee subsidy: R131 452 566
LTSM per learner: R250
Financial implication LTSM: R118 639 500
Total required: R250 092 066
Quintile 3:
Learners: 417 702
Schools: 915
No fee subsidy per learner: R75
Financial implication of no-fee subsidy: R31 327 650
LTSM per learner: R245
Financial implication LTSM: R102 336 990
Total required: R133 664 640
Quintile 4:
Learners: 283 956
Schools: 646
No fee subsidy per learner: R50
Financial implication of no-fee subsidy: R14 197 800
LTSM per learner: R245
Financial implication LTSM: R69 569 220
Total required: R83 767 020
Quintile 5:
Learners: 206 725
Schools: 337
No fee subsidy per learner: R30
Financial implication of no-fee subsidy: R6,201,750
LTSM per learner: R117
Financial implication LTSM: R24 186 825
Total required: R30 388 575
Total learners: 1 895 628
Total schools: 4 208
Total financial implication of no-fee subsidy: R325 194 065
Total financial implication LTSM: R442 904 285
Total required: R768 098 250
As can be seen, Quintile 1 and Quintile 2 schools i.e. 2 310 of 4 208 will
pay no school fees at all! Quintile 3, i.e. a further 915 schools will pay if
and only if the fees required in that school is more than R75,00.
Honourable Speaker, this system like any other social system, has got its
own difficulties and complications. We will appeal to members of this house,
leaders of our communities, and our communities at large to try their level
best to understand the system to avoid misuse, abuse and disruption of our
schools based on misunderstanding of the system.
We know for instance that some very poor farming communities, squatter and
RDP settlements may find themselves in a very rich wards and fall under
quintile 3 upwards, which means they may have to pay school fees. But we all
know the situation of our farm workers.
So, regardless of the ward system, we have tried as much as we could to
include all the farm schools into quintile 1. Hence all the learners in all
farm schools will pay no fees.
Honourable Speaker, I wish to warn that the âno feeâ system doesnât mean
that rich schools in higher quintiles where fees are paid will be allowed to
send away poor families to attend poorer schools in the lower quintiles.
You will remember that our admission policy is based on geographic feeder
schools and not on affordability. Hence a learner is compelled to attend a
school nearer home, which is called a feeder school for the area, regardless of
race, colour, creed, religion or social standing. Only under very special
circumstances, can a learner go to attend elsewhere, e.g. when the feeder
school is full to capacity.
This system is working well in towns and cities. In the rural areas, it was
not working very well because it was not really enforced. Hence learners used
to migrate from area to area, sometimes even leaving a school with newly
constructed classroom to go and attend under a tree somewhere. They usually use
the issue of results as a reason for their constant migration. You will
appreciate that the no fee school system demands of us to be strict in this
regard of geographically determined feeder schools.
Honourable Speaker, from next year, we are going to strongly appeal to our
communities to cooperate with circuit managers about the issues of
admissions.
Those who cannot afford to pay fees in a school, which has not been
exempted, will apply for exemption in that school. The school will have to
award that exemption without the state paying anything more.
5. Mathematics, Science and Technology
Honourable Speaker, Limpopo has the honour of being the province which
provides the highest number of matric passes in HG Mathematics and Science. We
want to maintain this record and improve it every year.
South Africa has a brand new and extremely important programme called
Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South. Africa (AsgiSA). It is to do
with growing the economy by at least 6%. Some people may believe it has to do
with the Department of Finance, Telkom, Eskom and Transnet only.
I am here to inform you that without successes in the Department of
Education, especially in the field of Maths, Science and Technology AgsiSA will
suffer innumerable setbacks. To drive AsgiSA, you need architects, engineers,
geologist, artisans, telecommunication technicians, electricians, accountants,
and quantity surveyors etc.
All these fields need a higher input of learners from our schools from the
field of Maths, Science and Technology. Hence Honourable Speaker, in pursuance
of this goal, the programme of Dinaledi schools which have been in existence is
being upgraded.
Nationally there were 100 Dinaledi schools and 23 in Limpopo. The number has
been dramatically increased to 400 nationally and to 50 in Limpopo this
financial year. These schools will have to produce a large number of learners
in Maths, Science and Technology.
To do this they need extra facilities and resources. These are being
provided for nationally. So, the national Ministry will allocate R150 000,00
for equipment for each Dinaledi school.
However, in Limpopo, we have realised that due to our well-known situation
of backlogs, many of them have no laboratories and for those who have, there is
no equipment or chemicals.
It is my honour Honourable Speaker to announce that each Dinaledi school
shall be allocated an extra R80 000,00 to buy mobile science kits and
laboratory equipment.
The decision of Government is that nationally by 2008 we must produce at
least 50 000 learners at higher grade Maths and Science. In that year, the
number of Dinaledi schools nationally will jump from 400 to 1 000.
6. FET colleges
After producing lots of matriculants with higher-grade maths and science the
next question is, where will they train to become technicians?
Honourable Speaker without a well functioning Further Education Training
(FET) College sector AsgiSA will simply move at a snailâs pace if at all. We
will be forced to import skills. This situation will be untenable for our
country.
However, we have this serious problem whereby in our country, FET Colleges
are regarded by many as universities for the poor. If our country is to advance
economically and create and provide the much needed jobs, this perception or
practice will have to come to an abrupt end! In this case, government is having
a three-pronged strategy:
6.1 Curriculums
The Department of Education is working around the clock to work on a new
curriculum in our FET Colleges so that we produce students in accordance with
our economic needs, the dictates of ASGISA, our Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy (PGDs) our municipal Integrated Development Planning (IDP)
and Local Economic Development (LED).
In Limpopo, we held a very successful FET Summit last year and the proceeds
of that summit are providing good guidance in our endeavour to produce
appropriate curricula.
6.2 Changing the FET College Act
The second issue the Minister is coming up with is a new FET College Act
which will enable us to do things which the old act could not allow us. E.g.
the staffs of our FET Colleges are employed under Educatorâs Employment Act. It
means they are basically teachers. But in most cases, the training of
technicians may need somebody who is definitely not a teacher but a very good
technician. The new act must allow us to hire such people, who may even be
engaged after hours.
6.3 Recapitalisation
Honourable Speaker the National Ministry of Finance has set aside
R1,5 billion rand over three years to perform all the tasks of achieving our
aims and objectives in the FET College Sector. Apart from the Curriculum and
the Act, the FET Colleges need urgent recapitalisation. To this end, Limpopo
has been allocated R225 million over three years. This financial year we have
been allocated R43 million. Next year it will be R68 million and R113 million
in 2008.
With the R43 million, we shall in this financial year, put up laboratories,
workshops, and good admin blocks, renovations and purchasing of equipment for
our laboratories in the FET Colleges.
The money will spend as follows:
* Capricorn FET College: R2, 854 million
(3 campuses)
* Mopani South East FET College: R3,686 million (3 campuses)
* Letaba FET College: R3,375 million (4 campuses)
* Sekhukhune FET College: R2,295 million 2 campuses)
* Vhembe FET College: R2,800 million (4 campuses)
* Waterberg FET College: R4,210 million (2 campuses)
* Lephalale FET College: R3,78 million (1 campus)
The number of full time students in all the campuses of our 7 (seven) FET
Colleges is targeted of 13 412 full time students.
7. Our teacher supply
Honourable Speaker, by now you are probably well versed with the study of Human
Science Research Council which found out that due to various factors, by 2008
the country may suffer an acute shortage of teachers. This study is however a
topic of debate by various stakeholders.
However, in Limpopo, we have no luxury of arguing about this issue. Firstly,
in the new curriculum, it says maths or maths literacy is a compulsory subject.
Already in grade 10, starting from this year. Next year it will be in grade 11
and move over to grade 12 in 2008. It means no learner will pass matric without
studying maths or maths literacy.
Secondly in Limpopo, principals will tell you that when they advertise a
post for a maths teacher, they usually advertise three or more times because
they simply cannot get the teachers.
Thirdly Honourable Speaker, in the new curriculum, two languages are
compulsory i.e. that language which is the medium of instruction in that
particular school and the other language which must be at home language level!
We know for a fact that as for African languages we are in big trouble.
Our universities have virtually got nobody training in degrees in any
African language because regardless of our constitution, they are being
systematically undermined. That is why some blacks are even dreaming that
English is their mother tongue. This is a very funny phenomenon. If it was not
tragic it would have been very hilarious.
The last time I met such a tragic situation was when I was doing psychiatry
in fourth year medicine. I met a fellow African at fort Napier Psychiatric
Hospital in Pietermaritzburg who was unfortunately suffering from
schizophrenia. In that mental state he was convinced that he was the son of
Queen Elizabeth and he vehemently, refused to utter any word in IsiZulu,
claiming that he doesnât understand it, despite the fact that before his mental
illness he was speaking IsiZulu very well. His mother, who understood not a
single word of English, was sitting on the floor crying, and praying in between
sobs for divine intervention. She was also desperately asking for help from the
Psychiatrists. Unfortunately Honourable Speaker we seem to be experiencing such
a phenomenon in this era and time!
Fourthly Honourable Speaker, there is troubling awaiting us in the GET
sector (i.e. Primary School Sector in the old terminology).
We are made to understand that the only students presently being trained to
take over teaching in this sector are white female students, mostly at Wits and
Pretoria Universities because there is dire shortage of foundation phase
teachers in Europe. Seemingly our universities are training teachers who are in
all probability going to migrate.
Hence Honourable Speaker, we have three very serious threads here i.e.
* the severe shortage of a maths and science teacher
* the extinction of an African language teacher
* the extinction of a foundation phase teacher
I wish to announce that the Department will sponsor, by January 2007, 250
matriculants who wish to take this challenge i.e. of going to our universities
to take a teaching degree in maths and science, languages and the GET band or
foundation phase training.
There is already a B.ED degree in maths and science and USAID has sponsored
50 students in Limpopo for this. For 2007, we will sponsor this 250 students
for R7,5 million and increase it to R17,5 million in 2008 and to R45 million in
2009.
We owe it to our country to do this. We are aware that people might be
sceptical about this, noting that there are still many unemployed teachers.
Honourable Speaker, these are ever changing times and circumstances of our
life.
7. Improvement in matric results
Honourable Speaker we already have many strategic to improve our matric
results, especially our high out put in maths and science higher grade.
That is why last week we have a visit in this Legislature from the Eastern
Cape Legislatureâs portfolio committee on Education to study some of our
strategies. Chief among these strategic are Saturday classes and winter
enrolment schools, whereby teachers who are high performers, Curriculum
Specialists and lecturers from higher education institutions, are deployed to
help out. The annual budget to pay them a stipend in this programme was R7,5
million and it used to get exhausted around July of each year.
Honourable Speaker, we are increasing this amount in this financial year to
R15 million so that we intensify this programme. We will also deploy fully the
500 curriculum specialists to our most underperforming schools to help out.
8. Temporary educators and acting positions
Together with free fee schools, one of the most debated topics in our
province was the issue of temporary teachers. It gives us a great feeling that
after successfully exempting more than 2 310 schools from paying school fees,
we are also busy absorbing 8 651 temporary educators.
During the announcement of matric results, we also announced that this year
is the year of hiring in Education, because apart from the more than 8 000
temporary teachers we have lots and lots of other higher posts in which people
were in acting capacities. We had declared that in 2006, we would deal with
this issue decisively.
I am happy to announce, Honourable Speaker, that most of the 552
principalship posts advertised last year have been filled in January. Those who
didnât take up their posts are due to various disputes which we are busy
resolving.
I am also happy to announce that a further 76 principalship posts, 441
deputy principalships and 3 100 head of department posts that are all in acting
capacities are being filled. These posts were advertised in August last year
and are at various stages of the process of appointments.
We were hoping Honourable Speaker that we would finalise the appointments by
1 April 2006, just like with the temporary teachers. However, the volume of
work was such that we have asked the bargaining chamber to extend the time
because our school governing bodies, who by law have to undertake this job of
shortlisting and interviewing, could not just cope with the load of work.
In one District only they had to sift through 45 000 applications and
shortlist from 43 000 applications for these posts. We believe a small
extension towards the middle of the year will do. If this happens, by June this
year we would have finalised more than 11 000 posts, so that people could
settle permanently.
Even then, we would never have completed our task because most of our
circuit managers are still in acting capacities. We hope to tackle this problem
after the middle of the year when we would have finalised our work on the
temporary teachers and on the acting promotion school-based posts.
9. School governance
Honourable Speaker, two years ago, we completed very well the work of
appointing leaders at National and Provincial Government. That is how this
Honourable house came into being.
Three weeks ago, we completed the work of electing our local government
leaders. We in Education have not yet completed our task in the democratisation
of our country. We are still left with another sphere of governance. The terms
of office of our school governing bodies in all our 4 000 schools is coming to
an end. New school governing bodies will have to be elected between May and
June 2006.
Honourable Speaker we want our people to realise that we regard this process
as important as the local government elections.
School governance is an extremely important area of the democratic process
and development. Hence Honourable Speaker, we are intending to approach the
Electoral Commission (IEC) to come and run these elections for us.
We shall spend about R5 million to complete this democratic process. Please
help us by participating, not only in advocacy and mobilization, but also as
candidates!!
10. ABET
As I have started this speech with Early Childhood Development (ECD), it is
logical that I must end with ABET - Adult Basic Education Training.
In terms of job creation and better life for all, ABET is an extremely
important area of our work. We have 572 ABET centres with a total of 39 439
adult learners. They have 2 042 educators who are regarded as temporary. There
are discussions nationally in the ELRC to finalise this issue of temporary ABET
educators. We are eagerly waiting for the outcome of these discussions.
Honourable Speaker, the real aim of ABET is to prepare people for the job
market, not just to teach them how to read and write for the sake of it. Hence
I am happy to announce that for this year 720 of our ABET learners who would
have completed ABET level 4 would be engaged in learnerships to prepare them
for the job market as follows:
* Construction SETA (CETA): 120 learners
* Primary Agricultural SETA (PAETA): 120 learners
* Tourism and Hospitality SETA (THETA):120 learners
* Energy or Electricity SETA (ESETA):120 learners
Honourable Speaker our overall ABET budget increased from R60 million in
2005/2006 to 78 million in 2006/2007 to accommodate these learnerships. We are
going to spend R10 million in the various programmes to make these learnerships
a reality.
11. Conclusion
In concluding this speech Honourable Speaker, I wish to present today a
total budget of R11 066 540,00 for the year 2006/2007 financial year.
The details of this budget you will find enclosed in the budgets booklet and
also in the white book.
I wish to heartily thank the officials of the Department headed by the Head
of the Department Prof. Nengwekhulu for making this day a reality.
I wish to thank the co-operation and good working relationship between the
Department of Education and Public Works in delivering the school
infrastructure. With this co-operation lots of problems are being
eliminated.
I also wish to thank the Provincial Treasury for making this budget a
reality.
Lastly I wish to thank our teachersâ unions and other stakeholders. The work of
running Education is a mammoth task and needs absolute co-operation without
which our Education system will be in shambles.
I thank you!!!
Issued by: Department of Education, Limpopo Provincial Government
20 March 2006
