delivered by MEC Siphosezwe Masango
26 May 2006
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mr TSP Makwetla
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Distinguished leaders of political parties
The revered Traditional Leaders of Mpumalanga Province
Former MECs for Education: Cde. DD Mabuza and Cde. CNM Padayachee,
respectively
Head of Department and Colleagues in the Department
Parent Formations
Teacher Formations
Organised Labour, Youth and Learner formations
Business Community and the entire civil society
Distinguished Guests,
Comrades, Friends and Compatriots
We are on course to educate the nation!
Madam Speaker, with the advent of the new democratic dispensation, attained
12 years ago, government made an unwavering commitment to ensure the provision
of quality public education and to increasingly open the doors of learning and
of culture to all. When this government was catapulted to power, through an
overwhelming popular mandate, it had immense challenges to contend with in
education. We have, Madam Speaker, despite the limited and committed resources
at our disposal, managed to outdo ourselves in most of the goals we had set
ourselves. Thanks to the courageous, selfless and visionary leadership provided
by my predecessors, Cde. DD Mabuza and Cde. Craig Padayachee respectively.
As an educator myself, I believe, that the future of young people has to
receive undivided attention and commitment from all of us, for they are our
future leaders who should not suffer as a result of our inaction. They have to
enjoy to eternity the delicious and sumptuous fruits of our hard labour and
toil. These future leaders should not wince when eating these fruits, instead
they should continue to enjoy them with a degree of contentment. It is for this
reason, Madam Speaker, that I feel honoured and privileged to be afforded this
opportunity to table the 2006/07 Policy and Budget Speech that seeks to
accelerate our efforts of bringing about the kind of education that will bring
about social and cultural emancipation of the down-trodden masses of our
country.
Since 1994, educational policies have been introduced to motivate our
educators to serve the nation with deeper sensitivity and profound patriotism.
These policies have led our educators to have a better understanding of:
* sound financial management
* partnership with stakeholders
* development and implementation of effective Code of Conduct
* school-based staff development systems
* curriculum and assessment of learners
* necessity of school safety
* professional administration and leadership.
Social challenges
Our learners must be taught to be proud members of society involved in the
new and emerging values of a democratic South Africa. Unemployment affects the
pragmatic goals of education. The high level of poverty in our communities and
the HIV and AIDS scourge that has orphaned many school-going learners is cause
for concern to the Mpumalanga Department of Education. The Department has
programmes and plans in place that seek to address the resultant challenges
brought about by HIV and AIDS and unemployment. Our schools must be dynamic,
and must adapt to the cultural, social and political transformation of our
country. The Department should therefore focus on the mobilisation of the
energies and abilities of our learners to deal with social ills facing them and
society in general. On the occasion of delivering the 2006 State of the Nation
Address, President Mbeki, stated: âWe will, of course, also make other
interventions in the area of education and training. These include eliminating
fees for the poorest quintile of primary schools, targeting 529 schools to
double the Maths and Science graduate output to 50 000 by 2008, and
re-equipping and financing the Further Education and Training Colleges.â
The Department will implement this injunction of the President in the
context of the Province.
No-Fee Schools
Last week Wednesday, the Provincial Cabinet has given a go-ahead to declare
239 No-Fee schools in the 2006/07 financial year. The majority of No-Fee
schools are from rural areas in line with national specifications. The 239
No-Fee schools have an enrolment of 91 228. The Department has budgeted an
additional R7,754,380.00 for this purpose which translates to R85 per learner
that will be transferred directly to schools over and above what has already
been budgeted for schools. The number of No Fee schools will increase within
the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. Recapitalisation of FET
Colleges South Africa's human resource capital is greatly under-resourced and
needs to be strengthened through education and skills development. This is
indeed an important and integral component of the country's objective of
sustainable growth and development. The provision of certain critical skills
for economic growth and stability will be driven by the Further Education and
Training (FET) Colleges. This was echoed by President Thabo Mbeki, in his State
of the Nation Address when he stated that particular attention will have to be
paid to the issue of scarce skills that will negatively affect the capacity of
both the Public and the Private Sectors to meet the goals set by Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). In response to this
call by President Mbeki, the Department will focus its attention on the
development of skills of young people in the Province through FET Colleges.
The three FET Colleges of Ehlanzeni, Gert Sibande and Nkangala, have made
significant progress in the implementation of programmes that will assist the
Province in the provision of skills, through training and development. The
recapitalisation of FET Colleges will ensure that Colleges become increasingly
responsive to the skills needs of the country. The recapitalisation programme
of the three FET Colleges has a budget allocation of R32 million for the
2006/07 financial year, R40 million for the 2007/08 financial year and R37.5
million for the 2008/09 financial year.
The recapitalisation of the Colleges would guide operational plans on:
* Human Resource Development to support the delivery of new and modern
Programmes;
* Developing the system and procedures to run the new departmental programmes
from 2007 and to support increased student enrolment;
* Upgrading and modernising classrooms, laboratories and workshops that will be
used for the teaching of new programmes;
* Upgrading of college sites;
*The building of new classrooms, laboratories and offices where there is clear
evidence of need;
* Purchasing of equipment that will support teaching and learning;
*Preparing the delivery of the new curricula for FET Colleges which has a
market-related value.
Achievements since the merger of FET colleges
It was presented to this House, Madam Speaker, which Colleges will be merged
due to changes in the FET Colleges landscape.
(a) Merging of Colleges
This was a strenuous exercise. We had our fair share of problems especially in
Gert Sibande. Difficult as it was, we managed to complete the process ahead of
other provinces.
(b) Appointment of Principals
With each merged institution, there was to be a Head, i.e. the Principal and
each campus was to be headed by a Campus Manager. The Province was also ahead
of other provinces in the appointment of College Principals.
(C) Establishment of Central Offices
The Principal and his / her immediate support staff were to be housed
separately, away from the campuses to avoid a situation where one campus would
be treated as the Central (Main) campus and the others as satellites.
(d) Staff Establishment
In line with the new demands of the merged institutions, a new staff
establishment had to be put in place. The PAM (Personnel Administration
Measures) document did not accommodate this.
In conjunction with the Work study Division, an acceptable staff establishment
of the Colleges was developed. The staff establishment improved the
student-lecturer ratio from 1:42 to 1:38. Other provinces had to learn from
us.
(e) Financial Support to Colleges
The Colleges used to get a total subsidy of R3 million per year. When the
National Department indicated that Colleges were to be given more money,
Mpumalanga was amongst the Provinces whose subsidies were increased. The
Department increased the financial support from R3 million to R25.312
million.
Maths and Science Initiatives Dinaledi Schools
In line with the National Strategy for improving learner performance in
Mathematics, Science and Technology, the Mpumalanga Department of Education has
started a project popularly known as Dinaledi Schools, with seven schools. The
number of schools participating in the project has since grown from seven to
30. The purpose of the Dinaledi Schools Project is to help increase the number
of learners taking Mathematics and Science on Higher Grade and also to increase
the number of girl learners enrolled for these subjects. The Department will
provide financial assistance to these schools in order to ensure effective
teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science. Progress will be monitored so
that the expected outcomes are achieved.
On this note, Madam Speaker, I would like to welcome three learners who are
gracing the portals of this Chamber with their presence and they are Franco
Stander, Thabo Mabola and Mphikeleli Madida. These three learners will
participate in the Open Science Expo Finals in Spain, July, 2006.
Congratulations Majita! Present amongst us here today, is also Mr Farirai
Frederick Rufetu an illustrious Physical Science teacher at Ekangala
Comprehensive High School who recently won the Sowetan / Telkom Teacher of the
Year 2006 Awards, FET phase.
This Nation-Building project was initiated by the late Dr Aggrey Klaaste,
Editor-in-Chief of the Sowetan newspaper, 20 years ago. Take a bow, Mr Rufetu.
Hola Thiza Hola! Implementation of the National Curriculum Statements (NCS) In
the 2005/06 financial year the Mpumalanga Department of Education offered
training to 3000 Grade 7 educators in the GET phase and to 6000 Grades 10-12
educators in the FET phase. For this financial year, the Department will train
9000 Grade 8, 9 and 11 educators on the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and
thereafter introduce it to those Grades in January 2007. The emphasis of the
new NCS training will be on improving the outcomes of education in general and
high rates of literacy in reading, writing, basic numeric and learner
performance in Mathematics, Science and Technology. School Governance
Madam Speaker, it gives me pleasure to inform the House that the fourth
School Governing Body (SGB) elections, which are currently underway, are
running smoothly and should be completed by the end of June, 2006. A sum of
R5.349 million has been set aside for the training and development of the newly
appointed SGBs. Their induction and orientation will be finalised by the end of
July, 2006 after which roll-out training will unfold with the key focus area
being Financial Management, School Safety and Managing the spread of HIV and
AIDS. Another area that will receive urgent attention during the SGB training
will be the introduction of the Indigenous Languages Policy in schools, indeed
an important issue as enshrined in our Constitution on language matters.
Kuqakathekile bonyana sazi ukuthi asifundreli ukuba makhuwa, namtjhana
ukufana nawo ngelinye ilanga, begodu, nawo amakhuwa phinde ngelinye ilanga abe
babantu abanzima. Kuqakathekile bonyana, njengoba sifunda begodu sithuthukisa
isiNgisi nesiBhuru eenkolweni zethu, nawo la amanye amalimu wesintu siwafundre
siwathuthukise begodu siwavikele njengoba utjho uMthetho-Sisekelo we Sewula
Afrika. Eintlik ek wonder bonyana yikomu iinkolo lezi ezisemadrobheni
zinganikezi abantwana bamakhuwa nabo ithuba bafunde ilimu noma linye lesintu
ngombana ekugcineni bazokwakha begodu baberege namaSwazi, namaNdebele,
namaPedi, namaZulu noma namaTjhangani. Futhi kungenzeka bathathane, sibe nabo
makoti namtjhana abakhwenyani bamakhuwa.
Madam Speaker, I therefore hope that the School Governing Bodies (SGB) will
ensure that, since the schools are the microcosms of our demographic
composition, they will vividly reflect the cultural, religious and linguistic
diversity of our nationhood and statehood. Learner Attainment Strategy The
Department has put together a plan to increase learner performance in all
Grades. There is also a Matric Recovery Plan which seeks to improve our pass
rate in Grade 12. An amount of R4.6 million has been budgeted for the Matric
Recovery Plan. Following the release of the 2005 Grade 12 Results, 157
under-achieving schools (who obtained a pass rate of less than 50%) were
identified. We are happy to report that a special conference called Niyabonwa
Education Indaba was held in March, 2006, to find ways of addressing and
ultimately reversing the unacceptable underperformance by the said schools. The
Indaba succeeded in coming up with interventions and improvement plans that
will help these schools.
The Ayihlome Ifunde detachment, Curriculum Implementers and the Circuit
Managers have been directed to pay due and particular attention to these
schools.
Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)
The Department of Education has a mandate to ensure the provision of equal
education to all, in line with the Constitution of our country. R77.555 million
has been allocated for ABET for the current financial year. Plans are in place
to improve professional support on the administrative and teaching capacity at
ABET Centres. Literacy units will be established in the communities in order to
reduce illiteracy and expand ABET beyond our Public Adult Learning Centres. The
determination to rid the people of Mpumalanga of illiteracy remains a challenge
we are uncompromisingly committed to face head-on. The ABET Programmes will
focus on poverty alleviation initiatives linking them with the Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP). The Department will facilitate the establishment of
co-operatives and continue to use literacy and learning to enhance the capacity
of our communities.
Systemic Evaluation
The Systemic Evaluation was conducted during the 2005/06 financial year in
order to compare the results with the National survey and to assess the
progress of learners from Grades 3 to 6. The 2005 Grade 6 learner survey
involved 2283 learners in 72 schools in each of the three regions. The
performance of our learners in the Province especially in Science compares
favourably with learners nationally and the difference is only in Languages and
Maths. In the 2006/7 financial year, the Department will embark on a new cycle
by conducting a survey in Grade 3. The aim is to enhance learner performance,
to address shortcomings in teaching and learning and to assist educators and
School Management Teams.
Inclusive Education
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce that in the 2005/6 financial year
the Department has trained 4 934 Principals and Educators on Inclusive
Education, Diversity in Education, Counselling Skills and Perceptual Skills. 39
200 learners were exposed to Career Guidance. The mobile Career Guidance units
provided study programmes and conducted workshops for School Management Teams
(SMTs) on the topics mentioned above. In the 2006/07 financial year, the
Department will increase the number of Inclusive Schools by another hundred
schools as a move towards making all schools inclusive. Our belief is that, all
children can learn, we only have to respect their differences in age, gender,
ethnicity, language and disability. The Department will ensure that structures,
systems and methodologies to make provision for all learners in the Province
are in place. We have also taken into cognisance the fact that no learner
should drop out due to the inability of the system to accommodate his/her
needs. The Department would therefore, collect data for out-of-school learners
who are orphans and are vulnerable children with a view to bringing in
intervention strategies for these learners to access education. There will be
training of educators on Sign Language, Study Skills and Career Guidance for
all schools in the Province.
In the 2006/07 financial year the Department will:
* Capacitate and empower 1000 Grade 10 learners on Peer Support Programme
focusing on character building programmes.
* Train 3000 educators on Care and Support and basic counselling of orphans and
Vulnerable Children.
* Capacitate 300 child-headed families on Family Care and Life Skills
Education
* Programme.
Early Childhood Development (ECD)
In the 2005/06 financial year, 330 Grade R educators have received National
Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4 qualifications and 750 ECD educators
were accredited on handling Grade R-class Unit Standards. 903 ECD Grade R
centres are currently registered with the Department of Education and are
receiving subsidies of R2 000. 00 per educator. The key focus areas for the
2006/07 financial year, would be promoting the objectives of the Expanded
Public Works Programme by implementing the 0-4-age cohort. This is an
Integrated Plan driven by the SHE departments in line with AsgiSA.
In addition, ECD services will be improved and extended to communities by
creating 180 job opportunities (60 gardeners, 60 cooks and 60 child-minders).
The ECD programme has a budget allocation of R51, 801 million for the 2006/07
financial year, R126.729 million for the 2007/08 financial year and R220. 658
million for the 2008/09 financial year. The Department will phase in the Norms
and Standards for Funding Grade R, to further promote access to education. The
massive financial injection into the ECD sector, clearly demonstrates our
ongoing commitment and determination in ensuring that the development in the
early childhood phase receives the necessary support.
National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)
In the 2005/06 financial year, I have announced that 492 687 primary school
learners will be provided with a nutritious meal. I also reflected that 20
monitors would be appointed at Regional offices. I am pleased to announce that
the objectives of appointing monitors have been achieved. All primary school
learners were fed for 178 days in the last financial year.
Madam Speaker, I am especially delighted that in this financial year, the
Department will continue to provide food to needy learners in the Province. 495
000 learners are targeted for the National School Nutrition Programme in our
Province. The total budget for this programme is R84, 549 million and will
create temporary employment for 2848 volunteers. The challenge lying ahead is
the extension of the Programme to benefit learners from secondary schools and
the establishment of food gardens.
In-School Sports and Culture
We are pleased to inform this House that the departments of Culture, Sport
and Recreation and Education have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to
promote the co-ordination of school sport, culture, recreation, and library and
information services.
In the 2006/07 financial year, the Department will implement a School
Sports
programme that seeks to:
* Identify and develop talents of learners in a variety of sporting
codes;
* Ensure mass participation in school sports through encouraging schools to
participate in a number of sporting codes;
* Introduce new sporting codes to schools that did not participate in such
sporting codes before;
* Introduce Indigenous Games to schools;
* Ensure that learners in deep rural areas also play sports;
* Ascertain that sports facilities are shared among all schools.
To achieve these objectives the Department has set aside an amount of R8.6
million for the 2006/07 financial year and this will increase to R20 million in
the 2008/09 financial year. With this budget allocation, the Department will be
able to use sports as a catalyst to facilitate the eradication of barriers that
are hindering social transformation in the Province. It is through sports that
the Department can promote a holistic social development of our young people
and engender national pride among the country's young citizens.
Partnership with the Private Sector
In pursuance of the objective of making the education enterprise everybody's
business, the Mpumalanga Education Department has initiated a new project in
partnership with the private sector.
The project is called Mondi Science, Career Guidance and FET Skills
Development Centre. This project will:
* Target the unemployed youth who will be trained in woodwork skills;
* Provide an opportunity to educators and learners to be trained and to do
practical science experiments.
* Provide an opportunity for learners to be able to do own assessment and
to
decide on the careers they wish to follow.
As a start, the training will enable the youth to refurbish broken school
furniture, thereby preparing them as future entrepreneurs. The Project will be
located in Piet Retief and its launch will be in September 2006.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the Department, in partnership
with Anglo-Platinum has built a Technical High School named Mogale Wa Bagale at
Burgersfort to the tune of R13 million . The school will be officially opened
in June 2006. The Department has received a donation of R2.15 million from the
Anglo-American Chairman's Funds. The fund has assisted in the building of four
offices, one laboratory, one media centre, one sick room and six classrooms at
Blackhill Primary School and eight classrooms, one laboratory, one Media
Centre, five offices and a sick room at Kromdraai Primary School were built.
Both these schools are situated in KwaGuqa, Witbank. Key to the above-mentioned
Special Projects, the Province will receive forty (40) volunteers in June 2006
from the United States of America. These volunteers will work in Mpumalanga for
two years where they will assist schools with the implementation of the
National Curriculum Statements, Financial Management, Classroom Management and
HIV and AIDS projects in the communities where they will be deployed. These
Volunteers will start rendering their services during September 2006.
In line with the White Paper on e-Education, the Province is on course to
bridging the digital divide. During the 2005/06 financial year, the Province
has established links with four information and communications technology
(ICT)-related companies. These social partners have contributed in setting up
ICT infrastructure in the form of Computer Laboratories for ten schools. In
other instances 451 computers and software have been donated to schools by the
MTN Foundation and South African Revenue Service (SARS)
Foundation, respectively.
The training of a total of 2 500 educators and 562 learners on basic
computer skills has been a joint venture between the Department and its ICT
social partners. In the 2006/07 financial year, the Province will continue to
promote the letter and spirit of ASGISA by extending computer skills to 3 300
educators and 600 learners. The Province will roll out computers to 100
schools. This initiative is intended to improve the quality of teaching and
learning as well as administrative and management skills of professionals at
school level.
Infrastructure Planning and Development
In addressing infrastructure development, the Department is faced with
formidable challenges, as backlogs dating back from 2001 in the completion of
projects, have been identified. The expenditure trend in the 2005\06 financial
year budget has been disappointing. The Department planned to provide 626
classrooms, 31 special classrooms, 44 administration blocks and 1839 toilets,
87 fenced schools, 121 schools with clean water, 77 electrified schools and to
renovate 1853 classrooms. At the end of the 2005/06 financial year, the
Department had only spent lower than expected on capital projects and
infrastructure development due to the slow pace in adjudication. An
Inter-Departmental Task Team has been appointed with officials of the
Department of Education and Public Works charged with the responsibility of
fast-tracking the delivery of infrastructure.
In the 2006/07 financial year, the Department has a budget allocation of
R287, 558 million for infrastructure development and for the payment of
professionals. The following facilities will be provided: 709 classrooms, 10
administration blocks, 06 laboratory centres, 07 library centres, 1291 toilets,
fencing of 16 schools, 40 electricity installations, 85 water points, 20
kitchens, 61 ramps and rails and 924 classrooms will be renovated. The budget
will also cater for reactive maintenance, organisational support in the
employment of people with technical skills, painting of schools and the
provision of movable classrooms. In his State of the Nation Address, the State
President of South Africa alluded to the need to update the School Register of
Needs (SRN). The Department has piloted 38 schools in the first phase from
October to December 2005. The second phase commenced in January 2006 and ended
in March 2006.
During this phase, the Department was allocated 607 schools. This target was
completed without serious challenges. It is anticipated that the entire audit
will be completed around September 2006.
The National Educational Information Management System (NEIMS) will then be
put in place. Simultaneously there will also be training of staff in the use of
the system. For the first time, the system will be updated annually to keep up
with infrastructure needs.
Learner and Teacher Support Material
Key to the provision of effective teaching and learning in the Province the
Department has placed orders to purchase:
* Stationery for Grades R to Grade 12 at R100 million
* New Curriculum material for Grades 8, 9 and 11 at R207 million
* Top-ups to cover shortages of stationery for Grades 7, 9 and 12 is R59
million.
The total budget allocated for ensuring that there is enough Learner and
Teacher Support Material is R366 million.
Education Library and Information Services (ELIS)
In the 2005/06 financial year, the Department has taken a step to convert
libraries into centres of information and to promote and improve literacy
skills. School libraries have been resourced with progressive literature to the
tune of R27 million . The schools have received audio-visual technology to
enhance teaching and learning. 450 school librarians have been empowered on how
to efficiently and effectively manage school libraries. The Department has
organised Writing Skills workshops to unleash the talent of writing stories
from educators and learners and has successfully hosted the International
Library Conference under the auspices of the Library and Information
Association South Africa (LIASA). This initiative afforded the Province the
opportunity to learn from the international community. Our goal in the 2006/07
financial year is to meet the international standards set by United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and for this
purpose R25 million has been set aside for providing school libraries with
literature and equipment. Scholar Transport
Madam Speaker, I am happy to announce to this House that an amount of
R143.159 million has been set aside for the transportation of learners. We,
however, would like to indicate that the Provincial Cabinet has directed that a
forensic audit be conducted in order to verify the routes and number of
learners transported.
Conclusion
Madame Speaker, from the foregoing remarks it is clear to all that as a
Province and a country, we are on course to educate the nation. As I present
the Policy and Budget Speech today, the Province of Mpumalanga cannot be put in
a continuum of ignorance about the history of education in South Africa. We
have travelled a journey of twelve years to be where we are and nothing can
stop us from taking a quantum leap forward as indicated by President Mbeki. I
would like to pay a special tribute to the youth of this country, who in 1976,
rebelled against the continuous imposition of the hated Bantu Education Act
since 1954. Their bravery in fighting the apartheid education system,
contributed in no small measure, to the final decimation of the apartheid
government in 1994. As we all know, 1994 presented us an opportunity to evolve
a new education dispensation for South Africa. Noteworthy, is the fact that
some of the ugly scars inflicted by the apartheid system on our country's
education landscape, continue to rear their ugly heads. What a pity! I would
like to thank the Honourable Premier, Thabang Makwetla for his outstanding
stewardship in relation to matters concerning education and his guidance and
advice to the Department on various matters. In the same vein, my gratitude
goes to my colleagues in the Executive Council. Unwele olude ! We are
exceedingly grateful to the Members of the Portfolio Committee on Education,
Culture, Sport and Recreation for their brutally frank engagement with us on
education matters including in pointing out our weaknesses. Finally, I owe a
debt of gratitude to my colleagues in the Department, officials at various
levels, the parents and learners as well as educators for continuing to educate
the nation. Kere mo go lena mošito a o tshwele pele. We have, indeed, entered
the Age of Hope through developing an education effort, for faster and shared
growth. Madam Speaker, I humbly request this august House to favourably
consider the allocated amount of R6.218 billion for the Department of Education
to fulfil its mandate.
Inarha ayilale, iinhliziyo zipharumelane ngiyathokoza.
Issued by: Department of Education, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
26 May 2006
