I Cronje: KwaZulu-Natal Education Prov Budget Speech 2007/08

2 May 2007

Honourable Chairperson
Ladies and gentlemen

It is my great privilege and pleasure to present to you today the budget of
the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education for the financial year 2007/2008. I
would like to extend a special welcome to all learners who are with us today
representing schools, Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges and Adult
Basic Education and Training (ABET) Centres in our province.

Introduction

The President in his State of the Nation Address of Friday, 9 February 2007,
spoke of the need to work together to build a South Africa defined by a common
dream. The creation of a transformed, positive, thriving society depends on
education. We all share an ambition for KwaZulu-Natal to excel. We in education
have come a long way towards this goal. The province has made considerable
strides during the past year.

A great deal has been achieved and I believe we have reached a point where
we are ready to excel. Since 2004 we have been laying the foundations for
achieving academic excellence in all our schools through the formation of a
well-functioning, informed and responsive department. Readiness to excel will
be both a long term pro-active plan as well as a short term reaction to
immediate situations. We will not tolerate non-delivery or inadequate
achievement. We are tougher, more demanding, more ambitious as our expectations
are growing. The results of our endeavours will begin to bear fruit in the
medium term.

We know that despite the numerous challenges, including poverty,
unemployment, infrastructure backlogs and crime to mention but a few, the
KwaZulu-Natal Government has steadily put in place building blocks towards the
realisation of the full meaning of freedom in education and in other contexts.
I must remind everyone present today that education is a contested terrain as
it is through education that the envisaged integrated society based on the
democratic values of equality, non-racialism and non-sexism can be
achieved.

As our education system is founded on a concrete progressive foundation, our
challenge today is to expand the frontiers of sustainable service for quality
education. My department as part of government has the responsibility to
provide sustainable, quality education through our schools, FET colleges and
ABET centres. In this Budget Vote Speech, I will highlight the strategic
priorities of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and indicate how we
will resource them.

These are premised on the provincial priorities as announced by the Premier
during the State of the Province Address. We recognise that our department,
being the largest and one that consumes a large part of the Provincial Budget,
is charged with the responsibility of leading in addressing our priorities. Our
theme for this Financial Year is "Ready to Excel," in response to the question
posed by Minister Naledi Pandor in her Budget Vote Speech last year. This has
necessitated an amendment to our motto "failure is not an option" to "success
is the only option." In this regard, we are shifting our reference point from
failure to success and excellence.

As an anonymous writer once pronounced, excellence can be obtained if
you:

* care more than others think is wise
* risk more than others think is safe
* dream more than others think is practical
* expect more than others think is possible.

It is this spirit of excellence that we want the education sector in our
province to aspire to and achieve. We owe it to ourselves and to our
people.

Achievements

Through our uniting and mobilising slogan "getting KwaZulu-Natal learning,"
I stood here last year outlining to this House the key interventions that we
intended to make for the 2006/07 financial year. Allow me, Honourable
Chairperson, to enumerate some of the key achievements that we have recorded
over the past year.

Learning spaces, water and sanitation

I have been continually reminding this House of the legacy of infrastructure
backlogs that we inherited. When I took office in 2004, I indicated that we had
a backlog of, among other things, 14 667 classrooms, 21,7% (1 300) of schools
without adequate sanitation facilities, 34% of schools without water on site;
60% of schools without power supply. Our achievements for the period in
question should be judged in the context of this legacy.

Since 2004 the department has reduced the backlog it inherited of 14 667
classrooms by a total of 3 830 classrooms. Similarly, the department has built
a total of 9 440 toilets since 2004, which has almost halved the number of
schools without adequate sanitation facilities from 1 300 to 690.

The department's target for infrastructure service delivery in 2006/07 was
to build a total of 1 750 classrooms and 2 750 toilets. Of these targets, the
department was able to build a total of 1 090 classrooms (62% of target) and 3
711 toilets (135% of target). From 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 our
implementing agents completed the following: IDT: 83 classrooms and 646
toilets, Ithala: 233 classrooms and 291 toilets; Umngeni: seven classrooms and
938 toilets; the Department of Public Works: 424 classrooms and 1 846 toilets,
while our emerging contractors in the Fast Track programmes completed 93
classrooms. The department also provided 250 mobile classrooms in the past
financial year.

In addition we have delivered three large new schools Nzuzwenhle Primary in
Edendale, Ullovu Primary in Illovu and KwaMyeza Primary in Hammersdale. Thirty
four administration blocks and 15 specialist laboratories were completed in the
upgrades and additions programme, while approximately 130 administration
blocks, four computer rooms and 13 libraries are under construction and due for
completion by the end of April 2007 in the Curriculum Redress Programme.

In 2007/08, we will further reduce our inherited backlog by a further 1 750
classrooms and 2 750 toilets. In line with the department's focus on ensuring
safety and security in schools, a total of 147 schools received fencing during
the course of 2006/07. We initiative will continue in 2007/08 to erect fences
at schools without them.

Repairs and Renovations

An amount of R240 million was spent in the 2006/2007 financial year on
substantial repairs and even total renovations of schools across the province.
Sixty eight schools had to be renovated as a matter of urgency as a result of
storm damage during the 2006/07 financial year.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Schools Project

The provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to schools was
previously a neglected area in the Department. In 2005, for the first time, the
Department embarked on a strategy to ensure that the provision of ICT to
schools receives attention. This strategy was successful and the first phase
ensured that 50% of schools have at least one computer for administrative
purposes. The momentum has been sustained in that an additional 850 schools
received one computer each in 2006. Different sections in the department
collectively ensured the establishment of about 100 new computer laboratories
that will be used for teaching and learning. Just over 2 300 educators from
schools that received computers in the first phase were trained over three days
in basic computer literacy. Many subjects in the National Curriculum Statement
Grades 10-12 require educators to have computer skills. To this end 800 Grades
10-12 educators received accredited International Computer Drivers Licence
(ICDL) training. A further 110 educators were trained in Geographic Information
Systems (GIS). Presently about 635 schools are connected to the Internet.
Partnership programmes with the private sector have supported the provision of
computers to schools.

From my Office we have rewarded 68 schools that obtained a 100% pass in the
2005 and 2006 matric examinations with computer laboratories of 10 or 20
computers per laboratory, as well as printers and relevant software. The
Department is grateful for donations that have been made. A media centre and
two computer laboratories sponsored by Bytes Technology were officially opened
in February 2007.

A lack of electricity in many of our schools militates against the desired
aim of providing computers to all schools. In addition, a lack of clarity on
providing the e-Rate as per the Government's Communications Policy has posed a
challenge to ensuring that schools receive connectivity at a discounted
rate.

Education Centres Supporting Rural Development

Education Centres constitute one of our key interventions for dealing with
the education resource hunger in our rural schools:

* these centres have been equipped with furniture, computers, data
projectors, videos, television sets, photocopiers and access to the internet,
as well as e-mail facilities.
* ninety-two computer laboratories have been set up in the centres
* renovations of close to R10 million at 76 centres were undertaken
* science kits have been delivered to some of the centres and more centres will
be similarly equipped in 2007/08
* forty education centre managers assumed duty between January and March
2007.

The centres are also used as venues for empowerment programmes offering the
Advanced Certificate in Education course for school librarians, Early Childhood
Education facilitators training and language across the curriculum courses,
computer courses and economic upliftment programmes for the benefit of local
communities.

All this is made possible through the generous funding received from the
Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE) which allocated R160 million to the department
and the Media in Education Trust for the implementation of this programme over
a four year period.

Masifundisane Adult Literacy Campaign

Good progress has been made towards achieving the objectives of the
Masifundisane Adult Literacy Campaign � the provincial community programme to
teach adult learners in the province to read write and count.

By Saturday, 1 April 2007, a total of 33 000 learners had been recruited and
assigned to facilitators. Obonjeni has the highest learner numbers at 5 300 and
Umlazi has the lowest at 600 learners thus far. We pay a special tribute for
the successful recruitment to the communities and structures of civil society
that continue to mobilise and fly the flag of Masifundisane high. Masifundisane
has truly become an inclusive community programme. This is illustrated by the
involvement of 92 partner organisations.

Teaching is conducted by trainee facilitators and volunteers. Of the 800
facilitators that we have trained, 400 signed formal contracts, drawing a
monthly stipend of R1 000. Exciting and effective teaching and learning
material in isiZulu the mother tongue of 80% of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have been
developed by the Masifundisane component of the Department. The liberating
potential of the Masifundisane campaign is such that six months ago an elderly
woman, Gogo Shongwe, who could not read and write and who had to sign her name
by drawing a cross, can now sign her own name. I acknowledge her presence in
the public gallery today. Sawubona Gogo Shongwe!

To ensure effective monitoring of learning sites, broad-based monitoring
teams have to date been set up in 11 out of the 12 education districts. The
setting up of the monitoring systems and teams is in line with our goal of
providing nothing less than excellent service to our people.

Adult Basic Education and Training

Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET): the formal literacy programme is
one of our provincial priority programmes that is seen as an indispensable
transformation project, contributing to the reconstruction and development of
our previously disadvantaged communities. During the 2006/07 period our public
learning centres increased from 1 030 to 1 054; the number of educators from 6
212 to 6 575 and the number of learners increased from 53 138 to 54 439.

Despite these achievements, the sector is still faced with the challenges of
fully complying with the ABET Act, the Employment of Educators Act of 1998 and
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 1996, impacting on labour stability in the
sector. We hope that discussions with labour unions in the national Education
Relations Labour Council (ELRC) on the conditions of service of ABET
practitioners will yield positive results to address these challenges.

Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Consistent with national policy to provide a Grade R class at every school
that offers Grade 1, a total of 151 976 of a possible 227 459 children in the
Province could enrol for Grade R by the end of March 2007. This implies that we
have reached 67% of our 2010 target of the universal Grade R. We also reached
our target of 1 200 new ECD practitioners for 2006/07, increasing the total
number of ECD practitioners to 3 794, of which 853 are in community-based sites
and 2 941 are in public primary schools.

Monitoring the functionality of schools

As part of our readiness to excel we have prioritised the monitoring of the
functionality of schools. In this regard, I thank all Honourable Members of
this House, led by the Premier, who participated in the programme of visiting
schools in the first three days of the 2007 school year. The Department of
Education has a responsibility to ensure that children have access to education
and to this end we have extended the monitoring to the first three days and the
last three days of each term. We do this with the belief that our schools
cannot excel without achieving basic functionality as a prerequisite.

From 28 to 30 March this year, departmental officials visited a total of 200
schools, focusing on the poorly performing schools. The emphasis on school
functionality monitoring has assisted in terms of improving the work ethic at
these schools.

The purpose of this exercise is:

* to set the tone and to emphasise the fact that teaching and learning
should happen from the first day of school until the very last day of the
term
* to identify gaps and challenges and ensure the necessary support through
post-monitoring intervention
* to recognise good performance and give schools extrinsic motivation
* to monitor the provision of infrastructure
* to monitor the implementation of the turnaround plans developed by
underperforming schools.

Safety in Schools

I am very concerned that our educators and learners have become victims of
violence in and around our schools. Strategies have been put in place to
increase the level of security in schools. Schools in the 12 education
districts have been linked to their local police stations. This will enhance
the capacity of the School Safety Committees and principals to deal with crime
in and around their schools. The schools have been clustered into policing
sectors and principals have the names and contact details of police sector
managers.

A revised School Safety Policy, highlighting the roles and functions of
safety structures at school, as well as the policing sector, district and
provincial levels, has been put into place.

Last year I reported that we were entering into a partnership with Business
against Crime. I am pleased to report that the 'Tiisa Thuto' pilot project in
52 schools has been undertaken in the following five districts:

* Umgungundlovu: 7 schools
* Port Shepstone: 6 schools
* Empangeni: 12 schools
* Umlazi: 8 schools
* Pinetown: 19 schools.

We are now considering the extension of the Tiisa Thuto project to other
districts.

Awards for excellent schools

100% club and most improved schools:

A total of 80 public schools that either obtained a 100% pass in the 2006
Senior Certificate Examination and/or had drastic improvements in their results
received rewards in the form of computers and printers, science kits, library
books and sports equipment to the value of R4,7 million.

Of these, 34 schools that already have equipped computer laboratories will
receive science kits, library books or sports equipment to the value of R136
215 00. Each of the 24 schools with no computer laboratories with an enrolment
of less than 500 learners will be provided with 10 computers, one printer and
software, while 11 schools with an enrolment of more than 500 learners will
receive 20 computers, 10 printers and relevant software per computer
laboratory.

The following nine schools that improved their results from below 20% to
above 60% in 2006 were rewarded with science kits, sports kits and library book
vouchers to the value of R136 215.

* Thokozwayo: from 0% to 100%
* Leshman: from 11.8% to 92%
* Sizathina: from 0% to 85.7%
* Isulomphakathi: from 15,6% to 75%
* Gcinokuhle: from 18,8% to 70%
* Joko: from 0% to 69%
* Mankenke: from 8,6% to 65%
* Momaqoni: from 13,8% to 62,5%
* Mashinga: from 16% to 60,7%.

These awards demonstrated our appreciation for the hard work of the
principals, the teachers and the learners of these schools in their quest to
excel.

Teachers' Bursaries

Two years ago we changed the bursary system to deal with the critical
shortage of teachers in gateway subjects such as Mathematics, Science and
Technology. The new bursary system has also in part addressed the large number
of applications for financial assistance from historically disadvantaged
learners who passed their Senior Certificate Examinations and wish to study at,
or are already enrolled at tertiary institutions.

Instead of giving our limited funds to students to study in fields not
related to education the department has now entered into agreements with
students to study towards teaching qualifications in scarce and critical
fields. In 2006 the KZN Department of Education awarded bursaries to 55
students to study towards BEd degrees. In February 2007 the department awarded
bursaries to 78 new students, taking our bursary allocation to a total of R4,5
million per annum.

A total of 133 students have been awarded bursaries in 2006 and 2007 by the
Office of the MEC. After completion of their studies they will be employed by
the department for at least an equal number of years to their studies.

We acknowledge the contribution of social partners in adding to the limited
resources at our disposal to ensure the expansion of access to teacher
education bursaries. We acknowledge GEM school wear for sponsoring two students
to study towards teaching qualifications. We also thank the State Information
Technology Agency (SITA) for awarding bursaries to 10 students to be trained in
the teaching of scarce subjects.

Provision of Learner and Teacher Support Materials (LTSM)

I reiterate what I reported to the legislature on Thursday, 15 March 2007,
that the delivery of textbooks for the 2007 school year showed significant
improvement from 2006. Honourable Members could testify that during their
visits to schools on the first day it was evident that 95% of the schools they
visited had 100% deliveries in terms of basic stationery and textbooks. The
story of textbook and stationery delivery for the rest of our schools was
similar to what the Honourable members experienced during their visits.

Part of the improvement in the delivery of textbooks and stationery can be
attributed to the tightening of our monitoring systems. To this end a project
management team was appointed to assist the department in monitoring the work
of the Learning to Teach Secondary Mathematics (LTSM) Managing Agents. In
addition, we streamlined the LTSM procurement processes to drastically reduce
the turn around time between placing orders and delivery to schools.

Providing library books to our schools

Reading is the most basic requirement to excel and we regard the provision
of library books to our schools as an essential need. A total of R40 million
has been spent in 2006/07 to purchase library books for 652 schools. Deliveries
are currently taking place, using local drivers, which generates an income for
people in poor communities.

National School Nutrition Programme

The past year was the third year in which the Department of Education
administered the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). The department
regards food security as one of the key pillars of our fight against poverty
and hunger. The nutrition programme has been crucial in promoting food
production and economic activities in schools and surrounding communities and
in strengthening nutrition education in the school curriculum.

In a nutshell, 3 663 schools participated in the NSNP, including 16 schools
for learners with special educational needs. We are now extending it to all
LSEN schools that indicated such a need. More than 1,3 million learners
participate in the scheme from Mondays to Fridays for 156 days in a school
year. The programme has also been extended to 151 schools in Umzimkhulu on the
same basis as it was operating in the rest of the province.

The menus are standardised and carefully analysed for the nutritional
content. There are approximately 4 000 cooks involved in food preparation. Last
year I indicated that we had begun training 43 local women co-operatives to
participate in the programme. I am pleased to report that all 43 local women
co-operatives became operational in July 2006 and are providing much needed
employment for more than 400 women in poor communities.

No fee schools

The no fee policy was introduced to make sure that all children of school
going age have access to education. Many children have been denied access to
schooling because of the low socio-economic status of their families. Children
from poor families have had their report cards and examination results
unlawfully withheld because their parents could not afford to pay compulsory
school fees.

The introduction of the policy will ensure that the children at schools
declared no fee schools have access to education. Voluntary contributions from
parents and community members who can afford to do so are however welcome. We
take great pride in having introduced the no fee schools in our province in
2006 which benefited the poorest 20% of schools in Quintile 1. The 2006/07
financial year also witnessed the successful revision of criteria that has
taken cognisance of parents� poverty index. Many of the schools that had
previously been incorrectly categorised were located in appropriate quintiles.
More will be said of the figures and funds when I address this House on key
interventions of the department for 2007.

Skills development through FET Colleges

I take great pride in the manner in which the FET colleges are taking on the
challenge of contributing significantly to the building of the skills base of
our province.

In 2006/2007 the Recapitalisation Conditional Grant of R90 million enabled
our FET Colleges to:

* upgrade 35 workshops and classrooms at campuses
* upgrade 21 skills centres
* upgrade administrative systems and procedures
* train all lecturers in the National Certificate Vocational
* train all management and administrative staff in the new administrative
system and procedures.

This year saw the introduction of the National Certificate Vocational which
is a new national qualification for FET colleges. All 11 new programmes of the
NCV are offered at the nine FET Colleges in our province and offer a viable
alternative to learners after completion of grade nine at ordinary schools.
Since my appointment as MEC in 2004 I have actively encouraged FET Colleges not
to limit themselves to formal qualification programmes but also to offer short
courses to thousands of unskilled youth and adults in our province. In this
regard, apart from the NCV programmes, our FET colleges have offered leadership
and skills programmes in areas such as carpentry, home industries, bricklaying,
electrician work, plumbing and welding.

It is significant that 122 448 young people and adults have benefited from
both the formal qualifications and short courses by the end of the 2006
academic year. An amount of R18,5 million was allocated to our province as a
bursary fund to support the students enrolled for the National Certificate
Vocational. The NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) has assisted us
in the processing of applications and a total number of 2 411 students have
benefited from this fund.

The Tooling Centre of Excellence: Last year I announced that through a
partnership with the Tooling Industry we were going to establish a Tooling
Centre of Excellence. Whilst we have already enrolled learners at the
Plessislaer Campus of the Umgungundlovu FET College, the construction of the
Centre on the Durban Campus of the Coastal KZN FET College is nearing
completion. KZN is in the fore front of resurrecting the dying art of tool
making in South Africa with this R40 million pilot project. South Africa
requires 54 000 toolmakers and our target in this province is that by 2014 at
least 22% of all required toolmakers must be available in KwaZulu-Natal.
Statistically, for each trained toolmaker, 10 new downstream jobs would be
created.

One of our strategic partners in skills development in this country is the
Umsobomvu Youth Fund. The fund has provided support to three of our FET
Colleges in the province. Umfolozi FET College was allocated R1.4 million to
develop youth on Community Gardening, Hydrophonic Co-operatives and Small Scale
Poultry; Coastal KZN FET College was allocated R3 million for Engineering and
Manufacturing courses and Umgungundlovu FET College received a grant of R500
000 to build a youth advisory centre targeting unemployed graduates and other
young people in need of skills upliftment.

The Monuments of Peace Project, in conjunction with the Office of the
Premier, was established to explore the opportunities for the training,
involving and utilising of former combatants in building toilets in rural
schools in the province. Of a total of 200 former soldiers, 99 have already
been trained through the Umgungundlovu FET College in basic construction skills
in 2006 and another 100 have enrolled for 2007.

In a partnership with the Department of Correctional Services 150 prisoners
have already enrolled at the Majuba FET College in the civil, mechanical and
electrical fields, as well as for computer literacy. Our province was chosen to
pilot the introduction of a Virtual Private Network for colleges and was
allocated an amount of R65 million for this purpose. All colleges as well as
Head Office are now digitally connected. This has led to improved communication
between Head Office and the central campuses of all nine colleges.

Technical and focus schools

Last year we allocated R20 million for the recapitalization of technical and
focus schools. We installed computer laboratories in 17 non-section 21 schools
with the auto computer aided design (CAD) programme for Engineering Graphics
Design and Civil Technology. A total of 18 section 21 schools were allocated
funds for the installation of computers, the purchase of tools and equipment
for Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Technology.

Eleven section 21 schools received funds to purchase equipment and
appliances for consumer Studies and Hospitality Studies. Furthermore, 10
non-section 21 schools received full equipment and appliances for Consumer
Studies and Hospitality Studies. Most agriculture focus schools in the province
received funds for the installation of computer laboratories. We also provided
agricultural science kits to 517 schools offering Agricultural Science.

Teacher Training

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been upgrading the
qualifications of close to 3 000 unqualified and under qualified teachers since
2004. Prior to the advent of democracy in 1994, the then separate education
departments had varying numbers of unqualified (standard eight to matric) and
under-qualified matric plus one and two years tertiary education). The
departments that were worst affected by this phenomenon were those departments
in former homelands, as well as the Department of Education and Training. In a
survey conducted by the National Education Department in 2002 KwaZulu-Natal had
the highest number of unqualified and under-qualified teachers.

Between 2004 and 2007 a total of 2963 teachers have been enrolled at
institutions to upgrade their qualifications. The process for the 2007 intake
is underway. A total of 1150 educators are being registered with two Higher
Education Institutions, namely, the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and Zululand.
The Netherlands is funding the training through the national department of
Education.

Employment of Educators

Since 2004 we have allocated significant budgetary resources to ensure the
steady reduction of the learner-educator (L: E) ratio. The L: E ratio has been
reduced from 34.9:1 to 31.36:1 over the past three years. This achievement has
been welcomed by all our social partners, in particular our teacher unions.

Another milestone for us has been the conversion of an additional 1 667
temporary educator posts to permanent status in terms of the Provincial
Collective Agreement No 1 of 2006. This has helped address the perennial
problem of job security and rewarded the invaluable service of these teachers
to education. We have reached a further agreement with our teacher unions that
will result in an additional number of temporary teachers being converted to
permanent teachers.

As indicated last year there will always be a need for the employment of
temporary teachers for various periods to cater for the temporary absence of
teachers due to a variety of circumstances. It should be noted that the
reduction of the number of temporary educators to a bare minimum would be
greatly enhanced by the logical conclusion of the post distribution process on
an annual basis as agreed to with teacher unions under the National Post
Distribution Model.

One of the mitigating factors against converting teachers to permanent
status is the problem of teachers who are professionally unqualified. These
include teachers who have obtained a first degree but do not possess a teaching
qualification and those teachers who possess neither a degree nor a teaching
qualification. The department has many such teachers offering scarce subjects
in schools across the province. To that end the department has agreed to regard
the employment of temporary educators offering subjects where there is a skills
shortage as permanent for the purposes of implementing the final post
establishment. This includes temporary educators who are academically qualified
but who do not have a professional teaching qualification and who are employed
as or are offering: Technical subjects, including Hair Care, Technical Drawing,
Instrumental Music, Practical ballet, national Greek dances, History of Ballet
and Anatomy, training in the Hotel and Catering Industry, Ballet accompanists,
Speech and Drama, nursing at schools for learners with special educational
needs, librarians, education therapists, psychologists and social workers or
pedagogues, instructional programmes in the Engineering field, programmes in
the fields of Business Studies, Art, Agriculture, Computer and Information
Studies, Maritime Studies, Utility Services and Social Services.

In addition the KZN department has included Mathematics, Physical Science,
Biology, Accounting, Business Economics and Economics to the list of subjects.
This will benefit educators who are academically qualified but without teaching
diplomas, currently appointed on a temporary basis. Such educators will be
treated as permanent and their services will not be terminated. Such educators
may be considered for upgrading, especially where a skills shortage has been
identified.

Two collective agreements were signed and implemented in 2006/07. These are
Collective Agreement No. 3 of 2006, which provides for revised norms for
grading of schools; and Collective Agreement No. 5 of 2006, which provides for
salary progression (1%), accelerated progression (3%) and grade progression
(7%) to eligible educators. Our department is one of the few that have been
able to implement these agreements within specified time frames.

Women in Senior Management Service (SMS)

In 2006/07 I indicated that the department is making great strides in
addressing the under-representation of women at the Senior Management Service
level. I can announce today that we have increased the number of women at SMS
level from 29% to 37% in the past year. This is a far cry from the 17% in 2004!
We are determined to reach the national target of 50% by the end of 2009.

Administration

The department's administration component remains an important means of
ensuring effective support for the provision of quality education in the
province. After months of discussions with our social partners, we finally
concluded the organisational review of the department in November 2006. We are
currently in the process of filling critical posts established in the new
organogram. These include key management and professional posts in the subject
advisory and the psychological services.

Members of the Portfolio Committees on Finance and Education and the
Standing Committee on Public Accounts will be well aware of the great strides
we have made in putting our house in order in respect of financial management.
For the second year running we obtained a qualified audit opinion after five
years of consecutive disclaimers. Of significance in the 2005/06 audit opinion
is that the department received only one qualification. We are working around
the clock to realise the day when the department will obtain a clean,
unqualified bill of health from the Auditor-General.

We are also pleased that the quality of management information from schools
improved significantly in 2006/07. Funding allocated to this function in the
previous financial year enabled the Department to employ technical assistants
to implement the South African School Administration and Management System (SA
SAMS) and the Learner Unit Record and Information Tracking System (LURITS) and
to purchase appropriate equipment in support of the EMIS function at district
and school levels.

School Sports Mass Participation Programme

The School Sports Mass Participation Programme a joint project with the
Department of Sport and Recreation involves intra-school and inter-school
sports programmes across the province:

* 159 schools have been identified
* 159 school sports assistants, nine cluster co-ordinators and two
administration officers were appointed and trained
* educators and volunteers in each of the six sports codes received training by
provincial federations and the Academy of Sport
* sports equipment was provided to all 159 schools
* successful sports festivals in each of the nine clusters were held, impacting
positively on learners.

We are grateful to MEC Rajbansi for his enthusiastic support of and
co-operation with the Department of Education.

Key interventions for 2007/08

Key interventions for this current financial year are:

Personnel

The department has recently completed the development of a Human Resources
Plan. The plan, among other things, emphasises the importance of skills
development and is also in line with the equity targets of the department. In
accordance with the Skills Development Act, the department has set aside 1% of
its personnel budget to provide training and development programmes to its
employees, as identified through the processes of the Performance Management
and Development System (PMDS) and the Integrated Quality Management System
(IQMS).

HIV and AIDS

The Life Skills and HIV and AIDS Education Programme is a prevention
programme in the curriculum and is compulsory for all primary and secondary
schools. Approximately 2 880 ECD; 22 400 GET and 3 400 Grades 10-11 teachers
have been trained to run this programme. The programme has been implemented in
the Life Orientation Learning Area in all our schools.

The 2007/08 Business Plan has made provision for the top-up training of 1700
Grade 12 teachers. The integration of HIV and AIDS into all learning areas will
be rolled out to 2 800 Grade R sites.

Extension of no fee schools

Last year a total of 1 341 schools in quintile 1 were declared no fee
schools. The allocation per learner was R569 which was above the national
adequacy level of R527 per learner. We have increased the allocation to R629
per learner in Quintile 1 in 2007.

For 2007 the no fee schools have been extended to include all schools in
quintile 2 we have a total number of 503 386 learners in 1 212 schools in
quintile 2. This is in addition to 676 110 learners in 2 130 schools in
Quintile 1. A grand total of 1 179 496 learners and 3 342 schools, which
translates into 42% of the total number of learners will benefit from the
programme. The per learner allocation for Quintile 2 has been increased in 2007
from R422 to R560 per learner.

Consolidation of rural and farm schools

Our department has adopted a strategy to consolidate rural and farm schools
aimed at reviving and equipping them sufficiently so that they cater for a
significantly large number of learners in rural and farm schools.

The consolidation project will include upgrading institutions so that
learners have access to bigger and better resourced schools, equipped with
facilities such as laboratories, libraries and computers. This is a major
long-term project of our department. It will not be done and completed in one
go. During the 2007/8 financial year we aim to launch the project at
Appelsbosch and Msinga on a pilot basis. The project will include the provision
of boarding facilities at Umsinga Secondary school and at the former
Appelsbosch College of Education. This initiative allows us to accommodate as
many as 800 learners in Umsinga and about 1 200 in Appelsbosch. We have
allocated R20 million for this purpose in the 2007/8 financial year.

Senior Certificate Improvement Plan (R20 million)

We have developed a sustainable Senior Certificate Improvement Plan to
improve the performance of our grade 12s. We launched the plan on 25 January
2007, as we had promised at the release of the 2006 Senior Certificate
Examinations results. The focus is on all schools with a pass rate below 50%,
as well as schools that fluctuated in performance over the last five years.
Schools with a performance backflow exceeding 10% will also be targeted through
specific interventions.

Our Senior Certificate Improvement Plan is based on the premise that the
school remains the central place for the execution of the core mandate of the
Department of Education. The Top Management of the Department under my
leadership has been visiting all districts to meet school management teams from
all underperforming and fluctuating schools. Likewise, district, circuit and
ward officials have been visiting and supporting underperforming schools and
are monitoring the implementation of the turnaround plans that each
underperforming school developed early this year. We also met with all
principals of underperforming schools during February 2007 in an effort to
enable them to excel.

The Department has allocated R20 million rand for this intervention, and we
are confident that it will yield the desired results.

Masifundisane (R100 million)

Chairperson, as I indicated earlier, the Masifundisane Adult Literacy
Campaign is making good progress, with 33 000 learners already recruited from
churches, farms, prisons, workplaces and communities.

Our literacy tutors are reaching the hills and valleys of our province where
illiterate citizens reside. We aim to accelerate the pace in the 2007/8
financial year and will reach an additional 300 000 learners and provide work
to approximately 3000 facilitators and 300 supervisors/assessors in this
financial year. Another development for this year is � besides teaching in
isiZulu - to provide teaching in isiXhosa, SeSotho, English and Braille.

We have allocated R100 million for this programme.

ICT Roll out:

The White Paper on e-Education requires that all learners and educators in
the General Education and Training (GET) and Further Education and Training
(FET) bands are ICT competent by the year 2013. In the 2007/08 financial year
an additional R40 million has been allocated for the roll-out of ICT.

A further 100 computer laboratories will be established in schools to ensure
the integration of ICT into the teaching and learning process. In addition to
the specialised ICT training to the FET educators, basic computer training will
be offered to educators and managers.

An allocation of approximately R300 million per year over the next six years
is required if we are to meet our target by 2013 in line with the goals of
White Paper 7.

Recapitalisation of technical and focus schools

I referred earlier to our achievements on the recapitalisation of technical
and focus schools in our quest to achieve excellence in vocational skills
training. Given that most of these schools are located in disadvantaged
communities, it is our intention to continue with our programme of
recapitalisation that we started in 2006/7. In this regard, the Department has
allocated R110 million over the 2006/07-2008/9 MTEF to recapitalise these
schools. The budget for the 2007/8 financial year is R40 million. The intention
is to supply these schools with tools, new equipment and facilities for
practical training, as well as upgraded and new hardware and software for IT
programmes.

As part of our promotion of focus schools, and with specific reference to
agricultural high schools, our Department has partnered with the Department of
Agriculture and Environmental Affairs to provide curricular and other support
to these schools from the current financial year.

Infrastructure

Eliminating the backlog in the provision of classrooms and toilets remains a
challenge for the Department, primarily because of the lack of capacity among
contractors to execute the number of projects planned. The Department will
continue its Fast-Track Classroom Construction Programme (named �Accelerated
Needs Delivery Programme�) and pay even more attention to the provision of
water and sanitation facilities, as some old facilities have reached expiry
dates. This year, we aim to build 1750 classrooms and 2500 toilets in schools
across the province. For this purpose, the Department has allocated R974
million.

In order to create the necessary capacity for the successful implementation
of the Infrastructure Development Improvement Programme (IDIP), the Department
intends putting in place a high level operational support team to transfer
skills and build the capacity of our officials to handle our infrastructure
development programme in a more efficient and effective manner. Only through a
highly competent cadre are we able to excel even further in the delivery of
infrastructure to our schools.

QIDS-UP Programme

Chairperson, the Quality Improvement, Development, Support and Upliftment
Programme (QIDS-UP) is a redress programme aimed at giving all South African
schools an equal chance to provide quality education for all their learners. It
is based on the following critical assumptions: that poverty is the most
dominant reality for the majority of learners in the country; that these
learners largely attend schools located in rural, farm and township schools;
and that a large number of schools in South Africa serving poor learners do not
have the basic minimum resources required to make quality learning
possible.

For 2007/08 we have allocated a budget of R40 million to this programme. The
target group consists of primary schools in Quintile 1. We plan to add
Quintiles 2 and 3 schools and 30 special schools in the next three years.

The schools targeted by the QIDS UP programme will receive learning and
teaching support materials to improve literacy, basic operational equipment
such as photocopiers and fax machines, and renovations to ensure safe learning
spaces.

More books to our schools

Another R40 million has been allocated to expand the delivery of library
books to our schools in 2007/08 and a further allocation of R12 million will
ensure that each of our 12 education district have a mobile library, which will
service a cluster of at least 16 schools, reaching 20 000 learners per cluster.
The Department is currently implementing a Provincial Reading Policy in which
100 schools are used as a pilot to improve the reading levels of learners.

School safety

School safety is a broader societal problem that has found its way into our
schools, with deadly consequences as we have witnessed in recent times.

This year we will erect fences at all schools that do not have them. We will
also be exploring the employment of security officers as part of the Expanded
Public Works Programme. High risk schools will be targeted in this regard.

The Department will also be expanding the Tiisa Thuto programme to 15 more
schools in districts such as Obonjeni, which were not catered for in this
programme in the previous financial year.

In May this year, we will be convening a Provincial School Safety and
Security Indaba at which all stakeholders will be afforded an opportunity to
make inputs that will contribute to making our schools safe spaces for learners
and educators. Only a combined effort by people from all walks of life will get
us closer to crime-free schools.

Our peace pledge, launched at our provincial prayer rally for peace at
Esikhawini two weeks ago, will be taken to all schools in the province.
Learners and teachers are expected to sign the pledge and commit themselves to
promoting respect for each other, peace, security and the dignity of fellow
learners and teachers. This will later be rolled out to parents and all
communities.

Building bridges and roads project

We are working closely with the Department of Transport to provide access
roads and bridges to some of our inaccessible schools. We provided the
Department of Transport with a database which indicated the condition of access
roads to all schools. The Department of Transport has since allocated an amount
of R82 million for upgrading roads and constructing pedestrian bridges,
including access roads and bridges to schools, for the 2006/2007 financial
year.

This will relieve the burden of walking to school over rough terrain for
thousands of children in rural areas. A joint task team is being established
between the Departments of Education, Transport and Works and we appreciate
this cooperation.

Human Resource Management

The 2007/8 budget will allow the creation of 2000 posts to be allocated for
the provision of substitute educators at any given time. In addressing the need
for curriculum transformation at previously disadvantaged schools we have
created a further 955 posts for curriculum redress.

A total of 455 posts have been created for the Grade R sector. These posts
will be allocated to previously disadvantaged schools, as they were not
afforded this luxury under the old dispensation.

To address the shortage of educators in subjects such as Mathematics,
Physical Sciences, Travel and Tourism, Accounting, Economics, Business
Economics, Technology, Computer Studies and Biology, we are recruiting retired
teachers. To date the Department has registered 427 applicants. These educators
will be appointed on a contractual part time basis where required.

As a long term proactive strategy, the department is planning for the
placement of teacher assistants in the Foundation Phase. The teacher assistants
will relieve the Permanent Foundation Phase teachers of approximately 40% of
classroom management actions which are not necessarily direct teaching input.
Foundation Phase learners will benefit from increased individual attention,
thus laying a sound literacy and numeracy foundation at an early crucial stage.
It will set learners on a firm path towards readiness to excel.

The department is also deploying teacher assistants in critical gateway
subjects. The Senior Certificate teacher assistants will be recruited from
retired teachers, unemployed university graduates and even retired lecturers
for that matter. This intervention is aimed at providing excellence.

National School Nutrition Programme

The National School Nutrition Programme will include special schools and
Grade R learners in registered community-based sites in 2007/08. Based on what
we have learnt from this programme we will be increasing, with effect from the
new financial year, the number of learners served by each Cooperative to 6 000
in order to ensure that the co-operatives begin to make some profit from their
endeavours. During the year 2007/2008 all primary schools in quintiles 1 and 2,
special schools and community based ECD sites that are in nodal areas will
participate in the programme.

For the first time in history all schools with learners with special
educational needs will have the opportunity to join the programme. Twenty-five
new LSEN schools will benefit in the 2007/08 financial year in addition to the
16 that are already participating in the programme. The remaining LSEN schools
are either boarding schools or day schools that did not indicate in writing
that they wanted to be involved in the scheme.

Through the sustainable food production programme in partnership with the
Departments of Agriculture, Health, Welfare and ELITS (non-governmental
organisation (NGO), 85 schools have been selected to participate in this
Flemish funded project.

The invoices for the March expenditure in respect of the National School
Nutrition Programme are only received and processed during April, which falls
into the next financial year, thus falling outside of the grant allocated for a
particular financial year. The Department is investigating solutions to this
perennial problem.

Public Special School Education

This financial year will bring great relief for parents of learners with
special needs. For the first time in history the department will provide
transport for these learners. They are the most vulnerable and need special
protection. R20 million has been put aside for this purpose. We have increased
the budget for this programme to address the uneven distribution of special
schools in the province. The planning for three new special schools for
delivery in the 2008/09 financial year in Hlabisa, Msinga and Eshowe has
already started.

In line with our plan to convert ordinary schools and special schools into
inclusive centres of learning, we will convert two schools in the 2007/2008
financial year into full service schools, as well as renovating nine LSEN
schools.

Further Education and Training

The department has nine FET institutions and 74 delivery sites in the
province that offer a wide range of programmes in order to respond fully to the
needs of the communities, commerce, industry and macro-economic initiatives in
KwaZulu-Natal. To this end, more linkages and partnerships between FET
colleges, industries, and business, the Department of Labour, the Sector
Education and Training Authority (SETAs) and the Departments of Finance and
Economic Development are critical to ensure that colleges provide a range of
learning programmes which are responsive to the labour market and cover diverse
needs. Furthermore, the outreach programme was extended and a number of new
skills training sites are being developed to increase access to training in
selected rural areas.

Early Childhood Development

The department is currently developing a strategy for Grade R Roll-Out aimed
at meeting the 2010 goals articulated in White Paper five. The strategy will be
premised on the policy directive of White Paper five which requires that, by
2010, all learners entering Grade 1 should have gone through the Grade R
reception year.

We will prioritise the poorest schools in rolling out Grade R classes. The
department will start by providing Grade R to the poorest learners in quintiles
one and two, before proceeding to quintile three; formulating a resourcing
strategy outlining the extent of the need for Grade R classes and the financial
implications thereof; building the human resource capacity which relates to
qualifications, conditions of employment and a remuneration mechanism for ECD
practitioners; determining the curriculum, learning and teaching support
materials and other resources that enhance the quality of early learning
programmes.; determining infrastructure needs essential for the age group.

The districts are identifying new sites for Grade R in public schools, as it
is envisaged that the minimum number of sites per district in 2007/08 will be
100. The Department is not phasing in additional community-based sites, since
White Paper 5 suggests a ratio of 85% public schools to 15% community based
sites. The provincial ratio is currently 75:25.

Child Eye Care Programme in Primary Schools

An estimated 45 000 children in KZN schools need spectacles. An
inter-sectoral project by the International Centre for Eye Care Education
Africa (ICEE) will benefit all primary schools in KZN by immediately delivering
eye care services to children in need and concurrently strengthen and develop
the capacity of existing government structures to deliver ongoing eye care
services to all primary school children in the province. This joint project
with the Department of Health will result in vision screening at 4 353 primary
schools, while an estimated 36 000 spectacles and 400 low vision devices will
be dispensed.

School Sports Mass Participation Programme

The School Sports Mass Participation Programme the joint intra-school and
inter-school project with the Department of Sport and Recreation that started
in the previous financial year will continue in the 2007/08 financial year and
a further nine clusters and 162 schools will be introduced into the programme.
Equipment will be given to 321 schools and all contract employees and 5 778
educators and or volunteers will be trained. For this financial year 36 cluster
festivals will be organised.

Presentation of the department's budget

The following programmes are key delivery areas that the department will be
pursuing during the 2007/08 financial year:

Programme 1: Administration: (Budget R1 084 282 000)

This programme contains the funds for the Executive Authority and the
overall management of the Department as shown below:

The Office of the MEC: (Budget R14 090 000)

There is a slight decrease in the current budget as opposed to the prior
year�s budget of R18 689 000. This is due to once off activities undertaken as
a result of the restructuring to the Office of the MEC. Approximately R4,5
million of the budget of the Office of the MEC will be used for bursaries for
students to study towards a teaching qualification at tertiary institutions and
about R4,7 million will be used for schools that achieved a 100% pass rate and
schools that have shown a dramatic improvement in their Grade 12 results.

Education Management: (Budget R1 070 192 000)

Education Management is made up of a number of components including
Corporate Services, Human Resources Development (HRD), HIV and AIDS Conditional
Grant and Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) which are
specifically disclosed in the Budget Statement as required by the Education
sector. As explained in the paragraph above, there are certain activities which
we did not cater for in this financial year because there were once off
expenditures, solely to support the restructuring of the department, which is
almost complete. Under this sub-programme we specifically provide:

* R35 292 000 to HIV and AIDS to assist in the fight against this
pandemic
* R61 441 to HRD for training and development of the administration staff
* R34 859 000 to EMIS for the improvement in the collection, capturing,
analysing and provision of data, including statistical data.

Programme 2: Public ordinary schools: (Budget R16 078 596 000)

The lion's share of the department�s budget is for providing learning and
teaching facilities in our public ordinary schools. Listed below are
sub-programmes in this programme:

Public Ordinary Schools: (Budget R15 582 029 000)

This budget combines the allocation for ordinary primary and secondary
schools. 84% of this budget is for the remuneration of educators and the rest
is for norms and standards (11%) and infrastructure development (5%).

Access to basic education is a constitutional right. Yet for many learners,
especially in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, access is hampered by the long
distances that our children have to travel to school.

To provide transport to learners in KwaZulu-Natal would require more than
R900 million which is money that we don't have in our budget. We only have a
R10 million allocations to deal with emergency cases and this is cause for
great concern to us as well as to all our stakeholders, in particular to our
children and their parents. We have also been working closely with the
Department of Transport to make walking routes to schools safe and secure and
to provide bridges and road infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.

Professional Services: (Budget R79 331 000)

In line with the Education sector requirements we have combined the
previously separated budgets of Advisory services and Planning services. The
increase in this component was limited to 4%. This is an area in which future
increases will be significant in order to address the shortage of Subject
Advisors.

Human Resources Development: (Budget R126 780 000)

This budget combines the allocations for Skills Development.

In-school Sport and Culture: (Budget R30 450 000)

This component provides in-school sports and in-school cultural activities
as well as youth activities. Its activities are severely affected by its
under-funding. It needs to be borne in mind that when the Department of Arts
and Culture as well as the Department of Sports and Recreation were formed,
their budgets were moved from Education to them. However, in-schools Sports and
Culture was assigned to the department, but the budget did not follow. We had
to make funding available from other programmes, but the allocation remains
inadequate, although we are progressively increasing this budget.

National school nutrition programme: (Budget R260 006 000)

The budget for school nutrition is systematically growing, with an 8,62%
growth in the current financial year. Ideally we should cover all the poor
schools, including such high schools and this is our medium to long term
goal.

Programme 3: Independent school subsidies: (Budget R48 702 000)
The budget for this programme has increased by 5% in the current year which is
a normal increase.

Programme 4: Public special school education: (Budget R359 296 000)

The budget for Special Schools has increased by 21% in order to address the
shortage of Special Schools in the Province. Planning and the documentation for
the renovation of nine schools and the conversion of two schools into full
service schools are well advanced and construction will soon start. The
planning for three new special schools in 2008/2009 has also started: Intuthuko
(Hlabisa), Ukukhanya koMsinga (Msinga) and Thembinfundo (Eshowe) will be
completed in the 2008/2009.

Programme 5: Further Education and Training: (Budget R401 275 000)

The budget for this programme includes the conditional grant of R115 453 000
for recapitalisation. Increased funding is required to do justice to the dire
need for skills training in the province.

Programme 6 � Adult Basic Education and Training: (Budget R106 968 000)

The budget for this programme excludes the Masifundisane budget, which was
moved to Programme 8 in line with the requirements of the Education Sector.
Excluding the Masifundisane budget in the 2006/07 budget, the budget for the
formal ABET programme has increased by R12 013 000.

Programme 7: Early Childhood Development: (Budget R167 697 000)

The programme has two sub-programmes, namely Grade R in Community Centres
and Grade R in Public schools. We will be adding 1655 new subsidized Grade R
classes to public primary schools. Another improvement is that all Grade R
classes will receive R1500 for equipment. Salaried subsidies have also
increased from R1500 to R1750 per month in the 2007/08 financial year.

Programme 8: Auxiliary Services: (Budget R330 005 000)

The programme has three sub-programmes, namely Examination Services (R215
237 000), Payments to Sectoral Education and Training Authority (SETA) (R14 768
000) and Masifundisane (R100 million).

Conclusion

Everyone in this House will agree that the task at hand is enormous, but the
resolve to ensure optimal operational efficiency and effectiveness is as
constant as the North Star.

We commit ourselves to continuously enhance the efficiency and capacity of
the department to respond adequately to the ever-changing needs of the varied
communities we serve. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all
members of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education for the remarkable
contributions they have made through their unstinting commitment to the
transformation of education in the province. I offer my heartfelt thanks to the
Honourable Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sbu Ndebele; the Executive Council, the
Portfolio Committees on Education and on Finance, as well as the Standing
Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Speaker and Members of the
Provincial Legislature support in "getting KwaZulu-Natal Learning."

In conclusion, this budget will go some way to enable us to reach sustained
levels of improvement and quality in the future. However, we still need to
achieve quality learning outcomes for all our learners, optimal conditions for
quality teaching for our teachers and effective and responsive support
mechanisms that create the basis for a working system of education. A long
winding road lies ahead but we in this province are ready to excel with your
help and support, Honourable Members.

Honourable Chair, I commend this Budget to the House.

Ngiyabonga! Baie dankie! Enkosi! I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Education, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
2 May 2007