Honourable Speaker, Mr SW Lubisi
Honourable Deputy Speaker, Ms Violet Siwela
Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Head of Department, Mrs Mahlasedi Mhlabane
Members of the Audit Committee
Representatives from Higher Education Institutions
Organised Labour Formations
Representatives from the House of Traditional Leaders
Associations of School Governing Bodies
Circuit and School Patrons
Members of the Examination Board
Ms Mpumalanga 2012, Lungile Lubambo
Representatives from the Media
Members of the community who are listening from different radio stations.
Sanibonani
Honourable Speaker, our core business and mandatory obligation is to ensure quality delivery of curriculum, improvement of learner outcomes, enhancement of skills and human resource development.
This is the course we are not prepared to compromise and I wish to use this opportunity to send a clarion call to all communities, structures and organisations to continue to rally side by side with the department for the realisation of these noble goals.
At the occasion of the delivery of the State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza said:
Open quote “… Our development, prosperity and the realisation of our vision for a better society depends on our ability to provide access to quality education. Education remains one of the critical levers to reverse the cycle of intergenerational poverty and growing inequalities in our society.
Our leadership successes must be measured in how our education system creates an environment for children from poor households on farms, and those in rural areas and townships to imagine and realise endless possibilities for a better life, free from poverty and social deprivation.” Close quote
It is on this basis, that the African National Congress, the ruling party in government has amongst all its priorities put education at the top.
Curriculum Implementation
Studies have proven that a school curriculum consists of three components namely teaching and assessment, learning outcomes and assessment standards.
When all these components work together in a properly aligned manner, education becomes efficient and learners get an opportunity to excel in their scholastic activities.
Following the announcement of the 2010 Grade 12 results, I commissioned an investigation into the internal assessment practices and a report was tabled at the occasion of the Provincial Education Indaba in Secunda on 1 to 2 April 2011.
The investigation was intended to take stock of the extent to which assessment is managed in lower grades and to remedy existing problems.
That report presented findings and trends which were disconcerting but further made recommendations to address those concerns.
In 2012, we took that process further by commissioning a study on the 31 schools which performed below 30% following the 2011 Grade 12 results.
A report to this effect has already been tabled and we have already engaged Curriculum Implementers on its content.
All these investigations are primarily intended to ensure that as we make interventions, we do so from an informed position and in a manner that can sustain improvements.
Interventions on school improvement will henceforth be informed by the outcomes of these investigations including those done by the Department of Basic Education at National level. This is practical confirmation of our commitment and willingness to improve the delivery of education for the better.
Our commitment to the delivery of quality education services for 2012/13 will be seen in the following five priorities which are aligned to the South African Education Sector Plan contained in Action Plan 2014, Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025 and in the Provincial Schooling Transformation and Reform Strategy (STaRs):
- Early Childhood Development
- Literacy and numeracy improvement
- Matric improvement
- MST (Increasing maths and science intake and output) and
- School management, governance and leadership
Early Childhood Development (ECD )
Honourable Speaker, the National Planning Commission’s Diagnostic Report and the National Development Plan released in 2011 states that access to Grade R has improved. However, there has been no supporting empirical evidence of its impact on learners’ school readiness for Grade 1 going forward.
To ensure that there is impact, the Department continues to provide on-site support to practitioners in improving their facilitation, assessment, support and record-keeping practices.
The training of our practitioners will be informed by practitioner development needs as sourced from curriculum visit reports and learner assessment scores from a standardised assessment tool modelled on CAPS.
Honourable Speaker, the department has provided play and activity based resources to 1003 schools and 240 community based centres in 2011.
In addition, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) provided workbooks and the Grade R resource kits to schools and community based centres. These play and activity resources are utilised by practitioners to facilitate skills through constant practice, repetition, encouragement and modelling.
We wish to take this time to encourage all our communities to make use of this opportunity by exposing their children to pre grade R classes.
To strengthen our collaboration with sister departments and other stakeholders the department will convene the Early Childhood Development Summit before the end of this quarter.
The department has set aside a budget of R213 million to train ECD practitioners on NQF level four and five Qualification, to provide LTSM and related equipment’s and for the provisioning of the physical infrastructure for Grade R.
Literacy and Numeracy Improvement
The Mpumalanga Department of Education has 1 363 registered primary schools in 4 districts.
When the 2010 Annual National Assessments Results were released by the Minister of Basic Education, our province did not fare well. This necessitated the development of a strategy to accelerate our interventions.
The department has initiated the Provincial Annual Assessment to provide a comprehensive and focused diagnosis of the system. This was done in November 2011, with specific focus on languages and mathematics targeting all Grades 3 and 6 learners.
The 2012 Annual National Assessment will be written in Grades three, six and nine for mathematics and languages in September 2012 and we have already put systems in place to ensure a smooth management of the process.
Our targets for this year are: 49% for mathematics and literacy in Grade 3, 49% for Mathematics and Languages in Grade 6 and 49% and 51% for languages and mathematics in Grade nine respectively.
We urge all schools, teachers, parents and learners to work hard to achieve these targets.
The department has allocated R70 million to ensure that learners in Grades three, six and nine perform at the required level in literacy and numeracy.
Matric Improvement
Honourable Speaker, the Province has 528 Secondary Schools writing public exams.
Performance at this level is mainly measured by the learner outcomes at Grade 12 level. This has shown a steady increase from 47.9% in 2009 to 64.8% in 2011.
In essence, this means that the Province has in the past two years improved the Grade 12 results by 17%.
What is even more gratifying is that for the past two years, the department managed an incident free and credible Grade 12 examination process.
We attribute this outcome to the support and encouragement we received from this August House, the Executive Council, Portfolio Committee, the hard work of educators, learners, labour unions, support from parents and other community structures including business.
Honourable Speaker, our overall best learner in the province is Thabiso Solomon Moabi who is from a previously disadvantaged community.
Thabiso was the provincial best learner in Economics, Business Studies and Accounting. He was amongst the top ten learners in the country and the overall best learner in the country from the quintile three schools.
He is currently at the University of Pretoria furthering his studies in BCom Accounting on receipt of a full bursary from Price Waterhouse Coopers.
His mother has graced this occasion and I request this house to applaud her.
Let me once more express our delight to educators, parents, stakeholders and all who directly and indirectly contributed towards the success of the 2011 Grade 12 results.
While we celebrate this achievement, we are mindful of the fact that there are 31 schools that performed below 30% in the Province.
The department has developed an intensive intervention programme to ensure that there will be no school that performs below 30% in 2012.
The intervention programme includes but is not limited to compulsory externally set monthly tests; the allocation of mentors to these schools; and the implementation of the adopt-a-school programme by Senior Managers and Members of the Executive Council.
The department has set aside R24 million towards the improvement of the Grade 12 results through purposeful intervention programmes like winter schools, weekend classes and dedicated media programmes.
2012 Targets
Honourable Speaker, in our quest to maintain the increasing trends at Grade 12 level, a target of 74.8% has been set for the Grade 12 class of 2012.
The Basic Education Sector was allocated funds in 2011/12 as a conditional grant to improve the conditions of all Dinaledi schools throughout the country. 46 of these schools are in Mpumalanga.
In the first year of the Dinaledi grant the department was allocated a total amount of R6 440 million. For the first year, 93% of the grant was allocated for providing equipment to Dinaledi schools and 7% for training.
The purpose of the grant is to improve the participation and performance of learners in high level mathematics and physical sciences in line with the National Strategy for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.
In 2012/13, R9172 million has been set aside to achieve the objectives for the Dinaledi schools in the province.
This includes increasing the number of learners that pass mathematics from 9 199 to 11 300 and physical sciences from 8 352 to 11 300 respectively.
The department has directed schools to ensure that all learners from Grade 10 who take physical science also take mathematics instead of maths literacy.
We plan to have 17 000 learners taking up physical science and 30 000 taking up mathematics in Grade 10 in this financial year.
This endeavour will be supported through demonstrative formal and informal methods, e.g. camps, career exhibitions, expos, partnerships with big business and media programmes.
Teacher Development
Honourable Speaker, central to all these interventions are teacher development programmes.
The department will during this financial year spend R25 million towards capacitating teachers on the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement.
As part of upgrading teachers to REQV 14, the department will support the 106 educators registered at the University of Limpopo for senior phase maths and Science in January 2012, and the 200 foundation phase teachers at North West University registered for literacy and numeracy.
In addressing the content gap challenges, 400 educators will be registered for short courses in areas identified by through the curriculum monitoring process. This programme will focus on the teachers from underperforming schools.
School Management, Governance and Leadership
Honourable Speaker, school governance and leadership remain the corner stone for effective schools. We have established a consultative forum to facilitate interaction between the Department and the parent community through their representatives.
The 2012 elections of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) took place from 1 to 31 March 2012 and progressed with great success.
I also take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all the men and women who volunteered their time to be part of the School Governing Bodies. At the same time, I want to thank the former members for their contribution in improving the delivery of education in this Province.
An orientation programme will take place soon and will be followed by an intensive training of the 7 000 members of School Governing Bodies before the end of this financial year. This training will focus on the following topics:
Democratic School Governance, Financial Management, Diversity Management, Supply Chain Management, Policy Development, Conducting Effective Meetings, Interviewing Skills, Nutrition Management, Scholar Transport Management and Schools as Nodes of Care and Support.
The department has allocated R8, 2 million towards building the required capacity of School Governing Body Members.
Leadership
Our view is that a school is as good as its leadership. For our schools to become self managing institutions that do not require external interventions, the department will invest in the enhancement of the capacity of school management teams.
To this effect, R8, 7 Million will be spent to enrol 260 school managers on the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE): School Leadership Programme and for induction and orientation of newly appointed school managers.
7340 school safety committee members will also be trained on the improvement of school safety measures including random search and seizure and drug testing. To this effect the department has set aside R2,5 million
National School Nutrition Programme
Mpumalanga is a rural province. The SERO Report indicates that a majority of our households live below the poverty line and are hungry. This would have a negative impact on the learning process for children who come from these households.
To counteract this, 835 444 learners from quintile one to three primary and secondary schools will continue to receive a meal each school day through the National School Nutrition Programme.
This is to ensure that learners are cognitively alert throughout the school day. R475 million has been set aside to achieve this.
823 food gardens will be established and maintained to supplement this programme in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration.
We urge our schools to ensure that once these gardens have been established they should be maintained.
No-Fee Schools
Honourable Speaker, Mpumalanga Province has 1 635 No-Fee Schools constituting 82% of our schools. The department has allocated R393 million to provide continued support to all No Fee Schools and Section 21 schools and to disburse the funds in accordance with approved policies and guidelines.
Scholar Transport
Honourable Speaker, the department has signed a Service Level Agreement with the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport to ensure that the function of ferrying learners between school and home progresses without hindrances.
At the same time, a team has been established to monitor this activity and to address challenges proactively as they occur.
The Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport is responsible for funding this programme.
Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM)
Honourable Speaker, the national Department of Basic Education will continue to deliver lesson plans for Grades R to 9 as well as work books and teacher manuals for Grades 1-12.
The target for the department is to ensure that all the LTSM for the 2013 academic year are in schools by 15 December 2012. For this deadline to be achieved, I want to make a call to all our schools to comply with the LTSM Policy by adhering with the schedule that was sent to them.
The department has set aside R411 million towards the provisioning of CAPS textbooks for Grades 4 to 6 and Grade 11 and stationary for Grades R to 12.
Enhancement of School Infrastructure
Honourable Speaker, the department in collaboration with the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport is making strides in improving school infrastructure to ensure conducive conditions for teaching and learning.
We also concede that there are schools which are currently experiencing overcrowding due to a shortage of classes, need for renovations, improvement of sanitation systems and fixing of storm damaged buildings and areas that require new schools.
Some of these are schools which were constructed a long time ago, many by communities on their own and require urgent attention. Most of these schools are in the Bushbuckridge Municipality, Bohlabela District.
In trying to understand the magnitude of this challenge the department commissioned an assessment of the condition of all the public schools during the 2011/12 financial year.
This report will help the province to understand the challenges of infrastructure in a holistic manner and will be the basis of future planning.
In 2010/11, the department announced its programme for eradicating the identified 254 mud and unsafe structures.
Of these 254 projects, 234 have been completed and 20 will be completed in the 2012/13 financial year.
In 2011, the department embarked on 255 school infrastructureprojects at an allocated cost of R620 million.
This included the construction of eight new schools and two boarding schools, namely Ezakheni and Shongwe at Mkhondo and Nkomazi Municipality respectively.
The boarding schools are an intention to ensure that learners from farms and communities living below the breadline are catered for in an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning.
There are 176 school projects that the department will be focusing on at an allocated cost of R692, 387 million for the 2012/13 financial year. Of these school projects 70 are storm damaged schools that need to be repaired as a matter of urgency before the next rainy season.
We also want to express our appreciation to all persons and organisations that supported the department during the rainy days in particular the leadership of BHP Billiton Energy South Africa (BECSA) who committed R2 million towards projects aimed at addressing storm damaged schools.
We reiterate our position and willingness to ensure that all our schools are in a safe and sound condition for the enhancement of teaching and learning.
We are equally mindful of the fact that we may require billions of rands to completely alleviate this infrastructure challenge.
Special Schools
Honourable Speaker, the department has 18 public special schools which serve children with severe disabilities, those who are in conflict with the law and those who need care and protection.
The latter category will henceforth be transferred to the Department of Social Development in accordance with the Children’s Act of 2005 No 38 as promulgated in April 2010.
While the transfers will take place, the department will still be responsible for the provisioning of educational programmes within these centres.
There are 140 public ordinary schools that have been designated as full service schools to cater for learners with moderate disabilities in line with White Paper 6 of Inclusive Education in this province.
These schools have already been provided with assistive devices, communication devices, Braille, large print material, adapted computers and voice synthesizers. The Department will continue to provide these schools with specialised LTSM as the need arises.
We have also planned to train special school educators on CAPS, First Aid, Sexuality Education and programmes on Stress Management. The Special School Child and Youth Care workers will be trained on residential programmes and minimum standards.
Honourable Speaker, present in this August House is, Sibusiso Judas Mdaka (30) who is blind but determined to get his matric certificate.
Sibusiso has enrolled to write the Qedibanga Examinations (May/June) and will this year sit for English, Afrikaans and SiSwati.
He did his secondary education up to Grade 11 in 1998 at Ncakeni Secondary School before he completely lost his sight. That development challenged him to the extent that he could not further his studies.
In 2010, he enrolled at Optima College for a Computer and Call Centre Certificate. He is determined to write his examinations towards his matric certificate.
His courage and love for education is really an inspiration to some of us and in that context, I request this house to applaud him for that.
Further more, the department will proceed with its plans to improve the infrastructure for special schools to ensure that no learner is denied access to education due to a disability.
To this effect, the department will build a school for children with multiple disabilities in the Bushbuckridge Municipality, Bohlabela District consisting of ten classrooms with supporting facilities, an administration block, school hall, three workshops and two garages.
At the same time, the planning and design for the school for the deaf in Mbombela Municipality will be finalised to ensure the commencement of construction in the 2013/14 financial year.
Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)
Honourable Speaker, in our quest to improve the quality of the provisioning of education to our adult citizens, who through no fault of their own could not access education, the Department will ensure that all educators qualified as ABET E-practitioners get a three year contract as opposed to the current one year contract .
This is intended to stabilise the system and to improve the delivery of education at that level.
The department will also train ABET educators towards a recognised qualification in Adult Basic Education and we also intend to partner with Further Education and Training Colleges to introduce a programme mix at NQF level 4 that is incorporating skills training.
The department has set aside R130 million to achieve this.
Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges
Honourable Speaker, the FET Colleges in Mpumalanga have once again raised the provincial flag high with their outstanding performance following the 2011 National Curriculum Vocational (NCV) examinations.
I am delighted to mention that Mpumalanga FET Colleges obtained the best results in the country jointly with the Western Cape.
Mpumalanga achieved a certification rate of 55% which is joint first with Western Cape against the 43% National average.
Even more impressive is the 45% throughput rate of Mpumalanga FETs which is the best in the country against the 30% national average.
Ms Mbale Xaba was declared the overall best student from FET Colleges having obtained seven distinctions with an overall average of 89%.
She comes from a rural area, but rose above all odds to make her name mentioned amongst the best of the best.
We are really proud of her achievement and I request that we respect this daughter of the soil by applauding her achievement.
However, this achievement does not go without challenges. Our biggest challenge now is our ability to place qualifying learners in the workplace for experiential training.
We are making a clarion call to all government institutions as well as the private sector to help us provide opportunities to FET Students to do experiential training. This is imperative since it is one of the requirements for them to acquire a qualification.
Honourable Speaker, the department has set aside R343 million for improving teaching and learning at this level and to implement learner support programmes that include financial assistance, academic and appointment of placement officers in the three colleges. The department has targeted to enrol 11 338 NCV students in this financial year.
Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT)
The Department of Education continues to find ways of strengthening and enhancing skills development efforts in the province in response to the Mpumalanga Economic Growth and Development Strategy, the Mpumalanga Human Resource Development Strategy and the 2012 State of the Province Address recently delivered by the Honourable Premier, DD Mabuza. Honourable Speaker, the province has taken a new approach in ensuring that skills training and development is directly linked to job creation and poverty alleviation.
As such, we have increased the responsibility and mandate of our trusted and reliable skills development agency, the Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT), to ensure this new objective is realised and achieved.
Through MRTT we will ensure that all the people who were previously trained in the National Youth Services (NYS) and the Comprehensive Rural Development Programmes (CRDP) are tracked down and profiled to establish their currently profile.
Those who are found to be still unemployed will be taken for further full artisan qualification training; some will be assisted with workplace opportunities and others in an incubation programme.
This new approach we are taking speaks directly to the National Skills Development Strategy III and the Mpumalanga Human Resource Development Strategy. We trust that MRTT in partnership with identified relevant stakeholders will be able to carry out this mandate to their best capabilities.
Honourable Speaker, our new approach through MRTT in developing skills and assisting those who find it difficult to re-enter the workplace will be achieved. A total of 1127 unemployed youth who were previously trained in construction related programmes will be assisted as follows for further training and workplace opportunities:
- 300 learners for further training in Building & Civil Construction NQF Level 3;
- 200 NYS Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport Learners still to be confirmed for workplace opportunities and incubation programme;
- 249 NYS Department of Social Development learners for further training in Community Development Practice NQF level 5; and
- 627 CRDP learners for workplace and incubation programme.
In addition, 100 Out of School Youth with maths and science will be targeted for scarce skills training in Air-Conditioning Refrigeration NQF level 2. Plans and preparations have already started in profiling previously trained learners to establish their needs for further training and job creations as indicated above. Moreover, MRTT is also already in talks with relevant stakeholders such as Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA),Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to assist with job creation opportunities.
Honourable Speaker, I am delighted to announce that MRTT has made the Mpumalanga province proud in the Hospitality & Tourism Industry by excelling and outperforming all other provinces in a craft skills and chefs, joint project sponsored by the National Department of Tourism and the South African Chefs Association.
A total of 25 students obtained internationally recognised Certificate in Culinary Arts from City & Guilds of London.
The outstanding performance put, not just MRTT on top in the food industry, but the Mpumalanga province has been applauded for breaking the cycle of hopelessness as far as skills development and job creation is concerned.
These students were offered another opportunity to further their studies by enrolling in any of the 25 institutions for National Youth Chefs with full funding their studies. As such we, applaud MRTT for their continuous efforts in enhancing skills development and job creation for our young people in the province.
The department has set aside R93 million to achieve these goals.
Establishment of a University for the Province
Honourable Speaker, at the occasion of the delivery of his Budget Speech on 24 April 2012, the Minister of Higher Education and Training; Dr Blade Nzimande stated that:
Open Quote “The basis of any good education system is the quality of its teachers and we continue to strengthen teacher education.
… In order to expand our capacity to produce new teachers, we will open the former Ndebele College Campus in Mpumalanga for foundation phase teacher education in 2013.”Close Quote
The department has a keen interest in ensuring the realisation of this goal; as such R25 Million has been set aside for the renovation of the former Ndebele College to ensure a smooth intake of at least 100 students next year.
Our view is that this must serve to deliver the education faculty for the envisaged university for Mpumalanga going forward.
The department welcomes the commitment made by the Minister of Higher Education and Training that the first intake of students in the University of Mpumalanga will be at the start of the academic year 2014.
The Minister further made a commitment to announce in three months’ time the seat of learning of each new institution after a full assessment has been done and after relevant stakeholders have been consulted.
It will be just that an opportunity is given to the Minister of Higher Education and Training to consider the reports and to make the announcement as he promised.
Human Resource Development
Honourable Speaker, the department has finalised the Provincial Human Resources Development Strategy (HRDS).
Added to this, a multi-sectoral steering committee was inaugurated on 27March 2012.
This committee will assist the Province in ensuring that the five strategic objectives of the HRDS are realised through holding dialogue with various captains of industries to obtain their commitment in collaborating with the Provincial Government to develop the skills required to drive the economy of the province.
Bursaries
The matter of centralising the bursary schemes of all the departments in the Department of Education is progressing well.
The Provincial Bursary Committee was formed and it was instrumental in developing the Provincial Bursary Policy that informed the award of bursaries for the 2012 academic year.
So far, 3147 bursaries to the value of R55, 471 million have been allocated to deserving learners and officials. This is an effort to address the shortage of critical and scarce skills required to grow the economy of the Province.
We are also grateful that Eskom, Extrata, the Robert Gumede Family Keni Foundation and the Premier’s Bursary Fund have added impetus on our quest to ensure access for students in institutions of higher learning. All these collectively made sure that about 220 students are supported with full university scholarship.
We reiterate our call to business to support government in this regard and to inform us as they make their contributions so that they can be acknowledged accordingly.
In this year we are going to advertise bursaries for the academic year 2013 in critical and scarce skills by the end of May 2012.
We call on all our Grade 12 learners to apply for these bursaries as well as for enrolment at various universities on time.
Human Resource Management
Honourable Speaker, In the 2011/12 Policy and Budget Speech we conceded that we did not do due justice in handling the matter relating to the appointment and placement of temporary educators.
It gives me pleasure to inform this house that we have since overcome that challenge following a collective agreement the department signed with teacher unions on 25 October 2011.
Through Collective Agreement No 1 of 2011, the department was able to place 2 293 temporary teachers into permanent positions.
I want to take this time and extend my appreciation to all teacher unions for their co- operation in this regard.
In this financial year, we will ensure the appointment of the Bohlabela Management Personnel as well as Curriculum Implementers for that District.
This is intended to stabilise management and the enhancement of curriculum activities for that District.
The department will advertise 303 critical posts for office based officials and for support staff in schools.
The proposed new organogram for the department has already been submitted to the Department of Public Service and Administration for ratification.
Management of Finances
Honourable Speaker, in 2010/11 the department received an unqualified audit opinion.
We are working around the clock to ensure the rectification of matters of emphasis raised by the Auditor General.
I also want to take this time to express our appreciation to the Departmental Audit Committee under the stewardship of Mr IBM Sibanyoni for the sterling work and support that they are giving the Department.
Request
Honourable Speaker, I take this time to request this August House to approve R13 billion, nine hundred and eighty three million eight hundred and sixty two thousand (R13,983.862 Billion ) allocated to the Department of Education to be used in accordance to the plans mentioned in this Policy and Budget Speech.
Conclusion
Let me take this time to express my gratitude to the visionary leadership and support from the Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza.
We also want to use this opportunity to appreciate the support and contributions from the members of the Portfolio Committee on Education; Culture, Sport and Recreation under the chairpersonship of Hon. Mamabolo.
Our appreciation also goes to Members of the Executive Council, honourable members of this august house, members of Senior Management under the leadership of the Head of Department, Mrs Mahlasedi Mhlabane and the entire staff of the Department of Education.
We are always grateful for the contribution we receive through prayers and motivation from our pastors and spiritual leaders in keeping with ISAIAH 9: 6.
We would have done injustice if we do not recognise and appreciate the noble role played by the traditional leaders, Councillors and non governmental organisations in assisting us to improve the delivery of education in the province.
My mother continues to inspire me, so does my family and my husband.
Without you this mandate was going to be insurmountable.
The support from the media both print and electronic and the business community does not go unnoticed.
An unknown author once said:
Open Quote
“Life is a book with many chapters. Some tell of tragedy, others of triumph.
Some chapters are dull and ordinary, others are intense and exciting.
The key to success in life is to never stop on a difficult page, never to quit on a tough chapter.
Champions have the courage to keep turning the pages because they know a better chapter lies ahead.
Keep turning the pages and have a blessed day.” Close Quote
Ngiyabonga
2012/13 allocations per programme
| Programme | 2012/13 |
| 1. Administration | 565012 |
| 2. Public Ordinary | 12 12 6009 |
| 3. Independent Schools | 12 467 |
| 4. Public Special Schools | 271 206 |
| 5. FET Colleges | 500 797 |
| 6. ABET | 130 274 |
| 7. ECD | 212 683 |
| 8. Aux & Associated Services | 165 414 |
| 9. Total | 13 983 862 |
