CEO of National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU), Professor Volmink
Members of the Portfolio Committee
MECs and Head of Departments (HODs)
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Indeed this auspicious occasion marks a very important milestone on our journey towards an improved quality of basic education for democratic South Africa.
We have come a long way to reach this landmark and are very excited about it.
When we mapped the Education Roadmap in 2008 we resolved to “ensure effective evaluation of all teachers based on the extent to which learner performance improves”. The launch of National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU), gives effect to this commitment that is clearly inscribed in the 10 Point Programme for improving schooling.
I therefore feel deeply honoured to be among the many distinguished guests and eminent persons together officially giving birth to the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit – in short, NEEDU.
Any national event bringing under one roof, with a great flourish of cornets, intellectuals and renowned scholars, diplomats and researchers, teacher unions and principals’ formations, as well as the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Umalusi, Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA), Higher Education South Africa (HESA), National Alliance of Independent Schools Association (NAISA), Independent Quality Assurance Agency (IQAA), school governing body (SGB) Associations, senior government officials, and many others, is worth celebrating.
Members of the Ministerial Task Team on NEEDU have indeed done us proud by making this moment possible through their good work with Professor Volmink playing a very important and great role in the formative stages of NEEDU.
For this, we thank you all!
Like all of you, the South African government is committed to improving the quality of our education system. Education remains a priority of government in terms of both its goals as well as its budgetary allocation.
The system of performance monitoring and evaluation instituted by the Presidency in 2009 provides a very strong measure of accountability for service delivery.
The delivery agreement we signed with the president, in October 2010, is equally aimed at improving performance and service delivery. More specifically, the objective of Output 1 is to improve the quality of basic education.
This output is guided by the pressing need to improve the quality of teaching and learning in all our schools. If this happens, learners will know more at the end of each school year, and will most likely remain longer in school.
‘What exactly does quality mean in the context of education?’ There are many explanations of quality in education. The terms efficiency, effectiveness, equity and quality have often been used synonymously. But, there is considerable consensus on the basic dimensions of quality education today.
It includes:
- Learners who are healthy, well-nourished and ready to participate and learn, and supported in learning by their families and communities
- Environments that are healthy, safe, protective and gender-sensitive, and provide adequate resources and facilities
- Content that is reflected in relevant curricula and materials for the acquisition of basic skills, especially in the areas of literacy, numeracy and skills for life, and knowledge in such areas as gender, health, nutrition, HIV and AIDS prevention and peace
- Processes through which trained teachers use child-centred teaching approaches in well-managed classrooms and schools and skilful assessment to facilitate learning and reduce disparities
- Outcomes that encompass knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are linked to national goals for education and active participation in society.
This approach to quality allows for an understanding of education as a complex system embedded in a political, cultural and economic context.
I must highlight that in all aspects of the school and its surrounding education community, the rights of the whole child, and all children, to survival, protection, development and participation are at the centre.
Accordingly, our focus has to be on learning which strengthens the capacities of children to act progressively through the acquisition of relevant knowledge, useful skills and appropriate attitudes. We know there are still challenges to achieving quality in our country, namely:
Institutional factors:
- Poor organisational culture within the sector characterised in some sections by poor discipline
- Inefficiencies resulting in poor management and weak financial controls
- Poor accountability throughout the system, from national to school level
- Poor planning, monitoring and evaluation
- Poorly designed institutional structures, especially at district level, and as such, making it difficult deliver on the key mandate of the department both at macro and micro levels
- Unsettling safety levels in schools
- Improper or unavailable infrastructure to support effective service delivery (especially facilities in many schools and district offices).
Learning related factors:
- Learner wellbeing exacerbated by poverty and social deprivation in the majority of our learner population
- Ill-discipline and youth criminality
- Reproductive health-related challenges such as teenage pregnancy
Educator related factors:
- Educator wellbeing, which is aggravated by the nation’s burden of disease, such as the impact of HIV and AIDS.
- Low levels of motivation, commitment, discipline and skills.
- Inappropriate and unsuitable working conditions and environments.
Curriculum related factors:
Curriculum related factors include inadequate curriculum management and coverage; the quality of teaching and assessment and ineffective school-based systems for monitoring curriculum delivery.
These are but some of the many challenges affecting the sector and in some instances undermining its ability to deliver on its mandate. I use the words ‘in some instances’ because in many other schools, despite these problems, these schools, districts and circuits produce great results.
Having painted a gloomy picture above, I can say with great confidence that we are indeed turning the tide and are rolling back the downward spiral of the past years. In January this year we were pleased to announce that the national NSC pass rate for the Class of 2010 is 67.8%, representing an impressive increase of 7.2% on the 2009 results which stood at 60.6%.
It is at this crucial time that we see the launch of NEEDU which must play a key role in improving the quality of education.
NEEDU will have the following core responsibilities:
- To provide the Minister with an independent account of the state of schools including the quality of teaching and learning in all schools
- To provide an independent account on the development needs of the school education system
- To account for the attainment of the standards by all schools through a monitoring and evaluation system
- To identify on a system-wide basis the critical factors that inhibit or advance school improvement and to make focused recommendations for redressing the problem areas that undermine school improvement
- To propose appropriate sanctions to ensure that schools offer effective education for all learners
- To strengthen internal evaluation capacity within schools in ways that reliably inform and complement external evaluation
- To monitor the different levels of school support and the extent to which there is considered actions on proposed interventions, whether in the form of developmental support or in the form of disciplined action
- To review and assess existing monitoring, evaluation and support structures and instruments on a regular basis to ensure clarity and coherence in the ways schools and teachers are assessed and supported
- To provide schools with evidence-based advice on how to pursue school improvement in their particular context
- To promote school improvement through the dissemination of good practice.
Most importantly, this new evaluation agency will have the authority to conduct the monitoring and evaluation of schools, districts, provinces and the national department.
We emphasise schools because it is schools that are at the heart of our delivery. It is in schools where our main purpose for existence is. They are the most important unit in our work and the success of our sector should be judged by their performance and all our activities should be targeted at supporting schools and making them work.
NEEDU’s authority extends to the observation of classroom teaching; assessment of teacher knowledge; assessment of learner knowledge; evaluation of school leadership practice and the capacity of the school governing body and the efficiency of district, provincial and national support.
I must emphasise the fact that the entire system has to be monitored and evaluated in terms of how it is able or unable to support schools, learners, teachers, school managers, workers and parents.
I trust that NEEDU will assist us greatly to achieve the outputs and deliverables set out in the education sector based plan – Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025. The Action Plan, gazetted in August 2010, is a roadmap for turning around schooling ensuring we deliver on quality and better learning outcomes.
In conclusion, I welcome the establishment of NEEDU and trust that with the support of all our people, it will play a very vital role in delivering an improved quality of basic education.
In the spirit of the effective and efficient system of performance monitoring and evaluation instituted by the Presidency, NEEDU will usher in an era of accountability for service delivery.
Remember, we cannot educate the citizens without the citizens. It is this consciousness that makes education a societal issue.
Working together we can do more to ensure that quality matters in all we do.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Basic Education
