MEC Thembisile Nwedamutswu: Limpopo Education Prov Budget Vote 2014/15

Limpopo Department of Education Budget Speech: Vote 3 presented by Member of the Executive Council for Education, Honourable Thembisile Nwedamutswu, at the Provincial Legislature

Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Stanley Chupu Mathabatha
Members of the Provincial Legislature Members of the Executive Council
Chairperson and members of the Education Portfolio Committee Executive Mayors and Mayors of local Municipalities
Acting Head of Department, Ms Khathutshelo Dederen and your team Administrator Mzwandile Matthews
Heads of Department and CEO’s of State Owned Enterprises Veterans of our Struggle
My  special  Guest,  Former  Matron  of  the  Solomon  Mahlangu  Freedom College, Mme Thalitha Monica Lebea Mampuru
Leadership of the fraternal organisations Leaders of chapter 9 and 10 institutions
School Principals and Chairpersons of SGB’s here present Our Social and Donor Partners
Leaders of Religious and Cultural Organisations Business Leaders and members of the Media Invited guests, ladies and gentlemen

Aa!

I wish to take this opportunity to heartily welcome you and thank you for honouring our invite to come and support us as we present the Department of Education’s 2014/15 Budget Vote Speech.

Let me begin by extending our deepest condolences on the passing of the Provincial Secretary of South African Teachers Union (SAOU- SATU), Mr Sarel du Toit. May his soul rest in peace.

Drawing on the wisdom of our beloved President Nelson Mandela the theme for this Education Budget Vote is: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”¹

Our Mandate

Honourable Speaker, in his State of the Nation Address in June 2014, His Excellency, President Zuma confirmed that education remains an apex priority for this government. The President said:

“We will continue to invest in education and skills development as that is the key to economic development. We need engineers, electricians, plumbers, doctors, teachers and many other professionals to build our country’s economy. We will continue to promote universal access to education by ensuring that all children between ages 7 and 15 are in school.”²

The salience of our theme was also confirmed by the Premier of our Province, Honourable Chupu Mathabatha, in his State of the Province Address when the Premier asserted that: “The success of our economy and any other aspect of our life start in the classroom. We will therefore be working to improve the quality of our basic education while on the other hand expanding access.”³

We are guided by the Electoral mandate of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), which declared that our “key commitments for the next five-years are making early childhood development a priority; eradicating illiteracy; improving the quality in teaching and learning in schools; and expanding and building capacity in higher education and training.”⁴

The foundations of these commitments, and the mandate with which we have been entrusted, are found in our Constitution which, inter alia, affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. The long-term development goals and socio- economic rights, such as freedom from hunger and access to education, are enshrined in the Bill of Rights and enjoin the State to respect, protect, promote and to progressively realise these rights within available resources.

In response to the Constitution, Quality Education has, as our President said, been declared a national priority and it is Outcome number one in the 2014- 19 Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).

The most authoritative vision and policy statement is articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP): Vision 2030. The NDP calls on us to write a new story for the South Africa we want to see:

“South Africa has the means, the goodwill, the people and the resources to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. It is within our grasp. But it will not happen unless we write this new story; a story of people, their relationships, their dreams and their hopes for a better tomorrow. We want our children and young people to have better life chances than we have.”

While Vision 2030 comprises many elements, it too calls for the prioritization of the improvement of the quality of education, skills development and innovation.

This Budget Vote reflects our endeavour to progressively realise the right to quality education as required by the Constitution. Our stance is that education is the foundation for the radical socio-economic transformation we seek to achieve during our term of office and education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change our world.

Reflection: past performance

We have been celebrating and reflecting on the first 20-Years of Freedom and Democracy. The overriding lesson from this reflection is that there are many achievements which South Africa can take pride in and that we have a good story to tell.

The second lesson is that numerous systemic challenges remain, key among these being poverty, inequality and unemployment. This is the context within which the new Administration resolved to drive a Programme of Action to implement the National Development Plan (NDP) in order to establish the platform for radical socio-economic transformation.

Honourable Speaker, we’d like to share some of the good stories of Education in our Province as well as areas where more effort is required before the good story will emerge.

Grade 12 performance

Honourable Speaker, there has been a progressive improvement in Grade 12 performance since 2009. In 2009, the Grade 12 pass rate was 48.9% and in 2013 the pass rate improved to 71.8%, an improvement of 22.9% over a five-year period. Not only was there a quantitative improvement in the pass rate in terms of numbers of matriculants;  there was also an qualitative improvement in terms of the number of Bachelor Passes which increased from 10 920 in 2009 to 18 781 in 2013, which makes it 71,98 % improvement.

Performance in Mathematics improved from 39.3% in 2009 to 59.3% in 2013. This accounts for an improvement of 20% over the past five years. Similarly performance in Physical Sciences improved from 31.8% in 2009 to 65.6% in 2013 which translates into an improvement of 33.8% over the same period.

This is an unambiguous indicator of the hard work of departmental officials, teachers, school governing bodies, the learners themselves as well as their families and care-givers. I am sure that this august House will join me in saluting all the contributors to this proud achievement.

Honourable Speaker, we know that the quality and functionality of School Infrastructure is a key enabler for creating a conducive the environment for teachers to teach and learners to learn. Schools should be places we take pride. Hence the National Department of Education set standards for fully functional schools and National Treasury committed a multi-year budget to improve school infrastructure.

We are very proud to report that in 2013/14 we spent 98% of our budget for school infrastructure and sanitation projects. This bears testimony to our capacity to plan for the application of the resources we were given and our capacity to deliver. We want to appreciate our main implementing Agents the Limpopo Department of Public Works, the Independent Development Trust (IDT), MVULA Trust and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) who managed this delivery on our behalf.

Early childhood development

Honourable Speaker, The National Development Plan underlines the importance of Early Childhood Development and the need for all children to access at least 2 years of pre-school education. The ANC in its Manifesto also echoes this sentiment of making at least two years of pre-school education compulsory.

While we are committed to improve access to Grade R, however we are still faced with the shortage of Trained Grade R Practitioners and lack of facilities in rural areas. Another constraint is the fact that Grade R practitioners are not yet recognised as teaching professionals. In recognition of the valuable role of Grade R practitioners, our province has been paying our practitioners R3 000. In addition, we are very proud to report that this has been increased to R5 000 in 2014/15 financial year and we have managed to process the outstanding payments of these practitioners. We are one among only three provinces that are paying R5 000 for Grade R practitioners.

Annual National Assessment (ANA)

Honourable Speaker, the Annual National Assessment (ANA) provides a baseline and an objective measure for monitoring progress in learner achievement in Mathematics and Languages in Grades 1, 3 6 and 9. Although the 2013 ANA results showed some improvement from the previous year, it is clear that more work still needs to be done to achieve acceptable learner performance in these grades in Languages and Mathematics.

Financial management, accountability and compliance

Honourable Speaker, the Department comes from a dark place in terms of the management of our finances, accountability and compliance.

As a result, for a number of years the Auditor-General was unable to expresses an opinion over the management of our financial and non-financial performance information and issued disclaimers in their audit reports. Regrettably, because of the deep-rooted systemic problems which can only be corrected over time, we once more recorded a disclaimer, the worse possible audit outcome, in respect of the 2013/14 financial year.

This unfavourable audit opinion can be attributed to our failure to comply with the Public Finance Management Act, Treasury Regulations and our own policies, such as the policy on Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management policies and governance prescripts. This, you will agree with me, is unacceptable.

Honourable Members and esteemed guests you will know that the Department of Education, along with three other departments in the Province, has been under Section 100 (1) (b) Administration as from December 2011. I will say more about this later. The Administrators are now in the process of exiting, several oversight obligations have been assigned to the MEC, a daunting task.

We owe it to our people to correct these fundamental flaws. We have to restore public confidence and failure is no option. I am calling on the support and commitment of officials, principals, teachers, school governing and all our social partners, particularly teacher unions, to work very closely with us. We believe that if we engage in dialogue in good faith, clarify roles, honour our responsibilities  and hold each other accountable, we can resolve most, if not all stumbling blocks which prevents us from ensuring that there is effective learning and teaching in our schools.

Our commitments: 2014/15

Our commitments for the 2014/15 financial year and over the medium-term are derived from the Basic Education Sector Plan, the Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025 which in turn is aligned to the NDP in both its diagnosis and proposed solutions. This Action Plan and the Delivery Agreement will serve as a blueprint for the provisioning of quality education in Limpopo over the next five years.

Honourable Speaker, allow me to present to you some of the Flagship Programmes of the Department which I have identified and which will enjoy my personal attention and close oversight.

Effective service delivery systems

Honourable Members, our delivery institutional arrangements are inefficient and compromises productivity and accountability. Hence I have commissioned a study to critically evaluate and make recommendations on our Service Delivery Model and on the optimal number of Districts and Circuits. I firmly believe that we have to reduce the current ten (10) Districts, which are under-resourced and under-staffed, to a more manageable number.

We believe this new arrangement will be conducive to creating the efficiencies, productivity and accountability levels necessary for driving education provision in Limpopo to a new trajectory.

Early childhood development (ECD)

In pursuit of quality education and to ensure that the new generation of learners get the start they deserve, the department will in this financial year, train Grade R Practitioners on NQF level 6 qualification.

Universities have been approached to offer this training and for their assistance with developing training programmes for Grade R Practitioners to enable them to make use of developmentally appropriate practices and tools. For example, knowing that children learn through play, we have made provision in our budget for outdoor equipment for 150 Primary schools with Grade R classes. This will enable our children to grow up in stimulating environments that supports learning if their teachers are also empowered to use these tools effectively.

Honourable Speaker, for the next five years, we will also focus on providing appropriate Pre-Grade R programmes to prepare them for entry into Grade R, by reviewing and implementing programmes for 4-year olds with special emphasis on literacy, numeracy, life and thinking skills to prepare them for the Reception Year.

Increase and improve learner performance in Grade 12 National Senior Certificate

Honourable Speaker, annually we analyse the matric results. Our analysis of the 2013 Grade 12 National Senior Certificate results provided us with a very detailed picture of performance and gaps, district by district, circuit by circuit, school by school, and subject by subject.

Based on this detailed analysis, we have developed more focused intervention strategies which are aimed at improving learner performance in each and every subject. These interventions include but are not limited to:

• Learner intervention guides;
• Teacher intervention guides;
• Radio lesson broadcasts;
• Common tasks for underperforming schools;
• Collaboration with NGO structures, Higher Education Institutions, Private Business and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT).

In addition the Premier, in his State of the Province Address, set us a target of 80% pass rate in the 2014 Grade 12 NSC results. Given our current resources and the systemic gaps, indicated earlier this represents a stretch target. However, we are up to the challenge and once more appeal for the support of our stakeholders. I have taken on this challenge driven by the advice of Tata Madiba that “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Increase and improve learner performance in Annual National Assessment (ANA)

Honourable Speaker, in order to improve performance of the Annual National Assessment in the province, differentiated strategies that focus on subject content knowledge, classroom practice and curriculum management will be strengthened and more effectively monitored.

In addition, the Department will continue to administer Quarterly Standardised Common Tests for Grades 1 – 9 for Mathematics and Languages, track the achievement of set targets on quarterly basis, strengthen monitoring and support to teachers who need assistance, develop and distribute additional learner and teacher guides and other materials to schools to assist both teachers and learners to achieve their performance targets.

Inclusive education and special schools

Honourable Speaker, we are making good strides in the provision of education for learners with special needs. However, despite these strides, the Department is concerned about the quality and type of physical structures in which our learners with disability are accommodated.

Honourable Speaker, something has to change. Therefore, for the next five years, I intend to build at least two comprehensive State of the Art schools. In order to achieve this objective I will seek the views and mobilise the advice and support of interested patriotic private sectors partners to collaborate on what needs to be done for our learners with disability.

I also intend to attract appropriately qualified teachers from within, and if necessary outside the country to teach in these schools. In order for us to succeed in this endeavour and to turn these schools around, we will also work very closely with the Departments of Social Development and Human Settlements.

National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)

Given the levels of the poverty in our province and hardships faced by households around most of our schools, the National School Nutrition Programme is vital enabler for quality education. It seeks to sharpen the receptiveness and intellectual prowess of our children. The National School Nutrition Programme is funded through a Conditional Grant from which more than 1.6 million learners benefit.

The NSNP has economic spin-offs and it has created opportunities Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives. Traditionally in implementing the NSNP programme, the department procured foodstuff for schools through a tender process. In 2011/12 and 2012/14, an alternative delivery model of directly transferring funds to schools was piloted in 100 schools.

Madame Speaker in terms of the NDP the National food security goal is not limited to micro nutrient malnutrition which affects the learning ability of young children but includes the maintenance of a positive balance for primary and processed agricultural products.

It is against this background that my Department acknowledges the fact that agricultural productivity is key in food insecurity at household level in our rural areas, while food safety is critical.

The Department of Education shall partner with the Department of Agriculture in ensuring that there is expansion of production up to the household level and the Department of Health will ensure that the food consumed at schools through the feeding schemes adheres and meets the set minimum food safety standards. The collaboration amongst the others will be on the following:

• Intensify the establishment of school gardens whereby children can be taught basic farming skills at an early age and be encouraged to use such in their individual household gardens.
• Provision of off take agreements to small holder and household farmers for the purpose of feeding schemes.

Leaning on the success of this model we have developed Strategy and a Roll-Out Plan for the programme to stimulate local economies. We are in the process of concluding partnership agreements and signing of MoUs with the departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, Environment & Tourism.

Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST)

Honourable Speaker, Limpopo Department of Education is rated as one of the Provinces with the highest number of learners in Mathematics and Physical Science as well as producing high quality results in the same subjects.

Yes it is a fact that this country is experiencing severe shortage of Mathematics, Science and Technology teachers. This together with inadequate subject content knowledge poses a challenge to some of our teachers.

Honourable Speaker, education did not start with us and neither will it end with us. For this reason, we need to acknowledge the qualifications, experience and methodologies of teachers and other graduate professionals who came before us and are now in retirement. Some of these retirees have a wealth of knowledge in these scarce subjects which can benefit learners in our Province. They can be roped in particularly where there is severe shortage of teachers to offer these scarce subjects. The Department intends to compile a comprehensive database of these retirees and which will be used in engaging them.

Honourable Speaker, I am also pleased to announce to this august gathering that the Department has recently procured two State of the Art Mobile Laboratory Buses which will make it possible to take science experiments to the most rural areas.

Teacher development

Honourable Speaker, teacher development is an important pillar to any education system. Knowledge changes with time and thus it is absolutely critical that we pay particular attention to the learning needs of our teachers. We are committed to provide opportunities for continuous improvement and growth of our cadre of teachers.

The Department established MASTEC and its Satellite centres in 2009 to deal with continuous professional development of teachers. Unfortunately currently MASTEC is not fully functional. Thus my Department is developing a detailed plan to restore and enhance the functionality of MASTEC which will make it possible for this facility to increase the intake of teachers and curriculum advisors for purposes of augmenting and updating their content knowledge and methodology in Mathematics, Physical Science, Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, and Languages.

This financial year, 1 540 teachers will undergo residential continuous professional development in Mathematics, Science, Technology and Commercial subjects at MASTEC and its Satellite Centres. Equally, 2 000 teachers from underperforming schools in the FET band will also receive training on subject content and methodology..

Learning and teaching support materials

Learning and teaching support materials play a vital role in facilitating learning and providing a conducive environment for teaching.

Unfortunately, due to financial constraints in 2012, the Department experienced challenges with the procurement and delivery of Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) aligned textbooks for Grade 10 learners. In 2013 LTSM was provided to schools without hassles. For the 2014 academic year, the challenges experienced during the delivery of LTSM relate to inaccurate learner statistical data, learner migration from one school to the other, subject changes as well as schools not reporting shortages timeously. Amid these challenges, the Department continuously provides 100% stationery to all our schools.

Honourable Speaker, the Department has put in place efficient and effective mechanisms to ensure that learners in our schools receive the  required LTSM timeously. We are committed to providing one textbook per learner per subject.

We are committed to addressing the root causes and believe that we have to analyse the entire value chain and plan corrective actions at all critical stages within it. For example, we are considering changing school enrolment to the first quarter as it will timeously provide us with more accurate scholar intake numbers and more than once mop before school begins.

Honourable Speaker, the Department has also developed a textbook retrieval strategy. It is important to note that the lifespan of a textbook is five years and it is not cost-effective for the Department to provide new textbooks for every grade every year. Only top-ups will be provided where learner enrolments have increased. Retrieval of textbooks will leverage funds that can be used for other critical resources and programmes in schools. Part of the retrieval process of the LTSM, includes the weekly monitoring of these materials by the teachers to make sure it is available.

Infrastructure

Honourable Speaker, the Department is tasked with the responsibility of providing physical infrastructure to create an environment which is conducive to teaching and learning.

Education infrastructure projects are funded mainly through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) and the Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalisation Grant (TSSRG). The Department of Basic Education also provides infrastructure focusing mainly on sanitation through the Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative projects (ASIDI) fund.

The Department experienced numerous challenges in the implementation of this programme. These challenges range from the absence of an integrated planning strategy and knowledge pertaining to localised population dynamics, lack of sufficient funds to deal with emergency projects like storm-damaged schools, inappropriate sanitation projects, failure to attract people with specialised skills in the built industry (such as Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Architects, etc.). All these challenges make it difficult for the Department to roll-out its infrastructure programme on time.

School safety and learner retention

Honourable Speaker, safety of learners in our schools is a priority. In order to ensure that our schools continue to be centres of learning excellence, we will continue to fight against drug and substance abuse thus making our schools safe for both learners and educators.

We remain committed to reducing teenage pregnancy in our schools by entering into strategic partnerships with our sister Departments such as the Department of Health, Social Development and Liaison, Safety and Security.

2014/15 budget

Honourable Speaker, before I present the details of the 2014/15 Budget, I take this opportunity to remind the Honourable Members, that the Department of Education, together with four other Departments in the Province, are still placed under Section 100 (1) (b) Administration from December 2011. As I said earlier, this intervention was aimed at addressing Service Delivery weaknesses in these Departments. Their diagnostic analysis focussed the intervention on two broad areas:

• Financial Management
• Human Resource Management

The Administrators instituted a Forensic Audit which identified 21 cases. Of these, 7 relates to Remunerative Work Outside the Public Service and 14 to Fraud and Corruption. Seven cases have been concluded, while the 14 are still being dealt with.

We have recognised that in order to avoid repeat findings in these areas stricter internal control mechanisms are needed to be put in place, as advised by the Auditor General. We have acted on this advice.

Honourable Speaker, I will now focus on the details of our budget as reflected in our Annual Performance Plan (APP) which is linked to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2014/15 to 2016/17.

Honourable Speaker, this budget is being tabled at a time when the South African economy is still recovering from the global economic crisis. While the country’s economic growth projections reflect an increase from 2.7% to 3.5%  in 2016, global economic trends suggests that this target might be hard to achieve. The Stats-SA Census results indicate a net movement of people away from the province. This had an effect on the equitable share allocation to the province.

Budget growth

• The budget for 2014/15 is R24.965 billion which is a growth of 4.2% of the adjusted budget for 2013/14.
• For the outer two years of the MTEF period the budget is R25.589 billion and R26.349 billion respectively which represents a growth of 2.5% and 3% respectively.
• These growth figures as compared to the CPI of 5.4% for 2014/15 and 2015/16 and 5.3% for 2016/17 is an indication that the budget is growing at a lower rate than the inflation rate and in real terms can be seen to be declining.
• Overall this highlights the importance of doing more with less and in this regard the Department will be monitoring expenditure to ensure that it is in line with the austerity measures as set by the National Treasury and the Provincial Treasury.

Budget composition

The R24.965 billion Budget is comprised of

• an equitable share of R22.323 billion (89.4%),
• R2.591 billion from Conditional Grants (10.4%); and
• R50.7 million from own revenue.

Budget split

• R20.406 billion of the budget (82%) is allocated to the Compensation of Employees.
  • R18 billion (88.5%) of this amount or is for Programme 2 and is mainly for the payment of the 53 267 educators expected to be employed in Public Ordinary Schools in the 2014 school year.
  • While the percentage split between Compensation of Employees and other non-salary related payments is slightly higher than the recommended 80:20 ratio a concern has been raised by National Treasury and the Department of Basic Education that our educators are the highest paid in the country which might be resulting in this high ratio.
  • The Department and the Provincial Treasury are busy investigating this assertion but preliminary indications are that this is due to the fact that this is a province that has amalgamated five previous administrations which had different salary scales for teachers as well as highly qualified educators.
• Goods  and  services  has  been  allocated  R 2.177  billion  (9%)  of  the budget;
• Transfers R1.269 billion (5%) of the budget; and
• Capital payments R1.114 billion (4%).

As in the previous financial year the Department will be implementing this budget through nine programs that are in line with the national budget structure for the Education Sector.

Programme 1: Administration

Administration has been allocated a budget of R1,483 billion which is an increase of 10.8% of the amount allocated for 2013/2014. This programme is responsible for the overall support and management of the education system and caters for the Office of the MEC, Corporate Services and the Management of the Educational Districts.

The allocations within this Programme are as follows:

• The Office of the MEC: R9.5 million.
• Corporate Services: R345 million.
• Education management which is responsible for the administration of the 10 education districts: R1.046 billion.
  • This is the unit under which curriculum advisors who are critical in supporting all the schools of the Department are catered for.
• R49.8 million is allocated for Human Resources Development
  • It is mainly for the payment of bursaries for educators and trainee educators. This allocation is critical as it is part of the efforts of the Department to address and reverse the challenge of more educators leaving the system as opposed to the number entering the system.
• R31.853 million is allocated for the Education Management Information System, which is responsible for ensuring that the Department has and maintains credible data that is required for planning and budgeting purposes. This allocation will also be used to ensure that schools fully utilise the South African Schools Administration and Management Systems (SA-SAMS).

Programme 2: Public Ordinary Schools

Public Ordinary Schools have been allocated R20.797 billion which accounts for 83% of the budget.

• This is the programme that is responsible for the provision of education to learners in Grades 1 to 12 in all public ordinary schools.
• For the  2014  school  calendar  year  it  is  expected  that  there  will  be 1 647 731 learners in public ordinary schools with 1 608 277 of these learners being in no-fee paying schools.
• All these learners in no-fee paying schools will be supplied with meals as per the National Schools Nutrition Programme and this is fully funded by a conditional grant to the amount of R991 million.
  • The Department however acknowledges the immense logistical challenges that this will pose to the schools and their SGBs and for this purpose has developed a financial training programme that all schools will be taken through.
  • Funds will only be transferred to those schools where the Department is satisfied that the necessary controls and expertise have been put in place to ensure that all financial prescripts are complied with while ensuring that there will be no disruption to the feeding programme of the schools.
• The Department has also provided within this programme R1.296 billion in terms of the Norms and Standards for the funding of schools. Of this amount R776.735 million will be transferred to schools for their running costs.
• The amount that will be transferred to each school will be determined per learner allocation which for the 2014 school year will be R479.45 for schools in quintiles one to three, R239.86 for quintile four and R82.96 for quintile five.
• The balance of R518 million will be retained by the Department for the procurement of learning and teaching support materials for the 2015 schools calendar year. While all schools in the Province have been granted section 21 status, the procurement of LTSM is done centrally by the Department. In this regard the Department is working very closely with the Department of Basic Education to ensure that all schools receive their books by the first day of the schools calendar year.
• R153 million within this programme has been allocated for scholar transport to cater for the learners who are staying five kilometres or more from the nearest public ordinary school.
• A Conditional Grant of R11.3 million has been received for the running of the Dinaledi schools programme which is aimed at increasing the number of learners offering Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

Programme 3: Independents schools

• R112 million has been allocated to Independent Schools in terms of the Norms and Standards for the funding of schools.
• As in the previous financial years only those independent schools that have not been registered as profit-making entities and have performed at the same level or higher than the average Grade 12 pass rate for Public Ordinary Schools will receive subsidy.
• For the 2014 school year it is expected that 25 000 learners in independent schools will benefit from this subsidy.

Programme 4: Public Special Schools

Public Special Schools has been allocated R379.6 million.

• This will be utilised to support the expected 8 490 learners, 737 educators and 18 professional non-educator staff members in these schools
• The Department is currently considering how to best resource these schools noting the serious financial constraints under which it is operating as against the dire needs that the schools are facing in particular with regards to professional non-educator staff.
• A ring-fenced amount of R1.2 million has been received for the procurement of Braille embossers that will go a long way in assisting the Department in providing LTSM for these schools.
• In addition to this the Department has already started a process of procuring electronic equipment that will assist the blind and partially sighted learners who are not able to utilise traditional LTSM meant for other learners with no disabilities.

Programme 5: Further Education and Training Colleges

• Further Education and Training Colleges have been allocated R404 million.
• As reported in the previous financial year this function has now been shifted to the Department of Higher Education and the Limpopo Department of Education is only responsible for hosting the colleges’ payroll on its PERSAL system.
• The programme is wholly funded through a conditional grant.

Programme 6: Adult Education and Training

R154.7 million has been allocated to Adult Education and Training.

• It is expected that 34 059 adult learners will be enrolled and 1 728 educators employed at these centres for the 2014 school year.
• Discussions are however currently under way to transfer this function to the Department of Higher Education since it does not strictly fall within the mandate of basic education for which we are responsible.

Programme 7: Early Childhood and Development

R169.8 million has been allocated to Early Childhood and Development.

• It is expected that for the 2014 school year there will be 119 188 learners enrolled in 2 330 public schools that offer Grade Rand 1 038 practitioners are employed in public ordinary schools.
• An amount of R13.2 million has been allocated for the EPWP projects within this programme and is funded through the EPWP social sector grant. This will be used to train cooks and gardeners.

Programme 8: Infrastructure

R1.123 billion has been allocated to Infrastructure.

• This programme is also solely funded by the Education Infrastructure Grant and the Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalisation Grant.
• The Department will again be utilising the services of the Department of Public Works and the Independent Development Trust (IDT) as implementing agents for all its school construction projects and MVULA Trust and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as implementing agents for all its water and sanitation projects.
• Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) will again be engaged to manage the maintenance through cooperatives of the enviroloo toilets that have been constructed in schools. I intend doing an assessment of the service level agreement in the near future.
• Through this allocation it is expected that 633 schools will be supplied with sanitation facilities, 59 schools provided with water supply, 26 schools supplied with electricity connection, 1 448 new classrooms built, 418 specialist rooms built and 26 new schools built.
• The allocation is however not sufficient to deal with the immense infrastructure backlogs and challenge’s that the Department is facing.
  • The challenge has however been that the last National Education Infrastructure Management Systems (NEIMS) assessment was conducted on 2006.
  • In order to address this, the Department of Public Works, as the custodian of all Government immovable properties, is collaborating with the CSIRin assessing the state of the Department’s infrastructure in order for proper planning to take place.
  • Storm damage to schools is an additional challenge to the Department which by its nature cannot be accurately planned for. For the 2014/15 financial year the total infrastructure grant includes ear-marked funding of R20.3 million for storm damaged schools. This allocation is insufficient to rehabilitate the storm damaged schools.

Programme 9: Auxiliary Services

R341 million has been allocated to auxiliary services.

• This is the programme that is responsible for the running of the examination, the management of the MASTEC institute and the implementation of the Department’s Life Skills HIV/AIDS programme for schools.
• The Life Skills HIV/AIDS programme is funded through a R31 million conditional grant for the 2014/15 financial year.

Acknowledgements

Honourable Speaker, we will continue to be guided by the National Development Plan: Vision 2030, the Education Sector Plan: Action Plan to 2019, Towards the Realization of Schooling 2030 and the Delivery Agreement in planning and implementing our work.

The Department is fully aware that its Programme of Action can only be realised if all relevant stakeholders play their roles. Hence, the Department of Education will host an Education Summit/Indaba in September, as directed by the Premier, to extensively discuss the issues pertaining to the delivery of quality education in the Province, because

“We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.

Honourable Speaker, it would be imprudent of me not to acknowledge the sterling work of my immediate predecessor, Mrs. D. P. Magadzi.

To the Honourable Premier, Mr. C.S Mathabatha, thank you very much for the leadership and support you are providing.

To my colleagues in the Executive Council, thank you for the support and interest you have shown on educational matters.

To the Portfolio Committee, I look forward to work collaboratively with yourselves to advance the interest towards teaching and learning.

To the Head of Department (Acting), Ms. Khathutshelo Dederen, and your management team, thank very much for your capable leadership and management skills.

To the Administrator, Mr. Mzwandile Matthews, thank you for your support in the administration of this Department.

To our Teacher Unions, thank you for taking a keen interest in the matters pertaining to conditions of service for educators.

To teachers, thank you for your continued effort to improve learner performance in our schools.

To all our partners in Big Business, Mining, Telecommunications, Transport and Logistics, SETAs Non-Governmental Organisations and many others that others that I have not mentioned, I want to thank you sincerely for the support you have provided over the years and which you are continuing to support under these difficult economic circumstances.

To parents, SGB members and other stakeholders, thank you very much for your continued support and warm welcome into the education of our children.

To my comrades, compatriots and Honourable Members, thank you for your confidence in me, guidance and assurance to serving and working together for the people of this province.

Finally, to my family, my children, grandchildren and my pillar of strength Vho-Nwedamutswu, thank you for unselfishly supporting me in serving the people.

Conclusion

Honourable Speaker, Premier, Esteemed Guests

I herewith table the 2014/15 Budget Vote 3 for Education for consideration and approval by the House. I pledge to provide the leadership and oversight to deliver the commitments contained in this speech. However, it can only be achieved through the shared commitment, effort and hard of all role players in the sector.

The future of our children is in our hands. I look forward to your support and partnership in this exciting journey of realising the dream of education as the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world

Ri a livhuha. Hi khensile. Re a leboga. Siya thokoza Baie dankie, I thank you.