Question No. 47
Mr J J Skosana (African national Congress) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Whether she has found that the readiness of schools for the reopening in 2010 has improved in each province; if not, why not; if so, what is the basis for her findings; and
(2) Whether schools are equipped to deliver a quality education in 2010; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. Yes, the readiness of schools for the reopening improved in 2010. This is largely because all provinces had detailed preparation plans for opening. In preparation for readiness for school reopening in 2010, all provinces drafted readiness plans and these were ready in 2009. The plans also identified risk areas and remedial actions.
In addition, each of the provinces had task teams in place whose responsibility was to deal with challenges as they arose during the opening. In addition and as part of the Quality Learning and Teaching campaign, the trade unions and school governing bodies (SGBs) undertook to support the opening of schools. Apart from being part of the monitoring teams, they sent monitoring forms to schools to assess their readiness for opening in 2010. These forms were used to identify challenges and to respond to them.
Furthermore, all provinces had monitoring teams that represented a variety of stakeholders that visited schools as part of monitoring of schools to ensure that systems were in place for a successful opening in 2010.
Finally, the department and Quality Learning and Teaching campaign task team visited provinces ten days after the reopening of schools to assess if indeed learning was taking place. The reports from all visits indicate that generally the situation has improved tremendously as compared to the previous years. This year, in most cases, teaching and learning commenced on the first day of schooling and most schools had received the learning and teaching support materials.
However, there were still a few pockets of challenges that were identified. These relate to overcrowding due to storm damages, late distribution of learner teacher support material in some areas, late registration due to late registration by parents and teacher shortages. These matters are being addressed by provinces.
2. As indicated in previous response, our assessment is that by and large schools are equipped to deliver quality learning in 2010. All provinces through their respective Premiers state of province address have identified education as key priory and have also dedicated a huge budget towards improving the quality of education.
Notwithstanding the challenges faced by the majority of our learners and teachers, the Department of Basic Education is working hard in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders (especially Teacher Unions) to ensure that our schools are turned into centres of excellence.
The Department of Basic Education, together with the Provincial Education departments, is working hard towards the delivery of quality learning and teaching in all schools across the length and breadth of South Africa.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
2 March 2010
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za/)
