Question 2739
Mr D C Smiles (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Whether her department monitors the quality of training at teaching training institutions; if not, why not; if so, what (a) are the names of the institutions that are being monitored in each province, (b) is the frequency of such quality control and (c) is the level of quality at each institution in the past three academic years;
(2) Whether she has any plans in place to adequately place recipients of the Funza Lushaka
Bursary at schools in each province; if not, why not; if so, what plans?
Reply:
(1) The split of the former Department of Education (DoE) in 2009 into the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training meant that functions for the two departments, drawing from the former DoE had to be split. Monitoring of the quality in higher education and training, including training at teaching institutions, is in the realm of the Department of Higher Education and Training, which is mandated through the Higher Education Act, No. 101 of 1997 and the Education White Paper 3 of 1997 (A programme for the Transformation of Higher Education).
(2) The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) at the CEM meeting held on 15 and 16 April 2010 agreed to a proposed placement procedure for 2011. Placement processes started in May 2010 and should be finalised before the end of December 2010. Each potential qualifying Funza Lushaka bursar submitted a placement request form in May 2010.
The forms have been collated to generate placement lists per province. In June 2010, each province was given a list of students who wish to be placed in that particular province to enable the provinces to identify suitable posts for the bursars. Provinces are conducting an analysis of post vacancies, specifically those posts that they have been unable to fill through normal means.
The focus is specifically on posts in quintile 1 to 3 schools. This analysis should result in the creation of a closed vacancy list against which Funza Lushaka students can apply or be matched. These lists should include posts currently being occupied by new unqualified entrants into the system e.g. matriculants who have been taken up in the posts because “a qualified teacher could not be found”. Provinces are currently in this phase of the processes, and bursars will be offered posts before the end of the year.
Source: Department of Basic Education
