Chairperson, yes, the Department of Education has launched the Rapid Assessment and Remediation Intervention, Rari, programme in January 2010. The Rari programme specifically targets those schools that have achieved below 20% in the 2009 national certificate examination. The provincial departments of education developed plans to assist these schools. The plans have been presented to the Department of Basic Education. The Department of Basic Education and the provincial departments of education will monitor and support these schools.
Provincial departments of education provide quarterly progress reports on the plan to the Department of Basic Education for monitoring and evaluation and to ensure that the plans are implemented effectively.
In addition, both the Minister and I have been visiting provinces, and we tend to ensure that we visit those schools that are dysfunctional or underperforming. We do so in collaboration with the provinces.
With regard to the second part of the question, the department has analysed existing data within the system as well as the pass rate of matric learners and developed a plan to improve the performance of 2010 matriculants. The data analysed suggests that the largest number of schools performed between 40% and 60%. The plan is therefore targeted at these schools.
Information derived from the survey conducted on underperforming schools indicated that the biggest challenges related to textbooks, teacher development and management issues. The plan was therefore structured around these challenges and focuses on the following four pillars: firstly, teaching and learning; secondly, ensuring functionalities in schools; thirdly, community mobilisation; and fourthly, district development and support. The department will develop guideline documents for teachers, learners, parents, NGOs and other community structures to assist with defining roles and responsibilities and helping the community to assist schools with challenges.
Finally, yes, the Minister and the director-general have made statements from time to time and will continue to do so at the appropriate time. Thank you, Chairperson.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. This is just to remind members that the time for replies is five minutes; the time for asking a supplementary question is two minutes; and the time for a reply to a supplementary question is four minutes. Only four supplementary questions are allowed per question.
Prince Zulu, do you have a supplementary question?
No, I am satisfied with the reply.
Chair, I would like to ask the Deputy Minister what overcrowding in classrooms and schools contributes towards the poor pass rate in schools. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr Worth, for the question that has been posed. Obviously overcrowding does contribute to the poor performance in that educators would not have the opportunity to pay particular individual attention to the learners. So, one of the consequences of overcrowding is a lack of attention to the learners and a lack of the kind of support that would be provided to the learners under normal conditions.
We have, as the Department of Basic Education, working very closely with the provinces, been trying to ensure that we reduce the educator-learner ratio significantly. We have succeeded in most provinces. However, a reality that confronts us is the fact that there is a huge migration that's occurring, particularly from rural areas, and it is intraprovincial and interprovincial. In other words, this takes place within a province, from rural to urban areas, as well as from one province to the other. For example, you will discover that many of the learners from the Eastern Cape are studying in the Western Cape because their parents are employed in Cape Town. This contributes to the overpopulation in township schools and a reduction of learners in the rural schools.
In conclusion, we have introduced a learning tracking system called the Learner Unit Record Information Tracking System, or Lurits. We have completed about 70% of the data on this. What this would do - this is by March next year - is that we would be able to punch in the name of a learner and get the learner's information of previous schooling in primary and high school, the subjects the learner did and the learner's performance report. This would also assist us in determining what the migration patterns are within districts and provinces. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Mr Chairman, through you to the Deputy Minister, does the analysis of the reasons for poor performance include the impact or nonimpact that teaching in the home language may have had upon those results?
Chairperson, the Department of Basic Education has been aware for some time of the importance of teaching in the mother tongue. Therefore, it is the policy of the department that at least in the first three years, the language of learning and teaching must be the mother tongue. This does not exclude a first or second additional language. What we have been arguing for is the assimilation and integration of the additional language because by doing that too late, the learner would be disadvantaged in the sense that he or she would have to acquire skills in a new language. But the language of learning and teaching should be a mother-tongue language. This has contributed significantly to the improvement of the results on the basis of assessments that have been undertaken.
The mother-tongue programme is again supported by the Foundations for Learning programme, which pays particular attention to literacy and numeracy. The resource materials of this particular programme are in all 11 official languages. We can state that we have even gone beyond that this year. Every Grade R class in the country has resource materials as well as a guide for educators in each one of the official languages. So, for the first time we have a national curriculum that has been provided to more than 550 000 learners who are in the preparatory classes in the school. We do believe that this will impact positively in terms of performance. Thank you very much, Chairperson and hon member.
Thank you, Chairperson. Deputy Minister, thank you very much for your reply with regard to the plans that your department has put in place to halt the failure rate and the poor pass rate. I am also pleased to hear that you and the Minister worked on a fact-finding mission to the provinces, particularly at those schools where problems are at the highest level.
Now, I would like to know how the plans you have made impact on and embrace the problem we have in Mpumalanga? As we all know, we are entering the mid- year exams and the schools are closing in nine days' time. How will these plans solve the problem of matriculants who still do not have textbooks in Mpumalanga because the department is failing to pay the supplier of the school books, despite the fact that they are now writing mid-year exams? This is a big problem for us. I would like to hear your answer.
Chairperson, one of the central approaches of the department to achieving success in schools that are underperforming is, firstly, to ensure that every learner has a textbook in his or her possession. This is an intervention. In fact, this is our task.
Secondly, the department has to ensure that educators or teachers have the appropriate content knowledge in the areas that they are teaching. Pedagogy is one part, but the content, or substantive issues in relation to the subject that is being taught, is critical.
Thirdly, the department will - in fact, I am very happy to announce that all provinces have bought into the suggestion in terms of our last discussion - utilise this period of the World Cup as an opportunity to ensure that learners get the benefit of the mornings. So, educators and learners will be meeting in schools. Some provinces, like the Western Cape, have a programme from Grade R to 12 and some province have it from Grade 10 to 12, where learners are going to utilise the time for winter vacation to ensure that they have a further opportunity to make up and augment learning that is critical, especially for Grade 12 learners.
So, there is a programme. We cannot be prescriptive. Each province will look at its challenges. I can tell you that Mpumalanga definitely forms part of this particular programme. The two provinces that have been at the forefront in this regard are Gauteng and the Western Cape.
I have been to the Free State, and the Minister has been to Mpumalanga and Limpopo. I can tell you that all the provinces are utilising this opportunity because what we want to create is an opportunity where we can balance the academic performance of the learners with recreation and sport.
So, we are saying that the World Cup is there to celebrate; they must participate in it. But the games take place in the afternoons and in the evenings. How, then, do they spend their mornings productively to ensure that they are not disadvantaged academically ? It seems there is great enthusiasm from the learners, and we will mobilise communities on this particular issue as well. Thank you, Chairperson and Mr Watson.
Pardon me, Chairperson. My question is on Question 30. The Minister is still dealing with Question 25. Thank you.
Chairperson, I actually just want to raise the issue that the matric pass rate in the Bushbuckridge area is very low, but the corresponding Grade 11s are recording a high pass rate. There is a disjuncture that exists between the two. I just want to know whether the department has already picked up this kind of problem - that the Grade 11 learners have a different assessment, which does not correspond with that of Grade 12 learners, and whether there is anything the department is doing about this. Thanks, Chairperson.
Hon member, it is a matter of great concern, when there is disparity in terms of the assessment and ability of learners' performance in Grades 11 and 12. Certainly what the department does is in relation to your system. We have a National Curriculum Statement for the GET band, which is from Grade R to Grade 9, and the FET band, which is Grade 10, 11 and 12. We are trying to work towards a single system from Grade R to 12. This means that there shouldn't be a distinction between grades. There should be continuity; education should be a continuum.
Secondly, we do believe that assessment is critical and central. External moderation is very important so that learners are not allowed to pass from grade to grade without having the appropriate ability to move to another class because ultimately you then pay the price in Grade 12. So, the external moderation from circuits and districts becomes central to the performance of schools.
Thirdly, we have produced guidelines in terms of assessment and in terms of the teaching and learning of different subjects so that teachers would have a better sense of how to assess learners.
With regard to Bushbuckridge in particular, besides the abject poverty in which the community lives, there have been huge problems in relation to the support that the schools receive from districts. There have been a lot of political battles fought in the particular area in relation to management issues. These have now been corrected.
There has also been poor leadership, which has contributed to nonfunctioning in schools. The Minister has sent out a team to the place and she personally visited the schools on no fewer than two occasions. I personally had the benefit of going to Bushbuckridge in the previous term.
This is quite amazing, and perhaps I should share this with you anecdotally. We have two high schools within a kilometre of each other. The one is performing at over 80% and the other is performing at less than 30%. The reason for this is the commitment, leadership and management of the schools. So, these are things that the department is looking at. We have a dedicated team that has been sent to Bushbuckridge to assist the provincial department in ensuring that we improve on the overall results of the school.
So, our focus is not only on Grade 12, but on the school as a whole because it's how a learner progresses from grade to grade that counts. So, the hon member is indeed correct to say that one can't pay attention to Grade 12 and forget about Grade 11. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Progress made with building of dam in Vioolsdrift area and possibility of partnering with Namibian government to build dam
23. Mr C J de Beer (ANC) asked the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) What progress has been made with the building of the dam in the Vioolsdrift area in the Orange River;
(2) whether any talks were held with the Namibian government on the building of the dam in partnership; if not; what is the position in this regard; if so, what was the outcome?