Hon Chair, hon members, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you warmly for affording us a chance to present our Budget Vote. Our theme this year is "A delivery-driven basic education system informed by the Delivery Agreement".
Indeed, we are truly honoured to account to the nation in the month of freedom. We entreat Parliament to approve our budget at a time when the nation is renewing its sacred vows and commitment to the values of human dignity, equality and freedom for all. An educated citizenry will help us unite the nation, promote democracy and protect our freedom. Education is our hope for attaining the regeneration of Africa as envisioned by Pixley ka Seme and other pioneers of the ANC.
The value of education is echoed in our Delivery Agreement, which states that in the context of high unemployment and skills shortage, reducing poverty depends on giving South Africans a better educational start in life. This is precisely what makes education the apex priority, the real reason for working together to create a delivery-driven basic education system.
Our allocations this year testify to the commitment of the ANC-led government to educating and skilling our children. The overall budget for our department for the 2011-2012 financial year has increased by R6,3 billion to R13,8 billion.
In 2010, when we presented our 2010 budget speech, we made bold to say that we had made strides in education since the advent of democracy in 1994. We committed to doing more to resolve challenges affecting the delivery of quality education. Our systems, we conceded, needed improving in terms of efficiency and effectiveness to deliver on our targets.
Last year we acknowledged the shortcomings in the system, some of which demonstrated by research that our weakness lies in the quality of our outcomes. In the light of the systemic challenges in education, we then made a commitment to Parliament that by 2010 we would develop an education sector plan that would serve as a blueprint for turning around schooling.
The action plan was meant to establish key outcomes and performance deliverables for the entire education system, including the national and provincial departments. On 2 August 2010 we gazetted the Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025. This step we took after consultation with the Council of Education Ministers, and in terms of the National Education Policy Act.
Alarmed by the results in the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate exams in 2009, we committed to improving the pass rate by 10% by 2014. Last year, despite the fact that we found ourselves plunging into a sea of bewilderment when the ship of basic education came face to face with a looming teachers' strike, we weathered the storm and achieved an impressive 67,8% pass rate, showing that our systems are improving. We recorded an increase of 7,2% on the 2009 pass rate, which was 60,6%.
We also committed ourselves to the national policy pertaining to the curriculum statement. Regarding the curriculum, we promised to proceed with due deliberation and decisiveness to implement recommendations of the ministerial committee established in 2009 to review the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement. We are satisfied with the state of progress on preparations for the incremental implementation, from January 2012, commencing with the Foundation Phase and Grade 10.
There was clear evidence, given the low levels of performance that still persisted widely in the system, that we required an effective performance evaluation system through which the quality of education could be enhanced.
Accordingly, on 17 March 2011, we launched the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit, which we call NEEDU. I'm glad to announce the appointment of its inaugural chief executive officer, Professor John Volmink, with effect from 1 July 2010. Since then, six additional staff members have been appointed to the NEEDU team.
By launching NEEDU, we have delivered a vital agency that will advance the goal of creating a delivery-driven basic education system. We therefore look forward to the support of this House in finalising the relevant legislation.
Last year we also promised to provide high-quality workbooks in literacy and numeracy for Grades 1 to6 learners, and in life skills for Grade R learners, to improve and enhance the quality of learning. We have developed high-quality workbooks as promised. Workbook 1 was rolled out to schools from January 2011 and Workbook 2 will reach learners in June 2011. These workbooks have been developed differently and with huge savings. Much has been learnt from the process of their development, and the money will be ploughed back into the system to add more learner support materials. Going forward, we will be able to add more workbooks in other subjects and extend their provision to other grades, beyond Grade 6. That is delivery, for a delivery-driven basic education system!
We have also committed ourselves before this House to improving performance in Grades 3, 6 and 9, from an average performance of between 27% and 38%, to at least 60% by 2014. One way of doing this, we said, was to administer annual national assessments that are standardised and internationally benchmarked. The analysis of the results of such assessments would inform the plans we adopt to improve the quality of learning and teaching.
We started in February 2011 with Grades 1 to 6 and Grade 10. Approximately 6,5 million learners participated in the process. We will release the report by 29 April 2011.
Our deliverables for 2011 include improving teacher subject and pedagogical knowledge fully to realize the rights of all learners to quality education.
Armed with the knowledge that the early years of the child are very critical for acquiring skills and concepts that lay the foundation for lifelong learning, we committed to up our efforts in the area of early childhood development. Last year the department trained more than 10 000 early childhood development, or ECD, practitioners through the Expanded Public Works Programme. We will strive further to expand access to Grade R, ensuring that it provides quality programmes to compensate for socioeconomic deprivation and low family literacy, and is universal by 2014, as we have promised.
I come to challenges. In spite of the footprints we have made, we still have many rivers to cross. Current institutional challenges include inefficiencies, resulting in poor management and weak financial controls. This we see in some provinces continuing to receive qualified reports.
Among other things, we are faced with poor accountability in different parts of the system, including poor planning, monitoring and evaluation. The education system is also plagued by learner-related challenges around learner wellbeing, exacerbated by poverty and social deprivation, ill discipline and youth criminality, and reproductive health-related problems such as teenage pregnancy. It is against this background that we launched the Bill of Responsibilities in partnership with Lead-SA and the SA Interfaith Council. This will help in raising awareness around the Bill of Responsibilities so as to promote the Bill of Rights, constitutional values and civic responsibilities.
Whilst great progress has been made, the sector needs to intensify ongoing work in the area of curriculum development, implementation and monitoring.
It is also important to note that our educational outcomes continue to reflect our country's socioeconomic patterns of inequalities, mainly based on race and apartheid old settlement patterns. So, one of our major challenges remains addressing inequalities in the system. In line with our theme that "Every child is a national asset", and working with our provinces, we will strive to make sure that no child is left behind.
Given the many challenges plaguing the education system and the need to respond to them effectively, better to support the national goal of achieving inclusive growth and economic freedom, we have decided to raise the bar and work even harder towards a delivery-driven basic education system.
Following a process of consultations and deliberations within the department, and with the Deputy Minister, we have come to the conclusion that during the 2011 financial year, we should up our current delivery programme through the establishment of a planning and delivery oversight unit.
This unit's mandate will be to take forward the processes and initiatives currently under way, guided by the current administration's outcomes approach. Among other things, it will have to work with and through provinces to weave together all current initiatives so as to allow for a coherent value chain from policy to implementation in the classroom.
Our single most important deliverable for 2011-12 will therefore be the establishment of this high-level planning and delivery oversight unit, whose task will be to fast-track the delivery process. We will give full details on this unit soon; approximately eight weeks from now.
The department has been allocated an additional amount R29,2 million for 2011-12, to attain full functionality of the fairly new Department of Basic Education. The department will continue to focus on the following levers to steer this quality education outcomes improvement programme.
Given the role of the gateway subjects in accelerating economic transformation and growth, we will do more to improve performance in mathematics and science. We are already developing a mathematics, science and technology strategy to reinforce the Dinaledi Schools programme, which has received a conditional grant amounting to R70 million for 2011-12 and will reach R105 million in the 2013-14 financial year.
An allocation of R80 million for the printing and distribution of the curriculum review documents has been secured for the current financial year.
To further enhance quality within the system, there is an additional allocation of about R14,1 million for the National Curriculum Statement examinations and assessment function in the 2011-12 financial year.
All our efforts that are aimed at enhancing the quality of learning outcomes will indeed benefit immensely from heeding the President's call, in the 2011 state of the nation address, for undivided focus on the "Triple Ts", that is, teachers, text and time. Thus, working with the provincial Departments of Education, we will ensure that indeed we deliver on the objectives of providing a textbook for every learner, in every subject.
Plans for the central procurement of learning and teaching support materials are under way. But all these efforts will not adequately produce a delivery-driven basic education system without quality teachers. We will therefore up our work on teacher development proactively to advance the "Triple Ts" and ensure that teachers are in class, teaching, at least seven hours a day, as the President has directed. Teachers are a critical resource for improving quality.
On 5 April this year, with Minister Nzimande, we launched the Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development. It is key to achieving Output 1 of the Delivery Agreement, that is, improving teacher capacity and practices.
The Funza Lushaka bursary has increased to R449 million and will reach R893 million in the year 2013-14.
Improving conditions of service for teachers is our top priority. We will continue to monitor the full implementation of the occupational-specific dispensation by provinces to ensure that unintended consequences are addressed.
Our targets include attracting young qualified teachers and filling vacant posts to help advance this year's clarion call for the creation of decent jobs and economic freedom for all.
We have also begun a process of supporting and collaborating with our teacher unions and higher education institutions on teacher professional development work. We see this as an important milestone in creating a high- level professional culture of commitment to teaching and professional development.
Our Lifetime Achiever, Mr Piet Swart, selected at the last National Teaching Awards, is an epitome of our capacity to produce excellent educators. We just need to do more. He is with us here today. In his 30 years of teaching, Mr Swart counts as his greatest achievement the role he played in 1996 to convince parents to agree to a phased-in multicultural policy for his school, Horskool Ben Vorster in Tzaneen. His school has won the trophy for the best performing school in the Mopani district 9 times out of 10 in Grade 12 results. He has also consistently produced 100% passes in his school with good quality outcomes. [Applause.]
The baseline of the Department of Basic Education has been adjusted with an amount of R43,9 million for the Expanded Public Works Programme. This allocation will help strengthen our resolve to make millions of our people literate and numerate, and help us to deliver on the commitment made to the UN programme Education For All in Dakar in 2000 - that of halving illiteracy rates by 2015.
We will intensify our work on strengthening the school management programme.
The funds allocated for school infrastructure will be used for building infrastructure in line with our improvement plan. We will work with communities at all levels, encouraging their participation and urging them to take ownership of school buildings.
We will eradicate mud and unsafe structures. For 2011-12, we have prioritised 85 mud schools and 246 inappropriate structures. We will provide water to at least 807 schools, provide sanitation to 391 schools and electrify 286 schools. For free-standing facilities without adequate resources, we will build 29 administration blocks, 25 libraries and 6 laboratories.
An allocation of R5,4 billion for the Education Infrastructure Conditional Grant has been introduced for this financial year, and it will increase to R6,2 billion in 2013-14. The School Infrastructure Backlogs Indirect Grant of R700 million for 2011-12 has also been introduced, and it will increase to R5,1 billion in 2013-14.
Working with provinces, by 2014 we would like to have attended to 3 627 schools that need to be brought to basic functionality and safety levels.
Learner wellbeing is another crucial element demanding our undivided attention. Therefore we will continue to pay serious attention to the health, safety and protection of our children; mainly children at risk.
In the current financial year, the National Schools Nutrition Programme reached 10 million learners in approximately 21 000 schools. For this financial year, this programme's conditional grant has increased to R915 million, to cater mainly for implementation in Quintile 3 secondary schools.
With education being a concurrent function, we are indeed very worried that 18 of our districts are underperforming. We are very aware that provinces are also not performing satisfactorily in different areas. This includes slow spending on some programmes and overspending in other areas. We will work with provinces, particularly those that have received qualified reports, to deal properly with the Auditor-General's concerns. The planning and delivery oversight unit is very key in this respect.
On the intervention in the Eastern Cape Department of Education, I made a ministerial statement before Parliament on 16 March this year. The Eastern Cape department of education had struggled, for the past 16 years, to establish itself as a stable and fully functional department. These challenges resulted in a Cabinet decision to invoke section 100(b) of the Constitution, in March 2011, to allow the Ministry of Basic Education to work with the province to implement a comprehensive and sustainable intervention.
We are working with the Department of Finance, the Department for the Public Service and Administration, as well as the Department of Transport in the province, to improve and deal with some of the challenges confronting the province. The intervention, I can say, enjoys the support of the leadership of the province and all key stakeholders. It is envisaged that the intervention will turn around the situation swiftly to enable delivery of key services in the education sector. In conclusion, I want to give a special thanks to all the patriots who supported the class of 2010. Again in 2011, we appeal to them to support the class of 2011. They are our children and they are our future.
We want to thank all professionals, academics and research communities, and the nongovernmental organisation sector. I want to deeply thank the Deputy Minister, Comrade Enver Surty, for his sterling support, the chairperson and members of the portfolio committee, MECs, heads of department, and the director-general in particular, Mr Bobby Soobrayan. I wish to thank all our officials, all teachers, their respective organisations, principals' associations, school governing bodies, learner representative councils, learner formations and the rest of civil society, for supporting all our efforts to deliver a quality, transformative and humane education system.
We want to welcome the continued support of Lead-SA, with whom we're launching a campaign to support the class of 2011 today. Lead-SA has worked tremendously to make the Bill of Responsibilities a reality. Through their efforts, I am convinced, we are strongly reaching out to our people with the message that with rights come corresponding responsibilities.
We also want to thank corporate South Africa for all the support. We also acknowledge, and are grateful to, the European Union for the Primary Education Sector Policy Support Programme, whose overall objective is to contribute to improving learner performance in literacy and numeracy at primary school level.
Our solemn promise to South Africans is that 2011 will not only focus on the theme of "A delivery-driven basic education system informed by the Delivery Agreement", but will also be about the general provision of education as a public service: faster, better and smarter.
We are confident that with the planning and delivery oversight unit these commitments will be realized. So, together we can improve the quality of basic education.
Lastly, we want to urge all our people within our borders to stand up and be counted during the 2011 census. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members, hon MECs who are here today, the director-general, officials from our national department, officials from our statutory bodies - Umalusi, I hope the SA Council for Educators is here, and the Education Labour Relations Council - our trade unions present, and guests - I greet you. I feel humbled, and at the same time it gives me great pleasure to address this august gathering today on Vote 15 for the Department of Basic Education.
Voorsitter, as die ANC-regering het ons belangrike vordering gemaak ten opsigte van die verbetering van die onderwysstelsel. Ek wil vandag in my toespraak erkenning gee aan die feit dat ons daarin geslaag het om weg te beweeg van 'n onderwysstelsel wat gebaseer was op kontoere van 'n ongelyke samelewing. Ons het beweeg van 'n situasie waar die apartheidregering aangevoer het dat swartmense nie akademiese opleiding in skole moes ontvang nie, sodat hulle gedoem sou wees tot 'n lewe van slawerny.
Die ANC-regering het die voorstelle dat onderwys gebruik word ... (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, as the ANC government we have made significant progress with regard to the reform of the education system. In my speech today I would like to acknowledge the fact that we have been successful in moving away from an education system that was based on the contours of an unequal society. We have moved from a situation where the apartheid government argued that black people should not receive academic education in schools, so that they would be condemned to a life of slavery.
The ANC government has rejected and debunked the suggestions that education be employed ...]
... "to serve narrow ideological and political ends" ...
... waar swartmense toegang tot onderwys onts is en dit boonop op rassegrondslag gefinansier is, verwerp en afgetakel. As die ANC roem ons onsself daarop dat ons die onderwysstelsel ontwikkel het deur middel van nuwe opvoedingswaardes, sowel as grondwetlike grondbeginsels, met die doelwit om onderwys wat voorheen 'n voortdurende agent vir die omskepping van ons mense in 'n goedkoop arbeidsmag sonder menseregte was, tot niet te maak. Inderdaad, die ANC het die situasie omgekeer. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[... where black people would be denied access to education and, on top of that, is funded on the underlying principle of race. As the ANC, we take pride in the fact that we have developed the education system by means of new educational values, as well as fundamental constitutional principles, with the aim of doing away with education that in the past continued to be an agent in the transformation of our people into a cheap labour force without human rights. The ANC has indeed reversed the situation.]
Chairperson, this system the ANC-led government has created is a decent education system that everyone is proud of. It is a system that caters for all, regardless of race and skin colour. Our journey since 1994, led by the ANC, was threefold. Firstly, the ANC-led government managed, through the Department of Education, to put education policies in place that changed all facets of the education system. The South African Schools Act puts it clearly that our "country requires a new national system for schools, which will redress past injustices in educational provision". The ANC-led government dismantled the education system under apartheid with a single national education system, which has nine provincial education systems.
Secondly, the ANC-led government has made education accessible to all who were previously denied access or had limited access. In this regard, statistics by the General Household Survey show that school attendance for the 7-to-13-year age group has increased from 96,7% in 2002 to 98,6% in 2009. The functional literacy has also risen from 88% to 91% during the past decade. South Africa's performance in terms of access to schooling rates among the best in the middle-income countries. Schooling is now compulsory. Marginalised, vulnerable and special needs groups are receiving particular attention through the inclusive education programmes and pro- poor funding policies. We are satisfied, as the ANC, with the above progress made with the abovementioned foci. However, we as the ANC know that we still face other additional challenges.
Thirdly, the current endeavour of the department is to improve the quality of basic education we offer to our learners. This is a strategic outcome the department has focused on. It is an outcome our Minister has committed herself to through the service delivery agreement she signed. This is extremely relevant at this point in our history. Democratic policies are in place, and we as the ANC are satisfied with the access to education in our country. Our current challenge and responsibility is to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
Voorsitter, as die ANC-regering erken ons die uitdagings, en in sy verklaring op 8 Januarie 2010 het President Jacob Zuma aangedui dat ...
In pursuance of quality education for all and skills development in the country, we split the Department of Education.
Die nasionale algemene raadsvergadering in 2010 het die sentrale posisie van onderwys as top-prioriteit herbevestig, soos aangedui in die aksieplan, gedentifiseer deur die ANC en goedgekeur deur die regering. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, as the ANC government we acknowledge the challenges, and in his statement on 8 January 2010, the President indicated that ...
In pursuance of quality education for all and skills development in the country, we split the Department of Education.
The ANC's national general council meeting in 2010 has reaffirmed the central position that education be a top priority, as indicated in the action plan, identified by the ANC and approved by the government.]
Chairperson, as I debate the Budget Vote, I am pleased that the department has inculcated in its strategic priorities the imperatives as outlined in the ANC manifesto, the 2010 January 8 Statement, the 2010 national general council resolutions, government's Programme of Action, the Minister's Delivery Agreement, and the 2011 state of the nation address by President Jacob Zuma. Through its Action to 2014: Towards Schooling 2025, the department has committed itself to the overarching goal of improving the quality of learning and teaching.
I therefore debate on the R13,8 billion budget allocated for 2011-12 with conviction that it will assist the department to achieve the outputs and measurable objectives that support the goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning. Our oversight responsibility focused on assessing the department's efforts towards spending that addresses the targets to which the department has committed itself.
The department has made a commitment to the committee to focus on, among other things, the following: Making Grade 3, 6 and 9 learners undertake regular assessments, which was mentioned by the Minister; improving early childhood development; teacher development; learner support materials - textbooks and workbooks; addressing infrastructure backlogs through the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative; the National School Nutrition Programme; scholar transport; the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign; HIV and Aids; and shortcomings in school sports.
The onus is now on the department's officials to do what is right. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, has noted that, and I quote:
Gaps exist in all countries between policy aspirations and implementation.
I am not saying this to pre-empt the department's efforts, but rather to caution the department to do things smarter while implementing its priorities. I therefore encourage the department to keep to its priorities and honour its commitments to the nation.
One of the priorities is the campaign for quality learning and teaching, which is important. The President reminded us in his 2011 state of the nation address to embrace our the "Triple T principle". It is clear that this principle places a responsibility on all stakeholders in education. For teachers it means giving much more time to tasks, not coming late and being child-centred. Equally, it is the department's duty to ensure that resources which enhance classroom activities are available. As the Portfolio Committee on Education we encourage teachers, learners and the department to honour their call of duty in their respective ways. To us as a portfolio committee, quality in teaching cannot be separated from adequate infrastructure, teacher development and the provision of educators. We need a post-provisioning norm that is able to cater for all the challenges in the classroom, including farm schools and multigrade classes. Looking at the current national norms and standards for teacher- learner ratios, that of 1:45 in primary grades and 1:35 in high schools, we would like this to apply to our Level 1 teachers.
We further regard the Eastern Cape infrastructure backlog and that of the rest of the country as an immense test to the department. We have seen allocations of billions of rands coming to assist in this regard, and yet the throughput was not enough. We should bear in mind that addressing the challenge of unsafe schools, as you have said, Minister, is long overdue.
I would like to speak about the Eastern Cape with regard to stakeholders, and commend the Minister on that. They wanted the fulfilment of promises by the national and provincial departments; clean administration in the province; districts to be within reach of towns; the tightening of procurement processes; safe and quality classrooms; electricity and sanitation at schools and libraries; security at schools; properly trained teachers for the foundation phase; and scholar transport. These were the requests when we interacted with the communities.
Ek wil die departement gelukwens omdat daar ag geslaan is op die protes deur ons mense en bewys gelewer is van sy verbintenis tot die nasie deur daadwerklik op te tree deur die Oos-Kaap doeltreffend onder administrasie te plaas. [I would like to congratulate the department for paying attention to the protestations by our people and for proving its commitment to the nation by decisively taking action in the Eastern Cape by putting it under administration.]
They also worked out the strategy on what to do.
Ek raai ook die Minister aan om bestekopname in ons ander provinsies te doen, sodat sy in staat is om kwessies vroegtydig te identifiseer en tydig daaraan aandag te skenk. [I would also suggest to the Minister to do a survey in our other provinces so that she is able to identify issues in good time and is able to attend to these timeously.]
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Deputy Minister and the director- general, the senior officials of the department, Umalusi, Sace and ELRC for the fruitful deliberations on the strategic plan and anticipated allocations, and the Minister for a comprehensive policy and budget speech and giving leadership to the department. I would like to thank the hon members of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education for their spirit of co-operation, professionalism, and working together, which assures me that we'll achieve more.
Thank you to the supporting staff, Mr Brown, Mahada, Bandi, and my secretary, Ms Nourse, for the support they give to the committee on a daily basis.
We as the ANC, Minister, support the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, hon members, guests and friends, there is a quote that is unattributed and it goes as follows ...
[Interjections.]
My apologies, hon James. There is a noise somewhere at the back. Hon members, can you please give the speaker a chance to speak. Thank you. Over to you, sir.
The quote is:
Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.
We as a country spend a large amount of money on education by international standards. According to the World Development Indicators for 2010 published by the World Bank, we spent 5,1% of our GDP on education in 2008, compared to an average of 4,5% for middle-income countries. As a percentage of the total budget, we spent 16,2% on education, compared to the 14% average for the same middle-income countries.
Our education therefore is not lacking in resources. The issue is the efficacy of that spending. The quality of education outcomes - not the quantity - has deteriorated. We observed for example the increasing need for bridging programmes at universities and the increasing reluctance on the part of higher education institutions to rely on normal admission standards.
We do not retain as many learners as we should in the schooling system, nor is the quality of mathematics and science results in step with the actual talent of our young people.
The appropriateness of education outcomes can be questioned. The number of unemployed matriculants has increased sharply. The number of matriculants who are poor has also increased sharply. Students need to be equipped with the training and skills to create their own opportunities, as our formal economy will simply not create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb all newcomers.
Poor education performance, colleagues, is a fundamental and not an incidental cause of the poverty that plagues our society. We will not begin to solve our deepest problems of inequality unless we deal with the crisis in education. It is a crisis. Is it being dealt with by this government as a crisis? The answer in fact is, yes, it is.
The DA congratulates Minister Motshekga on kicking the beehive, as they put it, of the now legendary maladministration of schooling in the Eastern Cape. It was an act of courage, because she knew the metaphorical bees from that part of the world would sting her.
The department will also spend considerable funds, R8,204 billion, on wiping out the infrastructure backlogs and building proper schools for the very extraordinary children of the rural poor who are no less talented or deserving than children everywhere else.
There are other initiatives too. The money and the plans are there, but the implementation is a very serious and in fact a calamitous problem. My colleague the hon Donald Smiles will elaborate on how the education authorities have not met the deadline, for example, to provide temporary relief in the Eastern Cape, which is a symptom of a more general problem of not being able to get things done and get them done on time.
I believe, too, that the Minister's efforts in turning around education are too dissipated. The effort requires focus, rigour and discipline. I am sure that Minister Motshekga, as a former teacher, will agree with our view that there is nothing more fundamental in education than having an excellent teacher in front of the class. There is nothing more fundamental than doing that.
We should therefore give unrelentingly and unyieldingly consistent and meticulous attention to putting excellent teachers in front of our classrooms. The question is: Do we have excellent teachers in front of our thousands of classrooms? We have some idea, some anecdotal idea, about who the excellent teachers are. The Minister has some idea - I say "some idea", because the data collection system of her department is not geared to giving us the comprehensive figures.
I asked a year ago from this department to tell me how many teachers teaching biology in class had a qualification in biology. The department could not answer my question. The informed guess is that 30% of teachers teaching biology actually know their subject, whilst 70% do not.
More recently, I asked the same question of Chemistry, Physics and Geography teaching. I am still waiting for an answer. I will ask the same question of History, languages and other disciplines. I will in fact become a pest, Minister Motshekga, and ask you at every turn: What quality of teachers do we have in front of our classrooms?
In this respect, your department has served you poorly, Minister. This department supplies unusable information. When asked to provide facts about teacher-to-learner ratios, I received figures collected on one particular day of the year, known as the Education Management Information System, or EMIS, 10th day school survey data, an unreliable way of collecting numbers. You simply cannot base conclusions on a day's statistics.
The department's spokesperson agreed that the numbers were in fact shoddy and, on the basis that he said that he would provide better figures, I then refrained from publicly embarrassing your department. I never heard from Dr Granville Whittle again in this regard.
I wish to say to you today, Minister, that your department's data collection division is run by rank amateurs. The data collection machinery is not set up to answer the fundamental questions that must be answered in order to run a modern state Ministry.
The result is that you cannot, hon Minister, tell millions of parents how many teachers of mathematics have a qualification in mathematics. The fact is that you cannot, hon Minister, say with any conviction whether matric- level students walk into their final examinations in mathematics having mastered quadratic and simultaneous equations or not. You cannot tell them that.
The fact is, hon Minister, that you cannot say with any conviction whether matric-level students have mastered the history of our great country that goes back not to 1652, but goes back to a 100 000 years of prehistory when the ancestors to the Khoi and the San walked this great earth of ours.
Why do you put up with inferior education? In a country with such deep poverty, where education is the only route to a different life, why do we put up with inferior education for the poor?
Colleagues, the department says that teacher quality is its highest priority. President Jacob Zuma emphasised the importance of the Triple Ts - teachers, time and tasks. Minister Motshekga launched, on 24 February, the European Union-funded R1,2 billion Primary Sector Education Policy Support Programme. The focus is on attracting more young people into teaching, especially those who have mastered indigenous languages and are able to start with Grade R. With Minister Blade Nzimande, Minister Motshekga also launched, on 5 April, a new planning framework for teacher education and development for the next years. Let me say, these are very good initiatives. The DA congratulates you and your colleagues on those efforts.
Today, 13 April, delegates from all over Africa are assembling in Lom, Togo, to discuss the shortage "of motivated and qualified teachers" at a Unesco Pan-African Conference on Teacher Education and Development. Some of your public servants might be there. This is an unprecedented moment in Africa, because we all recognise that we need a bold effort - not an average effort, not a mediocre effort, not a business-as-usual effort, but a bold effort - to put excellent teachers in the classroom.
What are the elements of such a bold plan?
Firstly, performance-based pay should be introduced, especially for our good teachers and for those willing to teach larger classes and at schools in poorer areas.
Secondly, tax allowances should be introduced for teachers to purchase the tools of their trade: they should be able to buy books, to acquire magazine subscriptions, they should have computers and have access to the Internet, and get a tax allowance for that, as well as for work-related travelling, for example taking learners to worthwhile sporting and cultural events.
HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Thirdly, conditions of service such as the housing subsidy should be made more generous. Teachers get on average a housing subsidy of R800, which allows them to buy a home worth R220 000. The medical aid scheme should also be made far more generous. The department should also subsidise fee waivers for children of teachers.
Fourthly, there are many very good and committed teachers who work very hard, but we must acknowledge that there are very poor ones who ought to be managed out of the system. Many of the very poor ones came through the Bantustan education system, up to the 1990s, and hon Minister Nzimande will remember that. [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! [Interjections.] Order, hon members!
Colleagues, we cannot afford to have poor teachers miseducate the nation's children.
Fifthly, in order to accomplish the bold plan for teachers, funds have to be found to support merit and performance pay, as well as better conditions of service in addition to the normal baseline for teachers' salaries.
One minute left, hon member.
The funds can be found by a major cutting exercise in the overheads and nonpriority programmes of the national department.
Finally, the buy-in of trade unions and professional associations for this bold plan has to be secured to focus on the educational rights of the child rather than the labour rights of adults. This will require a considerable push, not only from the Minister, but from President Jacob Zuma and the senior leadership in Cabinet.
In closing, it was former President Nelson Mandela who said about teachers, in a book I co-edited with Professor Kader Asmal and Professor David Chidester entitled Nelson Mandela: From Freedom to the Future, a book we gave him on his 85th birthday in 2003, where, in speaking about overcoming the legacy of apartheid and education through proper policies, and I quote:
Teachers cannot evade individual responsibility for achieving excellence. Transformation ...
And it still had great meaning then -
... includes making the most of the limited opportunities available. It can never mean suspending the striving for quality and excellence until ideal conditions are achieved.
I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, guests, there is a contract, explicit and implicit, overt and covert, silent and loud, between government and the nation, between government and teachers, between teachers and parents - that of producing the best out of every learner at all times and in all schools. The budget, in my understanding, is presented today with this objective in mind.
Chairperson, education in South Africa is like fixing a locomotive whose parts comprise the old and the new, which come in different models, are not in sync with one another and therefore do not manage to steer the train forward. You fix here, it leaks there; you fix here, it staggers there. Not only is maintenance of this asset very expensive; its ability to move forward is marred by frequent breakdowns, resulting in passengers hardly ever reaching their destinations.
Consequently, the passengers are offloaded at the wrong station at the wrong time, unable to go on with their journey. Those that survive the journey are confused and ill prepared to withstand the demands of their destination and are not able to negotiate a journey forward. Some do not qualify to board the next trains, while for others the trains may be travelling at higher and faster speeds for them to get on. What you then find are desperate people alongside the rail, hiking, desperate and willing to board anything that comes by. [Interjections.]
Hon member, a moment, please. Hon members, you are making it difficult for me to listen to what the member is saying. Continue, hon member.
What you then find are desperate people alongside the rail, hiking, desperate and willing to board anything that comes by. When they do not finally get on, they grow despondent. They become demotivated, they act outside the law, they end up in the street, they end up in jail, they end up in hospital. Some die while others become statistics. Those that make it to their destination are very few and far between, not enough to make any real impact on their own, which then results in the shortage of everything they were supposed to do.
Chairperson, to my mind this is unfortunately the scenario that you are negotiating in education. Parts of this scenario, I must say, can be attributed to old history, while other parts, in my own judgment, is our own mistake in judging the readiness, the relevance, the fitness, the distance to cover and the effectiveness of the new parts.
There was a time when the business of education was the learner, when education was used for what it could give and do, and was not allowed to be hijacked by politics. Education has become a bargaining chip and a boxing ring between teachers and government. Who gets caught up in that crossfire? It is the learner, who neither has the capacity nor the resources for recourse.
Education has become a battlefield for tenders for transporting learners; it has become a battlefield for tenders for distributing books. Education has become a battlefield for tenders for feeding schemes, a battlefield for the next tender and the next. It is not a battlefield for knowledge production and character building, as it should be.
Today, the Minister is presenting to us the budget of the Department of Basic Education. Nobody can accuse you, Madam Minister, of lack of vision or strategy. Nobody can accuse you of not having a plan or lack of effort, what with your experience as an educator, which we can see, and what with the skilled workforce that you have.
But for any plan to work you need an enabling and conducive environment. The environment of teaching, as it stands, leaves much to be desired; the culture of teaching, as it stands, leaves much to be desired. You need, Madam Minister, an environment where a teacher is a teacher and a learner is a learner.
A teacher is a professional who must look like one and must behave as such. A teacher must have a credo by which to live, that of loyalty to the profession, and dedication to service and serving the country. This needs to be reinforced and not negotiated, Madam Minister, if not by fair means, by foul. You cannot have teachers telling you how they need to be supervised. We cannot allow democracy to destroy us.
But, of course, not everybody who teaches is a teacher, which is a huge problem! I am aware that you are fixing this.
Equally, Chairperson, a learner must be a learner, dressed as such and behaving as such. Being a learner is never being in competition with the teacher. Being a learner means accepting guidance and discipline, and being humble enough to learn. I am speaking of the contract I tabled earlier.
Parents must also come to the party. They cannot leave nurturing children to the teachers. Parents must ground their children, they must discipline their children, and they must create a sense in their children of wanting to be somebody one day. They must be role models to their children. They must demand accountability from the children. The role of parenting is fast being drowned and replaced by television, by Facebook, Twitter, MXit, iPod, and so on. There is hardly time for family.
One minute left, hon member.
Government must also come to the party. It must pay the teachers accordingly. It must create that resourced and enabling environment which dignifies the teaching and learning process, where teachers and learners can be motivated to do their work. There are huge and embarrassing infrastructural backlogs throughout the country, which the Minister has already alluded to.
Madam Chairperson, if you can indulge me, I want to remember a song that says: "I wanna go back to the time when music was music!" I want to go back to the time when education was education. I am referring to my own time, where I learnt through Bantu education, unfortunately. I can still remember the songs that we sang. I can still remember the tables, one times one and three times three. [Interjections.] I can still remember that. [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
Chairperson, I think that in this democratic country of ours we need to have learners that are able to remember the things that they have learnt. Thank you, Madam Chair. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, let me hasten to say that the IFP supports the Minister's intentions as contained in her budget speech. But, of course, the reality out there tells a different story, and I will try to sketch some of the elements of that reality, hoping that straight talk will not break any friendships.
Hon Minister, I want to argue that any reasonable man or woman would accept that our education system is in dire straits. A recent in-depth report by the international news channel Al Jazeera called South Africa's children "a generation at stake". A wasted future is what many of South Africa's children face. Without the prospect of a proper education and therefore a proper job later in life, their futures are indeed at stake.
Their future prospects are further diminished by falling standards in education. While South Africa has made impressive strides towards meeting the delivery of primary education for all, in the process the quality of education has dropped. According to some surveys, South Africa is falling behind countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe. These are the stark realities we face today and which we must address through the department's budget which is being tabled here.
Since attaining democracy, South Africa has increased access to education dramatically. But, hon Minister, for a country that spends proportionally more of its GDP on education than the international norm, somewhere somehow we have gone wrong.
There are challenges. What are these challenges? Firstly, 18 schools achieved a zero matric pass rate in 2010. Five of these schools were in the Eastern Cape, four in Limpopo, three in KwaZulu-Natal, one in Gauteng and one in the Free State. This statistic remains unchanged from 2009. The question is: Are these schools being put under any spotlight by the department? Is the department rendering immediate emergency assistance at these schools? Have we commissioned critical analytical studies to ascertain what the causes of these zero pass rates are?
Secondly, despite a massive portion of the budget being allocated to infrastructure each year, we still have about 400 mud schools, all in the Eastern Cape. We should no longer tolerate a situation where children go to school in buildings made of mud, or without water or electricity. Government statistics have recently shown that 3 600 of the schools in this country are without electrification, 2 500 are without adequate water supply, and an astonishing 92% of our schools are without libraries.
One minute left, hon member.
Lastly, the teacher unions, but most notably Sadtu, have become a serious problem. [Interjections.] They have already shown us that they are prepared to go to any lengths, even at the expense of our children's education, to get whatever they want. They appear to be in charge of our department, and not the other way round. For instance, we are told that the situation in the Eastern Cape is what it is because the department cannot move or do anything without the consent of the unions. What is that? [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, the director-general and your administration, the department's entities and the public, warm greetings. Life is very interesting. People create chaos and when the situation is chaotic and you are addressing it, they later come back and parade a lack of understanding, and claim ignorance and innocence. [Applause.]
At times, when you have created a problem, you think you have an inherent knowledge of the solution. We led South Africa out of apartheid and we are focused on leading the way to a better life for all. We are accommodating the opposition as well in this regard. Together, we can do more.
It is always a rare privilege for one to be part of a debate on the budget of one of the most critical and prioritised departments. Education is key in our endeavours to redress the social, political and economic ills of the past. President Jacob Zuma has emphasised the vital role of the education system in improving productivity and competitiveness in the economy. Whereas significant progress has been made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal on Universal Education regarding access to basic education, the government and the president of the ANC are mainly concerned about the quality and not just the quantity of our learners.
At this point in our history, more than ever before, we have a responsibility to raise the bar and ensure that we leave our country and its people the legacy of a solid and quality basic education. This must enable all young children in our country, despite their economic and social backgrounds, to have access to education and must ensure that we can improve their potential and opportunities for future development. It is against this background that the ruling party and the government of the day, the ANC, deliberately and consciously declared improved quality basic education as priority outcome number one.
It therefore requires of all of us to make an extraordinary effort so that this objective is realised for the benefit of all the children of our country, without discrimination. We cannot and must not fail to ensure that we harness our collective energies to deliver on this important assignment that the generation of young people today are giving to all of us who are in the business of the education of our children. We therefore welcome the developments that we have noted with the work of the Ministry of Basic Education to date.
It is important to acknowledge that despite the challenges that still exist, the system has begun to show signs of improvement. We applaud you for the development of the action plan to 2014, a sector plan that gives us clear targets and indicators by which we have to measure ourselves. It is in the spirit of this development that we recognise that basic education is showing signs of improvement.
We congratulate you, Minister, and the entire education sector on the achievements of the class of 2010 in the National Senior Certificate Examination. [Applause.] Many had wanted to distract us from celebrating this achievement, and we are happy that we have demonstrated that these learners have succeeded in obtaining the pass rate they did, having gone through the National Curriculum Statement. We therefore recognise curriculum as an important tool for quality education to our learners. In this regard we are reminded that the Grade 12 class of 2010 was the third cohort of learners to write the National Senior Certificate Examination after having gone through the National Curriculum Statement.
It is appropriate and proper that we must recognise the relevance of our curriculum to the demands of a developmental state, as anticipated by the ANC. We are therefore pleased to note that the National Curriculum Statement, or NCS, has been declared internationally comparable by studies carried out independently by Umalusi and the Independent Examinations Board. This demonstrates the high levels of quality that we seek to maintain for our children. We must always strive to ensure that our curriculum remains relevant and responsive in order that it can open up opportunities for better future prospects for our young children.
Despite the good report on the international comparability of our curriculum, we have noted a decline in the levels of literacy and numeracy among our young people. These have manifested themselves in the extent to which our young people have been unable to acquire appropriate levels of competencies in the foundational skills of learning. Although there could be numerous factors contributing to this process, we are pleased that the department has intervened decisively in this matter of the curriculum through the development of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, which will be incrementally implemented in the Foundation Phase and Grade 10 in 2012.
It is our considered view that we must ensure that all preparatory processes are put in place in order that implementation will be smooth. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, or Caps, must be relevant for teaching in the classroom and responsive to the different contexts in which different schools in our country find themselves. We must make sure that Caps can take us closer to the realisation of an accessible curriculum for all teachers and learners for a skilled future generation.
Furthermore, we must ensure that we promote support in mathematics and science in order to contribute to addressing the shortages of skills that have been reported in this area, previously neglected by apartheid - I think you'll know. It is in this context that we must congratulate the department regarding the report on the Dinaledi schools to the extent that their contribution is valuable in addressing the skills development challenges of the country. We need to fight illiteracy on all fronts and with all the resources at our disposal.
We have noted the progress the department has made with regard to the Kha Ri Gude programme, especially as it relates to the number of learners that have access to the programme. It is our view that we should remain relevant and steadfast in mobilising our resources to ensure that we eliminate the levels of illiteracy, also among adults. What is also encouraging is that this programme is able to respond to job-creation initiatives, with currently over 39 000 volunteer educators, supervisors, co-ordinators and monitors.
The support for special needs education requires attention. Although there have been good developments in isolated cases, it is important that we move with speed and pay attention to special needs education. This will ensure that we provide access to education to all children of our country so that we can remain relevant and responsive. However, the report from the schools of skills around the country shows that the curriculum for learners with special needs in these schools is not responsive and learners are not given certificates when they complete their education.
Learners who are at these schools, who are not academically progressive, are still expected to do academic subjects as prerequisites to be registered at these schools. At some point these schools don't even have relevant learner-teacher support materials. The department has a lot to do in this regard.
Mutshamaxitulu, vana hinkwavo va tiko ra hina ra Afrika Dzonga va fanele ku nyikiwa dyondzo ya xiyimo xa le henhla. Dyondzo leyi nga ta va pfuna eka ku tilulamisela vumundzuku lebyinene; dyondzo leyi nga na ntikelo na nkoka. Va fanele ku kuma tidyondzo leti pfumalekaka, kambe ti ri leti lavekaka eka ku hluvukisa tiko ra hina na ku kurisa xiyimo xa ikhonomi. Tidyondzo leti nga ta endla leswaku va amukeleka hi ku olova etiyunivhesiti na le tikholichi leswaku va yisa emahlweni tidyondzo ta vona. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, all the children of our country are supposed to receive the best education. An education that will help them prepare for their future; an education that is of high quality and value. They must receive tuition in scarce subjects, especially those that are needed for the development of our country and for economic growth.
The subjects which will make them eligible for admission to universities and colleges to further their education.]
We hope that the department will use the budget allocation of R1,8 billion for this programme to further address the challenges around the curricula in our education system. The need for stable, coherent, responsive and relevant curricula cannot be overemphasised. The ANC supports the budget. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Ministers present, hon members and our guests, education remains without any shadow of doubt the most useful tool available that we can use to unleash human potential. It is the only tool we can rely on as a nation to achieve long-term success and prosperity.
Often there are huge discrepancies between what gets delivered to the people on the ground and these grand plans. Every year we congregate here to approve large amounts of money that are allocated for education without addressing the underlying causes of the complete state of paralysis that we see in our education system.
Allow me, hon Chairperson, to highlight some of the UDM's major concerns, which we believe are factors leading to overall poor education.
Firstly, according to the Basic Education Department's Action Plan 2014 of October 2010, there were approximately 400 mud schools in the country. There were also about 700 schools that had no toilets or water. In some provinces school nutritional programmes are run haphazardly.
While we appreciate the bold steps that are being taken to address these infrastructure backlogs through the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative in an effort to bring these schools to basic safety functionality, we are concerned about the fact that at the beginning of each year learning materials and crucial learning resources are not delivered to schools on time.
Secondly, unless we take bold steps to address these challenges, we shall continue to spend large amounts of money on a dichotomous education system, with quality being the prerogative of the haves and have-lots. We would be throwing money at the problem instead of addressing the root causes of the problem.
Government officials who fail to ensure that school materials reach schools on time should be sanctioned appropriately, otherwise we shall have to contend with such poor leadership every single year.
Thirdly, learners' and teachers' ill-discipline across the country is at an all-time high. The shocking levels of teachers' ill-discipline, in particular, can be addressed by the reintroduction of school inspectors. By doing so, the Department of Basic Education would enable itself to hold teachers accountable for their performance agreements. Strict adherence to and enforcement of the learner code of conduct would go a long way towards reducing the high level of learners' ill-discipline.
In conclusion, allow me to express our concern about the gap between good matric results and the same students failing dismally at institutions of higher learning. This trend is an indication of an underlying weakness in this school system. We are doing the nation a disservice when we allow learners who achieve code 2 to progress to the next level of education. We must ensure that our children leave matric with genuine results and knowledge to enter the job market or continue their studies.
The UDM will support this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, esteemed guests who are present here, this year we celebrate the anniversary of Chief Albert Luthuli who, 50 years ago, penned an article entitled "If I were Prime Minister". In 1960, he was also the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. When he received it, Dr Wilmot, he did not say: "I receive it as the author of Let My People Go," but he received it in his magnanimous way on behalf of South Africa and the people of Africa.
In this article, "If I were Prime Minister", Chief Albert Luthuli speaks about the importance of education, and he says:
Education is a paramount unifying factor in building consciousness and pride - a healthy community spirit. In my nonracial democratic South Africa there can be no question of a different system of education for different racial groups.
He speaks also in that article about the importance of ensuring that we provide free education for primary school and progressively to learners up to matric, and ensure that we donate generously and magnanimously to those who are at university. He also speaks in this article about the importance of ensuring that we provide opportunities for those who are illiterate. He says that the demands of a democratic society are such that we no longer should have homogenous learning communities but an integrated nonracial community, so that we can ensure that there is patriotism and human solidarity.
That is what Chief Albert Luthuli spoke about and today, as we assembly here and listen to the inputs, we can indeed celebrate the fact that more than eight million children in our schools attend no-fee schools, that no single learner who is indigent or destitute would, by law, be compelled to pay a fee. Today we can celebrate the fact - and Albert Luthuli would certainly have celebrated the vision - that every indigent or poor learner who goes to school would be receiving a nutritious meal. Today, more than 10 million children receive a nutritious meal every day. [Applause.]
He would celebrate the fact that in our nonracial democratic society, the classroom is no longer a homogenous group which determines where a nation must move forward; it is a heterogeneous community of learners. This indeed means that educators who teach in that environment would have to have increased and enhanced skills in terms of dealing with multicultural and multilingual environments. Yet we tend to forget about that.
Dr Wilmot, it is not what you say that troubles me; it is what you do not say. You failed to tell this House, and you ought to tell this House, that this Minister had promised a year ago that she would deliver - the first of its kind - some 11 million workbooks to enhance literacy and numeracy. Indeed, 11 million workbooks, in 11 official languages, have been delivered, so that every learner from Grade 1 to Grade 6 is in possession of a workbook. [Applause.]
You failed to mention that the Minister recognised and affirmed the importance of literacy and numeracy as being fundamental to the progress and the quality of education, and to that end she had committed herself to the Annual National Assessment taking place for Grades 3, 6 and 9. She went beyond that; she ensured that every learner from Grade 1 to Grade 6, plus the learners in Grade 10 who would previously be in Grade 9, would be assessed. More than 95% of the learners in our system were assessed through the ANA process, a publicly accountable process which speaks to the challenges of literacy and numeracy.
If Chief Albert Luthuli, who was a teacher committed to the ABC and a politician committed to the ANC ... [Laughter.] [Applause.] ... were to sit here today and listen to this audience, he would say: "My God, things have changed in the 21st century."
Chief Luthuli would recognise the changes in terms of technology, that we are a technologically driven society, and he would say to the hon member from Cope: "Do you recognise the enormous capital in social interaction through the networks?" Do you recognise the fact that MXit is an important platform where more than 65 000 learners receive information and education? Are you saying that we should be confined to the old standards of teaching and learning, that we cannot integrate ICT into our technology? He would say to you, Madam: "I witness these changes, but I also see the challenges. I see that more than 6 000 schools are multigrade schools, and it is important that we enhance the capacity of those educators by ensuring that we have enabling instruments in those schools, such as ICT." So it is not business as usual to use the power of technology to ensure that we are able to enhance quality education.
He would say to Dr Wilmot James: "You have spoken the truth about the importance of the gateway subjects of mathematics and science." But as a reverend, a priest, a man of the cloth - because he was that too - he would say: "You have failed to tell them that in 1994 only 3% of black children in the Bantustans did mathematics on the higher grade." [Interjections.] Today, we have more than 150 000 learners who are doing it; in fact, there are approximately 300 000 black learners that are doing mathematics. [Applause.] Why do you withhold this information? Why do you deny this country and this democracy the right to say that we had enormous challenges, yet we are progressing from year to year on the basis of our commitment to change the lives of our people?
Chief Luthuli would say to Dr Wilmot James that the Dinaledi programme, which was initiated in 2002, had only 102 schools but today there are 500 schools, and they are located principally in townships and rural areas, where the poor and indigent people are. These schools produced 32% of the passes in mathematics of 50% plus, and have produced 35% of the passes in science of 50% plus. In fact, more than one third of the science passes in the Dinaledi schools were between 60% and 70%, and these schools make up less than 9% of the total number of high schools. These are black learners that we are talking about.
Chief Luthuli would say to you, Dr Wilmot James: "You are indeed right. We must focus on the gateway subjects. But why do you not share this truth with the people, I ask you, as a man of the cloth." [Applause.] That would be what Chief Albert Luthuli would say.
Chief Luthuli would say to you that you spoke about the challenges at our institutions of higher learning. Indeed, it is so, but have you forgotten to tell the people that in 1994 less than 30% of the population in tertiary institutions was black, and today more than 70% of the institutions are made up of black people? And you failed to tell them that more women graduate at our universities than men, and it was totally the opposite in the past. And you failed to tell them that there was absolutely no parity and equality amongst the girl learners and the boy learners, and today the girl learner is surpassing the boy learner. Why is it that you withhold this information? [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Order, members!
Chief Luthuli would say to you: "I judge people on their actions, not only by what they say, because I am a man of the cloth, I am a teacher and I have fought for your liberation. After all, I have heard this Minister saying that she is going to engage in a process in terms of which we can celebrate one curriculum and assessment policy statement from Grade R to Grade 12 and in which everybody, all stakeholders, will participate."
Indeed, the Minister said so and she did so: Why do you doubt it? Why are you not affirming her commitment to the truth and for transformation? [Interjections.]
Chief Luthuli would say: "Mr Swart, you belong to this nonracial democracy. You are white. You may be called "swart", which is "black" ... [Laughter.] ... but your heart, your soul and your mind belong to this democracy, because you believe that our schools and learning environments must change and must reflect the true character of our democracy." That is why Mr Swart is here, that is why we celebrate him: because he is competent and equal.
What you have not told us, in terms of what you could tell us, is that for the first time in the history of this country there is a collective commitment by the unions and the Department of Basic Education, a teacher framework for development, that more than R500 million is going to be spent on teacher competency, and in order to assess the competency of teachers they would have to be tested diagnostically. They have agreed to it. The leader of the union would say to you: if it is for development, we have no difficulty. That is Sadtu. [Applause.] That is Sadtu!
Well done!
But you, hon member from the IFP, more than anyone else, should understand that as we look at our environment we must recognise the enormous disparities: the differences between those schools that are better resourced and those that are under-resourced, and the enormous pressures that teachers face when they have to teach a classroom of more than 40 learners. Notwithstanding this, we tend to generalise and say that all educators are betraying the future of our children, whereas thousands upon thousands of educators spend many hours under those difficult circumstances, ensuring that they provide quality education.
The leadership of that union that you referred to indeed has most of its members in our schools, making a difference to the life of that rural child, the rural poor. [Applause.]
What is it that we are going to do? We are going to look at the issues of safety and security; it is not only about fences. We have already engaged with the SA Police Service to ensure that a thousand schools in each province are linked to a police station ...
Chairperson, on a point of order: Eight of the ANC- controlled provinces cannot get their infrastructure grant because they have not delivered. Is that true?
That is not a point of order, with respect. [Interjections.]
Continue, please, hon Deputy Minister. [Interjections.]
I think the pressure of the truth is getting to him. [Interjections.]
Order, please, hon members.
What I am saying, hon Chairperson - and I have two minutes and 37 seconds, having generously been given five minutes by the hon Minister, so in case you are squirming in your seat and you do not want to hear the truth, I shall convey the truth ... [Interjections.] You see how it hurts! They suppress and depress debates simply because the truth is being spoken.
Madam Chair, on a point of order: I hear the hon Deputy Minister say that he has been given an extra five minutes by the Minister. I presume that means that the Minister will not be replying at the end of this debate?
The importance of literacy and numeracy is this ... [Laughter.]
The importance of listening is also important. [Interjections.] The hon Deputy Minister must listen before he starts speaking again.
Hon Ellis, the timing has been sorted out by the Table and it is correct.
But no, Madam Chair, that is actually not acceptable. If the timing has been sorted out by the Table, the opposition parties have a right to know what the changes are. He cannot just announce that he has an extra five minutes. It doesn't work like that.
Thank you, hon Chairperson, I will reply very swiftly. If the Minister wants to speak for 15 minutes and he speaks for 10 minutes, that is a five-minute saving, and that indeed is the position out there, so if the hon member could sit down, that would be fine ... [Interjections.]
Madam Chair, it does not work like that. [Interjections.]
Hon Deputy Minister ... [Interjections.] ... proceed.
Hon Chairperson, when we talk about freedom of expression and the right to debate in a robust manner, and we see these attempts to constrain a person from speaking the truth, then we say: What is it all about? Is it about political expediency and opportunism? [Interjections.]
Hon Chairperson, sport is a huge problem in this country and we want to assure hon members that in the National Curriculum Statement physical education is part of the curriculum and there is dedicated time that has been timetabled. We also wish to say that we have responded to the call for sport to be played and therefore there is interschool sport that is being played. We have partnered with many private instances, including Adidas. Today we can say to you that we have something like 190 000 balls that we are going to distribute to our schools. We have more than R1 million in terms of football kits for interschool sport. That is going to become a reality, something that you might want to talk about next year, to say, "we acknowledge that we have received these footballs in our schools and we are going to be promoting football, rugby, netball and cricket in our schools progressively."
In conclusion - given the fact that I have 18 seconds - I would like to say ... [Interjections.] ... that it has been a great pleasure to work with this portfolio committee, with members of all political parties. I think education has shown that if we have a common interest we do tend to work together as a nation. Thank you to each and every member of the portfolio committee - we really appreciate it. To the director-general and his team and to my MEC, Mr Grant, thank you for your support. Long live the ANC!
HON MEMBERS: Long live! [Applause.]
Madam Chairperson, on a point of order: May I just request that you clarify for us please the exact allocation of the remaining time, because it seems that there was some rearrangement of time. We would like to know exactly what we can expect. [Interjections.]
Members, our first two speakers saved time and that was given to the hon Deputy Minister. There is also another minute that has been given to the hon Minister to conclude, so she concludes with six minutes. [Interjections.]
Madam Chair ...
Order, please, members! I cannot hear if everybody is shouting. Please be seated, hon Dudley.
Madam Chair, on a point order: The Rules make it quite clear that in a debate of this nature, the executive has 40 minutes; they cannot get extra time from the members of their party. [Interjections.] It does not work like that. I ask the Table to consider this very carefully. The executive has 40 minutes. They can share the time between themselves, but they cannot then claim time from another member of their committee.
Thank you, hon Ellis. I am going to rule on this. I am in the Chair and as far as I am aware they are allowed to. It has happened before when I have been in this House. They are allowed to allocate the time.
Madam Chair, with due respect, this was debated at the Chief Whips' Forum this year, before the Extended Public Committees started, and we agreed that the executive would have 40 minutes and would not exceed that time.
Madam Chair, it depends on the time allocated to the ANC.
Hon members, before we close today, we will get a ruling on what was actually said at the meeting, because it would seem that we are not clear on that. But I do need to re-emphasise that in this House it has happened that the total amount of time given to a party has been taken into consideration. We shall check on the question of whether it relates to the executive or not. We shall rule on that before we close this meeting.
Chair, it is a known fact that well-performing schools have good managers and good teachers, and these good managers and good teachers must be valued and paid accordingly.
There must be accountability, authority and flexibility in our schools in relation to people, time and money. Schools, for example, must be able to choose their management and teachers. Where children are behind and more time is needed, they must be able to make such arrangements.
The one thing no-one usually likes to talk about is, like it or not, blocking South Africa's progress in education, and that is the superior rights of unions. We will never have the teachers and managers needed if a union stronghold is allowed to prevent a culture of dedication and hard work.
The negative spin-off from our present labour situation requires us to review and rectify existing legislation or continue to spend our significant budget and get more of the same. What is best for our learners must be our primary concern.
Another priority for the ACDP is early childhood development, which is not yet available at all schools and in all areas, despite legislation requiring provinces to prioritise spending on this in poorer areas. Research done by the Human Sciences Research Council suggests that 350 000 jobs could be created if the target of reaching the estimated 2,6 million poor and vulnerable children in South Africa aged naught to four years could be met.
The general lack of awareness of the crucial importance of early childhood development, ECD, to the future calibre of our matric students and the nation's next generation of adults concerns the ACDP. Insufficient resources have been made available for human capacity for ECD support at all levels of government and in the NGO sector.
Training providers and job creation schemes are not taking sufficient account of the new job categories outlined in ECD policy. Channelling funding for ECD through the equitable share is, as usual, problematic, as provincial treasuries continue to divert funds to other programmes, apparently failing to appreciate the value of ECD.
This budget needs to ensure funds are available for programme design based on a simple minimum set of health and psychosocial outcome indicators and measures for children and caregivers. Evidence, especially from developing countries, suggests that programmes with the greatest impact on child growth and development are those that commence prenatally and extend into infancy and early childhood.
Higher levels of leadership management and supervisory training are also critical for ECD practitioners and training institutions, as the ability to leverage resources, both cash and in kind, are dependant on an ECD centre's ability to manage resources effectively and to account for them.
The ACDP is concerned that departmental budget allocations are presently inadequate for scaling up ECD, relative to the target population. We will however, support the Vote. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Chairperson, hon Minister of Basic Education, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Education, stakeholders of the Department of Education, ladies and gentlemen, I feel humbled to take part in today's debate on the Budget Vote of the Department of Basic Education.
I am reminded of how we moved from the apartheid misfortunes and horrible history to where we now have a world-renowned democracy. The introduction of Bantu education or inferior education was a tragedy that our country continues to grapple with to date. It was meant for Africans in particular, and blacks generally, so that they could be subservient to a system that espoused race superiority.
The Freedom Charter is instructive on this matter by declaring that the doors of learning and culture shall be open to all. This was to be realised in an open and inclusive society, based on equality and a common nationhood. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the Bill of Rights declare that everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic education, and to further education which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
The ANC-led government has a responsibility to provide that basic education, not Bantu education. It must see to it that proper education, not de-education, takes place and every South African child under the sun has an opportunity to realise his or her full potential.
In a similar vein, the democratic government must see to it that proper structures, which induce proper learning, are constructed. All South Africans agree that schools without libraries and laboratories are not going to assist in the quest for equal and quality education. Therefore, the department has the responsibility to work hard towards the realisation of quality education.
On that score, my speech underlines issues that the department wants to address under Programme 3. This programme speaks of promoting quality teaching and institutional performance. To us this programme is very important, because it addresses the goal of improving the quality of basic education which the department has set itself.
Furthermore, it is a programme that looks at teachers and their performance in the classroom. You will all remember that teachers are an integral part of the qualitytype of education that we want to give to our learners. It therefore stands to reason that programmes that are aimed at promoting quality teaching and institutional performance, as well as development and utilisation of human resources, should be highly regarded.
I therefore premise my speech on the efforts by the department to prepare educators for efficiency in terms of professionalism and development. It is with great sorrow that I note that teaching as a profession has been marred by many issues of ill discipline amongst our teachers. It is often said that professionalism amongst our teachers is at an all-time low. We hear reports of teacher absenteeism, teachers neglecting their teaching time, teachers abusing schoolgirls and many other forms of neglect of duties.
We therefore encourage the department, together with all the stakeholders, particularly the SA Council for Educators, Sace, the Education Labour Relations Council, ELRC, and teacher unions to work together in addressing the lack of professionalism in the system. We are pleased that the department, together with all stakeholders, intends to further intensify the campaign to improve quality of learning and teaching.
Teacher development is crucial and its importance cannot be overemphasised. Teacher development should be all-encompassing, both in process and implementation. It must look at both professionalism and subject content. At present, the department acknowledges that there is considerable fragmentation of in-service teacher development, and we applaud the initiative of both the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training to lodge the integrated teacher development plan that is of quality and responds well to the needs of educators in the classroom. We eagerly await its full implementation.
President Jacob Zuma, in both the 2010 and 2011 state of the nation addresses, emphasised the importance of teacher education, particularly in terms of increasing the number of qualified mathematics and science educators. He further made a call for paying special attention to the training of principals, particularly those in underperforming schools. We are pleased to note that the Department of Basic Education has indicated, in its strategic plan, initiatives to focus on initial teacher education through the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme.
Educators are the key agency in the provision of a quality education system, and Unesco notes that without teachers education for all by 2015 will be an unobtainable dream.
The President made a further call for investing in teacher training. In order to respond to the call, the department has made a commitment to establish a campaign for making teaching an attractive profession. We note that funding this line item is projected at 90% of this programme. We also keenly note that funding for the bursary scheme will increase the expenditure for this programme over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period from R522 million to R973 million.
We hope that the funding injected in this line item will yield the results we want. On that score, we have noted some of the challenges around placement of such educators when they complete their studies, and also the low output levels produced in the teacher training programmes. We therefore urge the department to look closely at this matter and sort out whatever challenges might emanate from it.
We further challenge Sace and ELRC to really come on board and assist the department in realizing its quest of improving the quality of teaching and learning. We need to have teachers in the system who understand the profession and respect the agreements emanating from the Education Labour Relations Council.
Regarding leadership, we also want to challenge schools, both principals and teachers, to help the department realise its objectives. The performance of a school is a function of the leadership by the principal of the school, and those who offer him assistance.
To illustrate this I have this example. Take the situation of a class of 19 students who all failed the exams, and take another class of 90 students who all passed with all the various passes available. Surely, there is something wrong with the leadership of schools where all students fail. The head of the institution is accountable to the school and the community. He or she must ensure that teaching and learning take place in the institution. They must also ensure that institutional values are upheld.
Ayamkelekanga into yokuba abantwana besikolo bafike esikolweni berhabulile. Ingamkelekanga neyokuba bafike ootitshala begxadazela esikolweni. [Kwahlekwa.] [It is not acceptable for learners to go to school under the influence of alcohol. On the other hand, it is also not acceptable for teachers to be staggering because they are drunk at school. [Laughter.]]
The child-teacher relationship should be kept professional. There cannot and should not be an intimate relationship between a teacher and a schoolchild.
Ezethu iititshala zazisithi, "Ndingathetha ntoni nawe ungenalo nebanga leshumi?" Ezanamhlanje zithetha ntoni nabantwana abangenalo nebanga lesibhozo? [Our teachers used to say: "What can I say to you when I have not even attained Grade 12?" What are today's teachers saying to learners when they have not even attained Grade 10?]
Lastly, I want to present the following challenges to the department for further and close attention. We know you can do it and we offer our constant support throughout.
It is a well-known fact that there is a shortage of teachers for early childhood development and the Foundation Phase. Proliferation of institutions that are not registered and offering unaccredited courses and qualifications are taking our people and our children for a ride. The shortage of mathematics and science teachers cannot be overemphasised.
There is also an unmanageable imbalance between rural education and former Model C schools' education. We hope that you are ready to make things happen and we take the assurance the director-general has given us that you will do things differently.
As the ANC, we support the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, improved quality of basic education requires the education budget to prioritise improved and sustainable services to learners. Every learner matters. This is the DA's education policy, and we proudly pursue this policy whenever we can.
In the Western Cape department of education, under the leadership of MEC Donald Grant, the interests of the learners are put first. [Interjections.] It is evident in their budget priorities. It was therefore encouraging to see that the Gauteng department of education decided to follow this example in their deliberations during last week's summit in Soweto. The quality of education will improve, Minister, if other provinces follow this example. [Interjections.]
The problem, hon Surty, is that ANC-led provinces do not put their learners first. This is especially true in the Eastern Cape, where officials and teacher unions matter most.
I would like to raise today a matter of public importance in this House to illustrate my point. Case 504/10 in the Bisho High Court says ... [Interjections.] ... that there is an agreement between national, provincial and local government to deliver temporary structures and water, desks and chairs by the deadline of 31 March. [Interjections.] All those three spheres of government failed to honour this agreement. It is a shame!
About 1 997 learners, as well as 69 teachers, were shamefully neglected by these authorities when they failed to implement this agreement by 31 March. The temporary classrooms, desks, chairs and water supply to the value of R83,9 million have yet to be delivered. Though the O R Tambo Municipality has, to their credit, provided water tanks, sadly they are without a drop of water and without the hope of a water connection in the near future. [Laughter.] The government has broken its promise to the children.
Ek en die agb Edmund van Vuuren, my kollega in die Oos-Kaapse wetgewer, was in Libode en Ngqeleni, en ons het op 5 en 6 April verlede week die skole besoek. [The hon Edmund van Vuuren, my colleague in the Eastern Cape legislature, and I were in Libode and Ngqeleni, and we visited the schools on 5 and 6 April last week.]
Sompa Primary School, Madwaleni Primary School, hon Surty, Tembeni, Sidanda and Nomandla Primary Schools - we visited those schools, and what we found there was horrendous. I want to recognise that my colleague, hon James, had promised Parliament that we would go and see for ourselves the fulfilment of the agreement of the Bisho High Court. So, we went there.
Ons was daar, en ons het gesien. [We were there and we saw for ourselves.]
Of the schools we visited, Tembeni and Madwaleni were the worst. The broken desks, the muddy floors and the mud structures are all part of a shocking state of affairs which violates the children's rights and their human dignity. [Interjections.] No government should be allowed to cause such suffering and humiliation for its learners. The DA calls on Parliament today to side with the children - the learners - and the applicants in this agreement. Parliament, as the custodian of the Constitution, must take steps to give effect to section 28(2) of the Bill of Rights.
The applicants must take the government back to court to change this agreement into a final court order, so that you can do your work, hon Surty. This must be done urgently to bring immediate relief for the learners in these mud structures. The DA will continue to do oversight and hold government accountable. I thank you. [Applause.]
Can I just check something with you, Madam Chair? This is the last speaker.
Those who are leaving, please leave, so we can have some order in the House.
Madam Chair, I just want to raise an issue. You were not in the House. There was a decision taken that we would look at and interrogate the rule relating to the executive versus the ANC, and find out whether in fact they had been given extra time. Because if this is the last speaker, or one of the last speakers, we need to adjust those times now. [Interjections.] So, I think the ruling must be given now, before we move forward, please.
Hon Farrow, hon Gina will go ahead and after that Ms Borman will give a ruling. Listen, please. You asked for a ruling; you will get your ruling, so just hold on.
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, officials from the Department of Basic Education and guests, I greet you all.
Some of the ANC's overall priorities are to reduce poverty and to address social challenges within our communities. The educational enrichment programme of the department has the purpose of developing policies and programmes to improve and enhance the quality of learning in our schools through multi-stakeholder programmes that also address issues that are socially challenging. This is one of the very important programmes, which takes away the notion that when we talk education we only look at the teacher, the learner and what takes place inside the classroom. This programme acknowledges that education can only be possible when the environment is conducive.
The programme gives support services especially to learners from poor communities. Most of these learners come from the townships and rural areas, and most of them are black learners. This programme adequately responds to the call made by the President of the country that education is a societal issue and has a variety of role-players other than the Department of Basic Education that have to make sure that effective and quality learning is rendered.
With issues such as poverty, drug abuse, security at schools and health issues of learners and teachers presenting serious challenges in our schools and communities, the department had to bring this programme to mitigate the effects of these challenges. Indeed, these challenges are critical obstacles to effective teaching and learning.
Hon Minister, we hope and believe that the programmes that you have put in place will ensure that the Department of Education makes great strides to strengthen our education system inside the classroom. Once we lay this solid groundwork in terms of the environment outside the classroom, it will ensure that education and teaching become effective. We would like to applaud you for these programmes and we hope they are going to make a huge improvement in our education system.
Again, I think I should applaud the Minister for taking into consideration such obstacles within our department. There are a number of collaborative programmes that the department has with other departments. I will mention the agreement that the Minister of Basic Education has signed with the Minister of Police to make sure that schools become places of safety, school-based crime prevention services are being offered, and that necessary interventions take place when needed. This agreement will be implemented in three phases. We are proud to announce that, last year alone, 1000 schools were linked to their local police stations. This year, 2011, in terms of the programme about 9000 schools will be linked to their police stations, and safe school committees will be trained to make sure that our schools become places of safety. Minister, we hope these programmes are going to make an effective change.
Another important programme that everybody who has spoken has mentioned is the quality teaching and learning campaign. In terms of this programme the department has a collaborative agreement between teacher unions, governing body associations and learner representative bodies. We hope that everybody will buy into this programme, that we are going to get buy-in from all stakeholders, so that civil society will make sure that education is a priority and takes an interest in what is happening in schools.
Ngqongqoshe okubuhlungu kakhulu ezinhlelweni ezinjengalezi uma sibuka umkhankaso wesimo sokufundisa nokufunda lapho sifuna ukubona abazali, imiphakathi, kanye nawo wonke amalungu omphakathi ezinikela ekutheni athuthukise imfundo yezikole zethu.
Kuba buhlungu kakhulu enhliziyweni uma sicabanga ukuthi abanye balaba bantu esifuna ukuthi bazoyithuthukisa imfundo yethu, abakwazanga ukuba balithole ithuba lokuthi baze mathupha esikoleni. Abakwazanga ukuba bakuthole ukuthi izikole kube yizindawo ezihlelekile ngendlela ofisayo ukuthi kwenzeke ngayo ngenxa yokuthi baphile kulesiya sikhathi esinzima abantu abakhule kusona.
Kodwa sithemba kunjalo kulezo zingqinamba ezinkulu ezinjalo ukuthi umkhankaso onjengalona sizokwazi ukusondeza wonke umuntu ukuze abone ngempela ngempela ukuthi imfundo iyona ngqikithi yempilo. Yilapho sizothola khona ukukhululeka kwezempilo, kwezepolitiki nakwezomnotho ngayo yonke indlela. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Minister, what is more painful in respect of programmes like these is when we look at the campaign of quality teaching and learning where we want to see parents, communities and all the members of the public committing themselves to improving our education.
It pains us a lot when we think that some of the people who want to help us improve our education have never been to school. They did not have an opportunity to attend school. They did not have a chance to make schools the organised places you would have loved them to be, because they lived during those hard times.
Nevertheless, we believe that with campaigns like this one we will be able to bring everybody on board so that they can realise that education is the key in life. That is where we will get freedom with regard to health, politics and in all aspects of the economy.]
We hope everybody will come on board with this quality teaching and learning campaign, so that we make sure that our education does deliver what we intend it to deliver. [Applause.]
Ngiyathanda futhi Ngqongqoshe ukuncoma ezinye zezinhlelo onazo zokubambisana kakhulu neminye iMinyango. Lezo ziyabonisa ngempela ukuthi uyabhekelela ukuthi imfundo akuyona into eyenzeka ekilasini kuphela. Ngizobalula nje izinhlelo ezimbalwa onazo lapho uMnyango ubambisene kakhulu nabezempilo. La esabona abantwana abayi-50 000 abafunda ezikoleni zamabanga aphansi ngonyaka odlule, bekwazile ukuthi bahlolwe, bacutshungulwe baxilongwe ukuthi yiziphi izinto ezingaba yizingqinamba ekufundeni kwabo besemazingeni aphansi.
Sithole abantwana behlolwa kuzifundazwe eziyisikhombisa ngonyaka odlule, ngenxa yokuthi kulezi ezimbili kube nezingqinamba ezibe khona, kodwa lokho kuyasibonisa ukuthi ngempela ngempela ezemfundo zethu ziyabonisa ukuthi uma sikwazi ukunakekela abantwana bethu ebuncaneni babo sizama ukususa izingqinamba abangaba nazo emfundweni. Labo bantwana sinesiqiniseko sokuthi ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Minister, I would like to commend some of the programmes that you have collaborated on with the other departments. These programmes indicate that you are aware that education is not something that only takes place in the classroom. I'll mention only a few programmes that you have where the department is collaborating with the Department of Health, where last year we saw and examined 50 000 primary school learners in order to find the barriers to learning while they are still in the lower grades.
Last year learners were examined in only seven provinces, because there were some problems in the other two. This is an indication that our education system will be able to cater for the needs of the children whilst they are in the lower grades. We are confident that those learners ...]
... the cohort that got in and was screened last year, won't have barriers in education; they won't have barriers in their learning when they go out. Minister, we hope and believe those programmes will continue because they really enhance our education system.
Ukuhlangana kwakho Ngqongqoshe noMnyango Wezempilo ikakhulukazi, siyathemba ukuthi uzokwazi ukwehlisa isibalo sabantwana esibathola betheleleka ngezifo ezinjengongculazi nothisha abaningi esithola ukuthi sebeyagula ngaleyo ndlela kube nezingqinamba ekutheni kuqhubeke kahle ukufundisa kwethu. Ngaleyo ndlela-ke izinhlelo ezinjenga lezi sithemba ukuthi zizoqhubeka zisisize kakhulu njengoba uziqalile. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We believe that your meeting, especially with the Department of Health, will reduce the number of learners who are infected with diseases such as HIV, and the fact that many teachers are ill disturbs the culture of learning and teaching. We believe that programmes like these launched by you will continue to help us a lot.]
The collaborative programme that the department has with the Department of Sport and Recreation is also very important, and is going to make sure that our learners are engaged in a number of activities outside the classroom. These help with the enforcement of discipline and also have a great impact in reducing the dropout rate and absenteeism from school. We know the role that sport can play in terms of instilling discipline, and teaching team spirit, timekeeping and whatever. We know that once learners are involved in such programmes they will gain that discipline, which can be transferred to the classroom, and we will see great change in the education system. So we really applaud the department for coming up with such programmes that will enhance our education system.
Minister, I would be failing in my duty if I didn't mention our great programme of school enrichment, namely the school nutrition programme. This programme, Programme 5, has a budget of R4,8 billion. Of that budget, R4,5 billion is specifically used for the National School Nutrition Programme. This shows that the school nutrition programme is one of our priorities as government. People have been talking about teachers who are not excellent, people have been thinking that we can go back. They have been comparing grapes with apples, saying it was better in the past during the time of apartheid because education was still education. I would say that programmes such as the school nutrition programme are there to enhance and make sure that the endeavours of the department and the Minister to get quality education, are successful, because we have made the ground fertile. It is very difficult for a teacher to teach a sleepy learner who is hungry. That is why we see government wasting such a huge amount ... not wasting, using such a huge amount ... [Interjections.] OK, I agree. Thank you very much. Chairperson, I think even the comments I am getting from the opposite side ... [Interjections.]
Order, hon members!
... saying I'm right when I made the mistake of saying "wasting" instead of "using", suggest that they do not see the necessity of this money being spent on making sure that our learners get good food when they go to school. [Applause.] It does not surprise me. They might see it as waste, whereas it is a necessity.
Chairperson, I'm proud to say that in the past financial year alone we managed to benefit 6,5 million primary school learners from poor and disadvantaged primary schools - that is, quintiles one, two and three - through this school nutrition programme, as well as learners from quintiles one and two secondary schools. In total, 8,1 million learners benefited. This shows that we are really contributing to the eradication of poverty down there where people need it most.
Chairperson, allow me to emphasise again the importance of getting stakeholders to take an interest in what is happening in schools. It should be everybody's responsibility to see to it that the funds allocated are used appropriately. Minister, let me thank you for looking at and monitoring these programmes with a hawk's eyes. The whole country can attest to the fact that you have really shown that funds allocated to these programmes do indeed benefit the people they were intended to. We have seen what you have done in the Eastern Cape and, hopefully, all the provinces will learn a lesson. Minister, we really hope we are going to see such things happening.
What we applaud is that through the National School Nutrition Programme a number of job opportunities have been created for food handlers and suppliers. Minister, the issue of co-operatives should be taken up, so that especially our people from poor backgrounds can benefit from such co- operative initiatives.
As the ANC, we are pleased that the poverty reduction programmes in the department are working well. We also acknowledge the challenge of insufficient resources and funds for these programmes. However, this does not mean that we cannot do much with the little we have. We will continue addressing all these challenges to create better communities for better teaching.
Chairperson, before I sit down: I was a little disturbed, but again not surprised, by some of the members. The first was hon Mpontshane ... [Laughter.] I was a little disturbed, but really it did not surprise me to find hon Mpontshane standing proudly in front of the nation, looking at the gaps and saying that education is not delivering what it is supposed to deliver.
I want to refer hon Mpontshane back to the province that they have led for many years. At this moment, we are in a position to count the schools that are mud schools, whereas before we couldn't even say anything because all the schools were in that condition, and most of them were in a bad state. But because hon members are no longer in the ruling party, they point fingers and say that there are mud schools here and there.
When we talk of mud schools and learners learning under trees, even in the Eastern Cape, we are still redressing the imbalances of the past, because most of these structures were put there by the apartheid government. [Interjections.] So, after the department has made such hugh strides, can't you stand up and applaud the department for doing much, even though more still needs to done? [Interjections.]
Lastly, Chairperson, I was very happy today to hear hon James becoming the shop steward for educators, because he is the one who always does not want to hear anything about trade unions. Today, I understood that he doesn't want trade unions because he wants to speak for the educators when he comes here. It was very surprising to hear him talk about the conditions of educators, because we have people who do that. Hon James, I think the trade unions are going to thank you for that. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
I will now call Mrs Borman to give a ruling. After that, the hon Minister will give her reply.