I wish to respond to the Annual National Assessment statement. The Department of Basic Education was fully alive to and aware of the challenge that we face in our country in terms of literacy and numeracy. This was borne out by international tests such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS, and others, and we undertook to get a universal diagnosis of the level of achievement of our learners. For the first time in the country and on the continent, we managed to do this on a massive scale - we have tested more than 6 million learners between Grade 1 and Grade 6 in literacy and numeracy and piloted a test for Grade 9.
The tests do in fact confirm that we have serious challenges in this regard. Poor performance is attributable to a range of factors, among others, teacher capacity, overcrowded classrooms, a lack of resources in terms of libraries and resource materials at schools, and insufficient attention to early childhood development.
The department recognises these realities and has already - in fact, prior to the tests being undertaken - distributed some 24 million books in literacy and numeracy for Grade 1 to Grade 6. Next year, this is going to be extended to Grades 7, 8 and 9. It will also include English as a further additional language and particular attention will be paid to teacher development.
To this end, we have identified 139 sites where content knowledge in particular will be provided to educators. The emphasis in terms of the outputs of the Department of Basic Education is, indeed, on early childhood development, teacher development, and literacy and numeracy. These are three of the five important outputs and, indeed, we share the concern raised by the hon member. Unless or until we correct this measure, we will continue to have serious challenges in education and skills development.