Hon Chairperson, with your kind permission, given the fact that I was the Chief Whip at the time that the hon Rev Chabaku was here, may I please convey my condolences to her family and the organisation that she belonged to. She was indeed an eloquent and erudite person, very robust in debate, a wonderful spiritual leader and, what is more important to me in the capacity in which I now serve, a long- serving and dedicated teacher. I thought that I would like to pay her this tribute. Thank you for the opportunity.
The response to the question is as follows. Yes, the matter of disparities in salaries and grading of office-based educator posts was first discussed in a meeting with the Heads of Department Committee, Headcom. In that Headcom meeting it was recommended that a task team, including the provincial education departments, be established to draft a proposal on the standardisation of posts in districts and circuits.
A task team was indeed set up and produced a report which was further discussed by Headcom. The task team found that four of the five provincial departments that reacted to the challenge did not adhere to the provisions of the existing regulations that govern the post and salary structure of educators. This is with reference to Collective Agreement No 4 of 2003 and No 1 of 2008, whichever is relevant in each case.
The answer to the second part of the question is this. Yes, Headcom has acknowledged that resolving the issue by reversing the administrative action taken previously will be very costly, and it cannot be implemented as a one-off action. This will include reversing the salaries of the affected officials to where they would have been had the changes not been implemented, and possibly recovering the monies from such officials.
This suggests that going forward the focus should be on formalising the post and salary structure for office-based educators in line with the provisions of the occupation-specific dispensation agreement, and finding mechanisms to recover any overexpenditure in a way that does not impoverish any official through drastic steps to remedy this.
Formalising the post and salary structure would include the review of the post of a circuit manager or school management developer, SMD, in terms of their roles and responsibilities in relation to improving service delivery to schools. The occupation-specific dispensation, OSD, already provides for three levels of circuit managers: C1, C2 and C3, with norms according to the number of schools. However, details in regard to roles, responsibilities and delegations still need to be worked out by the Headcom meeting. Thank you very much.
Position regarding lack of funds for scholar transport in Eastern Cape and steps to remedy the situation
40. Mrs E C van Lingen (DA) asked the Minister of Basic Education: (1) Whether she has been informed of the lack of funds for scholar transport in the Eastern Cape; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) steps have been taken to remedy the situation and (b) are the further relevant details;
(2) what (a) measures and (b) strategies are in place to ensure that scholar transport will be provided for the 2012 academic year in the Eastern Cape? CO283E
Thank you very much, hon Chairperson. The Minister of Basic Education is aware of the challenge that beset the provision of learner transport in the Eastern Cape, including insufficient funding to provide the service to all learners.
In order to ensure that an efficient service is provided, the learner transport function was transferred to the provincial department of transport in April 2011, to enable the Eastern Cape department of basic education to concentrate on its core function. The department is now responsible only for the identification of beneficiaries and the monitoring of the function.
An amount of R210 million has been allocated for learner transport in the 2012-13 financial year in the Eastern Cape. It has become clear, however, that the budget is not sufficient to cover all the needs identified and efforts are being made, together with the province, to find a solution. I said "together with the province", given the reality that there is section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution of the RSA, Act No 108 of 1996, titled "National intervention in provincial administration".
With regard to the second part of the question, a plan to provide learner transport for the financial year 2012-13 in the Eastern Cape is indeed in place and is being implemented, together with the provincial department of transport. In total, 54 406 learners in 644 schools are being provided with learner transport.
I might also mention in addition, hon Chair, that part of the task of the Deputy Ministers who are overseeing this process is to pay particular attention to monitoring, assessing and evaluating the transportation that is being provided. So, we will deal, amongst other things, with issues of accruals, as well as the efficiency of the transportation system. Thank you so much.
Hon Chairperson and hon Minister, this last year, ending 31 March 2012, there has been the same thing as in the previous financial year. There was a vast shortfall and a lot of the small subcontractors were not paid for about five months!
In this year, you are absolutely correct - I mean, you are the Minister, so you would know - that R210 million was budgeted for! My concern is that that will only last until the end of October, while the learners are starting with exams in November. So, how are we going to address this matter of - I think it is - R134 million that is short in completing the whole process until the end of March 2013?
Thank you, hon Chair, and thank you for the question. Indeed, if you listened to me attentively when I was giving the first part of my reply, you would have heard that we indicated that there would be a shortfall and that we were pursuing this matter.
For the benefit of the Council, let me just indicate to you that the team that is involved in the intervention consists not only of the Department of Basic Education, but also of the Department of the Treasury, as well as of Public Service and Administration, and of the Justice and Constitutional Development, and Higher Education and Training.
With regard to this particular aspect we are looking attentively and in a focused way at the issue of accruals, as indicated by the hon member, as well as at whether the 54 000 that was indicated is indeed the correct number of learners, and whether the need for transportation is greater or less than reflected. That will be monitored and assessed. We have a particular responsibility in regard to the intervention and generally with regard to our commitment to education, particularly the transportation of learners, so as to ensure that they are not prejudiced in the future.
Particulars of current external moderators in each province
51. Mr S H Plaatjie (Cope) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
What is the (a) age, (b) gender and (c)(i) highest and (ii) lowest qualification of the current external moderators in each province?