What is the (a) total budget allocated and (b) actual expenditure on the employment of education assistants and general school assistants in the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative for each year since its launch in 2020 up to the latest specified date for which information is available?
What is the (a) total budget allocated and (b) actual expenditure on the employment of education assistants and general school assistants in the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative for each year since its launch in 2020 up to the latest specified date for which information is available?
(Source: Provincial reports Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI)
Phase I - 2020/21 had ** SAVING OF POSTS which ...
Whether, in light of South African graduates’ lack of relevant skills for a modern world, and in view of the Republic ranking as the country with the second lowest productivity level in the world, her department has conducted any research into revisiting its curriculum; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
In the case of Basic Education, curriculum review is cyclical in nature, and the Department has a long history of regularly reviewing the curriculum to ensure that it is relevant to the socio economic goal of the country. Currently the DBE is in the process of reviewing our curriculum with the aim of strengthening the competencies and equipping our learners with skills for the future ...
(1) Whether her department has undertaken an assessment to determine the total number of learners who require to make use of the learner transport services offered by her department across the Republic; if not, why not; if so,
(2) whether her department has put any measures in place to ensure that all learners are accommodated from the start of the 2024 academic year; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details
1. Learner Transport Programme is a shared responsibility between the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Transport. The provisioning and prioritisation of learner transport programme is, however, a provincial competency and the National Departments of Basic Education and Transport monitor the provisioning of learner transport programme in provinces. Reports received from Provincial Departments of Education indicate that there is a total of ...
(1) What are the relevant details of the current national priorities stipulated in the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme of her department;
(2) whether she will review the specified current national priorities; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) What are the relevant details of the current national priorities stipulated in the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme of her department;
The National Priorities are drafted from subject priorities submitted by provinces and approved by Heads of Provincial Education Departments; the new subjects that the department is introducing in the sector respond to the sector priorities and respond to challenges that are ...
What steps has her department taken in collaboration with the SA Council for Educators to improve accountability in schools by enhancing the (a) quality of the education being delivered by educators and (b) continuous professional development of educators?
a) The DBE is represented in SACE structures and is part of policy formulation and implementation within SACE. Various interventions have been undertaken in collaboration with SACE to improve the quality of education. These are the following:
- SACE registers teachers based on meeting minimum qualification requirements. This means that a teacher can only be employed when they meet requirements and will be allowed to practise ...
(1) Whether she has been informed that more than 27 schools, including (a)(i) Thabakhubedu and (ii) Mothibedi Primary Schools and (b) Fawcett Mathebe Secondary School in the Sekhukhune region in Limpopo, are affected by the non-delivery of food for the school nutrition programme; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) what intervention measures have been taken to ensure that food is delivered on time in the specified areas?
Response (1) No. The matter was not brought to the attention of the National Department, save for this enquiry in which the Limpopo Department of Education reveals the following:
- During the first week of October 2023, the circuit reported non-delivery of foodstuff to the district office. The service provider was immediately contacted about the situation, which led to non-feeding. The service provider informed the district about the ...
Whether, with reference to the more than 1 500 unqualified and under-qualified educators who taught in public schools in 2022, and the low levels of reading and abstract problem-solving skills of many of the under-qualified educators who were tested at a Grade 6 level, her department has held any engagements with the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation to improve the quality of training programmes for educators; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has various forums through which they can engage with institutions of Higher Learning to discuss various issues pertaining to teacher quality, support and development.
Firstly, the DBE attends meetings of the Education Deans Forum regularly, where various issues are discussed. Secondly, the DBE in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) convenes Provincial Teacher ...
Recognising that the infrastructure backlog is a moving target, as experienced by her department, what are the implications of the Census 2022 report on the planning and budgeting for (a) Early Childhood Development and (b) infrastructure development for the basic education system?
(a) (b) The results of Census 22 were released in October 2023 and the DBE is in the process of analysing the report and its implications for both ECD and school Infrastructure.
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Whether she has been informed that schools in KwaZulu-Natal sent out letters to parents informing them that the examinations would be halted until her department paid the outstanding money to schools for the norms and standards; if not, why not; if so, what urgent steps have been taken in this regard?
The Department is aware of this matter. But it needs to be clarified that the schools which sent out a notice to parents that the internal examination will be halted, was based on a notice of a protest action that was planned by a Teacher Union. The schools did not send a notice to parents, stating that the examinations would be halted until the KZN Department of Education paid the outstanding ...
Whether her department will extend the contracts of teaching assistants through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative which has been running since 1 January 2020; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each (a) province and (b) district?
Allocation and spending (Source: Provincial reports Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI):
Phase I - 2020/21: The unspent funds of R1,42 billion were from funds allocated to Saving of Posts, and it was utilised by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) to extend the job opportunities by one (1) month. All provinces extended the job opportunities for April. Phase I of 2020/21 also had Saving of Posts ...
