Deputy Speaker, as the DA, we have always been concerned about the state of our education. What we have seen now recently is the fact that the department has lost the budget in terms of ensuring that we complete the infrastructure, specifically when you talk about the pit toilets. At this stage, learners use pit toilets, especially in the area of Limpopo.
The other issue that we are also concerned about is the fact that our budget has consistently been cut by Treasury. Funds have been directed to Eskom and all other SOEs, because this government does not regard education as a priority. South Africans, including the learners, have constantly been treated like stepchildren because every time the budget is not allocated as it should be allocated.
The issue of infrastructure is worrying as well as the drop-out rate. The drop-out rate has also increased and if you look at the number of learners that have registered now for matric, you will find that there are about 700 000 learners that are currently writing matric as oppose to plus/minus a million learners who came into the system. So, again we have seen a lost of learners who have dropped out from the system.
So, these are the concerns. Although we agree with the report itself, we still have a lot of questions that need to be addressed, specifically when it comes to the budget. [Applause.]