1. The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education conducted oversight visits to farm schools in the Free State and Western Cape between 30 July and 2 August 2013. 2. The purpose of the oversight visits was to assess the state of education in farm schools in these provinces, in line with the Committee's resolve in its Five Year Strategic Plan to prioritise its focus on economically disadvantaged schools in order to make the greatest impact in the system. There was an additional need to provide support to the provincial departments of education, the districts and schools in identifying their challenges and to assist in finding effective solutions to the challenges being faced. 3. The oversight visits followed the Committee's 2010 public hearings on access and delivery of quality education, where the Committee heard that learners in farm schools were vulnerable and school attendance for youth aged 16 to 18 was far lower than in other settlement types. Against this background, the Committee sought to assess progress in key interventions to improve the quality of education in these schools. 4. The framework for the visits was guided by key interventions and priorities set out in major government plans to ensure that enabling conditions for quality teaching and learning are established. In this regard, the Committee focused on critical areas such as the state of the school environment and infrastructure; the accessibility of schools; teaching and learning; curriculum delivery; school governance; progression and skills development; and socio-economic challenges to education. 5. As part of the oversight, the Committee received briefings from senior officials of the Provincial Education Departments, districts and teacher unions on aspects of farm schools. The Committee also visited a total of 25 primary schools where members held meetings with stakeholders in order to learn first-hand the state of farm schools and to discuss the challenges faced by schools.