Hon Deputy Speaker, we were listening to the responses on the textbook problem earlier, and on this specific problem there is a grave concern developing in that we are battling to get these performance contracts in place. As a result of lack of performance contracts and lack of agreements, etc, basic education is not delivered to the poorest of the poor, because there is a severe growth in teacher absenteeism, which is resulting in South Africa performing poorly against our neighbours.
I would like to mention some of the statistics in a recent survey: 27% of all Grade 6 learners are functionally illiterate, and 40% are functionally innumerate. We have higher levels of functional illiteracy than Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. We are contributing from the state 15 times more than Mozambique does. What is wrong with our system? Is there a lack of accountability? Is there simply a lack of acceptance by teachers that they have a responsibility to teach the children of our country? We are growing a two-nation model. Thank you.