Hon House Chair, hon Minister, hon members and colleagues, it is a privilege and great honour for me to participate in this debate, just after the successful and victorious local government elections. This is an indication that the ANC-led government does not only have foresight and vision for this democracy but can also deliver a better life for all. It is only the ruling party that has emerged victorious in these elections. The whole nation has something to be proud of because these elections were free and fair. Our detractors will eat humble pie, because we do not only preach democracy but we practice what we preach.
In 1955 we said "the doors of learning shall be opened". This budget seeks to make this clause of the Freedom Charter a reality. The majority of the population in our country never had as many opportunities as they do today to access education. The rural poor never dreamt that one day they would not be taught in the cold rain and blazing sun in search of education. They no longer have to drop out of school because their parents cannot afford the school fees.
As stated in the strategy plan, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 requires education to be transformed and democratised in accordance with the values of human dignity, equal human rights, freedom, nonracism and nonsexism. It guarantees access to basic education for all, with the provision that everyone has the right to basic education, including adult basic education. Children who stay on farms no longer have to leave school to stand in for deceased parents.
The department's allocation for the current financial year amounts to R13,8 billion. In order to fulfil the constitutional imperative, the department has established five main programmes: administration; curriculum policy, support and monitoring; teachers, education human resources and institutional development; planning, information and assessment; and an education enrichment service.
These programmes should ensure that teachers are at school on time and in class, teaching. The greatest concern at this juncture is that resource allocation in our education system is not commensurate to the output. Our matric results are much poorer compared to other developing countries who are contributing far fewer financial resources to education than our country. When tabling this budget, the Minister of Basic Education quoted from her speech of last year, saying, "We acknowledge shortcomings in the system, some of which, as demonstrated by research, show our weaknesses as being in the quality of education". Thus the department has formulated strategic goals in support of the programmes mentioned above to remedy the situation.
The five strategic goals that have been factored into the programme are: to improve the quality of teaching and learning; to undertake regular assessment to track progress; to improve early childhood development; to ensure a credible outcomes-focused planning and accountability system; and to improve the capacity of the Department of Basic Education.
The department is of the view that these strategic goals will bring about the necessary improvement in our education system. However, you must bear in mind that to remedy the situation there needs to be buy-in by all stakeholders involved in the country. The moral decay in society has to some extent rendered our schools unsafe working places, as shown by the latest attacks on educators by learners and criminal elements. As the department strives to improve the quality of teaching and learning, among other things, community involvement in creating an environment for that cannot be overemphasised.
Relating to this, I would like to quote the MEC for education in the Free State province. When tabling his budget speech, he said:
There is no other profession that is more important to our children's future than teaching. It has long been acknowledged that teaching is the mother of all professions. The future of our country is determined in the classroom. With this in mind we feel compelled to applaud all our teachers who continue against all odds to regard their profession not as a job but a mission that has to be accomplished. Education will forever remain a societal responsibility. Without the contributions and support of educators, learners, parents and other stakeholders the department alone may not overcome this minefield.
The strategic plan stated that the quality learning and teaching campaign, which is a collaborative agreement with the teachers' unions, governing body associations and learner representative bodies, was successfully launched in all provinces in 2010. In the same year a protocol document outlining collaboration between the Department of Basic Education and the SA Police Service was developed and signed by the Ministers of Basic Education and of Police.
The department has further put aside funds to do away with the unsafe mud schools, especially in the Eastern Cape. The department plans to eradicate 85 such schools in the Eastern Cape during this financial year. A further 246 unsuitable structures will be attended to and, according to the Minister in her budget speech, a further 286 will be electrified during this financial year.
Programme 5 deals with educational enrichment services to develop policies and programmes aimed at improving the quality of learning in schools. One of the functions of this programme is to care for and support the schools in the management of policies on the overall wellness of educators and learners, the management and monitoring of the nutrition programme, and to develop and monitor policies and programmes promoting gender equality, nonracism, nonsexism, democratic values in education and an understanding of human rights in public schools.
In line with that, the Minister announced in her budget speech that the school nutrition programme reached over 10 million learners in approximately 21 000 schools. For 2011-12 the National School Nutrition Programme conditional grant has increased to R915 million, mainly to cater for implementation in quintile 3 secondary schools. Zooming in on the province regarding this issue, the Free State department of education, through the National School Nutrition Programme conditional grant, has provided food to 444 042 learners during 2010 and 2011.
During this period an additional 61 367 learners will be fed, to take the total number of learners to be fed to 505 409. Local women's co-operatives, where they exist, are prioritised for the provision of meals to these schools, thereby creating jobs for marginalised women. Where the co- operatives are not yet in place, 2 780 food handlers are paid a stipend of R600 per month for 10 months and R300 for the month of the June holiday for preparing meals for the learners, thereby creating jobs for the food handlers.
In conclusion, the points above indicate how much the ANC-led government cares for the citizens, especially the poor. It is no mistake that in the elections that we just held the majority chose the movement as their party of choice to lead them to a better life in this democratic, nonracial and prosperous country. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you.