Chairperson, after numerous complaints had been received from schools about the late or nontransfer of allocations to schools, particularly to no-fee schools that had been assigned functions in terms of section 21 of the South African Schools Act, the Minister of Education amended the national norms and standards for school funding.
The effect of these amendments was the following: In terms of the amendment, the transfer of funds from provincial departments of education to schools must take place in two instalments, firstly, on or before 15 May; and, secondly, on or before 15 November of each year.
We anticipate that this will assist in eliminating the problems experienced in the past. What used to happen in the past is that schools would receive one allocation. That allocation would be in May. A school's calendar year starts in January. The result is that the monies are spent in a particular calendar year, with no resources available for the next year. By splitting it in the way we are doing now, schools are already in possession of the money for the following year in November of the preceding year, and are therefore able to budget and plan better. In relation to the second part of the question, if any instance is brought to our attention the Ministry would indeed intervene. We would, however, urge members to report noncompliance to their provincial MECs responsible for education. That does not detract from our national responsibility, but we do believe that noncompliance would be managed more appropriately by the MECs for education in the provinces. Thank you.