Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Deputy Chairperson, members of the House, hon Minister, colleagues, MECs from provinces and everybody in attendance, thank you very much for the opportunity given to us as a province and the department to come here to make an input on this policy debate of the Department of Education, and on the achievements and challenges facing us, equally mindful of the fact that the details of the work done in the province are well contained in our annual performance plan - our budget speech - which will be made available if so required.
One of the third largest electoral processes in the country, the elections of the school governing bodies, has been launched and successfully conducted by the province. Obviously, at the end of the process, we will be starting very important and intensive work around induction of members on their roles, responsibilities and obligations, as per the SA Schools Act, to make sure that they are able to deal with matters relating to legislation, policy, leadership and management.
Importantly as well, with regard to some of the achievements in the province and as far as our input to this policy debate is concerned, is that our infrastructure budget in the previous financial year was R675 million, which was fully utilised, and over 1 880 projects in the department were completed as well as four state-of-the-art schools.
By the end of this financial year we will be completing 14 more school projects. Therefore, we want to take this opportunity to invite you and members of this House to the Limpopo province, because, starting from this month until March next year, we will be opening these big schools - state- of-the-art schools - almost every month until the end of the financial year.
Seventeen schools have been electrified; 90 water projects have been completed in 90 schools; 982 toilets have been completed; 688 new classrooms have been provided; and 23 laboratories and 169 administration blocks have been completed. We have very good stability in the province with regard to the provision of teacher and learner support materials because almost every year on the first day of the reopening of our schools, children are in possession and have been in possession of their learner material.
So far as well, our Dinaledi high schools in the province have performed very well because 7 283 maths students passed last year against the national target which was set at 4 000, resulting in the province coming second nationally with respect to the performance of our Dinaledi schools. So far this year we are also very confident as a department that we are going to meet the targets as set and probably exceed them, because we have a committed team of men and women, officials and teachers.
A total of 38 181 officials have benefited from bursaries and internships locally and abroad with regard to their attendance of schooling and training, and also in terms of furthering their educational development.
We have a number of officials attached to a lot of institutions of higher learning in the province and some that are abroad, receiving very important and intensive training in order for them to strengthen, plan and teach and, of course, ensure that the department in the province is strategically located to advance its primary mandate of providing and delivering a curriculum.
One thousand schools have been provided with e-mail connectivity in the province so that we are able to ensure that we bridge the digital divide between and amongst our people and are able to access information both nationally and globally.
We have provided 995 867 primary school learners with nutritious food. Currently, we have rolled out the programme to 518 quintile 1 secondary schools, which will benefit 218 351 learners. All in all that means that 1 248 444 learners in the province will be benefiting from the National Schools Nutrition Programme.
So far, 2 818 members of representative councils of learners have received training in leadership skills, conflict management, democracy education and the code of conduct of good learners in the province. Equally important in terms of some of the achievements, 71% of our schools in the province are no-fee schools, which means that we have already exceeded the 60% national target. We are quite clear - and certainly committed - that in the next financial year, in this regard, 94% of the province's schools will be no- fee schools.
As far as the continual development of professional teachers in terms of their skills and knowledge is concerned, we have established three centres that specialise in maths, science and technology, commercial subjects and languages. All these centres are aimed at making sure that our teachers continually receive proper training for them to be well placed in advancing their primary mandate and responsibility of making sure that our learners receive quality teaching in our classrooms.
We have also appointed curriculum advisers and deputy managers responsible for governance to continue giving our schools support with respect to governance and professional development in order for teachers to receive good and professional advice in their respective subjects, and, therefore, place the province very strategically to advance this national project of advancing education and teaching as one of the key mandates that this ANC government's administration is seized with.
However, as we make an input in this important policy debate, there are, equally, challenges that the province is facing and that therefore need our attention, both nationally and provincially. The infrastructure budget of the province has grown to R852 million and the estimated backlog so far to cater to and address 4 015 schools is estimated at millions and billions of rand. At the same time, these 4 015 schools are covered and managed through a budget of R16 billion, which, we think, is not quite sufficient because there are infrastructure collapses and challenges that have to be met in order to intensify and locate the provision of education - there has to be the necessary space for teaching and learning. These are serious challenges facing us.
Just to give an example: The province has five districts in which there are 415 schools that have to be managed. But, in terms of the norms and standards set, we are supposed to have 15 districts of the Department of Education in the province. Therefore, this shows that the department is seriously undermanaged and hence the challenges that I have spoken about. We need to be able to find a way of attending to them. In this regard, the vacancy rate in the department needs to be attended to administratively to give the required support to our schools. So far, it stands at 65%, which is a serious problem and a challenge.
We also still have teachers in the province who do not have the necessary qualifications with regard to the norms as they have been set. This area continues to receive the attention of the department. Educators are equally important as well. There are those who cannot actually be placed in terms of the curriculum requirements. They are in excess in the system. This situation says that the province would have to have a basket of posts that amounts to 57 085. Unfortunately, at the moment, we have only 56 427 posts.
Almost R1,1 billion is required, additional to the current budget, for us to be in a better position to attend to some of these problems that may affect the capacity of the department not just to provide and deliver on its core mandate of curriculum development and implementation, as I have said, but also to practise and locate, within the necessary space supported by the tools of the trade, the required infrastructure that will enhance teaching and learning without any challenge.
Equally important is that in terms of the database of the department's national electronic infrastructure management system, there are significant challenges experienced in the department of education in Limpopo with regard to facilities in terms of space, condition of buildings, building standards and maintenance.
We hope that this budget will also take us a long way in redressing and addressing some of the problems. There is still overcrowding at schools. We still have schools with dilapidated and inappropriate school buildings. There is inadequate maintenance of some facilities. There is an unacceptable level of public health care at schools owing to insufficient sanitation facilities. There are overcrowded and dilapidated offices and warehouses at the provincial, district and circuit levels. There is also inadequate funding of education infrastructure, as I have already said, in order to address the backlog in space, conditions, standards and maintenance of our buildings.
We also continue to see a problem that we need to work on very seriously. We have already started having our people all over the province attend to some of these matters. Some of these issues also relate to the capacity- building required in the continual development of our officials and teachers to meet the ever-demanding needs of the National Curriculum Statement, which, of course, needs to be well positioned and well informed through proper training and learning in order for our teachers and children to be able to receive this important information.
There is still a continual shortage of maths, science and technology educators, including curriculum advisers. So far, we are clear that working together, we will be able to provide quality education to our people in the province. Therefore, we support this budget. [Applause.]