Chairperson, hon Ministers, education's significance in reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth demands that it continues to utilise the largest portion of the national budget. The ACDP supports higher education and training plans to expand educational opportunities for pupils who pass matric through an expanded college sector, focusing on more teacher training sites, agriculture, nursing and the training of artisans.
We also note the expressed intention of the department to expand the school nutrition programme to high schools, reduce class sizes and increase the access of five-year-old Grade R learners. The ACDP believes it is going to be important that the portfolio committee monitors progress on these crucial aspects.
One of the major problems with education today is that teachers are not allowed to be teachers. They are inundated with administration in the form of lesson plans for every lesson, marking, assessments and never-ending forms to fill in. Our children are assessed and assessed again, but they are not being taught. This rigid control dilutes the unique teaching ability of individual teachers and our children have become statistics and not learners. In view of reports that the department intends providing teachers with laptop computers worth R3 billion, which are being made available over the next five years, how does this impact on this year's budget?
The ACDP is pleased to see teachers being brought into the IT environment, but has the department considered teachers' concerns that laptops will invite criminals into schools? One only has to have lived in Acacia Park for a while to understand the reality of this. Laptops will invite criminals into schools, putting teachers' and learners' lives at risk of violence or even death. For most rural schools homework on a laptop will be out of the question because of the personal safety of teachers who walk to work. Has the department allocated funds to strengthen the level of safety in schools and provide strongrooms, a vital appendage to any computer roll- out?
Whilst costs for laptops are one thing, costs for usage are another. Until Internet and data usage costs come down, this could be a very expensive exercise for government and/or teachers. The ACDP also cautions government not to think that computers will make OBE succeed, when you know it is flawed and a failed system.
The capping of school fees is a highly contentious issue and should not be entered into lightly. The consequences, both positive and negative, must be soberly weighed. So often interventions that appear to be obvious solutions have unintended consequences and we cannot afford to discover the dangers of this policy after damage has been done.
A recent survey by Statistics South Africa has revealed that a significant number of children between the ages of seven and fifteen have either never attended school or have dropped out for various reasons. According to the survey, Gauteng, the Western Cape and the Northern Cape have the highest number ... The ACDP will support this Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]