Policy and Budget Speech 2006/7 by MEC for Education, Siphosezwe Masango, Presented to
the Mpumalanga Legislature
26th May, 2006

26 May 2005

Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mr TSP Makwetla
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Distinguished leaders of political parties
The revered Traditional Leaders of Mpumalanga Province
Former MECs for Education: Cde. D D Mabuza and Cde. CNM Padayachee, respectively
Head of Department and Colleagues in the Department
Parent Formations
Teacher Formations
Organized Labour, Youth and Learner formations
Business Community and the entire civil society
Distinguished Guests,
Comrades, Friends and Compatriots

We are on course to educate the nation!

Madam Speaker, with the advent of the new democratic dispensation, attained twelve years ago, government made an unwavering commitment to ensure the provision of quality public education and to increasingly open the doors of learning and of culture to all.

When this government was catapulted to power, through an overwhelming popular mandate, it had immense challenges to contend with in education.

We have, Madam Speaker, despite the limited and committed resources at our disposal, managed to outdo ourselves in most of the goals we had set ourselves. Thanks to the courageous, selfless and visionary leadership provided by my predecessors, Cde. D D Mabuza and Cde. Craig Padayachee respectively.

As an educator myself, I believe, that the future of young people has to receive undivided attention and commitment from all of us, for they are our future leaders who should not suffer as a result of our inaction.

They have to enjoy to eternity the delicious and sumptuous fruits of our hard labour and toil. These future leaders should not wince when eating these fruits, instead they should continue to enjoy them with a degree of contentment.

It is for this reason, Madam Speaker, that I feel honoured and priviledged to be afforded this opportunity to table the 2006/07 Policy and Budget Speech that seeks to accelerate our efforts of bringing about the kind of education that will bring about social and cultural emancipation of the down-trodden masses of our country.

Since 1994, educational policies have been introduced to motivate our educators to serve the nation with deeper sensitivity and profound patriotism. These policies have led our educators to have a better understanding of:

Sound financial management
Partnership with stakeholders
Development and implementation of effective Code of Conduct
School-based staff development systems
Curriculum and assessment of learners
Necessity of school safety
Professional administration and leadership.

Social challenges

Our learners must be taught to be proud members of society involved in the new and emerging values of a democratic South Africa. Unemployment affects the pragmatic goals of education.

The high level of poverty in our communities and the HIV and AIDS scourge that has orphaned many school-going learners is cause for concern to the Mpumalanga Department of Education. The Department has programmes and plans in place that seek to address the resultant challenges brought about by HIV and AIDS and unemployment.

Our schools must be dynamic, and must adapt to the cultural, social and political transformation of our country. The Department should therefore focus on the mobilization of the energies and abilities of our learners to deal with social ills facing them and society in general.

On the occasion of delivering the 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Mbeki, stated: “We will, of course, also make other interventions in the area of education and training. These include eliminating fees for the poorest quintile of primary schools, targeting 529 schools to double the Maths and Science graduate output to 50 000 by 2008, and re-equipping and financing the Further Education and Training Colleges.”

The Department will implement this injunction of the President in the context of the Province.

No-Fee Schools

Last week Wednesday, the Provincial Cabinet has given a go-ahead to declare 239 No-Fee schools in the 2006/07 financial year. The majority of No-Fee schools are from rural areas in line with national specifications.

The 239 No-Fee schools have an enrolment of 91 228. The Department has budgeted an additional R7, 754,380.00 for this purpose which translates to R85.00 per learner that will be transferred directly to schools over and above what has already been budgeted for schools. The number of No - Fee schools will increase within the MTEF period.

Recapitalization of FET Colleges

South Africa’s human resource capital is greatly under-resourced and needs to be strengthened through education and skills development.

This is indeed an important and integral component of the country’s objective of sustainable growth and development. The provision of certain critical skills for economic growth and stability will be driven by the Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges.

This was echoed by President Thabo Mbeki, in his State of the Nation Address when he stated that particular attention will have to be paid to the issue of scarce skills that will negatively affect the capacity of both the Public and the Private Sectors to meet the goals set by ASGISA.

In response to this call by President Mbeki, the Department will focus its attention on the development of skills of young people in the Province through FET Colleges.

The three FET Colleges of Ehlanzeni, Gert Sibande and Nkangala, have made significant progress in the implementation of programmes that will assist the Province in the provision of skills, through training and development.

The recapitalization of FET Colleges will ensure that Colleges become increasingly responsive to the skills needs of the country.

The recapitalization programme of the three FET Colleges has a budget allocation of R32 million for the 2006/07 financial year, R40 million for the 2007/08 financial year and R37. 5 million for the 2008/09 financial year.

The recapitalization of the Colleges would guide operational plans on:

Human Resource Development to support the delivery of new and modern programmes
Developing the system and procedures to run the new departmental programmes from 2007 and to support increased student enrolment
Upgrading and modernizing classrooms, laboratories and workshops that will be used for the teaching of new programmes
Upgrading of college sites
The building of new classrooms, laboratories and offices where there is clear evidence of need
Purchasing of equipment that will support teaching and learning and
Preparing the delivery of the new curricula for FET Colleges which has a market-related value

ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE THE MERGER OF FET COLLEGES

It was presented to this House, Madam Speaker, that Colleges will be merged due to changes in the FET Colleges landscape.

(a) Merging of Colleges

This was a strenuous exercise. We had our fair share of problems especially in Gert Sibande. Difficult as it was, we managed to complete the process ahead of other provinces.

(b) Appointment of Principals

With each merged institution, there was to be a Head, i.e. the Principal and each campus was to be headed by a Campus Manager. The Province was also ahead of other provinces in the appointment of College Principals.

(C) Establishment of Central Offices

The Principal and his / her immediate support staff were to be housed separately, away from the campuses to avoid a situation where one campus would be treated as the Central (Main) campus and the others as satellites.

(d) Staff Establishment

In line with the new demands of the merged institutions, a new staff establishment had to be put in place. The PAM (Personnel Administration Measures) document did not accommodate this.

In conjunction with the Workstudy Division, an acceptable staff establishment of the Colleges was developed. The staff establishment improved the student-lecturer ratio from 1:42 to 1:38. Other provinces had to learn from us.

(e) Financial Support to Colleges

The Colleges used to get a total subsidy of R3 million per year. When the National Department indicated that Colleges were to be given more money, Mpumalanga was amongst the Provinces whose subsidies were increased. The Department increased the financial support from R3 million to R25.312 million.

Maths and Science Initiatives – Dinaledi Schools

In line with the National Strategy for improving learner performance in Mathematics, Science and Technology, the Mpumalanga Department of Education has started a project popularly known as Dinaledi Schools, with seven schools.

The number of schools participating in the project, has since grown from seven to thirty. The purpose of the Dinaledi Schools Project is to help increase the number of learners taking Mathematics and Science on Higher Grade and also to increase the number of girl learners enrolled for these subjects.

The Department will provide financial assistance to these schools in order to ensure effective teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science. Progress will be monitored so that the expected outcomes are achieved.

On this note, Madam Speaker, I would like to welcome three learners who are gracing the portals of this Chamber with their presence and they are: Franco Stander, Thabo Mabola and Mphikeleli Madida. These three learners will participate in the Open Science Expo Finals in Spain, July, 2006.

Congratulations Majita!

Present amongst us here today, is also Mr Farirai Frederick Rufetu an illustrious Physical Science teacher at Ekangala Comprehensive High School who recently won the Sowetan / Telkom Teacher of the Year 2006 Awards, FET phase.

This Nation-Building project was initiated by the late Dr Aggrey Klaaste, Editor-in-Chief of the Sowetan newspaper, twenty years ago.

Take a bow, Mr Rufetu. Hola Thiza Hola!.

Implementation of the National Curriculum Statements (NCS)

In the 2005/6 financial year the Mpumalanga Department of Education offered training to 3000 Grade 7 educators in the GET phase and to 6000 Grades 10-12 educators in the FET phase.

For this financial year, the Department will train 9000 Grade 8, 9 and 11 educators on the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and thereafter introduce it to those Grades in January 2007.

The emphasis of the new NCS training will be on improving the outcomes of education in general and high rates of literacy in reading, writing, basic numeracy and learner performance in Mathematics, Science and Technology.

School Governance

Madam Speaker, it gives me pleasure to inform the House that the fourth School Governing Body (SGB) elections, which are currently underway, are running smoothly and should be completed by the end of June, 2006.

A sum of R5.349 million has been set aside for the training and development of the newly appointed SGBs.

Their induction and orientation will be finalized by the end of July, 2006 after which a roll-out training will unfold with the key focus area being Financial Management, School Safety and Managing the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Another area that will receive urgent attention during the SGB training will be the introduction of the Indigenous Languages Policy in schools, indeed an important issue as enshrined in our Constitution on language matters.

Kuqakathekile bonyana sazi ukuthi asifundreli ukuba makhuwa, namtjhana ukufana nawo ngelinye ilanga, begodu, nawo amakhuwa phinde ngelinye ilanga abe babantu abanzima.

Kuqakathekile bonyana, njengoba sifunda begodu sithuthukisa isiNgisi nesiBhuru eenkolweni zethu, nawo la amanye amalimu wesintu siwafundre siwathuthukise begodu siwavikele njengoba utjho uMthetho-Sisekelo we Sewula Afrika.

Eintlik ek wonder bonyana yikomu iinkolo lezi ezisemadrobheni zinganikezi abantwana bamakhuwa nabo ithuba bafunde ilimu noma linye lesintu ngombana ekugcineni bazokwakha begodu baberege namaSwazi, namaNdebele, namaPedi, namaZulu noma namaTjhangani.

Futhi kungenzeka bathathane, sibe nabo makoti namtjhana abakhwenyani bamakhuwa.

Madam Speaker, I therefore hope that the SGBs will ensure that, since the schools are the microcosms of our demographic composition, they will vividly reflect the cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of our nationhood and statehood.

Learner Attainment Strategy

The Department has put together a plan to increase learner performance in all Grades. There is also a Matric Recovery Plan which seeks to improve our

pass rate in Grade 12. An amount of R4.6 million has been budgeted for the Matric Recovery Plan.

Following the release of the 2005 Grade 12 Results, 157 under-achieving schools (who obtained a pass rate of less than 50%) were identified. We are happy to report that a special conference called Niyabonwa Education Indaba was held in March, 2006, to find ways of addressing and ultimately reversing the unacceptable underperformance by the said schools.

The Indaba succeeded in coming up with interventions and improvement plans that will help these schools.

The Ayihlome Ifunde detachment, Curriculum Implementers and the Circuit Managers have been directed to pay due and particular attention to these schools.

Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)

The Department of Education has a mandate to ensure the provision of equal education to all, in line with the Constitution of our country. R77.555 million has been allocated for ABET for the current financial year.

Plans are in place to improve professional support on the administrative and teaching capacity at ABET Centres.

Literacy units will be established in the communities in order to reduce illiteracy and expand ABET beyond our Public Adult Learning Centres.

The determination to rid the people of Mpumalanga of illiteracy remains a challenge we are uncompromisingly committed to face head-on.

The ABET Programmes will focus on poverty alleviation initiatives linking them with the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The Department will

facilitate the establishment of cooperatives and continue to use literacy and learning to enhance the capacity of our communities.

Systemic Evaluation

The Systemic Evaluation was conducted during the 2005/06 financial year in order to compare the results with the National survey and to assess the progress of learners from Grades 3 to 6. The 2005 Grade 6 learner survey involved 2283 learners in 72 schools in each of the three regions.

The performance of our learners in the Province especially in Science, compares favourably with learners nationally and the difference is only in Languages and Maths.

In the 2006/7 financial year, the Department will embark on a new cycle by conducting a survey in Grade 3. The aim is to enhance learner performance, to address shortcomings in teaching and learning and to assist educators and School Management Teams.

Inclusive Education

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce that in the 2005/6 financial year the Department has trained 4 934 Principals and Educators on Inclusive Education, Diversity in Education, Counselling Skills and Perceptual Skills. 39 200 learners were exposed to Career Guidance.

The mobile Career Guidance units provided study programmes and conducted workshops for School Management Teams (SMTs) on the topics mentioned above.

In the 2006/07 financial year, the Department will increase the number of Inclusive Schools by another hundred schools as a move towards making all

schools inclusive. Our belief is that, all children can learn, we only have to respect their differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language and disability.

The Department will ensure that structures, systems and methodologies to make provision for all learners in the Province are in place. We have also taken into cognisance the fact that no learner should drop out due to the inability of the system to accommodate his/her needs.

The Department would therefore, collect data for out-of-school learners who are orphans and are vulnerable children with a view to bringing in intervention strategies for these learners to access education.

There will be training of educators on Sign Language, Study Skills and Career Guidance for all schools in the Province.

In the 2006/07 financial year the Department will:

Capacitate and empower 1000 Grade 10 learners on Peer Support Programme focusing on character building programmes.
Train 3000 educators on Care and Support and basic counselling of orphans and Vulnerable Children.
Capacitate 300 child-headed families on Family Care and Life Skills Education Programme.

Early Childhood Development (ECD)

In the 2005/06 financial year, 330 Grade R educators have received NQF level 4 qualification and 750 ECD educators were accredited on handling Grade R-class Unit Standards. 903 ECD Grade R centres are currently registered with the Department of Education and are receiving subsidies of R2 000. 00 per educator.

The key focus areas for the 2006/07 financial year, would be promoting the objectives of the Expanded Public Works Programme by implementing the 0-4-age cohort. This is an Intergrated Plan driven by the SHE departments in line with ASGISA.

In addition, ECD services will be improved and extended to communities by creating 180 job opportunities (60 gardeners, 60 cooks and 60 child-minders).

The ECD programme has a budget allocation of R51, 801 million for the 2006/07 financial year, R126.729 million for the 2007/08 financial year and R220. 658 million for the 2008/09 financial year.

The Department will phase in the Norms and Standards for Funding Grade R, to further promote access to education.

The massive financial injection into the ECD sector, clearly demonstrates our ongoing commitment and determination in ensuring that the development in the early childhood phase receives the necessary support.

National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)

In the 2005/06 financial year, I have announced that 492 687 primary school learners will be provided with a nutritious meal. I also reflected that 20 monitors would be appointed at Regional offices. I am pleased to announce that the objectives of appointing monitors have been achieved. All primary school learners were fed for 178 days in the last financial year.

Madam Speaker, I am especially delighted that in this financial year, the Department will continue to provide food to needy learners in the Province. 495 000 learners are targeted for the National School Nutrition Programme in our Province.

The total budget for this programme is R84, 549 million and will create temporary employment for 2848 volunteers. The challenge lying ahead is the extension of the Programme to benefit learners from secondary schools and the establishment of food gardens.

In-School Sports and Culture

We are pleased to inform this House that the Departments of Culture, Sport & Recreation and Education have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote the coordination of school sport, culture, recreation, library and information services.

In the 2006/07 financial year, the Department will implement a School Sports programme that seeks to:

Identify and develop talents of learners in a variety of sporting codes
Ensure mass participation in school sports through encouraging schools to participate in a number of sporting codes
Introduce new sporting codes to schools that did not participate in such sporting codes before
Introduce Indigenous Games to schools
Ensure that learners in deep rural areas also play sports and
Ascertain that sports facilities are shared among all schools

To achieve these objectives the Department has set aside an amount of R8.6 million for the 2006/07 financial year and this will increase to R20 million in the 2008/09 financial year.

With this budget allocation, the Department will be able to use sports as a catalyst to facilitate the eradication of barriers that are hindering social transformation in the Province. It is through sports that the Department can

promote a holistic social development of our young people and engender national pride among the country’s young citizens.

Partnership with the Private Sector

In pursuance of the objective of making the education enterprise everybody’s business, the Mpumalanga Education Department has initiated a new project in partnership with the private sector.

The project is called Mondi Science, Career Guidance and FET Skills Development Centre. This project will:

Target the unemployed youth who will be trained in woodwork skills.
Provide an opportunity to educators and learners to be trained and to do practical science experiments.
Provide an opportunity for learners to be able to do own assessment and to decide on the careers they wish to follow.

As a start, the training will enable the youth to refurbish broken school furniture, thereby preparing them as future entrepreneurs.

The Project will be located in Piet Retief and its launch will be in September 2006.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the Department, in partnership with Anglo-Platinum has built a Technical High School named Mogale Wa Bagale at Burgersfort to the tune of R13 million. The school will be officially opened in June 2006.

The Department has received a donation of R 2.15 million from the Anglo-American Chairman’s Funds. The fund has assisted in the building of 4 offices, 1 laboratory, 1 media centre, 1 sick room and 6 classrooms at Blackhill Primary School and 8 classrooms, 1 laboratory, 1 Media Centre, 5 offices and a sick room at Kromdraai Primary School were built. Both these schools are situated in KwaGuqa, Witbank.

Key to the above-mentioned Special Projects, the Province will receive forty (40) volunteers in June 2006 from the United States of America. These volunteers will work in Mpumalanga for 2 years where they will assist schools with the implementation of the National Curriculum Statements, Financial Management, Classroom Management and HIV and AIDS projects in the communities where they will be deployed. These Volunteers will start rendering their services during September 2006.

In line with the White Paper on e-Education, the Province is on course to bridging the digital divide. During the 2005/06 financial year, the Province has established links with four ICT-related companies.

These social partners have contributed in setting up ICT infrastructure in the form of Computer Laboratories for ten schools. In other instances 451 computers and software have been donated to schools by the MTN Foundation and SARS Foundation, respectively.

The training of a total of 2 500 educators and 562 learners on basic computer skills has been a joint venture between the Department and its ICT social partners.

In the 2006/07 financial year, the Province will continue to promote the letter and spirit of ASGISA by extending computer skills to 3 300 educators and 600 learners. The Province will roll out computers to 100 schools. This initiative is intended to improve the quality of teaching and learning as well as administrative and management skills of professionals at school level.

Infrastructure Planning and Development

In addressing infrastructure development, the Department is faced with formidable challenges, as backlogs dating back from 2001 in the completion of projects, have been identified.

The expenditure trend in the 2005\06 financial year budget has been disappointing. The Department planned to provide 626 classrooms, 31 special classrooms, 44 administration blocks and 1839 toilets, 87 fenced schools, 121 schools with clean water, 77 electrified schools and to renovate 1853 classrooms.

At the end of the 2005/06 financial year, the Department had only spent lower than expected on capital projects and infrastructure development due to the slow pace in adjudication.

An Inter-Departmental Task Team has been appointed with officials of the Department of Education and Public Works charged with the responsibility of fast-tracking the delivery of infrastructure.

In the 2006/07 financial year, the Department has a budget allocation of R287, 558 million for infrastructure development and for the payment of professionals. The following facilities will be provided: 709 classrooms, 10 administration blocks, 06 laboratory centres, 07 library centres, 1291 toilets, fencing of 16 schools, 40 electricity installations, 85 water points, 20 kitchens, 61 ramps and rails and 924 classrooms will be renovated.

The budget will also cater for reactive maintenance, organizational support in the employment of people with technical skills, painting of schools and the provision of movable classrooms.

In his State of the Nation Address, the State President of South Africa alluded to the need to update the School Register of Needs (SRN).

The Department has piloted 38 schools in the first phase from October to December 2005. The second phase commenced in January 2006 and ended in March 2006.

During this phase, the Department was allocated 607 schools. This target was completed without serious challenges. It is anticipated that the entire audit will be completed around September 2006.

The National Educational Information Management System (NEIMS) will then be put in place. Simultaneously there will also be training of staff in the use of the system. For the first time, the system will be updated annually to keep up with infrastructure needs.

Learner and Teacher Support Material

Key to the provision of effective teaching and learning in the Province the Department has placed orders to purchase:

Stationery for Grades R to Grade 12 at R100 million
New Curriculum material for Grades 8, 9 and 11 at R207 million
Top-ups to cover shortages of stationery for Grades 7, 9 and 12 is R59 million.

The total budget allocated for ensuring that there is enough Learner and Teacher Support Material is R366 million.

Education Library and Information Services (ELIS)

In the 2005/06 financial year, the Department has taken a step to convert libraries into centres of information and to promote and improve literacy skills.

School libraries have been resourced with progressive literature to the tune of R27 million. The schools have received audio-visual technology to enhance teaching and learning. 450 school librarians have been empowered on how to efficiently and effectively manage school libraries.

The Department has organized Writing Skills workshops to unleash the talent of writing stories from educators and learners and has successfully hosted the International Library Conference under the auspices of the Library and Information Association South Africa (LIASA). This initiative afforded the Province the opportunity to learn from the international community.

Our goal in the 2006/07 financial year is to meet the international standards set by UNESCO, and for this purpose R25 million has been set aside for providing school libraries with literature and equipment.

Scholar Transport

Madam Speaker, I am happy to announce to this House that an amount of R143.159 million has been set aside for the transportation of learners. We, however, would like to indicate that the Provincial Cabinet has directed that a forensic audit be conducted in order to verify the routes and number of learners transported.

Conclusion

Madame Speaker, from the foregoing remarks it is clear to all that as a Province and a country, we are on course to educate the nation.

As I present the Policy and Budget Speech today, the Province of Mpumalanga cannot be put in a continuum of ignorance about the history of education in South Africa.

We have travelled a journey of twelve years to be where we are and nothing can stop us from taking a quantum leap forward as indicated by President Mbeki.

I would like to pay a special tribute to the youth of this country, who in 1976, rebelled against the continuous imposition of the hated Bantu Education Act since 1954.

Their bravery in fighting the apartheid education system, contributed in no small measure, to the final decimation of the apartheid government in 1994. As we all know, 1994 presented us an opportunity to evolve a new education dispensation for South Africa.

Noteworthy, is the fact that some of the ugly scars inflicted by the apartheid system on our country’s education landscape, continue to rear their ugly heads. What a pity!

I would like to thank the Honourable Premier, Thabang Makwetla for his outstanding stewardship in relation to matters concerning education and his guidance and advice to the Department on various matters. In the same vein, my gratitude goes to my colleagues in the Executive Council. Unwele olude !

We are exceedingly grateful to the Members of the Portfolio Committee on Education, Culture, Sport and Recreation for their brutally frank engagement with us on education matters including in pointing out our weaknesses.

Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my colleagues in the Department, officials at various levels, the parents and learners as well as educators for continuing to educate the nation. Kere mo go lena mošito a o tshwele pele.

We have, indeed, entered the Age of Hope through developing an education effort, for faster and shared growth.

Madam Speaker, I humbly request this august House to favourably consider the allocated amount of R6.218 billion for the Department of Education to fulfil its mandate.

INARHA AYILALE, IINHLIZIYO ZIPHARUMELANE !

NGIYATHOKOZA.

Policy and Budget Speech 2006/7 by MEC for Education, Siphosezwe Masango, Presented to the Mpumalanga Legislature 26th May, 2006