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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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