2011/12 Policy and Budget speech tabled by the MEC for Education, Mrs Reginah Mhaule on 24 May 2011 at the Provincial Legislature

Honourable Speaker, Mr.  SW Lubisi
Honourable Deputy Speaker, Ms. Violet Siwela
Honourable Premier, Mr. DD Mabuza
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Head of Department, Mrs. Mahlasedi Mhlabane
Members of Senior Management
Representatives from Districts
Members of the Audit Committee
Representatives from Higher Education Institutions
Organized Labour Formations
Representatives from the House of Traditional Leaders
Associations of School Governing Bodies
Circuit and School Patrons
Members of the Examination Board
Our Ambassadors
Educators
Learners
Representatives from the media
Ladies and gentleman, 

Sanibonani

Honourable Speaker, I am privileged to be afforded an opportunity to address this August House on the eve of Africa Day.

This presents me with an opportunity to reflect on the road traveled by this Government to improve the quality of life for the African Child and to free its potential.

Let me join the masses of this country by expressing our joy for the peaceful elections held on 18 May 2011. 

This adds impetus to our quest to send a positive message to the world that Africa is determined to strengthen democracy and peace.

We are aware of men and women who worked so hard behind the scenes for the attainment of this outcome.  

We acknowledge that our pastors under the auspices of the Moral Regeneration Movement and Commission on Religious Affairs in Mpumalanga and other structures make it their obligation to pray that this country and province prosper in its vision for a better life for all. I take this time to acknowledge their presence in this august house.  

Based on this support, Honourable Speaker, I take this time to assure the masses of this Province that as much as this task seems difficult, we are determined and even more confident that we will not fail in executing it.

We remain more determined and vigilant than before to make education work for the people of this Country and Province in particular.

Honourable Speaker, the marching line going to 2014 is clear. As the Department of Education, we are tasked to deliver on two outcomes, namely, ensuring “Improved Quality of Basic Education” and “A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path”. All our efforts and resources are deployed to realize these two service delivery agreements.

Improved Quality of Basic Education 

At the occasion of the delivery of the State of the Nation Address, his Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, said:

“The focus in basic education this year is Triple T: Teachers, Textbooks and Time. We reiterate our call that teachers must be at school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours a day.

The administration must ensure that every child has a textbook on time, and that we assist our teachers to create the right working environment for quality teaching to take place.

To track progress, this year, we began the Annual National Assessments in literacy and numeracy that are globally benchmarked for Grades 3, 6 and 9.

We will continue investing in teacher training, especially in Mathematics and Science.

We will pay special attention to the training of principals, particularly those in underperforming schools.”

Teacher Development (First T)

This injunction is clear and I take this opportunity to inform this House that in this financial year, we will work hard to improve the competency and qualifications of our teachers and school managers. 

We will ensure that teachers are distributed fairly particularly in areas of need. We will, improve their working environments and we will also work together with organized labour and all stakeholders to improve the morale and health of our teachers.

To this effect the following programmes have been put in place in this financial year:

To improve on the overall management of schools:

• 400 school principals are being trained on Management and Leadership in policy implementation.
• 300 members of School Management Teams have been registered for the ACE: School Leadership Programme.

The availability and qualifications of teachers in areas of Maths, Science and Technology have always been our challenge.

We have recruited qualified teachers from foreign countries and at the same time embarked on a programme of training local teachers, through both initial education and continuing professional development. To this effect we will: 

• Train 270 teachers on the ACE; Maths, Science and Technology Programme and 70 teachers on the ACE: Technology Programme
• 200 teachers will be capacitated towards the teaching of Numeracy and Literacy.

Honourable Speaker, the health of both our educators and learners are high on our agenda. We believe that if we teach our learners about healthy lifestyles from an early age, we will be able to curb a number of health challenges and diseases that bedevil our communities.  

Therefore:

• 60 teachers will be trained on the HIV and AIDS Post Graduate Programme. While this is done, more effort will be used to train teachers on subject content.
• 800 teachers will be trained on Gender and Inclusive Education.
• 120 teachers will be trained on Soccer Development.

In 2012, a revised and strengthened curriculum will be introduced in the Foundation Phase and Grade 10 classes. The success of its implementation is dependent on teachers’ understanding and competency. To this effect

• 456 teachers will be upgraded towards obtaining minimum qualifications at REQV 14 in the Foundation Phase, and Senior Phase.
• 867 officials will be trained for the Implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
• 5 900 Foundation Phase teachers and 3 668 Grade 10 teachers will be trained to implement CAPS in the coming academic year during June/July school holidays.

In total, Honourable Speaker, the Department has budgeted R13 million towards capacity building programmes for teachers for this financial year. 

Honourable Speaker, every effort is made by the Department to ensure that all schools have permanent appointed principals by August this year.

We have also taken a decision that vacant principals’ posts should be filled within three months. This will ensure that there is no leadership vacuum in our schools.

We subscribe to the thinking that a school is as good as its principal, therefore the Department has taken a decision to accelerate the implementation of the incapacity code for principals whose schools chronically underperform after having been assisted by the Department..

Temporary Teachers

Honourable Speaker, during the State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier directed that all schools must have teachers according to their requirements.

The Department has a healthy learner: teacher ratio. However, the distribution is skewed. As the Department we concede that we have not done very well in matter.  

We hold all our teachers in high esteem and would do everything to ensure that they always enjoy and benefit from our professionalism and support. 

In this regard, all contract teachers who are on vacant substantive posts which have not been affected by the deployment of educators in excess will be made permanent.  

Going forward, we will in consultation with labour ensure that agreements relating to teacher re-deployments are done timeously, once in three years to bring stability to the system.

Initial Teacher Education

Currently, there are 181 student teachers in 15 different universities that are funded by the Department of Education at a tune of R8 million.

Fundza Lushaka Bursary is another funding means afforded by the Department of Basic Education to ensure that those who intend to take teaching as a career are catered for.

175 Fundza Lushaka student teachers have this year graduated and a number of them have already been placed in schools. Efforts are at an advanced stage to place the remaining group.

The Department of Education is equally mounting an ongoing campaign to encourage learners to choose teaching as a career of choice.

In this regard, we have appointed Ms Dolly Sono who graduated cum laude in her teaching studies to be the face and the voice for this campaign. She is with us today.

All this effort is to ensure that we have teachers with requisite skills to facilitate learning and teaching. 

Bursaries

During the 2010/11 financial year, the Executive Council resolved to transfer the bursary schemes of other Provincial Departments to the Department of Education to ensure that the allocation of bursaries responds to the Provincial Human Resource Development Strategy and Mpumalanga Economic Growth Path.

In this regard, a Provincial Bursary Centralization Steering Team   has been established and will from time to time report on progress made.

Let me also indicate that there are 28 students who have benefitted from the Premier Bursary Fund this year at a tune of R1.5 million. 

I take this opportunity to express our profound appreciation to business institutions and personalities who have extended their benevolence to add impetus to our quest to ensure education access for all students to institutions of higher learning.

I still urge the business community to continue to rally side by side with Government to assist us in awarding bursaries to deserving students.

Learning and Teaching Support Material/Textbooks (Second T)

This is an area that has over the years been progressing very well in the Province though we understand that there is always room for improvement.

We will in this financial year provide each learner in the Foundation Phase and Grade 10 with a full complement of textbooks for each of the subjects offered.

This will ensure that all learners have textbooks to implement the CAPS in the 2012 academic year. We have allocated R 67 million to procure CAPS LTSM. 

We have also put funding aside to provide 100% stationery and 12% top-up textbooks to replace worn out textbooks and address shortages for Grades not implementing the CAPS in 2012.

We urge schools to put systems in place to ensure that textbooks are retrieved at the end of each year as this will improve our resource base for providing schools with other supplementary LTSMs.

A Management Agency will be appointed to assist the Department in managing this endeavour and to transfer skills to schools and officials on this matter. 

A total of R367 million has been set aside to provide LTSMs in this financial year. 

Time on task and stakeholder involvement (Third T)

Time on task is another endeavour which we continue to inculcate in all role-players in schools. Teachers should be in class on time teaching for not less than 7 hours a day. In the same breath, learners must be in class, learning and adhering to school rules. 

Our Curriculum Implementers, District Officials and Head Office based officials continue to monitor adherence to this requirement and that of syllabi coverage. Common Assessment Tasks have also been introduced at key stages to monitor curriculum coverage.

Honourable Speaker, the Department has already established Circuits and District Quality Learning and Teaching committees comprising of all stakeholders and will in due course establish the Provincial Committee.

We have succeeded in engaging our stakeholders on:

• The attainment of the 2014 targets towards schooling 2025 plan;
• The five pillars of the Schooling Transformation and Reform Strategy (STaRS) viz. Early Childhood Development, Literacy and Numeracy, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Matric Improvement as well as dealing with dysfunctional schools;
• The enhancement of the offering of FET Colleges and Adult Education and training programmes; and on improvement of the implementation of Internal Assessment.

Discussions regarding the above issues took place during the recent Education Indaba held in Secunda on 01-02 April 2011. The resolutions of that Indaba have been consolidated and will be made public for implementation. 

We urge communities to help in creating an enabling and a stable environment to implement these resolutions.

Early Childhood Development

Honourable Speaker, the Department in collaboration with the Departments of Health and Social Development continues to provide quality coordinated, coherent and integrated Early Childhood Development services to more than 125 000 children between the ages of 0 to 6.

Currently, there are 1 974 practitioners employed on the Departmental persal system. 

Honourable Speaker, on 01 April 2010 we increased the stipend of practitioners from R2 000 to R3 500 per month. 

I am happy to announce that effective from 01 April 2011 we have further increased the stipend from R3 500 to R5 000 per month. 

R29 million has been ring fenced for the construction of ECD infrastructure. This will ensure that learners learn in appropriate classrooms and in an environment supporting learning through play.

There are 1170 Public schools which offer Grade R that shall be resourced with workbooks, readers’ activity books, integrated life skills kits, big books and first aid kits.

400 ECD practitioners shall be enrolled on NQF level 5 qualification and 400 child minders shall be enrolled on NQF Level 4 qualification.

The total allocated budget for ECD is R193.3 million. The Department has in addition received an incentive grant to train 344 new child minders this year. 

Access to Education

Honourable Speaker, the Department is making every effort to ensure that the mandate of the Freedom Charter and that of our Constitution are adhered to so that the doors of education and culture are open to all.

All hindrances to make education accessible are being militated against.

Scholar Transport Programme

In this regard, there are 65 414 learners benefit from the Scholar Transport Programme, an endeavour to ensure that long distances would not be a reason for children not to attend school. 

The Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport manages this programme on our behalf. 

Equally, the Department is working around the clock to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Scholar Transport.

National School Nutrition Programme

 859 416 learners in 1 633 public ordinary schools including special schools benefit from the National School Nutrition Programme.  

Quintile 3 Secondary Schools will benefit from the programme this financial year.

We will through the programme strengthen our interventions to improve food security and nutrition education.

To this effect 950 school gardens will be established and maintained and 1 400 schools supported to deliver nutrition education.

4 812 members of School Governing Bodies will be trained this year to be in a position to manage this programme as it was articulated by the Honourable Premier.

An assessment will be done on each of the SGBs to determine the nature of functions to be allocated. 

R441 million has been allocated for this programme.

No Fee Schools 

In this financial year, Honourable Speaker, the Department has increased the number of No Fee Schools from 1 416 to 1 604 benefitting 803 685 learners.

I am happy to announce that the Province has exceeded the benchmark of 60% set for 2014 as more than 83% of our schools are currently No Fee Schools. The Department has set aside R70.5 million to achieve this.

We must however continue to urge parents who are able to pay in the Fee Paying Schools to continue to do so. 

Admission of learners 

At the occasion of the Freedom Day Celebration, his Excellency President Jacob Zuma, said;

“We are concerned about the report of Statistics SA that there are about 200 000 children in our country who are not attending school, especially in the Western Cape Province’s farming areas. We are determined to reach these children and enroll them. 
 
There should be no corner of our country in which children are still denied an education, while we celebrate freedom.”

It is estimated that there may be more than 20 000 of these children in Mpumalanga Province who are not attending school.The Department has mounted a campaign to raise awareness to mitigate against this challenge.

The Departmental statistics indicate that there are 29 817 learners who dropped out of school between Grades 1 to 7 in 2010 and 38 830 learners who dropped out between Grades 8 to 12 as well. 

In this regard, the Department appointed the newly crowned Ms Mpumalanga, Mpumi Lephoko to lead the Compulsory Education Campaign to ensure that all children of school going age attend school (including learners with disabilities) and learn everyday and to further urge learners who already attend school not to drop out. 

I request the House to applaud Ms Mpumalanga 2011 for accepting this ambassadorial role with the Department to ensure that these children register in schools and attend everyday.

School infrastructure 

In his State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier reiterated the urgency required towards addressing Infrastructure backlogs, establishment and construction of boarding schools in Nkangala and two in Gert Sibande and the revitalization of all other boarding schools for utilisation during winter schools. 

In the previous financial year, the Department has handed over a number of schools to communities including, Nhayane Secondary School, Lamlile Primary School, John Mdluli Primary School, Cyril Clarke Secondary School  to mention a few.

The construction of KaMhlushwa Primary School is complete and soon the school will be officially handed over.

There is a need to accelerate the programme for eradicating mud and unsafe schools structures.

I am delighted to announce that there is significant progress in the establishment of four Boarding Schools in the Province. 

Construction is at an advanced stage for two boarding schools, one at  Gert Sibande and Ehlanzeni  and planning for second  boarding school in Gert Sibande , and  one for Nkangala are underway.

This will enable children from farms and other vulnerable children to have suitable living environments conducive to the attainment of quality education. 

The Department is finalizing the recapitalization of five Technical Secondary Schools. Equally we are planning to recapitalize a further five technical secondary schools.

The Honourable Premier further said in his State of the Province Address:

“Attention is also going to be paid to children with disabilities. We are going to build facilities for these children so that they too get an opportunity to grow their different potentials.

We would like to make an earnest appeal to families having children with disabilities to come forward and afford government an opportunity to assist where it could.  

In this regard, the construction of four Special Schools (Ethokomala at 98%, Pelonolo at 65%, Mantjedi at 20% and Masinakane at 41%) is progressing smoothly to cater for learners with severe disabilities.

Upgrading of seven additional special schools will commence this financial year.

Honourable Speaker, we have received representation from various sectors about the plight faced by deaf learners in the Province. Currently, our deaf learners have to go outside the Province to access secondary education.

The Department has resolved to build a comprehensive school for the deaf in the Province. The 2011/12 financial year will be used as the planning and consultation year. 

To this effect, a task team comprising various stakeholders has been established. It is envisaged that construction will start in the 2012/13 financial year. 

Equally, there is a dedicated focus to establish a Special School for Multiple Disabilities in Bohlabela District as part of  our 2011/12 projects.

Still on school infrastructure for this financial year, the Department has allocated R620 million for infrastructure which includes R65 million for special schools; R29 million for Grade R facilities at public schools; R379 million for the Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative to eradicate mud and unsafe structures and R18 million for recapitalization of Technical Secondary Schools. 

All these initiatives are in line with our quest to ensure that education is accessible to all, and that the environment where learning and teaching is taking place is conducive and welcoming to all learners and teachers.

Learner performance

At the occasion of the State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier said:

“Our growth and development as a nation depends on the provision of quality education to our young people, including the elders of course.

Therefore, for as long as our education system is performing below par, we cannot call it a day. We have to double our efforts and change the education situation for the better.” 

The Department has developed the Schooling Transformation and Reform Strategy (STaRS) that will focus on:

• Early  Childhood Development;
• Literacy and numeracy;
• Grade 12 improvement;
• Mathematics, Science ,Technology and Language; and
• Plan to deal with dysfunctional schools

The STaRS is intended to intensify the intervention programmes, and is a requisite to put in place the implementation of the Action Plan 2014 towards schooling 2025.

I am happy, Honourable Speaker, that the Executive Council has ratified this strategy after consultation with all education stakeholders during the Provincial Education Indaba. 

Improving Literacy and Numeracy 

Honourable Speaker, our target remains at 60% of our learners performing at acceptable levels in Grade 3, 6 and 9 in Literacy and Numeracy by 2014. However for 2011 our target is 45%.

All Grades 1 to 6 learners in the Province sat for the Annual National Assessments (ANA) in February this year. Parents have received the outcome of their children’s performance in both Literacy and Numeracy.

We urge all parents to use this information to support our children’s learning. We are collating this information to be able to get an overall view of the performance of the system. We will continue administering these tests as a mechanism to diagnose the areas needing urgent intervention. 

A budget of R 32.1 million has been set aside to provide resources to schools to improve literacy and numeracy.

997 schools shall receive readers for teaching Literacy and Maths equipment and apparatus through the QIDS-UP Programme. The Department shall train 2 991 educators in the foundation Phase on the use of these resources.

We have started with training of 4 277 foundation phase teachers to teach English First Additional Language.

Matric/Grade 12 Outcomes

I am pleased Honourable Speaker, to indicate that 2010 marked a turning point in our endeavour to improve learner performance in the Province.

Mpumalanga Province is currently the fourth most improved Province in the Country with an improvement of 8.9% a shortfall of 1.1% to make the 10% which was our target in the 2010 grade 12 results. 

This led to a shift from 47.9% in 2009 to 56.8% in 2010.

To appreciate this improvement we have invited the parents of our overall best learner, Rita Van Zyl to be with us in this event to represent all the learners who made us proud, let us applaud them as a mark of appreciation.

Mr. Musa Linkwati, Circuit Manager for Nelspruit Circuit represents the Best Circuit in the Province with 89% while Mr. Mfana Lushaba represents the Best District, Ehlanzeni District with 67.5%.

We attribute the positive outcome to the support received from all stakeholders as well as the intervention programmes we put in place during the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and during the public service strike.

Honourable Speaker, we are far from where we want to be. Our target is to be at 70% by 2014. We are indeed getting there. Our target in 2011 is a 10% improvement, that is, we should be at 66, 8% come the end of this academic year.

Furthermore, we intend to have no school performing below 20% this year. We have set targets for each of our schools and circuits.

Our high performing schools that achieved above 80% are all urged to strive towards 100% this year.

Our intention is to increase the number of schools performing at 100% from the current 12. We have thus developed a special programme of supporting these schools.

Once again, I call upon all stakeholders and role-players in education to work even harder, to employ their own initiatives and participate in Departmental initiatives aimed at assisting the class of 2011 to do better.  

We are intensifying programmes we started in 2010. We have already held first quarter performance review sessions with school principals and officials in all our Districts.

The Dial a Tutor Programme will start on 01 June 2011 from 18H00 to 20H00 to assist learners who may experience difficulties while studying at home by linking them to curriculum experts. 

The winter school programme will commence from 04 to 15 July 2011 in 115 centres at a tune of R 8 million. 

Saturday Classes and Study Camps for Grade 12 learners will be intensified from August and September 2011 respectively. We appreciate schools that have already stated with the Saturday Classes and I urge others to do the same. 

The Trial Examination will be written from 01 to 30 September 2011. 

We want to take this time to extend our profound appreciation to the leadership of the SABC for the Radio Programmes they delivered without any charge to the Department.

Mr. Rio Mabunda from Ligwalagwala FM and Mr. Phillip Mahlangu of Ikwekwezi FM, our gratitude is extended to you. 

I request that we continue with these programmes for they have proved to be adding impetus on the teaching and learning process.

Management of Public Examinations

Honourable Speaker, at the occasion of the announcement of the 2010 Grade 12 results, the Minister of Basic Education announced that the function of administering public examinations shall be handed back to the Province with immediate effect.

In the previous academic year, the Department worked very hard to improve its security systems, storage systems and established new structures to ensure that the ills that bedeviled the Province in this regard do not recur.

Through the support of the Department of Basic Education, we have already run incident free supplementary examinations and are currently running the May/June exams. We have reviewed our examination structure with the aim of strengthening management capacity in this unit. 

The structure was approved by the Executive Council and we have since March 2011 appointed 19 new staff at managerial levels. 

These staff members have undergone first level of security clearance before they started with their work. We are in the processing of vetting them.

We have established a printing house and continue to monitor processes.  

I am also delighted to announce that we appointed the Examination Board. The chairperson is Dr Henk Jooste.  Amongst other functions the board will advise the MEC on policy and overall management of public examinations.

Mathematics and Science 

Honourable Speaker, this year we intend to improve the number of learners passing Mathematics from 10 007 to 11109 and Physical Science from 8 352 to 11 109.

We appreciate learners, particularly those from previously disadvantaged communities who excel in these subjects amid the challenges of limited resources. 

Bonginkosi’ Mnisi from Makhosana Manzini Secondary School is the only learner who obtained 100% in both Mathematics and Physical Science during the 2010 Grade 12 examinations. He is currently studying at the University of Cape Town.

His mother is with us today and I request that we appreciate his hard work. Thank you Mama for raising such a shining star.

To sharpen our focus and streamline interventions in this area across the system, we have established a dedicated unit for Mathematics, Science and Technology this year.

We will be providing resources to schools offering Mathematics and Sciences to enable them to improve the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Sciences. 

A special conditional grant amounting to R6,4 million has been introduced to resource 46 Dinaledi Schools.  

The Department currently has 2 818 educators who are offering Mathematics, Maths Literacy and Physical Sciences. We intend to increase this number by 1 125 before the year 2014. 

Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)

The Department is indeed making strides to make Adult Education and Training work for the people of this Province. 

We are in a process of reviewing our provision of ABET to be able to deliver this important service to our people in an improved manner.

In collaboration with the Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training, 30 000 learners in public adult centres and 53 862 in Kha Ri Gude sites are being targeted for the current financial year.  

In this regard, we intend to enroll 221 090 adult learners by 2014 into the adult learning centres and the Kha Ri Gude sites. 

100 learners will be trained on short accredited skills courses and empowered on how to form and benefit from cooperatives  

In this financial year, we are planning to establish four full time centres that will operate various shifts from 08H00 to 20H00 per day, thus allowing employed and unemployed adults to access them.  One such centre already operates in KwaGuqa at Emalahleni Municipality. 

We aim to improve the programme mix by linking adult learning centres with FET Colleges by 2012. 

Honourable Speaker, our adult learners are performing above the national average in all languages, Travel and Tourism and Arts and Culture. In addition, they recorded a 6% improvement in Mathematics in 2010 ABET Level 4 Public Examinations.  

A total budget of R120 million has been allocated to this programme. 

Further Education and Training 

Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Further Education and Training programmes are yielding positive results. 

Our colleges remain second following Western Cape Province in terms of student performance.

For the first time in the history of Mpumalanga, an FET Student,

Ms. Precious Mabaso obtained a full house of 7 distinctions with an average mark of 91% in the 2010 NCV level 2 Examination. I request that we applaud her as well.

A total budget of R320 million has been allocated for FET Colleges. Included in this is an allocation of R28 million which is aimed at targeting infrastructure and material improvements in FET Colleges to enable them to gain accreditation as trade testing centres.

Our challenge though, remains to secure workplace experience for our FET students. We invite business, industry and Government institutions in the Province to partner with the colleges so that together we can produce the skills so needed in our Province.

Without this workplace experience, learners’ qualifications remain incomplete. 

Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust

Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) is a public entity reporting to the Mpumalanga Department of Education and mandated to promote employability and sustainable livelihood through skills development.

It has a fundamental role to play in ensuring that our people are not only receiving skills but are also properly placed in the mainstream job industry.

In the previous year, MRTT participated in the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) pilot project at Mkhondo Local Municipality, where learners were trained in construction related programmes.

Some of these learners are at present participating in the construction of RDP houses at Donkerhoek and Jabulani area within Mkhondo Local Municipality.

In his 2011 State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier,   placed MRTT at the centre stage of skills development in the Province, especially through its key participation in the CRDP roll-out programme which was launched recently in different municipalities.

The community members trained will then participate in planned Peoples’ Housing Programmes (PHP) within their local municipalities, giving them more industry work place experience.  

The year ahead proves to be one of the busiest for MRTT.

Besides the above-mentioned CRDP project, the agency recently secured another Learnership and Apprenticeship training project from the Construction SETA (CETA), a project which is already in its implementation stage in both Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces.

Honourable Speaker, the Department has allocated R40 million towards the programmes of MRTT. This is an increase of R11 million from the 2010/11 allocation.

A further R21million has been allocated to the MRTT towards programmes in the CRDP, making a total allocation of R 61 million to the institution.

Progress on Establishment of a University

Honourable Speaker, work towards the establishment of a University in the Province is underway. The Province has nominated representatives into the National Task Team and consultations with the relevant stakeholders are ongoing. 

We intend to start with the Teacher Education Programme in January 2012 once all accreditation processes have been concluded.

Discussions are underway with the Department of Higher Education and Training, the NIHE Mpumalanga and selected Universities. 

The provisioning of Higher Education is a national competency; however, the Province has direct vested interest and thus has deemed it prudent to support this initiative.

To this effect, the Executive Council has directed the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport to secure land for the building of the main campus of the University in Mpumalanga.

The Department of Education has budgeted R5 million towards the environmental impact assessment and to support the activities of the task team.

Honourable Speaker, The Department was allocated a budget of R11.5 billion in the 2010/11 financial year for the implementation of its 8 programmes. Expenditure there-of been fully accounted for in the Annual Report.

In conclusion

I take this opportunity to thank the Honourable Premier, Mr. DD Mabuza for his guidance and my colleagues in the Executive Council for the corporation.

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee and the members for their guidance, advice and their robust interaction in some instances.

We won’t forget the role played by the unions, associations of parents, learner formations in particular the Congress of South African Students, business especially the Mpumalanga Education Development Trust, Non-Governmental organisations such as Penreach, the Church and Moral Regeneration Movement, circuit and school patrons, parents, School Governing Bodies,  educators, learners and all who played and continue to play a pivotal role in education matters as we all agree that education is a societal phenomenon.

The Superintendent  General, Members of senior management, circuit managers, principals, teachers, departmental officials and representatives of learners adherence to the pledge signed on QLTC and for the noble roles you play in helping to reshape our education system is appreciated.

Equally, I want to thank my husband, my beloved mother and my children for their unwavering support.

I urge you all to continue to bring us up to speed with new ideas and insight that will help change our course for the better.

In this regard, I request the House to adopt the allocated budget of R12.952 billion for advancing Governments’ vision to better the delivery of education to all deserving citizens of this Province.

Ngiyabonga