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Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education Basic Education Shadow Report: A Review of the Department of Basic Education’s performance in 2010/11 and 2011/12 16 October 2012. Who Are We?. EE is a movement of learners, parents, teachers and community members
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Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education Basic Education Shadow Report: A Review of the Department of Basic Education’s performance in 2010/11 and 2011/12 16 October 2012
Who Are We? • EE is a movement of learners, parents, teachers and community members • We seek to address poor quality and inequality in the education system • Involved in evidence- based activism, community organising and youth development • EE’s Head Office is based in Khayelitsha. We have members in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, the North West and Limpopo provinces.
Introduction • EE acknowledges that there are areas in which the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has made progress with regard to the provision of education • However, there are also important weaknesses that affect the quality of education provided for South African Learners • The EE Shadow Report focuses on specific programmes and activities undertaken by the DBE • For the purposes of this presentation, we will confine ourselves to the following areas • Regulations for School Infrastructure • Workbooks and Textbooks • School Libraries • Annual National Assessments
Regulations for School Infrastructure • Most schools in South Africa either lack necessary resources or only have access to inadequate facilities that render them incapable of providing learners with quality education to which they are entitled by law. • According to the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NIEMS) Report, published in 2011, of the 24 793 public schools: • 3 544 schools have no electricity supply, while a further 804 have an unreliable electricity supply • 2 402 schools have no water supply, while a further 2 611 have an unreliable water supply • 913 schools still do not have ablution facilities and 11 450 schools still use pit-latrine toilets • Only 7% of schools have stocked and functioning libraries and only 10% of schools have stocked computer centres • Only 5% of schools have stocked laboratories
Regulations for School Infrastructure • The DBE has made provisions to address the issue of inadequate infrastructure, in the form of grants. • The Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI), seeks to eradicate 496 inappropriate schools and make provision for water, sanitation and electricity at schools, between the 2011/12 and 2013/14 financial years. • However, progress has been extremely slow, especially with regard to the completion of the first batch of schools in the Eastern Cape. • Of the 49 schools in the EC earmarked for construction this year, only two have been completed thus far.
Regulations for School Infrastructure • The Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) is meant to assist in: “[accelerating] the construction, maintenance, upgrading and rehabilitation of new and existing infrastructure in education…” • This grant is provided to provincial departments of education to implement the targets. • The DBE monitors progress made on the targets in order to provide provinces with payment • Although there is sufficient information in the public domain, on the manner in which Provinces have utilised funds, there does not seem to be any information on progress made with regard to targets i.e. we do not know the number schools built from the EIG • There is also been no evidence that the DBE has briefed Parliament on the progress around the EIG
Regulations for School Infrastructure • The 2011/2012 DBE Annual Report records some of the challenges in the delivery of school infrastructure as follows: • “substantial variances exist in the cost of building schools across provinces, which is compounded by a lack of uniformity provincial planning, budgeting, design, procurement processes and implementation procedures to meet infrastructural targets.” • EE contends that, the provision of binding minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure would do a great deal in alleviating the lack of uniformity in provincial school infrastructure planning and implementation. • Regarding the adoption of regulations relating to minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure, the DBE Annual Report 2011/2012 reads: “The regulations in terms of Section 5A of SASA were drafted. HEDCOM adopted a resolution to the effect that the draft regulations should only be published as guidelines. The Minister then referred these regulations back to the CEM for further consideration, where it was resolved that the draft regulations should be reserved as guidelines. The regulations were thus published as guidelines…”
Regulations for School Infrastructure • EE argues that there is a distinct difference between regulations and guidelines. • Regulations would set an enforceable standard by which all Provinces would be legally bound to adhere. • It is for this reason that Section 5A clearly contemplates regulations prescribing minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure. • SASA sets out mechanisms to ensure provincial compliance in regard to these regulations. • These mechanisms cannot kick-in in the absence of binding minimum norms and standards contemplated by the legislation • Since it was clearly Parliament’s intention that regulations were required to address poor school infrastructure, it should indeed be Parliament that takes the lead in ensuring the DBE fulfils this obligation.
Regulations for School Infrastructure • EE would like the Committee to note that, the DBE’s 2010/11 Annual Report refers to the development of “regulations relating to equitable provision of enabling physical teaching and learning environment at public schools,” which are recorded as a highlight. Yet, as indicated above, such regulations do not exist
Workbooks and Textbooks • The DBE is commended for its provision of workbooks to learners in primary schools • However, workbooks must be supported by textbooks • The Delivery Agreement signed by the Minister in 2010 states that “...the intention is not that workbooks should constitute the only reading material...It is expected that teaching and learning will occur beyond the scope of workbooks and supported by textbooks.”
Workbooks and Textbooks • The textbook is one of the most effective tools through which to deliver the curriculum and support assessment • It can ensure curriculum content and assessment coverage, and it can also offer appropriate pacing and weighting of content • Textbooks can assist teachers with lesson and year planning. • A study conducted by Social Surveys and the Centre for Applied Studies, found that half of learners aged 16-18 were forced to share textbooks with other learners. • This means that learners cannot do their homework and rely on class notes as a source of reference. • The impact this situation has on learners, with regard to examinations and mid-year tests is profound.
Workbooks and Textbooks • It was with great disappointment that EE learned of the DBE’s failure to complete the delivery of textbooks for learners in Limpopo. • EE supports the Presidential Task Team recommendation that: “to efficiently manage the budget and to have credible information that will serve as the basis for both costing and procurement [of] Learner Teacher Support Material, a headcount for both learners and teachers in the province should be conducted.” • This should assist the DBE with planning for the 2013 academic year, and hopefully ensure that a similar situation does not arise again.
School Libraries • Research has shown that school libraries are beneficial to the progress and academic development of learners • Other than the direct academic benefits, libraries offer social advantages too • Currently, 93% of public schools in South Africa do not have functioning libraries, a trained and qualified librarian or teacher librarian and sufficient library materials • The DBE has stated, as one of its goals, the establishment of norms for school libraries • The Department has published a document that outlines information on the provision of school libraries and information services
School Libraries • The National Guidelines for School Library and Information Services, published in March 2012, propose to: “…pave the way to full library and information services provision in all schools in South Africa and ensure that all South African learners have access to adequate library and information services.” • Such as the case of regulations around school infrastructure norms and standards, the same argument applies with the National Guidelines- they are not binding. • The document does not refer to the provision of resources, which brings into question, how the guidelines will be implemented • The 2011/12 DBE Annual Report, does note that an implementation plan has been developed in collaboration with provinces- however, this is yet to be made publicly available.
Annual National Assessments • One of the challenges of using only Grade 12 pass rates as an indicator of the education system’s performance is that many learners do not get as far as grade 12 • Grade 12 examinations only measure performance at the end of secondary school, meaning that the examinations do not show were interventions are needed. • The DBE in introduced the ANA because it recognised the problem of using Grade 12 results as the main indicator of system quality. • As a monitoring tool, the ANA is meant to identify districts and schools most in need of interventions and assistance • It is unclear whether the DBE has put interventions in place following the 2011 ANAs. • It is imperative that a plan is established to improve numeracy and literacy results • It is also concerning that teachers only receive a short manual that explains how administer the ANAs, and yet do not receive assistance in how to analyse and use the results. Teachers must also play a role assisting learners to overcome their challenges
Annual National Assessments • The National Development Plan recommends that the: “ANA results should be made accessible to parents and the community in a way that makes the data easy to interpret” • This is in line with the Minister’s foreword to the report on the Annual National Assessments (2011) in which she invites: “all stakeholders and the broader public to view the ANA results with a sense of ownership.” • EE welcome’s the NDP’s call to make the ANA’s publically accessible-however, as the DBE is yet to make the 2011 ANA results (per school/per district) available to the broader public
Conclusion • The EE Shadow Report assesses the DBE’s performance against its own stated policies, goals and targets as set out in official documents • EE acknowledges the appropriateness of many of these policies, goals and targets, as well as progress in some. • However, in some cases the achievements remain largely on paper, which affects the quality of learning for South African learners.
