Report of the Portfolio Committee on Education on visits to schools in the Northern Province from 28 to 31 July 2003:

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION ON VISITS TO SCHOOLS IN THE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE FROM 28 TO 31 JULY 2003:

The Portfolio Committee on Education, having sent delegations to the schools reports as follows:

OBJECTIVE OF THE VISIT

The committee undertook provincial visits with three delegations to look at highlights, priorities, milestones, achievements and challenges experienced by educators and learners regarding the legislation implemented by the Committee and to give special attention to the following issues:

Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)
Education for Learners with Special Education Needs (ELSEN)
Further Education and Training (FET)
Governance in farm schools (School Governing Bodies)
Programs on HIV/AIDS
Primary School Nutrition Programme.

DELEGATION 2: KIMBERLEY

The delegation was under the leadership of Mr. L M Kgwele (ANC) with Mr. T Abrahams (ANC); Mr. K Moonsamy (ANC); Ms. I Mutsila (ANC); Ms C Dudley (ACDP) and Ms N Mbuqe (Committee Secretary). Mr. I Mfundisi could not join the group due to unforeseen circumstances. Due to ill health, Ms Dudley left the group at the end of day two, i.e. 29 July 2003.

Members of the Provincial Legislature and Departmental Officials welcomed the delegation at the hotel accompanied them throughout the visit. Members of the Provincial Legislature were Mr. K G Molusi (ANC); Mr. L van Niekerk; Mr. De Beer (NNP); Mr. F S Gates (Circuit Manager); Mr. Beuzana (District Manager) and Mr. David Ockhuys (Provincial Committee Co-ordinator). The delegation proceeded to the schools according to the programme.

DAY 1 - 28 JULY 2003

3.1 FRANCIS MOHAPANELE PRIMARY SCHOOL - MR. W M MOGONGWA (PRINCIPAL)

The School principal welcomed the delegation and submitted as follows:

The school has an enrolment of 606 learners with 17 educators, two males and fifteen females. At the level of Management, the school is experiencing ill-discipline among educators as there is a high level of absenteeism among educators and failure on their part to in advance notify the school management of their inability to report for duty for a contingency supervision plan to be put in place. This results in disruption of classes by unsupervised classes.

School Governance: The School governing body functions between 80 to 100%. The major problem is participation of elected parents and failure to meet the required quorum for meetings as dictated by the Constitution. Although elected parents on the School Governing body have attended capacity building workshops in the areas of finance and other areas, Most Parents are illiterate and therefore do not have the confidence to engage in the execution of their allocated functions as School Governors. The principal proposed that awarding of certificates for being involved in the capacity building programme organised by the Department might encourage them and improve the situation. The School Principal proposed that Parents serving on School Governing Bodies be given a stipend as some are unemployed and incur travel costs to attend SGB Meetings. Attendance of Capacity building workshops by elected parents whenever they are arranges is not satisfactory because they prioritize other things. Parental involvement and participation in Governance would contribute towards the reduction of e.g. chronic teacher absenteeism.

Grade R: The school has only one grade R class and experiences overcrowding in Grade 1 as most pupils come to school without going through a school readiness programme. The proposal is that Crèches should be assisted in developing and offering early childhood development programmes, particularly school readiness programmes instead of being child day care centres, as this does not contribute towards the education of children.

ABET: ABET is a separate entity. Morning Classes are conducted on the school premises but with little involvement and interaction with the school Management and Governance of the school from whose premises it operates from. It is assumed that Adult learners are doing very well.

Primary School Nutrition Programme: Functions well under the Health department. The Department of Education will be taking responsibility of the programme from 2004. It is very helpful especially for needy pupils who come to school on empty stomachs as some depend solely on the meal they receive at school. It motivates children to attend school and have helped with decrease learner absenteeism.

One classroom has been converted to a kitchen. The Department of Health is paying the cookers a meager salary. Monthly expenditure is sent to the Department of Health and they also conduct inspection visits.

Library: The school does not have a library but was provided with a box library by the Provincial Education Department. The School has 22 Computers and one computer room. Educators have undergone training on computers and are able to give lessons to learners. Although the school has not experience any burglary, an Alarm Security system is installed in the computer room as a precautionary security measure.

PARTNERSHIPS AND EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES: One Educator from the 12 Educators on a six weeks teacher exchange programme from Scotland is seconded to the school and hosted by one of the educators at the school.

Concerns: The School has requested the Department to provide an additional post for a computer specialisation educator. Transition to English from Setswana at Senior Phase poses a challenge as a medium of instruction. As a solution, the School proposes to introduce English as a Medium of instruction from the foundation phase.

3.2 G N PRESSLY SCHOOL

The school was founded in 1986 by and named after Reverend Pressley (a missionary of the Anglican Church). It was built through donor funding from Britain and America.

Enrolment: The School has an enrolment of 494 learners and a staff compliment of 14 educators, 5 males and 9 females. Four educators are under qualified but are engaged in an educator-upgrading programme to improve their qualifications. Teacher pupil ratio is 1:35. 94 of the children are bussed in as they travel so many kilometers.

With a teacher pupil ratio of 1:35,the school has adequate classrooms. Due to long distances that some of the learners had to walk to get to school, 94 learners are provided with transport (i.e. a school bus)

Computers and a computer room are provided through a partnership between the Northern Cape Education Department and Telkom.

The School’s medium of instruction is Afrikaans with English as a second language and Setswana as a Third Language. The School has a Pass rate of90%

School Governance: Although some of the elected parents serving on the School Governing Body are illiterate, the School Governing Body functions well. Members of the SGB have attended capacity building workshops and are in the process of electing new office bearers. The problem will be the person who is going to train the new intake.

ABET: ABET is a separate entity. Afternoon Classes are conducted on the school premises but with little involvement and interaction with the school Management and Governance of the school from whose premises it operates from.30 adult learners are enrolled.

FEES: Due to poverty levels among parents, although the determined fee is R20 per annum, the SGB experiences problem of non-payment of fees. Most learners stay with grandparents who act as guardians as the most parents have left for work in the big cities.

Primary School Nutrition Programme: It is doing well but delays are experienced in the deposit of allocations by the Department of Health to the School.

The school has experienced only one burglary in 16 years as the community takes ownership and responsibility for the school. No incidents of violence and crime were experienced.

Concerns:

The School needs Computers, a TV and a VCR per class.

Provision of these amenities will place the school at the centre of the community, as it is the only public centre with electricity within the impoverished community besides a privately owned shop. In addition to serving as teaching aids, the equipment will also help widen the horizons and enrich social experiences of learners and the broad community.

The School does not have clean water.

BORESETSE HIGH SCHOOL -

The school was established in 1961.961 learners are enrolled at the school. The majority of learners are from farming areas outside location of the school. This presents a problem of discipline and late start to lessons almost on a daily basis as late arrival of busses disrupts learning and teaching on a regular basis. Attempts to tackle the problem have thus far not brought solutions to the problem.

The school has 31 educators, i.e. 12 females and 19 males and a Teacher – pupil ratio of 1:43. Although all educators are qualified educators, two are inappropriately qualified and placed as they have primary school education qualifications. So as not to impact negatively on the quality of education offered, these educators are allocated to teach at lower grades. Previous years the teacher pupil ratio was higher but was reduced by the temporary provision of 11 mobiles. Teachers are very committed.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB consists of 9 parents and 7 teachers including the principal in his an ex-officio capacity. It is functioning very well and has formulated policies and is in the process of trying to implement them. Members of the SGB attended many Capacity building training modules through the District Development Support Programme. There is no experience of violence or burglary.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: Due to high levels of unemployment and poverty in the Province, The Provincial Education Department is Piloting the extension of the Primary School Nutrition Programme to all schools in the Province. Unemployed parents are helping out. All learners benefit from the scheme.

FEES: R80.00 per annum is the determined fee. Due to high unemployment rate among parents, Parents are given ample time to pay with September being the expected deadline for payments to have been made in full. 211 learners are exempted from paying fees because of their parent’ inability to pay due to unemployment. A general social problem of abandonment of children with grandparents by parents who have moved to big cities in search of employment opportunities is experienced. The school is initiating steps of following up with real parents who have abandoned their children. Learner Academic Reports are not withheld even if learners have not paid fees.

ABET: ABET is run on the school premises as a separate entity. Evening Classes are conducted on the school premises but with little involvement and interaction with the school Management and Governance of the school from whose premises it operates from. Although it was suggested that SGB members be involved but there has been no response thus far.

PASS RATE: In 2000 the pass rate was 39%. The contributory factor for the poor pass rate was that learners are from far away outside the province and could not attend winter school and Saturday classes. In 2001 the pass rate improved to 66% and in 2002 it again improved to 86,6%.

HIV/AIDS: Life skills programme are taught in Grade 8 and 9 as learning areas as part of the curriculum and as part of guidance in all other grades.

DISCIPLINE: No problems have been experienced regarding violence, drugs and incidents of child abuse.

BARKLEY WEST PRIMARY SCHOOL - MR. J A THOMPSON

The school was established in 1994 and is to date accommodated in a temporary prefab structure. As a result of the structure, weather conditions impact on learning and teaching but learners and educators are doing their best under the conditions. The School has 24 educators, 18 females and 5 males and a learner enrolment of 799.

Two women and two men are in management positions as Heads of Departments.

2 special needs classes were created although the two educators allocated to focus on these classes do not have the necessary training, skill and experience to handle learners with special needs. Difficulties are as can be expected experienced in meeting special learners’ educational, emotional and psychological needs of learners who fall in this category. Although every effort is being made to keep the classes as small as possible for learners to receive individual attention, the situation needs urgent. Education Support System does assessment for the mentally challenged learners before they are referred to the special classes.

The school has also benefited through the services of an educators on a teacher exchange programme, e.g. a Ms Robin Mullin of the global teachers from Britain was seconded to the school when we visited the school.

GRADE R: There is no Grade R Class yet but plans are at an advanced stage to introduce it.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB has 11 members including the principal as an ex-officio member. Elected parent members are empowered as they served in the first term and are in their second term as elected School Governors. The School Governing Body has managed to perform its functions and improve the school building and sports facilities.50% of parents are involved in activities and programmes of the School Governing Body. Programmes of the School Governing Body have thus far had a positive influence on parents to be part of and own the school. There is no experience of vandalism because of parental involvement. Parents and the broad community were involved in painting of the school as part of Letsema Campaign. The school is short of cleaners.

ABET: Two facilitators are engaged in Abet programme run by the Department from the school premises. Most adult learners are above 50 years old. The Programme is run under the supervision of the School governing body. More than 40 adult learners are from the farming community.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: It is in place and coordinated by the SGB.A balanced hot meal is provided on a daily basis. All learners benefit from this scheme. Member of the School Governing Body and unemployed parents are assisting. The criterion for selection of parents is that they should be unemployed parents with a child attending the school. There is no fixed amount for a stipend of about R200 a month.

OBE: The Department has put in place continuous training programme to empower them in implementation of OBE and the Revised National Curriculum statement. The department is very active on that. Afrikaans is the medium of instruction and English is taught as a 2^nd language. The school proposes to introduce an African language, i.e. Setswana as a third language.

FEES: Although the determined school fee is R30 per annum, not all parents can afford the fee due to high levels of poverty and unemployment. Fund Raising initiatives are embarked upon to close the short fall of those who cannot afford payment. For 2003,the department has allocated in terms of the norms and standards for funding a budget of R360 000 to assist meet the school’s needs.

Learners are not penalised for their parents’ inability to pay fees. Some learners do not wear uniform to school, as their parents cannot afford the costs to purchase uniform for them.

CONCERNS:

Classroom size as the department is embarking on doing away with mobile prefab structures.
Although it is noted that the Department is in the process to roll out computers to school starting with High Schools, the school needs computers as the ones available are used only by educators for administrative purposes only. Learners do not have access to them for learning purposes.

PREPARATIONS FOR DAY 2

After completing the day’s visit the delegation met with Members of Provincial Legislature and the Department Officials and re-arranged the programme for the entire visit in order to meet the objectives of the delegation as outlined in the terms of reference of the Portfolio Committee. The delegation expressed a need for a briefing by the MEC and or the Senior Management team on the state of education in the Province in order to properly contextualise the milestones, constraints and challenges facing the provision of quality education in the province.

It was impressed upon the Northern Cape Education Department Officials the need to balance the selection of previously advantaged and previously disadvantaged schools. It was also impressed upon our host the need to interview not only school principals, but to accommodate other stakeholder within schools, e.g. Members of School Management teams, School Governing bodies and to do walk-abouts to be able to evaluate the facilities. The approach agreed upon was to be inclusive but not disruptive to learning and teaching activities.

DAY 2 - 29 JULY 2003

BANKSDRIFT HIGH SCHOOL - MR. MOKGELEDI (PRINCIPAL)

The principal, Heads of departments and Members of the School governing body, welcomed the delegation.

The building used by the school belongs to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. The school was started in 1997 and combined both primary and high school.

The school has 19 educators.ie.8 females and 11 males. All Educators are qualified.

Learner enrollment for 2003 stands at 570 due to limited capacity to enroll more learners. There is a large influx of learners from the North West Province. The department is aware of this influx but no solution has yet been found to this phenomenon. Three busloads of unsubsidised learners commute from the North West Province, as they prefer to come to this school because of its impressive academic record. Those who cannot afford transport walk for 30 km to and fro and as a result a disciplinary problem of late coming has arisen. Letters are written to parents if the educators experience problems with some of the learners but have noticed that some parents have no control over their children.

PASS RATE :In 2000 the school obtained 40%; 63% in 2001 and 83% in 2002. The improvement was brought about by teamwork and the extra effort that educators put in by engaging learners in extra classes. Most learners from the North West Province are drawn by the good results obtained in the Northern Cape province.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The school governing body is functional and effective and enjoys the support of the circuit manager. The SGB has developed and adopted a Constitution. Finances are audited. There is sufficient supply of water and electricity but the Department of Public works has not responded to written requests to assist with Maintenance and as a result the school purchases for example paint with school funds. It should however be noted that the school is relocating from the Department of Water Affairs premises at the end of the year.

HIV/AIDS: The School has a policy on HIV/Aids. Plans and Life skills programmes are running as part of the curriculum with three educators assigned to this area of work. Communication with Social Welfare to share information is ongoing. Little has been done practically but drama from Kimberley on the cultural day was held for AIDS awareness. No intensive programme just knowledge sharing is in place.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: Adequate stationery and learners support material are timeously provided and distributed among learners. Proper control mechanism and retrieval systems are in place. There is no computer room and PCs available are for administrative use.

CHILDREN ABUSE: No incidents of child abuse were experienced. The School as part of the Adopt-a-cop programme and Sector policing programme has close working relations with the police. As a result of the close working relations with the police, Sessions are conducted by police to empower learners about drugs, alcohol abuse and what constitutes child abuse. A suggestions box is provided at the school for learners to anonymously report known cases of crime and child abuse.

Learners are also encouraged to talk about any problem they might experience either as it relates to schoolwork and their personal and family circumstances.

FEES: R80.00 per annum is the determined school fee but due to high levels of unemployment and poverty, less than 50% of parents are able to pay. For 2003,the department has allocated in terms of the norms and standards for funding a budget of R230 434 to assist meet the school’s needs.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: All learners at the school benefit. A hot meal is provided on a daily basis. 5 parents are involved, 4 women and 1 man. Capacity building is very high. They each get a meagre R100 as a stipend, which is basically used, for transport.

CONCERNS RAISED:

There is no fence around the school.
Inadequate toilet facilities are provided. Only 2 toilets are meant for girls and 1 for lady teachers; 2 for boys and 1 for male teachers. This arrangement inevitable creates an unhealthy and environmental health hazard as learners have to run to nearby bushes to relieve themselves particularly during breaks as 10 minutes allocated does not allow all learners sufficient time to take turns to respond to the call of nature.
Clustering and amalgamation of schools as part of Transformation of the education system should be sped up
The Staff room is very small to accommodate 16 teachers. The school does not have a library and laboratory. Only a library box is provided.

TLHWAHALANG (MEANS "WE ARE SERIOUS") HIGH SCHOOL - MR. M M. VAN WYK

The School principal, Heads of Department and Members of the School Governing Body, welcomed the Delegation.

The school was established in 1990 as a combined school and became a high school in 1995. The current learner enrolment is 1525 with 46 educators, 22 males and 24 females. Classes are overcrowded as the school was designed to take a maximum capacity of 1100 learners.

In 2002 the school had an enrolment of 1300.Most of the learners enrolled at the school are from the North West Province, for an example in the current enrolment of 1525,480 learners are from the North West Province

Only one educator is under qualified but is engaged in an upgrading programme with a university.

PASS RATE: In 1999 the school obtained 20%; in 2000 it improved to 36,5%; in 2001 it increased its pass percentage to 50,7%. In 2002 the School obtained an excellent pass performance of 96%.

The earlier low passing rate was caused by increased enrolment of learners from nearby farms. The school initiated afternoon study periods and Saturday classes to improve the pass rate. Extra study guides are supplied to assist learners. NGO workshops run by PROTEC and a winter school organised by educators at the school during June holidays also contributed a lot towards the remarkable improvement in performance. Planning and critical assessment done at the beginning of each year also assisted.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: According to the Principal the School Governing Body functions very well however educators did not support this view as according to them Parental involvement needs to be improved. Parents are only seen at school during registration or when they have problems. Last year there was a burst of headaches amongst learners as a result a learner died of meningitis. The department assisted with psychological and medical assistance.

Quarterly meetings are held. If there are urgent matters the SGB Convenes calls an urgent meeting. Financial management courses have been attended. Learner Representative Council (LRC) also sit in SGB meetings and have introduced sport codes. There is a plan to upgrade Sporting facilities.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: It is beneficial to learners and has contributed towards improved school attendance. It has commenced in March 2003 as a pilot programme of the Northern Cape Education Department. It is run by a committee of 10 parents. To supplement the programme, the school has dug a borehole with the intention of establishing a vegetable garden to support the feeding scheme. To motivate the committed parents engaged in the programme, a Stipend of R165 is paid.

OBE: Training is ongoing.

FEES: R50.00 per annum is the determined fee but parents are struggling to pay. Only 62% of the parents pay the fees. The budget allocated by the department is R613 000.00.Learners are not discriminated against or penalised for their parents’ inability to pay. The SGB and School Management is sympathetic to those who are unable to pay affords them an opportunities to present their individual circumstances and difficulties.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: The School is classified as a Section 21 school. Already about 70% of books have been received for 2004.Quarterly letters are written to churches to assist with donations of books.

20 Computers are installed in the Computer room as a result of the partnership between Telkom and the Department and the Northern Cape education department. Educators were trained on the use of computers and have access to Internet. Telkom intends extending training to learners and the broad community.

DISCIPLINE: The school does not experience problems of discipline among educators. The Policy on reporting and knocking off hours is in place and no difficulties are experienced as regards absenteeism. Educators report on time if they are unable to come to school for any reason. The school has thus far experienced only one incident of an educator who had a drinking problem three years ago. The department intervened and took the educator to rehabilitation.

HIV/AIDS: An HIV/Aids policy is in place. An NGO assists in capacitating educators on the programme. Learners who are infected are not discriminated or exposed to others. There is a problem of teenage suicide in the area.

ABET: Afternoon classes are conducted on the school premises by a separate entity. Full-time tutors are engaged in the programme.

CONCERNS:

Due to Overcrowding, a strain is put on the sanitation infrastructure. This results in frequent blockage of toilets.
Some educators are not showing commitment towards their work. Disciplinary steps were taken against them and warnings issued against them. The Department is informed of the cases through the Circuit Manager.
Although the physical space is there for a library as the school is a modern double storied structure, Library is not operating due to shortage of books and reference material. The box library is too small to cater for the needs of the overcrowded school.
On pensioner’s payout days, high learner absenteeism is experienced among learners, as most have to assist their grandparents with whom they live at pensions pay points. During harvest time learner attendance drops substantially as learners assist parents for economic reasons. Most Learners are 18 years old.

The school needs more information on clustering of schools as intended by resolution No. 7

AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL - MR. W P VENTER

The school was established in 1957.It is the only agricultural school in the Northern Cape. The school has 10 educators, i.e. 2 females and 8 males and an enrolment of 180 learners. In addition to the ten educators, the school governing body has employed an additional educator.

Learners get individual attention from excellent qualified teachers in small classes. Although Agriculture is the specialization stream, the school also offers subjects like Economics, Accountancy, etc. The school intends introducing Tourism in 2004. Mathematics and Physical Science are compulsory. The school has produced the best results in Physical Science in the province. Learners do practical work in the farm. There is only one Black learner otherwise others are all White. The school has a hostel facility with 114 learners, 36 of them are girls and the rest are boys

DISCIPLINE: The school has no problem of absenteeism because whenever a learner has not attended school, a follow-up with parents is done to investigate reasons for absence. Parents are involved whenever problem arises. A Merit system and after school detention are used to encourage hard work and discipline. Instead of corporal punishment community service is also used as an alternative. No drug problem is experienced at the moment.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: 13 elected members (parents, educators and learners) constitute the School Governing body. The structure is functional and effective and has developed policies. Although a Sub-committee on Agriculture is established, it does not include the Department of Agriculture but when there is a conference for junior farmer society, learners are sent to attend.

The department pays 3 Non-educators staff members and 1 is paid by SGB.

ABET: classes are conducted on the school premises by a separate entity. 20 adult learners from the farming community attend. The problem experienced is attendance during winter.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: The school has a fully equipped research station which is used for advisory purpose and not training.

The departmental allocation assists the school in providing stationary and textbooks. The department has also provided 10 Computers, which have not yet been installed. The school had 8 computers that they had bought from their own funds. The farm is running at a loss because of the fluctuating and increasing price of maize. The dairy component is closed because of lack of funds to buy cows.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: No feeding scheme is extended to the school as it has a hostel and receives subsidy for the hostel

FEES: Exemption for learners is about 20%. Non- education staff in the hostel is the cooker. People staying in the farm also get subsidy for their houses.

CONCERNS:

There is no assistance from government for farming.
Have old tractors (26 years old).
No blackboard for adult learners.
Staff allocation – the school is working with dangerous equipment and the learners need more attention.
When a staff members dies, for example, farm manager or cleaner, they don’t get replaced.
Too much courses during teaching that causes lot of absence of educators from classes.

WARRENVALLE COMBINED SCHOOL - Mr. V J Dyker

The school is from Grade R to Grade 12. It was established in 1968. The present enrollment is 935 with 28 educators. Educators are 16 males and 12 females. The teacher-pupil ratio differs, e.g. Grade 6 is 1:56 and in lower classes is 1:30.

The school started with double shifts in the 1970s and in 1988 added secondary classes. They had their first Matric results in 1990. There are also two special classes with 15 and 25 learners respectively. Two mobiles and two permanent classes are not used.

Afrikaans is the medium of instruction. English is taught as a second language. Setswana is informally introduced.

RESULTS: 1999 – 83%; 2000 – 78%; 2001 – 91% and 2002 – 86%. In 2002 the Grade 12 class overcrowded and as a result a drop in the results was experienced.

FEES: R50.0 per year. The payment of fees has improved because the educators spoke to the parents about learners who cannot afford. The rate of unemployment is 75% as most parents in the impoverished community mostly rely on social grants. The parents are encouraged to be creative by doing fundraising. No learners are exempted nor encouraged to apply for exemption as the fees are regarded as too low. The school has an allocated budget of R327 071.00.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB functions very well. Training is provided but not all members attend. School policies were developed and are in place.

ABET: ABET is run on the school premises as a separate entity. Classes are conducted on the school premises but with little involvement and interaction with the school Management and Governance of the school from whose premises it operates from. A person from the community is in charge. The attendance is very poor with less than 10 registered adult learners.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: The department provides Allocation for Stationery and textbooks, as the school is a classified as a section 21 school. Computers were provided through the partnership between the Northern Cape Education Department and with Telkom. Most library books are outdated. READ and DDSP provide books from Grade 9 up with 25 classes.

SCHOOL NUTRITION SCHEME: It has impacted positively on school attendance and is well resourced. Seven parents are involved. They are given stipend of R400.00.

HIV/AIDS: The policy is in place. The school is working on action plan and busy trying to implement it. No disclosure from learners and educators have come forward and as a result the school is not aware if there any infected.

CONCERNS:

Staff is overloaded.
SMT is not having enough time for administrative work. The principal is also involved in teaching.
Learners drop out and affect lessons. They travel for 5 km and more. Post provisioning leads to loss of teachers. Specialist subjects are offered.
Laboratory is not well equipped.
Due to a moratorium on the filling of vacant posts, in the event of death or resignation of non-teaching staff members, the department does not provide a grant for the filling of the post. Those hired are governing body posts. The school is a former HOR size with one cleaner.
The school does not have sporting facilities.

BRIEFING BY THE PROVINCIAL SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

The department gave presentation on their provincial plan of 12 themes from Witsand. Since 1997, the enrolment in schools has been around 205 000 but in 2003 enrolment declined to 194 000.Enrolment per grade has also dropped.

There are 5 directors in the province and 4 districts headed by a director. In 2002,the overall pass rate was 89,9%. The department has a problem with Grade 10 but trying to find reasons.

In most schools there is influx of learners from neighbouring provinces which impacts heavily on the budget especially in the Kgalagadi area. There is no solution on this matter and there is no way of stopping learners from coming in thus this is accepted as a cross-border phenomenon.

There is proposal or thinking of personnel and non-personnel expenditure to be consolidated and then those learners could be accommodated. There are also learners from Namibia who have been identified as being derailing transformation in the province on purpose. Taking only SA citizen learners seems to be ideal for solving this problem.

CLUSTERING: Schools are to be demarcated according to phases. This process has been put on hold at Jan Kempdorp because of potential racial conflict. The policy will formulated to make it easy because of lack of national policy on the issue. Some areas are keen where even communities are asking for it.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT: The department is not happy especially from previously disadvantaged parents. Integration also plays a role in this issue because there is no meaningful participation.

FEES: Non-payment of fees by some parents who are in the big cities is in the process of being investigated. Resources are limited. There are learners who have homes in Kimberley but staying in the hostels, those are not subsidized.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: Schools are allowed to appoint Grade R educator however the problem encountered with Grade R intake is that there are not enough crèches in the feeder areas to prepare pupils for school readiness programme. There are no properly trained or qualified ECD educators. The Department is currently engaged in a programme to train such educators. The thought is to enhance, promote and further school based Grade R to be controlled by schools and to also encourage communities to establish early learning centres.

INTEGRATION OF SCHOOLS: As soon as this became a reality in other area, some parents withdrew their children from local schools and enrolled them at boarding schools maintain exclusivity. Some Governing body members are at the forefront of resisting transformation. The department hopes that the re-election of SGB might bring some changes.

Some successes have been achieved at the level of integration of personnel. Four (4) Black principals have been appointed in White schools. Huge success was registered at Post level 1 level. There are some good mergers that have worked well. The main problem is when amalgamation takes place some White learners withdrawn.

MODEL OF TRAINING FOR SGB: The model of cascading has not assisted. Officials from the department are being trained as trainers. Emphasis is on the use of mother tongue. The department has been working on regulations for 2003 on which SGBs will be appointed according to those regulations. This year capacity building will be up and running.

AGRICULTURE SCHOOL

There is a need to jointly meet with Department of Agriculture to use Agricultural High School in the province to feed the whole province.

STIPEND: There is a need to develop guidance to determine a minimum uniform amount for the school nutrition programme

VACANCIES: The data has been drawn from persal system. Educator posts available are different. 1 345 posts include substitutes and temporary posts. There is a need to appoint non-cs educator’s posts, e.g. clerks. 52 posts have been filled. Non- cs educator’s posts are a problem. No norm is used. Presently there is 1:4 non- cs educator to a cs educator.

FEEDING SCHEME: The department is busy with a pilot project run by Health department called PNSP. School is allocated 85% for feeding and 15% for administration. A stipend of R200 should be given. SGB has been given that task to look at how many people volunteering and that decision should be taken by SGBs. The National Treasury has been asked for assistance. The Pilot will assist in with the gaps and will be able to implement it in 2004.

30 July 2003

BANKHARA BODULONG COMBINED SCHOOL

This school was established in 1999 as the first school in the community with 10 classrooms. It was expected to enroll 320 learners but 646 learners were registered and the classrooms are inadequate. The school used mobiles and platooning programme. These numbers increased every year and currently there are 1295 learners. It is a combined school up to Grade 11. Because of the high enrolments, the school needs to be unbundled, i.e. primary and high school for the purpose of effective management and effectiveness. The department is aware of the proposed separation and suggested moving learners to Kalahari High School but parents are totally opposed to the proposal.

The school has 36 qualified educators and 4 temporary educators, 12 male and 27 females. Educators visit homes of the learners after hours to familiarise themselves with their backgrounds and social lives. There are kids brought to school by social workers and there is a need for a shelter for them.

The medium of instruction is English. Teacher – pupil ratio is 1:36. A White lady and 4 Coloured women run the hostel. Mobile units are not conducive for education at all looking gat the weather conditions. Some mobile units will be used for clinic use.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: A SGB was elected in 1999 .It is highly active and critical in linking the school with the community. Members have attended capacity building workshops and as a result the SGB was able to develop, adopt and put in place school policies.

ABET: It started from level 1 to 3 but now at level 4. There is also bread-making project trying to alleviate poverty by creating few jobs. The problem with attendance is that they are also breadwinners so they sometimes drop out of school to look for jobs. Two members were sent to Upington to be trained for ABET. SANLI is project for totally illiterate with 10 volunteers getting stipend from UNISA. It started with 210 adults and this year has 180.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: the Feeding scheme is administered by the Department of Health. Although it is meant for primary schools, all learners are fed. 4 parents are engaged by the School governing body to assist with preparation of meals and feeding of learner. They receive R75.00 as a stipend to prepare bread and fruit. No hot meal is provided. Four other parents help on a voluntarily basis.

FEES: Although the determined fee is R50 per annum the School Governing body has difficulty in collecting fees due to high levels of poverty and unemployment. The majority of parents have not been able to pay since 1999.

HIV/AIDS: This project is active in the community with support groups with 20 caregivers. Mobile unit will function as clinic in the school premises. Social Welfare funds this community-based project. People in the area have disclosed their status and are getting help.

OBE: Educators they have been trained and are well equipped. The problem is bridging between Grade 9 and Grade 10. Grade 9 is OBE and Grade is using FET, which becomes very slow in Grade 10 performance. A Library is under construction. The school does not have a laboratory.

CONCERNS:

Need assistance with facilities for other projects like crop projects.
Need telephone lines and there is none even in the community.
Educators have no accommodation in the community they travel from far. This is a big problem with no mutual relationship with the community and educators would love to be staying with the community. When they are given sites the ward community members take them. This matter has been reported.

KITLANYANG PRIMARY SCHOOL

This school was established in 1984 with 5 educators .It currently has 8 educators, 6 females and 2 males. Six (6) of these educator are unqualified but are engaged ion upgrading programmes. 212 learners are enrolled. The school has hostel facility although it is inadequate because learners sleep in twos or three on a bed. Some educators also stay in the hostel.

The school has 4 classrooms, 1 is turned into a multi-purpose staff room-cum administrative office .The department has also provided 5 mobile units to accommodate boys and educators.

This school has accommodated learners from another school. A farmer gave these premises to NG Kerk. There is no clarity whether the school belongs to the church or the farmer or whether the school is a public school on private property or an ordinary public school on public property. There is no problem of safety, fence is very strong and the gates are locked. Police do visit to check if there is any problem. Kgalagadi Municipality is in a process of providing dry sanitation toilet project, which are cheaper than flushing toilets.

FEES: There are two amounts of fees, one is R20 for the school and one is R30 from the integrated school. This will only stay like this until the end of the year. Only 60% of the parents are paying.

OBE: Training has been received. Not adequate but is continuing during holidays for a week.

SGB: Cooperation is 100%. Parents are involved but they are very scattered since this is a farm school. Most people work in the farms so they need to be contacted on time for any meetings. The chairperson of SGB is doing all chores voluntarily around the school some policies are not in place because of lack of manpower especially after the amalgamation of the two schools.

ABET: It is still being established. There is nothing happening presently. There is one in the community 30 kilometers from school. And there is no Grade R so the kids come straight to Grade 1 without school readiness programme.

SCGOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: Social Welfare is providing feeding scheme. Learners get R750.00 per quarter in the hostel. Five ladies are assisting in preparing food. Stipend given is R1 000.00 per month. The department is proposing permanent employment for them.

HIV/AIDS: People came to update the school last year. Teachers have attended training. READ provides no library but book wagon library.

CONCERNS:

Sport facilities are not available at all.
Need to know the agreement between government and the farmer regarding the belonging of the school.
No extra mural activities
Will be starting indigenous games next year that will not need expensive facilities.
Parents are supposed to be bringing wood for cooking but they are not cooperative at all.

KALAHARI HIGH SCHOOL

The teacher component is 20, 15 paid by the department and 5 by the SGB. The number of learners enrolled is 448.Afrikaans is the medium of instruction, although there are learners from Ghana, Chinese, Blacks and Coloureds. All 19 educators are White and only 1 Coloured, 15 females and 5 males. There is no female in the Senior Management Team because the school has been downgraded. Computer center offers typing with 24 PCs and computer studies. The Department has supplied 12 computers and is busy with Internet connection. The school has phased out music, guidance and media teachers, which created a big problem. Learners are now not being prepared to utilise libraries. Universities like RAU, University of OFS and Potchefstroom do come and talk to children. Teachers are all qualified.

The school has received an Award for being the most improved in Maths in the country.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB has 7 elected parent members, two educators and 1 non-educator. The meetings take place on Thursdays. There are 3 sub-committees, Finance that meets once, Sport committee and Disciplinary committee. There are 61 learners in the hostel but it has capacity to accommodate 140.

DISCIPLINE: No experience of drug or sexual abuse. The school experiences problem of alcohol abuse among learners during weekends as part of the broad social problem within the community therefore the SGB has decided not use learners as waiters during functions to arrest the situation.

FEES: The school charges R 3 500.00 usually payable in ten monthly installments. 50 learners are fully or partly exempted. 70% pay fees upfront. The SGB uses legal process to get money from those parents who are not paying after having sent notices and reminders. Learners are however not victimised or their reports being withheld. Hostel fees are R1680 per term or R500 monthly. Three educators reside in the hostel and assist the matron with supervision.

HIV/AIDS: The Programme is run by an educator who normally invites outside people and doctors to address learners on HIV/Aids

OBE: Although adequate training is provided, no study material is availed. No syllabus was provided in comparison with other provinces that have developed their own syllabus. That is a concern that needs to be corrected. Forms for assessment that need to be filled by educators are time consuming.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: No problem is experienced regarding the provision of learner support material as the school is categorized as a Section 21 school whereby the department allocates sufficient funds in this regard.

ABET: No abet centre is attached to the school.

5.4 WRENCHVILLE PRIMARY SCHOOL

The school was built in 1924 and the new building was established in 1984 with 1125 learners and 32 educators. The composition of educators is 21 females, 11 males and 2 are paid by the School Governing Body. The teacher-pupil ratio is 1:45. Educators are all qualified and the ones paid by SGB only gets R1750. The medium of instruction is dual and there is one Setswana educator. The school offers 15 different sporting codes in its extra -curricula activities. The school uses a community hall, as they do not have a school hall.

FEES: Parents are advised to apply for exception if they cannot afford the determined school fee. 20% of parents are exempted from payment of fees.

The school received a budget of R403 210,00 from the department as part of the norms and standards for funding schools.

OBE: it is fully implemented from Grade 1 to Grade 7. Training is given and provided by READ.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: As a Section 21 category school, the school is responsible to order its stationary and textbooks and other learning support material.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME All learners benefit from the scheme. A hot meal is prepared for all learners. Parents who are involved in the scheme get a stipend of R110.

HIV/AIDS: The policy is in place. Training was provided on handling, counseling and orientation of learners and educators.

DRUG ABUSE: No experience of drugs. The school is involved in partnership with churches on a programme affecting street kid.

ABET: The school premises is used for an abet programme. An educator who initiated the programme is now the coordinator and is in charge of the programme. It was established but the teacher now is a coordinator .The school feels strongly that the programme should be more skills orientated than its current academic focus

VUYOLWETHU SECONDARY SCHOOL

The school was established in 1994 as a new school with 31 educators, i.e.15 females and 16 males and a learner enrolment of 915 learners. The school offers three streams i.e. cultural, science and commercial streams. The reason for commercial stream is because of learners absorbed from Sol Plaatjie secondary school who were doing commercial subjects. The school has 18 normal classrooms with 2 needlework, economics, domestic science, music room and handwork.

FEES: R110 per annum is the determined fee. R20 is for registration, R10 for sport and R10 for administration. This is the lowest amount charged by a high school in the area. Only 40% of parents from the impoverished community are able to meet their obligations to pay. Learners whose parents are unable to pay are not discriminated against and or victimised in any way. Although there is a provision for exemption, parents are not taking advantage of this opportunity. Parents are reminded through pamphlets and in parent meetings to pay. The school was advised to use lawyers to collect fees but has not gone that route due to consideration of the high costs involved in engaging lawyers.

LEARNER SUPPORET MATERIAL: As a section 21 category school, the school provides Stationary and textbooks to learners. A textbook management and retrieval system is in place to ensure that textbooks provided are returned at the end of the year. The school had resorted to withholding of reports until they were advised as to the illegality of the measure. A team of educators was also tasked to retrieve textbooks from learners who left school. This assisted in retrieving a substantial number of textbooks. The school has a room meant to be a library, but is without the necessary books and reference material. The Computer room is functional with 20 computers provided by the department of education. Teachers were trained on how to use computers and the Internet. The school has four laboratories for the following purposes, science, biology, domestic science and geography.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: The introduction of this programme has enhanced school attendance by learners. As a pilot project of the Department of education, all learners are catered for in the feeding scheme. Four parents unemployment parents are assisting with preparation of meals and feeding of learner. A stipend of R200 per month is provided to each of the parents involved. One rand a day per learner is provided as follows: 50c per day for food and 50c for administration.

DISCIPLINE: No incident has been experienced in the premises of drug abuse. Children are more disciplined after introduction of locking the gates. The department endorsed it as a safety policy. The school feeding scheme has contributed towards improvement of punctuality among learners. Parents are summoned to the school whenever a learner is absent for two or more days.

ABET: No abet centre is run from the school as the school was under the impression that it was supposed to be initiated from the side of the community. There is however an abet centre that operates in the township.

SGB: It is functioning well with policies in place. The members have attended capacity building workshops however the term of office of the structure has expired and elections of a new structure have to be conducted shortly.

OBE: Is fully implemented and training has been attended.

HIV/AIDS: The policy is in place. Learners are exposed to workshops to be pioneers and are encouraged to disclose to educators that they trust. Educators are going for support services training. Educators suggest that HIV/AIDS should be taught as a subject on its own because they experience high pregnancy rate from Grade 8 to 12. Love Life continuously comes on Wednesdays. Life skills should also be enforced and integrated

As subjects. A curriculum is needed in this case. There is a lot of talent e.g. Jimmy Tau who is playing for Pirates comes from the school and many more.

CONCERNS:

Crisis with Grade 9 and 10 that are not adequately prepared. The advice was to extend teaching time by an hour, which causes inconsistency.
Assessment forms that arrive late causing a nightmare.
Girls wear uniform and boys are problematic in this issue. Parents are called to account in certain cases. Zenzele project is sewing these uniforms in order to give more people jobs.
Poverty is not addressed but results are good.
Development of sport facilities. Learners use local grounds.

5.6 ENDEAVOUR PRIMARY SCHOOL

The school has 24 educators of which 19 are females and 5 males. The school was established in 1952 but still in a very good condition. The enrolment of learners is 828 and the teacher-pupil ratio is 1:35. Out of the learners enrolled 300 travel by bus and 90% come from the poor area. Those traveling a teacher waits for them until the last kid has been fetched for safety reasons. There are two Grade R classes. The school has been using prefabs for fifty years (50). All educators are qualified and are engaged in further studies.

The school is fully integrated with 50% Blacks and Coloureds. Medium of instruction is English.

FEES: R100 per month is the determined fee. Exempted parents assist in cleaning the schoolyard.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB functions well. All policies are in place and the department has provided the school with material on governance. The sour problem is clustering and the election of new body.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: The Department o health supplies food. The scheme is beneficial for learners. Parents are involved with four ladies cooking. All utensils are provided by the school learners only bring their spoons. A stipend of R150 per month is provided to parents who are helping out with the scheme.

ABET: The coordinator is using the principal’s office. It will only operate next year.

HIV/AIDS: There are programmes in place. Learners who are HIV positive are treated with confidence. There are special days to speak to learners. Soul Buddies programme is being used. The department provides with study guides. Training will be given for caregivers. Love Life is very active.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: The department provides adequate resources therefore stationary and textbooks are provided to learners however material for technology is needed. Computers are provided in the computer room the school would appreciate more computers.

DISCIPLINE: Getting detention on Fridays punishes learners. The school also invites police to speak to learners about drugs and drug abuse. Only one child was reported for drugs and was dealt with. The problem was a result of domestic violence.

SPORT ACTIVITIES: Learners use community ground and have no full access. There is friction between community and learners on the use of grounds.

FLOORS COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL -

The school has enrolled 1229 learners with 42 educators, 20 males and 22 females. The teacher-pupil ratio 1:48. All educators are qualified.

They have flushing toilets; water, electricity, a telephone line and a fax are in place. The school buys school uniform from a factory and as a result had differences with Zenzele. White educators took packages during integration so there is not one left; the staff is mostly coloured with two Black teachers.

SCHOOL FEES: R 150 per annum is the determined fee. Parents have been made aware of the availability of forms to apply for exemption. Only 50 parents who are eligible for childcare grants and foster care grants have applied for exception.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: All learners benefit from the scheme.2 Parents are engaged in the only 2 and they get stipend of R 645 each.

OBE: This is one of the major problems. Teachers have received lots of workshops however the administration involved is unbearable and impractical. The school has received 27 computers from the department. Educators were trained in their use but not yet on the use of the Internet. The computers are useful as the school offers computer studies. The Library is not functional since there is no space in the timetable. No resourced laboratory is available. The department supports and visits the school regularly. There are 3 professors from Cuba who tutor in the area of Science, particularly mathematics. The school appreciates that effort so much.

SPORT: Activities available are hockey, soccer, cricket (boys and girls), volleyball, netball, athletics and baseball is being started. The school came top in the hockey log for under 18 girls and boys under 19.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: The SGB meets and functions properly though not all policies are completed. The current SGB had to start from scratch, as the outgone SGB had not engaged in policy formulation as the structure experienced non-attendance and resignations as a result of lack of commitment.

DISCIPLINE: From learners the principal experiences a major problem. The disciplinary measures are not effective. There is lack of parental involvement only those parents with good learners attend meetings. Social problems from home e.g. one learner has been jailed for the whole holiday. Alcohol abuse, drugs abuse and gangsterism over spill into the school. Police and MEC have been invited but after spot checks there was a decrease of the above, but came back later. Regular checks are impossible. Whatever educators try seems to be failing. Social worker was willing to assist but the community is very vast. A Social Worker does visit the school but cannot cope because of the vastness of the area. Life center provided for learners to consult with. Pregnancy rate is also very high. No sexual harassment has been reported. Teachers are working under heavy stress.

HIV/AIDS: The programmes in place. An NGO called NICET is conducting training programmes. Learners are aware. Educators use all life programmes available but the problem still remains. If parents could be responsible that could influence learners better.

ABET: There is no provision for abet in the community. ESCOD operates within the area adults do gain access to adult education.

RESULTS: 2002 = 74 %, 2001= 88%, 2000 = 57%. Attitude of learners towards schoolwork contributes towards poor results. The school has lost educators and has to juggle with the timetable, this contribute towards the decline of results. Three experienced HODS opted for voluntary severance packages.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: Stationary and textbooks are adequately provided for in the norms and standards for funding of schools.

CONCERNS:

Teacher-pupil ratio is high and the department does not realise that you cannot have 40 or more in the class. The educator cannot give full attention to all.
Welding and woodwork is provided and home economics. Not easy technically to cope.
Forced not easy for practical and safety if too many e.g. stoves and electricity during home economics.
Pace setters are putting too much pressure on educators. Time frames are not realistic. Nobody listens when educators complain.
Grade 10 is a problem when switching from OBE to FET. The gap is too big and understanding is slow.
Suicide of learners due to domestic problems. 2 rape cases were reported during the weekend.
No coordination between the department and school.
OBE classes are very large and teachers are more concentrating on time not on what they supposed to be doing. Asked for more teachers to be employed.

NORTHERN CAPE HIGH SCHOOL (Mr Snyman -Principal)

The school has enrolled 1034 learners in 33 classrooms this year with 33 educators .8 educators are employed on governing body posts. 23 of the educators are females and 10 are male.

There are 4 females in the Senior Management Team. The teacher-pupil ratio is 1:33.Inclusive of governing body posts the teacher pupil ration is 1:26. The school has 2 libraries, 2 laboratories, 2 computer rooms and a school hall In addition to the 50 computers that the school had purchased from school funds; the department has provided additional 10 Computers. All these educators are qualified and with the SGB educators the ratio is 1:26.

It is not always possible to set learners together on cultural basis although they fully participate. Sport activities available are rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics, netball, tennis, shooting, golf and cross-country race. Medium of instruction is dual. Some teachers went out to other schools to assist but there is no policy in place to do that. The school has also donated to orphanage and to the contributed to the community.

RESULTS: It has been 100% for the past three years and once a learner got 100% for Mathematics in Higher Grade.

INTEGRATION: 80% of learners are White and 20% are Black. There are no black educators employed at the school.

OBE: Educators in grade 8 and 9 are well trained. Teething problems are experienced at grade 10 level. Support material is problematic, as educators have to manage both FET and GET systems. Assessment forms also are time consuming.

FEES: R2450.00 per annum and have hostel facility where learners pay R1380.00 per term. Only 20 % do not pay fees and they are exempted. The hostel capacity is 160 but presently have 145 since they accommodate pupils from a neighbouring primary school as well .An allocated budget of R86 000 was received from the department .The school’s total budget is R2, 2million.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: School policies are in place. They have also attended training. Sub-committees are involved. The school has received copies of alternative to corporal punishment policy documents. A detention system is used and parents are always informed whenever learners have to sit for detention. There is a disciplinary committee that sits everyday to look at problems. Police conducted an unexpected raid for drugs but they could not find anything.

HIV/AIDS: The policy is in place and has covered very well. Grade 8 and 9 are doing very well in integrating life skills. Educators are handing gloves for cases of accidents. During awareness campaign Nkosi Johnson story was read to learners that touched them so much and they understood more about the virus.

CONCERN:

Learners do not come to school after writing exams although school is not yet closed.
There are too many changes that are making it difficult to cope

The Committee suggested that any cultural diversity being introduced by the department the schools are requested to participate.

Sol Plaatjie Junior Primary School

The school was established in 1961 and has 19 educators who are all females. They have enrolled 570 learners excluding Grade R. only one Grade R with a helper. All educators are qualified.

FEES: R40 per annum is paid, no exemption although only 50% pays.

LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL: The school received R160 000 where R86 000 is for stationery and textbooks.

Computer room is ready but waiting for PCs.

SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME: Funds are received from the department of health’s co-ordinated Primary School Nutrition Programme. There are three ladies helping and they get a monthly stipend of R75.00.TheFeeding scheme is supplemented through a vegetable garden that started 2001.

ABET: None in the school premises but there is a center in the community.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: Parental involvement is very good. Parents come in when teachers are writing exams to assist with learner supervision. All school policies are in place. Sub-committees like finance, etc.are functional.

DISCIPLINE: Learners do come late but educators are coping with discipline.

HIV/AIDS: The policy is in place. Workshops have been attended. Life skills were received from Education Support Services (ESS). Parents have come to disclose of learners from their families.

OBE: Workshops were organised and attended by educators. Further workshops are arranged to improve the new system and improve challenges identified for proper implementation. This new OBE is far better than the old one. No proper library exists. The department in partnership with READ has provided a box library wagon.

CONCERN:

There is conflict and fighting among educators. The issue was referred to the department for intervention but to-date nothing was done to resolve the conflict.

KEY FINDINGS:

Although the Northern Cape Province is vast, departmental officials are committed to service delivery and do visit schools and provide support to schools.
Partnerships that the Northern Cape Department of Education has formed with NGO’s and Community based-organisations have made a valuable contribution towards the provision of education in the province.

The Provincial Education Department should be commented for prioritising the allocation of resources to push back the frontiers of poverty through the Primary School Nutrition Programme and the pilot school nutrition programme as both Programmes contribute towards the improvement of school attendance.

The school building programme is on track and gaining momentum to eliminate inherited classroom backlog and mobile prefabricated structures.

There is poor organisation, functionality and co-ordination of ELSEN, ECD and ABET Programmes.
Learners with special needs are taught by educators without the necessary training to meet their educational, emotional and psychological needs.
The provincial education department has implemented norms and standard for funding of schools. The majority of schools are allocated budgets and do access them as they are classified as Section 21 schools.

Norms and Standards for funding of schools do not cater for weighted allocations for Agricultural Colleges and Technical schools.

Capacity building workshops for elected school governors were organised as part of the District Development Support Programme by the department and positive feedback received regarding their usefulness and value.
There is a great awareness of departmental policy and compliance among school managers.
Training in OBE was provided and is continuous and as a result educators have gained confidence in implementation.

Educators appreciate the invaluable contribution of Cuban mathematics and science tutors who are deployed in the province.

Some school hostels and classes are under utilized while some learners walk long distances to schools and experience overcrowding.
Although progress has been registered in improving access to quality education for all, transformation and Integration are still challenged and resisted.
The legal division of the Department is inadequately staffed and resourced.
Although all schools were provided with photos of the President, Premier, Minister of Education, MEC for Education and the Provincial Head of Department for display as part of national symbols, In predominantly white schools, schools chose not to display them at all or selected as to whose photo to display. In some cases obscure corners were preferred away from where they could attract public attention.
Cross border learner encroachment phenomenon impacts negatively on the province’s planning and puts the province’s limited resources under tremendous strain.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Northern Cape Education Department should:

Conduct an audit of school needs to determine e.g. water provision, sanitation, telephones, underutilised classrooms, school hostels running below maximum capacity, equipment, sports facilities, libraries, laboratories, administrative support staff and develop a plan to address them.
Consider introducing, practical, simplified administration forms for OBE as the current forms present an administrative nightmare for educators.
Investigate challenges encountered in the transition between the General education training band and the further education and training band as a result of the outcome based education curricula.

Encourage integration and the advancement of equality of opportunities to all population groups particularly at institutions such as the Agricultural High School at Jan Kempdorp, the department should consider introducing bursary schemes for learners from previously disadvantaged communities to gain access to the school. In the long term this will promote formal entry into the agricultural sector, stimulate local economic development and contribute towards the national effort of building a united, non-racial, non -sexist, democratic and prosperous society.
Revise the norms and standards for funding of the agricultural high school and technical high schools in the province so that weighting is used to recognise its special needs and expensive equipment and support needed by such institution.
In partnership with the department of agriculture encourage and assist with the development of food gardens to ensure support of and sustainability of the school nutrition programme.
Strengthen the Life Skills Programme and HIV/Aids Awareness Programme among learners.
Determine minimum amount for stipends to be granted unemployed parents engaged in the school nutrition programme as the present arrangement undermines the poverty alleviation objective of the initiative, perpetuates abuse of persons and exploitation.
Re-organise as part of the human resource development objective, the provision of ABET to ensure effectiveness, accountability and relevance of programmes to local economic development, providing skills for participation in the economy.
In partnership with the private sector, develop and expand technical education to improve the skill base and job opportunity prospects of learners.
Incorporate training in cultural diversity in the capacity building programme for school governing bodies and the education management development programme.
Provide accredited certificates to school governing body members who attend capacity building training modules as this incentive will boost their confidence and encourage attendance of future workshops.
To foster co-operation and resource sharing, develop a governance model for ABET centres that are inclusive of adult learners, elected tutors, community representatives, the School Manager and representatives of elected SGB members of the SGB of schools from which they operate.
Ensure that Abet learners using Agricultural High School at Jan Kempdorp have access to properly resourced classes and are not treated as outcasts.
Develop early warning management systems to ensure timeous intervention in conflict situations.
In partnership with the department of health monitor health conditions in school hostels, particularly school hostels on farm schools. e.g.
Establish a task team to negotiate and finalise agreements with property owners on whose properties, public schools on private properties are located.
Determine minimum standards for provision of facilities for all Schools with hostels.
Arrange programmes for workshops and training courses for educators in such a way as to avoid disruption of learning and teaching programmes at schools.
Strengthen the legal unit within the department in order to ensure successful representation whenever the department is challenged legally in court.
Request the National Department of Education to assist the province develop appropriate strategies and programmes for implementation of White Paper 6 on ELSEN and ECD.
Request the National Minister of Education to appoint a Ministerial Task Team to investigate the extent and impact of the cross border learner encroachment phenomenon on the education budget of the Northern Cape Education Department
Pursue its transformation objectives with a view to integrate schools at the level of personnel, management and school governance. Clustering of schools for sharing of resources and amalgamation of schools to remain open options to ensure effective and productive deployment of resources. Schools with underutilised classrooms and hostels should be optimally used to absorb learners who walk long distances to school.