The Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report
of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the performance of the Department
of Basic Education for the 2011/12 financial year, dated 23 October 2012.
The Portfolio Committee
on Basic Education, having considered the performance of the Department of Basic
Education, reports as follows:
1. Introduction
1.1. The role and mandate of the Committee
The
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education is mandated by sections 55 and 92 of the
Constitution of the
·
Monitoring and overseeing the Department of Basic Education
in its day-to-day and overall performance.
·
Conferring with relevant governmental and civil society
organs on educational matters in order to participate in the development of
strategies and policies aimed at ensuring the quality and integrity of the
education system.
·
Processing and approving legislation
as well as international protocols and conventions relating to education
in accordance with the Rules of Parliament and the Constitution.
·
Participating in national and
international educational dialogues relating to education.
·
Conferring with the National
Council of Provinces on legislation pertaining to education which affects the
Provinces.
·
Engaging in various activities
and programmes aimed at the development and delivery of quality public
education to all South Africans.
·
Dealing with any other matter
referred to the Committee by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The Committee is further
mandated by the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No. 9
of 2009 to perform an oversight role. Section 5 of the aforementioned Act requires
the National Assembly, through its Committees, to annually assess the
performance of each national Department then submit Budgetary Review and Recommendation
reports (BRRR) for tabling in the National Assembly. These reports are referred
to the Committee on Appropriations for consideration when considering and
reporting on the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to the National
Assembly.
This report
provides the Committee’s assessment of the performance of the Department of
Basic Education for the 2011/12 financial year to the first quarter 2012/13.
1.2. Processes followed by the Committee in
arriving at this report
In compiling
this BRRR, the Committee assessed the performance of the Department of Basic Education
with reference to the following:
·
The strategic priorities and measurable objectives as
set out in the strategic plan.
·
Expenditure trends drawn from the reports and notes of
the National Treasury; the 2010 State of the Nation Address priorities; the reports
of the Auditor-General of South Africa and the reports on the 2010 Budget Vote.
·
The financial statements and annual report briefings,
in terms of Section 65 of the Public Finance Management Act No. 1 of 1999,
which requires the Ministers to table the annual reports and financial
statements for the Department and public entities before Parliament.
·
Departmental briefings, including quarterly briefings
and the progress update on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
1.3. The mandate of the Department
The Department of Basic
Education derives its mandate from the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa (1996) and several pieces of legislation, including the National Education
Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996) (NEPA); the South African Schools Act (Act 80 of
1996) (SASA); other Acts and White Papers that guide the employment of
educators, qualifications, inclusive education and quality assurance of
curricula and assessment. The Constitution provides the overarching framework
for transformation in education. According to the Bill of Rights contained in
the Constitution, everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult
basic education and further education, which the State, through reasonable
measures, must progressively make available and accessible.
The Department is also
guided by international protocols on education, particularly the commitments
made in terms of the Education for All Declaration in
In line with its mandate,
the Department has a vision of a
2. The Department of Basic Education’s Strategic Priorities
and Measurable Objectives
2.1 Strategic Priorities of the Department
Within its vision of creating access to lifelong learning,
education and training opportunities; improving the quality of life; and
building a peaceful, prosperous and democratic
·
learning
outcomes;
·
the
quality of learning across all grades;
·
access
to basic education;
·
productivity
in the classroom;
·
competence,
professionalism and status of teachers;
·
textbooks
and related learning support materials; and
·
leadership
in schools.
To achieve the outcomes, the Department has set itself 13
goals through the Action Plan to 2014:
Towards the Realization of Schooling 2025. The 13 goals are accompanied by
delivery targets to be achieved in 2014 which were informed by the baseline set
in 2010.
The 13 goals and their targets relate to learning -, enrolment
and focus mainly on increasing the number of learners who master minimum
language and mathematics (numeracy) competencies; learners who are eligible for
a Bachelors programme at a university and to increase the number of learners
who pass mathematics and physical science. In addition, the Action Plan sets
out 14 areas in education to be improved to reach the set targets[2].
These targets are sufficiently
placed and focused to improve the quality of learning and achievement in basic
education. While there is a concern that some targets are set at a low level,
they measure the delivery of the goals and the overall output of quality
education.
Further, the performance of the
Department should be viewed within the context of the priorities highlighted by
the President in his 2011 State of the Nation Address (SONA). These included:
·
Focussing on the Triple T:
Teachers, Textbooks and Time: ensuring that teachers were at school, in class,
on time and teaching, without neglect with regards to their duty or abuse of
learners; supporting them and creating the optimum environment for quality
teaching to take place; and, ensuring that every learner has a textbook on
time.
·
Investing in teacher training,
especially in the subjects of mathematics and science.
·
Tracking progress on the
implementation of annual national assessments in literacy and numeracy that are
internationally benchmarked, for Grades 3, 6 and 9.
·
Paying particular attention to
the training of principals, particularly those in underperforming schools.
The above priorities as highlighted in the SONA overlap with or give
effect to the goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning. In
response to these issues, the Department continued to consolidate its work to
improve learner performance in the basic education sector through the following
strategic interventions:
·
Focusing on Teachers, Textbooks and Time (3Ts);
·
The issuing and implementation of the CAPS;
·
Planning and preparing for the ANA;
·
Expanding the workbooks programme; and
·
Improving infrastructure to maximize learner
performance.
Key systemic improvements were consolidated around these strategic
interventions for the period 2011/12 continuing into the current financial
year, anchored by the Action Plan to 2014 and the Delivery Agreement.
2.2 Measurable Objectives of the Department
The Annual Performance
Plan provided specific performance targets, interventions and indicators that
the Department intended to employ in order to entrench and consolidate the
direction and approaches to improving learner performance in the basic
education sector in the 2011/12 financial year. Key strategic outcome oriented outputs
on which specific programme targets and indicators are set include:
·
Improving teacher capacity and practices;
·
Increasing access to higher-quality leaning materials;
·
Improving the quality of early childhood development;
·
Undertaking regular assessment to track progress;
·
Strengthening school management and promoting functional
schools; and
·
Strengthening the capacity of district offices and Improving
infrastructure to maximize learner performance.
These outputs have been aligned to
the budget programmes (including key departmental improvement strategies).
3. The Analysis of the Departments’ Prevailing
Strategic and Operational Priorities
This section provides an analysis of the first quarter of the 2012/13
financial year. The Strategic and Annual Performance Plans reflected the commitment of
the Department to undertake activities effectively and on time to produce the
agreed-upon outputs that will in turn contribute in achieving the goals of the long-term sector plan called
the Action Plan to 2014: towards the realisation of Schooling 2025.
3.1 2012/13 Strategic Priorities
Key interventions to
improve the basic education system for 2012 included the following:
·
Deepening the focus
on the 3Ts (Teachers, Texts and Time)
·
The implementation of a credible Literacy and Numeracy
Strategy
·
The implementation of a Maths, Science and Technology
Strategy
·
Strengthening the focus on the utilisation of the Annual
National Assessments (ANA) and National Senior Certificate (NSC) results to define
interventions at school and district levels.
Intended
interventions in the sector to improve system performance, focussing on
improving learner performance included:
·
Interventions to be based on an accurate analysis of specific patterns of poor performance per
district and school
·
Sound analysis of performance in Grade 12 and Annual
National Assessment (ANA) per province, district and school
·
Basic functionality of schools to be reflected (leadership,
resources, right number and utilisation of teachers, culture of teaching and
learning etc)
·
Basic functionality of districts ( leadership, resources,
right number and utilisation of staff, culture of professionalism, support and service to schools)
·
Intervention implemented per district based on a specific
analysis of performance and contextual factors taken into account.
·
Intervention implemented per school or selected number of
schools based on levels of performance
·
Intervention to indicate what was to be done - Model
(mentoring, itinerant teachers, substitute teachers, short, long courses, just
in time courses etc), by whom ( trainers, facilitators, subject advisors, Non-Government
Organisations (NGOs), Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) etc), when monitoring
and evaluation systems
·
Explicit and compulsory focus on all districts in a country
that performed below 30 percent in Grade 12 and/or under a determined
performance in ANA
·
For other districts, Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) would implement specific
improvement plans based on current performance
·
To work with and through PEDs using existing plans as a
basis upon which to build
·
To deploy Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) staff and explore using Whole
School Evaluation (WSE) people in PEDs to conduct a detailed evaluation of all
schools in the affected districts
·
Detailed School Improvement Plans to be ready by the end of
March, with the necessary intersection with Integrated Development Plans (IDPs)
at local level
·
To capacitate Districts to implement a turnaround strategy
·
Ensuring efficacy of this value chain to be facilitated by
the Planning and Delivery Oversight Unit working through districts to focus on
underperforming schools
·
Focus the NEDLAC Accord mobilisation of stakeholders on
these districts – with explicit guidance from the Education Sector
4. Analysis
of Expenditure trends
4. Analysis of
the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the 2011/12 financial year
4.1 The Department of Basic
Education
The
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education considered the Annual Reports and
Financial Statements of the Department of Basic Education and its relevant
statutory bodies for 2011/12 on 10, 11 and 16 October 2012 in Parliament. This section
includes an overview of the presentations made by the Department and its
entities – with a focus on the achievements/successes -, challenges,
performance per programme, human resource management and financial performance.
4.1.1 Overview of the service delivery environment
The service delivery environment of the education sector included 12 283 875 learners in
ordinary public and independent schools, who attended 25 851 schools and were
served by 420 608 educators. The reduction in the number of schools was caused
by an assessment that some small schools were not viable and were rationalised,
as well as by demographic shifts.
A
key challenge that affected service delivery during the reporting period was
the National Cabinet interventions in the Eastern Cape Education
Department on 2 March
2011 and in the Limpopo Education Department on 5 December 2011 in terms of
section 100 (1) (b) of the Constitution The interventions in the Eastern Cape
and Limpopo focused on a number of issues including:
·
Financial and supply chain management;
·
Failure to deal with excess teachers;
·
Over expenditure; and
·
The non-delivery of learning and teaching materials.
The
Department reported that these interventions placed considerable strain on the
DBE’s institutional capacity and required a re-engineering of the work of the
DBE, within the existing budgets and organogram.
4.1.2 Overview of the Basic Education Vote 2010/11 – 2011/12
Table 11: Overview of Budget 2010/11 –
2011/12
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
||||||
|
Allocation |
Actual
Expenditure |
Deviation/
Variance |
%
Spent |
Allocation |
Actual
Expenditure |
Deviation/
Variance |
% Spent |
Administration |
R266.9m
|
R259.2
m |
R7
670 |
97.1 |
R294.0m
|
R287.7
m |
R6
238 |
97.8 |
Curriculum
Policy, Support and Monitoring |
R1.
3 b |
R736.6m
|
R608.9
m |
54.7 |
R1.796
b |
R1.70
b |
R96
394 |
94.6 |
Teachers,
Education Human Resources Development and Institutional Development |
R503.7m
|
R486.6m
|
R17
086 |
96.6 |
R580.7m
|
R537.5m |
R43
145 |
92.6 |
Planning,
Information and Assessment |
R165.9m
|
R147.5m
|
R18
407 |
88.4 |
R6.581
b |
R5.563
b |
R1.017 b |
84.5 |
Education
Enrichment Services |
R3.889
b |
R3.885
b |
R4
814 |
99.8 |
R4.827
b |
R4.811
b |
R16
210 |
99.6 |
Total |
R6.171
b |
R5.515
b |
R656m
|
89.4 |
R14.080
b |
R12.900
b |
R1.179 b |
91.6 |
In the
2011/12 financial year, the Department received a budget of R14.040 billion
compared to R6.1 billion in 2010/11. The allocation was distributed among the
five programmes of the Department as indicated in Table 1. Overall, the
Department spent 91.6% of its allocated budget in 2011/12 compared to 89.4% in
2010/11. The unspent balance of R1.179 billion at the end of 2011/12 is greater
than in 2010/11, when R656 million went unspent, which is a cause for concern. Table 1 shows that the
main contributors to the under-spending were programmes 2, 3 and 4 that have
consistently in the past two years been under-spending. However, the Department
has showed that other than programme 4 where there is a total delay in the
implementation of infrastructure, other programmes have not necessarily been
under-spending but have had delays in processing payments for some line-items.
Recurring under-expenditure issues include:
·
Delays
in the receipt and processing of invoices for the delivery of workbooks. This
has been reported as the main reason for under-expenditure.
·
Low
expenditure in current payments for goods and services and delays in the submission
of invoices in respect of the Curriculum Review project.
·
Delays
in filling vacant posts for the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) and
the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) affected both
the current and capital budgets.
·
Delays
with regard to the procurement of the Kha Ri Gude Mass Literacy Campaign
learner support materials.
·
Problems
and subsequent cancellation of a tender for literacy and numeracy workbooks for
Grades R – 6 learners.
·
Recurring
delays in the Annual National Assessment (ANA), specifically for grades 3, 6
and 9, in February 2011 and not in October 2010 as initially projected.
Similarly in 2011/12 ANA was postponed from February 2012 to October 2012
resulting in yet another delay.
·
The
National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) baseline study that did not take
place as initially planned.
4.1.3 Performance per Programme, 2011/12
Programme 1:
Administration (Unspent: R 6.328 million)
The Administration Programme is responsible for the management of the
Department and the provision of strategic and administrative support services.
Sub-programmes include Human Resource Management and Development; Legal and Legislative Services; Media
Liaison, International Relations and
Multilateral Affairs and provincial support and delivery. The
Programme spent 97.8 per cent of its available funds. The under-expenditure of R6.328 million on this programme was
as a result of savings on Office Accommodation due to fluctuations of the CPI.
Within this
programme, four of the eight targets were achieved, four were exceeded and four
were not achieved. The Department reported key highlights and achievements
which included the following:
Policy Area
- Human Resource Management
The
Department completed its internal reconfiguration process to meet its strategic
intent. The new organisational
structure was fully implemented on 25 November 2011 and the PERSAL
system had been updated accordingly. Appointments were made in the key posts of Chief Financial Officer,
Deputy Directors-General for Finance and Administration; as well as for
Planning, Information and Assessments. In response to natural attrition at
middle and senior management level, the Department put in place a development
plan to address the issues related to career pathing and succession planning.
To this end, 264 officials attended courses during the financial year for professional and personal development; 47 officials attended induction programmes for new entrants
in the Department, while, 63 internships were implemented for unemployed
graduates.
Policy Area:
Legal and Legislative Services
The
Department received 37 court cases in the period under review and managed to successfully resolve 22 of these. The remaining 15 cases were
still in progress. In some cases,
the judgments delivered by courts of law
were in favour of the Minister or the Department, while other cases were settled out of court. Four pieces of
legislation were drafted. The pieces that have been
passed as law are:
·
The Basic Education Laws
Amendment Act, 2011 (Act No. 15 of 2011), which was finalised and signed into law on 15
December 2011
·
Regulations Relating to the
Prohibition of the Payment of Unauthorised Remuneration or the Giving of Financial
Benefit or Benefit in Kind to Certain State Employees,
which was signed into law on 23 December 2011.
The
National Education Evaluation and
Development Unit (NEEDU) Bill, 2011, had already been published for comments and adapted to accommodate comments
that had merit. The "Pregnancy Regulations" had not
been finalised as planned and were subject to amendments to SASA.
Policy Area: International Relations
The
process of drafting a bilateral agreement between the
Programme 2: Curriculum Policy, Support and
Monitoring (Unspent: R 96.394 million)
The purpose of Programme 2 is to develop curriculum and
assessment policies and to monitor and support their implementation.
Sub-programmes include Programme Management; Curriculum Policy, Support and
Monitoring; Curriculum Implementation and Monitoring; Curriculum and Quality
Enhancement Programmes and the Kha Ri Gude Literacy Project.
The Programme spent 94.6 per cent or
R1.7 billion. The
under-expenditure of R96.394 million was due mainly to the following:
·
Delay with regard to the procurement of the Kha Ri Gude Mass
Literacy Campaign learner support material was due to the change of the
procurement model. LTSM was previously procured through the Implementing Agent.
After concerns were raised by the Auditor-General which was confirmed by
National Treasury on the procurement process, the Department took over the
procurement process.
·
Delay in the submission of invoices in respect of the
Curriculum Review project resulted in the inability to finalise the processing
of payments before the end of the financial year.
·
The final invoices for the Workbook project were received at
the end of the financial year. External Auditors had to verify the invoices
before they could be processed. This could not be finalised on time.
·
The withholding of the final transfer for the Dinaledi
Schools conditional grant to
This programme achieved 11
out of 17 targets, eight targets were exceeded and six were not achieved. The Department reported
several key highlights and achievements which included the following:
Policy Area
– Curriculum Implementation and Development
The
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) comprised of a single, comprehensive and concise policy document for all subjects were
approved by the Minister in a Government
Gazette on 12 September 2011. Implementation thereof commenced with
Grades R, 3 and 10 in 2012. A total number of 2 591 subject advisors were trained in the
implementation of the CAPS during
this cycle. In preparation for
the implementation of CAPS in Grades
4-6 in 2013, the Department
reported that all district officials responsible for teacher training and support
in these grades were orientated to
the changes in the CAPS Subject Statements. A total of 968 district officials were
taken through the orientation programme in the Intermediate Phase. The Department reported on several
additional initiatives to improve teaching and learning which included the distribution of CAPS documents to
schools and districts and Question and Answer booklets
and Self-Study Guides in selected subjects to schools.
Policy Area: Learner Teacher Support
Material (LTSM)
The
Department reported that in 2011, a total of 23 million Grades R 6 (Volume 1
and 2) Language and Mathematics workbooks were printed and delivered
to 18 854 public primary schools
in nine provinces. In 2012, schools
were informed about the distribution of workbooks in an effort to improve the delivery process. Grades R-9 workbooks were distributed
to all targeted schools and offices.
Proof of delivery for all Volume 1 and Volume 2 workbooks was provided as follows by the service provider and
verified by an external auditor for payment:
·
98.74 percent of Grades R-9 Volume 1 workbooks as per
the order;
·
97.25 percent of Grades 1-9 Volume 2 workbooks as per
order; and
·
97.36 percent of FET schools Physical Science and
Mathematics supplementary textbooks as per order.
While the Department
should be commended for the provision of workbooks at a reasonable cost, evidence from the Committee oversight in 2011
and 2012 revealed inefficiencies in their delivery, which included late or non-delivery to some schools,
shortages and wrong languages being delivered.
The
Department also reported that the Grades 1-3 and Grade 10 National Catalogue of Textbooks aligned with the CAPS was developed
and released to the provinces. In addition, the following developments also contributed to increasing
access of learners to a wide range of media:
·
A framework
for the LTSM Policy was developed.
·
Draft specifications for each subject and grade for
the minimum school bag were
developed.
·
The process towards the development of the National Catalogue of Textbooks for
Grades 4-6 and Grade 11 commenced.
·
A reading and literacy
activity guide for schools to use during National Book Week was
developed.
·
Some 2 600 schools were provided with library books in the official
languages, so as to support classroom libraries.
·
The National
Guidelines for School Library and Information Services (NGSLIS) to
schools were released.
·
A National Guidelines for School Library and Information
Services implementation plan was
developed, in collaboration with the provinces.
Achievements in other policy areas
The Department also reported several
achievements in the policy areas of e-Education and Adult Literacy (Kha Ri
Gude) which included increased access to ICT and the creation of employment
opportunities, respectively.
Policy Area: Assessments (ANA)
The
first cycle of ANA was written in February 2011. Following the finalisation of the official ANA Report in June 2011, work started on
improving the utility of the data, aimed at an improvement in teaching and learning,
and accountability for learner performance within the system. In
preparation for the next cycle of ANA - the process of test development commenced in July
2011. Test developers developed draft
tests for Grades 1-6 and these were submitted for moderation. Two sets of each test in
Literacy/Language and Numeracy/Mathematics were completed. ANA exemplars were
developed and released to support preparation for the second cycle of ANA written in September 2012.
The ANA results released during the
period under review showed that performance in literacy and numeracy is still
very low.
Policy
Areas: Assessments – NSC
The
results of the 2011 NSC examinations indicated that there had been an overall improvement
of learner performance from 67.8
percent in 2010 to 70.2 percent in 2011. This subsequently increased to 72.7 percent after the release of the March 2012 supplementary
examination results. The
quality of the passes however remained a challenge. The Department missed the
set targets for the number of
learners who pass mathematics and physical science and who obtain a Bachelor pass. The Department noted that the decreased matriculation examination
candidates in 2011 compared to 2010 contributed
to lower achievement against predetermined targets. Further highlights reported in this policy area
included that an international
benchmarking of the 2010 NSC question
papers revealed that the standard of the NSC question papers compare favourably to those of international bodies
and that a diagnostic report based on the NSC examination
results, which articulated the weaknesses in the key subjects, with proposed
remedial programmes was compiled.
This was distributed to the PEDs and schools
to support teaching and learning in those
key subjects.
Policy Area:
Special Needs Education
Reported
achievements included that the Deparment successfully coordinated the
development of a South African Sign Language curriculum for
Grades R-12. English and Afrikaans workbooks for numeracy and literacy were adapted to Braille in Grades1-4. The Inclusive Education Strategy was developed
and used to contribute to the development of the National Strategy on Learner Attainment Framework. The Guidelines for
Responding to Learner Diversity formed part of the CAPS orientation
programme for the Intermediate Phase and Grades 10 and 11. No training
by the Department took place on the
identification and support of special needs. This was due to the prioritisation
of the implementation of the CAPS in 2012. The 2011/12 financial year was specifically
set aside for the refinement and finalisation of the Screening, Identification,
Assessment and Support (SIAS) tool,
which was going to be used for training and for the implementation of White Paper 6. The framework for the refinement of SIAS was developed in November 2011. The rewriting of SIAS
took place in January 2012.
Policy Area:
Teacher Development
Key achievements included that the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for
Teacher Education and Development which provided a comprehensive plan
for teacher recruitment, initial teacher education, induction and lifelong
teacher development, was launched by the Ministers of Basic Education and
Higher Education and Training. The provision of training programmes to teachers was the function of the PEDs, and
the DBE played a coordinating role.
Orientation for the introduction of CAPS to 90 000 Foundation Phase and
60 000 Grade 10 teachers was co-ordinated in conjunction with the PEDs.
Further, teacher development programmes were co-ordinated with provincial
departments in targeted priority areas with
184 207 teachers in response to improving the professionalism, teaching skills
and subject knowledge of teachers throughout their careers [Action Plan to
2014: Goal 16]. A collaboration
programme with teacher unions was initiated and an agreement with the
PEDs of KwaZulu-Natal and
Programme 3:
Teacher and Education Human Resources Development and Management (Unspent: R43.145 million)
The purpose of Programme 3 is to promote quality teaching and
institutional performance through the effective supply, development and
utilisation of human resources. Sub-programmes include Teachers, Education
Human Resources and Institutional Development; Education
Human Resources Management and Education Human Resources Development; and
Curriculum and Professional Development Unit.
The programme spent 92.6 percent or R537.5 million. The
under-spending of R43.1 million was due mainly to the following:
·
The resignation of external moderators during the year in
respect of the Integrated Quality Management System project influenced the
spending on compensation of employees on the project and subsequently there
were challenges in finding suitable replacement candidates.
·
Invoices in respect of the training of educators were
received in the week of March 2012; therefore they could not be processed by 31
March 2012 as they were still being verified by the Department.
In this programme, out of
nine targets, six were achieved, three were exceeded and three were not
achieved. The Department reported key achievements and highlights which
included the following:
Policy Area: Teacher
Supply and Utilisation
As
at the end of December 2011, 1 822 (76 percent) of the 2010 graduates had been appointed and,
of these, 1 496 (82 percent) were 30 years and younger in January 2011. This
percentage was slightly higher than
in 2010, when the reported placement rate was 72 percent. The number of qualified teachers aged 30 and below
entering the public service as teachers for the first time during the past year; the overall target of 6
200 was exceeded with the appointment
of 7 744 teachers for
the 2011/12 financial year. This augured well for attracting a new group of young motivated and appropriately trained teachers into the teaching
profession each year. The target of 8
517 Funza Lushaka Bursaries for 2011/12 was exceeded by 216 bursaries, with a cumulative
total of 8 733 bursaries being awarded in 2011.
Policy Area:
School Management
A
total of 1 485 principals participated in
the Advanced Certificate in Education programme for 2011. A total of 8
407 schools were visited in all provinces for the purpose of monitoring the quality of IQMS implementation,
school effectiveness as well as district engagement with the school. These visits included 5 080 follow-up
visits and visits to 1 359 underperforming secondary schools. During these visits, the lessons of 1 446 educators were
observed and support provided where
necessary. The Quality Teaching and Learning Campaign (QLTC) committees were established in
more than 3 000 schools. These committees were tasked with protecting
teacher contact time and consolidating
learning.
Policy Area:
School Governance
In
March 2012, School Governing Body (SGB)
Elections were held throughout the country. The participation of parents through SGB platforms contributed
towards making learning a societal issue
and also promoted good governance in schools. Of the 25 851 schools in the country, only
about 500 did not participate in the elections.
Policy Area: District Development
The Department had quarterly engagements with district directors to advocate their
contribution to the
outputs of Action Plan to 2014: Towards the realisation of schooling 2025.
The Department identified the need
for more research and guidelines on the role of districts. The Guidelines on the organisation,
roles and responsibilities of education districts was published for comment and would be
finalised after consideration of the responses received. These
guidelines expressed a national vision for education districts in
the transformation of the education system; they determine a standard nomenclature for district offices
and personnel and provided a normative guideline for the management and operation of district offices,
including the support they render to schools. The Planning, Delivery and Oversight Unit (PDOU) supported the 15 underperforming districts located as follows: 11 in the
Programme 4:
Planning, Quality Assessment and Monitoring and Evaluation (Unspent: R1 017.476 million)
The
purpose of Programme 4 is to promote quality and effective service delivery in
the basic education system through planning, implementation and assessment.
Sub-programmes includes Planning, Information and Assessment; Information Management
Systems; Financial and Physical Planning; National Assessments and Public
Examinations; and the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit; and
the Planning and Delivery Oversight Unit.
The
programme spent 84.5 percent of its allocation in 2011/12 or an amount of R5.6
billion rand. The
under-spending of R1.017 billion was due to the following:
·
The National Education Evaluation and Development Unit
(NEEDU) evaluators were appointed during the latter part of the financial year.
The delays in the appointment resulted in under-expenditure on the compensation
of employees in the Unit.
·
There was under-expenditure on the Systemic Evaluation
project due to the shifting of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) from
February 2012 to September 2012.
·
The final transfer for the Education Infrastructure Grant to
the
·
The Accelerated School Improvement and Development
Initiative (ASIDI) for the eradication of inappropriate schools and the provision
of basic services spending was lower than projected due to capacity challenges
experienced by the implementing agents and contractors. This had an impact on
the implementation of approved projects. Progress had been delayed on the
construction of 49 schools due to the following challenges:
o
Procurement of Implementing Agents took longer than
anticipated. Negotiations with the Independent Development Trust (IDT)
commenced in February 2011 as the implementing agent for the programme.
o
However, in April 2011, when negotiations with IDT were to
be concluded, it was indicated that the Development Bank of
o
Negotiations with DBSA started in April 2011.
o
There were delays in the finalisation of the Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) with the DBSA as the bank had to receive approval from the
Minister of Finance before the MOA could be concluded.
o
Subsequently, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) signed
the MOA on the 13th June and DBSA only signed on the 06th July 2011. The DBSA
submitted the implementation Plan on 03 August 2011.
o
The DBSA planned to use Professional Service Providers (PSPs)
to undertake scoping work which was crucial for determining the extent of the work.
o
The process for procurement of PSP to undertake the work had
to be rescinded at the end of August after issues of conflict of interest were
discovered between the companies bidding for the Programme Support Unit (PSU)
and Project scoping.
In this
programme, six of the 16 targets were achieved, five were exceeded and ten were
not achieved. Key highlights and achievements for 2011/12 included:
Policy Area: School Funding
A request
aimed at securing additional funding for implementing an amended funding model
within the revised Grade R policy framework was made to the National Treasury
(NT) and it was approved for the
expansion of Grade R in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 periods. A funding
request was made to the NT to ensure the PEDs would be able to fund all no-fee
schools at the same level and to offer certain fee charging schools the option
to be voluntarily declared and funded as no-fee schools. Funding had
consequently been made available
by the National Treasury for the equalisation
of the allocation to no-fee schools in the
2013/14 and 2014/15 periods. Amendments to the National Norms and Standards for School Funding by updating the
national table of targets for the school allocation for2012/13 had been
approved and gazetted. An advertisement was placed in newspapers through the GCIS, as part of a media campaign
aimed at emphasising when parents qualify to be automatically exempted from the payment of school fees.
Input was provided for a
pamphlet on school fees and exemption to be placed on the Department’s website.
For the 2011
academic year, approximately 78 percent
of learners in public schools were accommodated in more than 20 000
no-fee schools. For the 2012 academic year, the national target allocation,
which catered for non-personnel and non-capital expenditure in schools, was increased to R960 per learner for schools
in Quintile 1, while the no-fee threshold, which was applicable to
schools in Quintile 2 and Quintile 3, was set at R880 per learner.
Policy Area: School Infrastructure
A human
resources strategy to address capacity
constraints with regards to infrastructure in the PEDs was developed. An
amount of R10 million had been allocated to each province to address capacity
constraints. The guidelines for
planning for school infrastructure and boarding facilities were concluded and
approved by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). The standardised designs and cost model were
developed and approved. A guideline on school infrastructure maintenance was
developed. Short-term technical
assistance support was appointed to assess infrastructure plans and to
assist provinces with long-term infrastructure planning. In respect of the
Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) - at the end of March 2012, PEDs had spent 93 percent or R5.254
million of the adjusted Grant of R5.678 million.
While
most recently there had been some progress
in addressing school infrastructure issues since the commencement of
implementation of the Accelerated School Improvement and Development Initiative
(ASIDI), the period under review was marked by slow progress in eradicating the
first batch of 49 schools in the
·
Substantial variances exist
in the cost of building schools across provinces, which was compounded by the
lack of uniformity in provincial planning, budgeting, design, procurement
processes and implementation procedures to meet infrastructural targets.
·
The competency of
contractors and consultants, the dispersed nature of the projects, a myriad of
small contracts that had to be managed, inadequate project management and few
quality assurance staff members contributed to the slow pace of infrastructure
provisioning.
·
On-going maintenance and
operations were not receiving adequate funding and attention, thus contributing
to the increasing deterioration of existing infrastructure.
Programme 5: Social
Responsibility (Unspent: R16.210
million)
The
purpose of Programme 5 is to develop policies and programmes to improve
the quality of learning in schools. Sub-programmes include Educational Enrichment
Services; Care and Support in Schools; Partnerships in Education; and Grant
Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting. The programme spent 99.7 per cent of its allocation for 2011/12 or R4.8
billion. There were no material variances in the programme.
This programme achieved seven out of eleven targets,
exceeded three and failed to achieve four. The Department noted the following
key highlights and achievements:
Policy Area: Partnerships and Community Participation
The successful national launch of
the NEDLAC Accord on Basic Education
and Partnerships with Schools was held in
Policy Area:
Learner Well-being
Nutritious meals were provided to 8
850 208 learners in 21 013 Quintile 1 – 3 primary and secondary schools daily.
Health screening for 256 268 learners in quintile 1 primary schools was
conducted. Learning and Teaching Support Material on sexual and reproductive health was delivered to 902 279 schools.
To implement sexual and reproductive health programmes for learners, 18 039
educators received training. At least 235 schools participated in the Care and Support for Teaching and Learning pilot
programme. 9 745 public ordinary schools participated in school sport leagues while 8 871
public ordinary schools were linked to
their local police station. The “Values in Action” training manual, which infused constitutional
values and human rights into school governance, was developed during the period
under review. The
manual formed part of the training of newly appointed SGB and RCL members. The
Curriculum and Assessment Policy incorporated the Bill of Responsibility (BOR). The BOR was explicitly entrenched in
the Life Orientation Curriculum under the sub-section “Rights and
Responsibilities”. The Department conducted comprehensive research utilised in
developing an evidence-based social
cohesion toolkit. The toolkit was a practical guide to school
communities on how to bridge the gap between schools and their host
communities, in a bid to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
4.1.4 Conditional Grants,
Provincial Budget Monitoring and Support
Five conditional grants were
allocated to the Department during the period under review as follows:
·
HIV and AIDS Life Skills Programme
·
·
Dinaledi Schools
·
Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalisation
·
Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG)
In addition to the conditional
grants, the Department received an allocation for School Infrastructure
Backlogs Indirect Grant, amounting to R700 million. Before conditional grants
funds were transferred to the provinces, the Department ensured that all the
requirements of the Division of Revenue Act (DORA), 2011, were met.
(i)
HIV and Aids
A
total of 291 582 learners and educators and 462 108 parents and other key
stakeholders were reached in terms of
awareness campaigns. At least 13 210 learners were reached through functional peer education
programmes; 10 250 learners through curriculum-based learner pregnancy and learner retention programmes;
74 317 learners through training on the prevention of drug and substance use. Around 2 796 educators were trained
as master trainers to integrate the
Life Skills Programme into the curriculum. Some 6 400 educators and support
staff were trained as
School-Based Support Teams (SBSTs). A total of 1 230 691 sets of LTSM were distributed to 13 480 primary and
secondary schools. A total of 8 168 selected schools were reached through monitoring and support
visits.
Challenges
included the following:
·
Delayed payment of invoices for activities conducted in
·
Utilisation of the conditional grant funds for non-grant
related activities in
(ii)
The programme was time extended to
Quintile 3 secondary schools from April 2011, increasing the number of
secondary schools covered to 4 805. Vegetable gardens in schools increased from
5 964 to 7 156 at the end of March 2012. A total of 53 workshops were conducted
on meal planning and preparation (28), sustainable food production (22) and
financial management (3). A partnership with the Tiger Brands Foundation
supported schools in
(iii) Dinaledi Schools
As
these were the best resourced schools in the country, the Department supplied Mathematics, Physical Science, and
Life Science, Agricultural Science and English textbooks and study guides to these schools – including
extra educators. The Department further supplied mobile science
laboratories and other equipment - audio-visual equipment, computers, software and ICT laboratories.
Challenges
included the late submissions of the monthly, quarterly, annual reports and
business plans by provinces.
(vi)
Twenty-three
out of forty-two new workshops were built to support technical subject
offerings. One Hundred and
ninety-eight out of two-hundred and forty-seven existing workshops were refurbished, upgraded and re-designed
to comply with safety laws and regulations, and minimum industry standards. Equipment, machinery and tools were
bought, delivered and installed at one- hundred
and seventy-four out of two-hundred
and fifteen projected workshops. Out of five- hundred
and fifty-eight technical school teachers, five-hundred and fifty-four were
trained in subject content delivery
and new practical teaching methodologies. Challenges included the following:
·
Delays in the development and approval of tender
specifications;
·
Irregular monitoring, collection of data and reporting
resulted in the absence of information to detect early warning signals for
underperformance;
·
Late approval of provincial and school business plans.
(v) Education
Infrastructure Grant
The
projects that had been completed, including the following:
·
131 ablution facilities;
·
721 new or additional classrooms;
·
49 Specialised classrooms;
·
50 provided with water;
·
420 mobile classrooms; and
·
33 526 square metres of fencing
Challenges
included the following:
·
Insufficient capacity to deliver infrastructure;
·
Lack of adequate reporting and monitoring mechanisms;
·
Large number of projects are at a retention level;
·
Poor adoption of best practice approaches and methodologies
for infrastructure planning; and
·
The lack of capacity to maintain a school infrastructure
database
Further
challenges noted regarding infrastructure:
·
An amount of R66.6 billion would be required to bring all
ordinary schools up to the level of Optimum Functionality (excluding
preliminaries, contingencies, escalations, professional fees and VAT).
·
The continuing state of school infrastructure backlogs was
arguably one of the most serious shortcomings in
·
Current projections, based on budgets and delivery rates,
indicated that it would take decades to bring infrastructure provisioning to
acceptable levels.
·
Considering current models of delivery, a stage was being
reached where the availability of budgets exceeded capacity. There was a need
to adopt a different & more diverse approach.
4.1.5
Provincial budget and monitoring
A Budget Standards Exercise for the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period was undertaken throughout all
the nine PEDs to analyse and evaluate the 2012 MTEF budget. The focus was on the
following aspects: evaluation of the
2011/12 spending performance including conditional grants, the funding of
personnel expenditure and the progress on the implementation of audit action
plan to address matters raised by the Auditor-General in 2010/11. The PEDs
monthly expenditure reports were collected, consolidated and analysed.
Financial management support was provided to the intervention teams in Limpopo
and the
4.1.6 Report
of the Auditor General
The Department received
an unqualified audit opinion for 2011/12
and for 2010/11. Emphases of matter raised by the Auditor-General (AG) included:
·
Significant uncertainties in legal claims emanating
from legal actions by Lingua Franca Publishers and Procon Fisher
(Pty) Ltd.
·
The corresponding figure for irregular expenditure in
respect of the Kha Ri Gude project had been restated as a result of an error
discovered during 31 March 2012 in the financial statements of the department
at, and for the year ended, 31 March 2011. The Department reported that they
were in the process of obtaining condonation for the irregular expenditure.
·
Materially under-spending of the budget in programmes 2, 3
and 4 to the amounts of R96.394 million, R43.145 million and R1 017.474
million, respectively.
The A-G also drew
attention to additional matters including the following:
·
Lack of measurability and
reliability of programme performance (Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring
Programme):
With regard to measurability, the AG noted that the delivery of a qualitatively
material indicator (percentage of textbooks and workbooks available to
learners) was not time bound in specifying a time period or deadline for
delivery of the learner teacher support material (LTSM). In respect of
reliability, the AG reported that the actual performance reported as achieved did
not address the indicator which required the workbooks and textbooks to be made
available to learners. The reported achievement indicated that some of the
LTSMs were delivered to the provinces and provincial districts. The AG further
noted that the department lacked controls to ensure that learners have
workbooks and textbooks available to them as per indicator.
·
Achievement of planned
targets: The
Department did not achieve 47 per cent of the total number of planned targets
during the year under review. This is attributed to the fact that indicators were
not suitably developed during the strategic planning process and relevant
systems and evidential requirements were not considered.
·
Human Resources (HR): Although there was some
improvement in the area of HR, management of leave taken by employees remained
a problem as not all leave was accurately
recorded on the PERSAL as required by the Public Service Regulations.
·
Information Technology
Controls:
Weaknesses were identified in effective security management controls, IT
Governance controls, programme change controls and IT service continuity. The
AG noted that slight but insufficient improvements were made in this area.
·
Material adjustments to
the annual performance report: Material misstatements of disclosure items in the
annual performance report were identified during the audit and subsequently
corrected.
·
Prior year commitment: There was not much
progress made on the commitment to follow-up on control deficiencies identified
at Provincial Education Departments reported on the sector service delivery
focus areas: Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM), the National School
Nutrition Programme (NSNP) and Learner Transport Scheme (LTS). The Committee
was awaiting a briefing on the full sector report at the time of compiling this
report.
5. Analysis of the First Quarter
Expenditure Report for 2012/13 Financial Year (Department of Basic Education)
The
allocation against the Actual Expenditure per item for the 2012/13 Financial
Year was as follows:
PROGRAMMES |
2012/13 |
Expenditure as % of Main Appropriation |
||
MAIN APPROPRIATION |
ACTUAL EXPENDITURE |
VARIANCE |
||
R’000 |
R’000 |
R’000 |
||
Compensation of Employees |
349 614 |
75 070 |
274 544 |
21.47 |
Goods and Services |
1 641 562 |
126 801 |
1 514 761 |
7.72 |
Interest and Rent on Land |
50 112 |
- |
50 112 |
- |
Transfers and Subsidies |
11 971 957 |
3 875 578 |
8 096 379 |
32.37 |
Payment for Capital Assets |
2 330 333 |
63 370 |
2 266 963 |
2.72 |
Total |
16 343 578 |
4 140 819 |
12 202 759 |
25.34 |
The
allocation over the 2012/13 Financial Year was as follows:
SERVICE |
2012/13 |
Expenditure as % of Main Appropriation |
||
MAIN APPROPRIATION |
ACTUAL EXPENDITURE |
VARIANCE |
||
R’000 |
R’000 |
R’000 |
||
Compensation of Employees |
265 276 |
57 144 |
208 132 |
21.54 |
Examiners and Moderators |
17 490 |
540 |
16 950 |
3.09 |
Transfers to Public Entities |
713 756 |
682 373 |
31 383 |
95.60 |
Other Transfers |
11 614 |
316 |
11 298 |
2.72 |
Conditional Grants |
11 246 587 |
3 192 889 |
8 053 698 |
28.39 |
Schools Infrastructure Backlogs Indirect Grant |
2 315 000 |
62 721 |
2 252 279 |
2.71 |
Earmarked Funds |
1 469 113 |
55 870 |
1 413 243 |
3.80 |
Departmental Operations |
234 982 |
24 379 |
210 603 |
10.37 |
Projects |
69 760 |
64 587 |
5 173 |
92.58 |
Total |
16 343 578 |
4 140 819 |
12 202 759 |
25.34 |
Expenditure
Trends
The Department had spent
R4.1 billion or 25.3 percent of the total available
budget by the end of this quarter. Planned expenditure by this point in the
year was R4.7 billion, equivalent to 28.5 percent of the total available
budget. The Department was therefore behind on its total spending by R520.7
million or 11.2 percent. This was mainly due to the expenditure on the Kha Ri
Gude Project that did not take place as projected and slow spending on the
school infrastructure backlogs conditional grant. This was a new situation for
the Kha Ri Gude Project, while for the school infrastructure
backlogs conditional grant the slow spending was consistent with 2011/12. The
reason for the slow spending on the grant included difficulty in accessing
project sites due to poor road conditions, material supplies constraints as
suppliers were not able to meet the demand, difficult terrain with steep grades
resulting in significant construction of bulk earthworks, and under- resourcing and poor performance by some
contractors.
The Department’s budget was dominated by transfers and subsidies, which
represent 73.3 percent of their available budget, mainly to the Education
Infrastructure Grant (EIG, National School Nutrition Programme,
Spending trends per economic
classification:
PROGRAMMES |
2012/13 |
Expenditure as % of Main Appropriation |
||
MAIN APPROPRIATION |
ACTUAL EXPENDITURE |
VARIANCE |
||
R’000 |
R’000 |
R’000 |
||
Administration |
309 648 |
68 254 |
241 394 |
22.04 |
Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring |
1 428 317 |
47 928 |
1 380 389 |
3.36 |
Teachers, Education Human Resources Development and
Institutional Development |
760 159 |
717 525 |
42 634 |
94.39 |
Planning, Information and Assessment |
8 370 170 |
1 559 664 |
6 810 506 |
18.63 |
Educational Enrichment Services |
5 475 284 |
1 747 448 |
3 727 836 |
31.92 |
Total |
16 343 578 |
4 140 819 |
12 202 759 |
25.34 |
Programme
Spending
·
Programme 1 – Administration
Expenditure
was R68.3 million or 22 percent of the available budget of R309.6 million. Planned expenditure was R74.9 million thus
the Department was behind by R6.7 million. This
was primarily due to delays in the payment of R4.6 million for interest and
rent on land for the Department’s
accommodation.
·
Programme 2 - Curriculum, Support and Monitoring
Expenditure
was R47.9 million, or 3.4 percent of the available budget of R1.4 billion. Planned expenditure was R65 million
so the Department was behind by 17.1 million. This was primarily due to the Kha Ri Gude project that did not
take place as projected due to delays
in awarding of the tender for the delivery of stationery. The DBE also reported
delays in the printing of the 2013
workbooks.
·
Programme 3 – Teacher and Education Human Resources
Development and Management
Expenditure
was R717.5 million, or 94.4 percent of the available budget of R760.2 million. Planned expenditure was R694.4 million so the
Department was ahead by R23.1 million. This
was primarily due to the payment for the CAPS orientation conducted in 2011/12
for which invoices were only received in April.
·
Programme 4 - Planning, Quality Assessment and
Monitoring and Evaluation
Expenditure
was R1.6 billion, or 18.6 percent of the available budget of R8.4 billion. Planned expenditure was R2.1 billion
so the Department was behind by R23.1 million. This was primarily due to delays in spending on the School
Infrastructure Backlogs Grant as discussed
above.
·
Programme 5 - Social Responsibility
Expenditure
was R1.7 billion, or 31.9 percent of the available budget of R5.5 billion,
which was broadly in line with the
planned expenditure for the first quarter.
6. Submission by Equal Education on a Review of the Department
of Basic Education’s Performance in 2010/11 and 2011/12
Equal Education
(EE) raised the following issues in its assessment of the Department of Basic Education (DBE)’s performance against its
stated policies, goals and targets for the 2011/12 financial year.
6.1 Overall performance – Equal Education acknowledged that
there were areas in which the
DBE had advanced in achieving its
objectives during the reporting period. However, there were weaknesses that had
an effect on the quality of education provided for South African learners.
These include planning for and provision of workbooks and textbooks, school
libraries and library materials, the Annual National Assessments (ANA) and
school infrastructure.
6.2 Workbooks and Textbooks – Equal Education commended the
Department on providing
workbooks to learners in primary
schools. However, EE was concerned that the Department had not prioritised
access to textbooks as a key strategic objective as highlighted in the
2011-2012 Annual performance Plan and Annual Report. This was premised on the
fact that the Department had missed two court imposed deadlines for the
delivery of textbooks for learners in
EE further referred to the report of
the Presidential Task Team that required the Department to conduct a headcount
for learners and teachers in the Province and finalise this by the end of
November 2012, in order to have credible information that would serve as the
basis for both the costing and procurement of LTSM.
These matters were also of concern
to the Committee.
6.3
School Libraries – Equal Education raised
a concern that the Department only published the National Guidelines for School Library and Information Services which was a discussion document rather than policy and did not refer to
the provision of resources by the Department. EE acknowledged, however, that the Department noted in its 2011/12
Annual Report that it had developed
an implementation plan in collaboration with the provinces.
6.4
Annual National Assessments (ANA) – Equal
Education was of the view that one could
not only
use the Grade 12 pass rates as an indicator of the
education system’s performance since many learners did not reach Grade 12.
Grade 12 examinations only measured performance at the end of secondary school
and therefore did not identify where
interventions were needed. The Department introduced ANA as it recognised the
problem of using Grade 12 results as the main indicator of system quality. As a
monitoring tool, the ANA was meant to identify districts and schools most in
need of interventions and assistance. It was unclear whether the Department had
put interventions in place following the 2011 ANA. It was imperative that a
plan was established to improve numeracy and literacy results. Of further
concern was that teachers only receive a short manual explaining how to
administer the ANA - and yet did not receive assistance on how to analyse and
use the results. Teachers needed to play a role in assisting learners to
overcome their challenges. Equal Education welcomed the National Development
Plan’s call to make the ANA’s publically accessible however the Department was yet to make the 2011 ANA results (per
school/per district) available to the broader public.
7. Statutory
Bodies
7.1 Council for Quality Assurance in General and
Further Education and Training (Umalusi)
The Council was mandated
to quality assure qualifications and standards, monitor and moderate learners’
achievement and issue certificates. The Council also evaluates whether
providers of education and training in the sector have the capacity to deliver
and assess qualifications and are doing so to expected standards of quality. Umalusi’s
mandate was determined by two Acts i.e. the National Qualifications Framework
Act of 2008 and the General and Further Education and Training Quality
Assurance Act of 2001 amended in 2008. Umalusi therefore reported as a new
Quality Council - although there were matters which were still in transition
and would require clarification. The mandate of Umalusi covered the following
areas:
·
Qualifications and Standardisation
·
Quality Assurance
·
Information
·
Research
·
Advice and Collaboration
Aspects in the macro environment that had affected Umalusi were as
follows:
·
The passing of the NQF Act in 2009 resulted in changes
in the roles and responsibilities of the various bodies in the quality assurance
landscape;
·
The amendment of the various acts that govern the work
of the QCs which had required more capacity and a review of Umalusi’s positions
and approaches;
·
Varying views on the nature of standard setting and
quality assurance
·
Ministerial guidelines for 2011/2012
·
The NQF Implementation Framework from the Department
of Higher Education and Training (DHET) putting pressure on policy development in an uncertain environment
·
The conceptualisation of the post schools system
through a green paper process which was nearing completion in respect of public
comment
·
General Further Education and Training Framework had
not been regulated to date, making for further uncertainty (public comment and South
African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) advice to the Minister of Higher
Education and Training):
ü
The review of the National Certificate Vocational (NCV)
by the Ministerial Task team was not yet finalised.
ü
The revision of the N-courses was in a state of limbo due
to a lack of direction (SAQA advice to the Minister of Higher Education and
Training; SETA developments i.r.o artisan qualifications etc.)
ü
The revision of the school curriculum (CAPS) was
ongoing
ü
No further progress on the development of new
qualifications such as the NASCA (public comment completed) and National
Independent Certificate (NIC).
In respect of the Quality Assurance
Regime for 2011/12, Umalusi argued that educational standards and quality
were set and maintained through a combination of processes and interventions.
The 2011/2012 quality assurance regime was designed to include the following:
7.1.1 Qualifications, Curriculum and
Certification Unit (QCC) - The role of QCC was to ensure and enhance the
status and quality of the qualifications Umalusi certifies. Quality assuring
the qualifications and their related curricula was QCC’s contribution to the
overall quality of the certificate which Umalusi issued. This function also
oversaw the issuing and verification of certificates. (Qualifications: Senior
Certificate, National Senior Certificate; N3; National Certificate Vocational 2,
3, 4; General Education and Training Certificate (GETC): adults).
7.1.2 Quality Assurance of
Assessment Unit (QAA) - This function entailed establishing, maintaining and
improving standards and quality in assessment at exit points in General and
Further Education and Training. In order to fulfil this function, Umalusi used
five key processes:
7.1.3 Evaluation and Accreditation
Unit (E&A) – The Unit was responsible for
accrediting private institutions through quality assurance of their provision
for the qualifications Umalusi certified. The unit evaluated the capacity of
education and training providers to implement registered qualifications and
approved curriculum they sought accreditation for. The Unit also evaluated the capacity
of assessment bodies to conduct practical, internal, and external assessment of
learner achievement - leading to the issuing of registered qualifications by
Umalusi, as well as the standards of assessment products and processes.
7.1.4 Statistical
Information and Research Unit (SIR) - The mandate
of the SIR unit was to conduct research as identified by the needs of the
organisation and report on the key indicators of quality and standards in
general and further education and training. The Unit further established and
maintained databases and lead statistical research and analysis. The SIR Unit
also informed and provided statistical support for the work in other units. The
SIR Unit also plays a role in organisational and professional development at
Umalusi.
7.1.5 Management Support Structures Unit (MSS)
– This Unit ensured that strategic plans were in place and that the
organisation carries out its remit. The Unit also covered the areas of
Corporate Governance, Advocacy of Umalusi’s work and Stakeholders relationships.
7.1.6 Finance, Human Resource
Development and Admin Support – Umalusi claimed to have
received an unqualified audit. All Creditors were paid within 30 days and any surpluses
were invested at Corporation for Public Deposits (CPD). All Umalusi assets were
registered and labeled. Umalusi awarded ten staff with bursaries and seven
staff with in-house training. The vacancy rate and turnover rate at Umalusi
stood at 6 percent.
7.1.7
Financial
Performance for 2011/12
Revenue |
Amount |
|
|
Certification, verification and accreditation |
71 993 289 |
Department of Basic Education Grant |
18 391 000 |
Interest and other income |
2 835 429 |
Total Income |
R 92 219 718 |
Expenditure |
75 279 084 |
Surplus |
R 17 940 634 |
The surplus was due to certificates being requested
in March 2012 instead of June - resulting in the increased revenue which
would only be used during the 2012/13 financial year. |
7.1.8
Financial
Position for 2011/12
Assets |
21 402 262 |
•
Property & equipment |
21 158 744 |
•
Intangible assets |
243 518 |
Current Assets |
48 820 243 |
•
Trade & other receivables |
21 373 260 |
•
Cash & cash equivalents |
27 446 983 |
TOTAL ASSETS |
R 70 222 505 |
Equity |
61 617 213 |
•
Accumulated surplus |
53 420 591 |
•
Revaluation reserve |
8 196 622 |
Liabilities |
|
•
Trade & other payables |
8 605 292 |
TOTAL EQUITY & LIABILITIES |
R 70 222 505 |
7.1.9 Umalusi 3 Year Forecast
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
R 92 952 000 |
R 105 893 141 |
R 118 919 797 |
R 135 240 416 |
|
From 2013/14 the Department of Basic Education would
fully fund the Umalusi mandate so that certification fees would no longer be
collected from Provincial Departments and |
||||
Y/Y Percentage Increase |
|
|||
18 percent |
14 percent |
12 percent |
14 percent |
|
7.1.10 Conclusion
Umalusi was working hard to further clarify their role and ameliorate
relations with the other Quality Councils (QCs) through collaboration. The
Council was looking forward to the promulgation of the GENFET Sub-Framework of
Qualifications in order for Umalusi to take its added mandate work forward.
7.1.11 Report by Auditor-General - Umalusi
On
the portfolio audit outcomes and key control status, the Council received an
unqualified opinion with findings for 2011/12 (with adverse findings for
Predetermined Objectives). This was down from the previous financial year. For
the year under review the compliance remained stable, with no findings. In
respect of key controls, Umalusi remained stable for leadership and governance
– but went down in respect of financial performance management.
In
respect of key focus areas the Audit Report indicated that there were no
matters for all the key focus areas except the Audit of Performance Objectives
where there was no improvement.
Umalusi
also registered no irregular expenditure or fruitless and wasteful expenditure
for the period under review.
Intervention
was required for Umalusi commitments to sustain its current performance and
continue to achieve clean audit outcomes – this was not achieved due to adverse
conclusions on performance information in the 2011/12 financial year.
Recommended
commitments for clean audit included:
ü
understanding of why AFS are prepared (for operational
management purposes, e.g. analysis of financial performance )
ü
understanding of why key controls are essential
ü
understanding of why service delivery reporting is critical
ü
Continuous professional and skills development for all staff and monitoring
thereof
7.2 Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC)
The primary business of the Council was to
promote the maintenance of labour peace in the public education sector through
the provision of dispute resolution (and prevention) services. To this end, the
grievance and disputes of educators and officials were resolved through
conciliation and/or arbitration. The secondary business of the Council involved
the promotion and maintenance of labour peace in the public education sector
through the provision of consultation and negotiations between trade unions and
the state as the employer, as represented by the Department of Education. Key legislation directing
the work of the ELRC in its core business of dispute resolution and collective
bargaining included the following:
For
the period under review, the total number of reviews increased from 3 to 11.
The ELRC did not oppose these applications. In the past financial year, 741
disputes were received, 210 more referrals than the 2010-2011 financial year
which stood at 531. This increase was experienced despite the employer-employee
relations being relatively stable in the past year. The increase could be
attributed to the fact that employees were asserting their rights more and it
was a demonstration of their increasing trust in the ELRC processes. The number
of referrals that were out of the jurisdiction of the ELRC stood at 179 (24
percent). This was eight (8) percent less than the 2010-2011 financial year.
The ELRC had continuous engagement with dispute practitioners in a bid to
reduce this number further. The out of jurisdiction disputes signified
discontentment that should be addressed at provincial level through the Dispute
Prevention task teams.
The following graph showed the
dispute referrals per province for 2010/11 and 2011/12:
Province |
ULP (Promo/Appl) |
Other ULP |
Unfair Dismissal |
Mutual Interest |
Interpretation & App |
BCEA |
Total |
|
94 |
16 |
51 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
166 |
|
10 |
6 |
17 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
40 |
|
32 |
34 |
13 |
2 |
9 |
4 |
94 |
|
71 |
15 |
47 |
0 |
18 |
25 |
176 |
|
33 |
17 |
29 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
91 |
|
19 |
11 |
17 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
58 |
|
20 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
43 |
|
18 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
34 |
|
14 |
11 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
38 |
National (NAT) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
TOTAL |
311 |
117 |
196 |
3 |
62 |
52 |
741 |
|
09/10 |
10/11 |
11/12 |
Promotions |
45
percent (301) |
44
percent (232) |
42
percent (311) |
Dismissals |
31
percent (207) |
30
percent (157) |
26
percent (196) |
Unfair
Labour Practice (ULP) |
12
percent (80) |
18
percent (95) |
16
percent (117) |
Interpretation
and Application (Inter & Appl) |
4
percent |
5
percent (28) |
8.3
percent (62) |
Basic
Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) |
4
percent |
3
percent (19) |
7
percent (52) |
Interest |
4
percent |
0 |
0.4
percent (3) |
The
promotion disputes category was consistently the highest in all the financial
years. Promotions, Enforcement of the BCEA and Interpretation or Application
disputes stood at 53 percent and did not require a grievance procedure. Of the
196 dismissals, 29 (15 percent) involved learners as victims. Interpretation
and Enforcement disputes were showing a steady rise and would warrant some
attention from the Council. Of the 508 cases involved, 513 conciliation
processes were conducted and of the 7070 cases involved, 766 arbitration processes
were conducted.
In respect of dispute outcomes; 230
(18 percent) disputes were settled in the past financial year - but fell far
short of the 70 percent CCMA target. Of these, 144 were settled at both
conciliation and arbitration and 86 were withdrawn at both processes. The
number of arbitration awards rendered stood at 168, with 29 of those involving
a child as a victim.
Dispute prevention figures were as
follows:
PROVINCE |
TOTAL GRIEVANCE |
FINALISED |
NOT FINALISED |
DISPUTED |
Free-State |
10 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
|
56 |
54 |
2 |
6 |
|
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 |
11 |
13 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
North-West |
6 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
101 |
72 |
29 |
16 |
In
trying to minimise the referral of disputes not to exceed 500 per annum, the
ELRC was now monitoring the finalisation of grievances, the finalisation of
appeals by the MECs and the precautionary suspensions by requesting quarterly
information from provinces. This information would enable the ELRC to make the
necessary interventions. Submissions of the statistics by provinces were still
in progress.
In
respect of Professional Development and Training, the ELRC provided the
following training in the period under review:
The
ELRC performance with regard to collective bargaining continued to decline. The
following collective agreements were concluded:
Emanating from the work of the task
teams, Collective Agreement No. 1 of 2012 on the Appointment of Temporary
Educators was concluded in June 2012. The first quarter of the 2012 Financial
Year saw an improved level of performance in the Eastern Cape Chamber for the
first time after three years. In
In respect of the allocation and
distribution of shop stewards, the collective Agreement No.2 of 2007 covered
the appointment of shop stewards in education to facilitate negotiations,
consultations, dispute resolution and dispute prevention. The figures for the appointments
of shop stewards were:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CTU-SADTU |
7 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
61 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CTU-ITU |
3 |
4 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
37 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
10 |
10 |
19 |
13 |
9 |
9 |
7 |
9 |
12 |
98 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
work of the shop stewards covered the following areas:
The
ELRC appointed six new employees during the period under review. The Council
spent a total of R 185 078 on skills development workshops and educational
studies for a total of 17 employees.
The
Financial Figures for the ELRC were as follows:
|
2012 |
2011 |
Variance |
|
|
|
|
Levies Received |
49.693 |
49.422 |
0.6
percent |
|
|
|
|
Contributors |
414.104 |
411.850 |
|
|
|
|
|
Financial Performance:
R’ 000
Total Income - R 49.692
Total Expenditure - R 47.938
Operating Surplus / (Deficit) - R
1.755
Interest Income - R 4.392
Surplus/ (Deficit) - R 6.247
The
ELRC envisaged future challenges in respect of revenue management and budgetary
constraints as well as procurement and contract management, expenditure
management and risk management.
7.2.1 Report by Auditor-General – ELRC
On
the portfolio audit outcomes and key control status, the ELRC received an
unqualified opinion with findings for 2011/12 (with unqualified Predetermined
Objectives). For the year under review the compliance remained relatively
stable. In respect of key controls, the ELRC remained stable for leadership,
financial performance management as well as governance.
In
respect of key focus areas there was not improvement for supply chain
management as well as material errors in annual financial statements submitted.
There was some improvement in respect of Audit of Performance Objectives
(pre-determined objective) and no matters arising for Human resources and IT
controls.
For
2011/12 the Irregular expenditure for the ELRC stood at R 644 000 and Fruitless
and Wasteful expenditure stood at R 87 000.00. These were both downward
movement in respect of other matters of interest.
Interventions
were required for prior commitments as the ELRC committed to perform the risk
assessment to identify all risks affecting the entity. The risk assessment was
not performed and therefore non-compliance was reported in the audit report.
The
ELRC committed to address shortcomings relating to the management of
performance against pre-determined objectives – this was still in progress and
therefore non-compliance was reported in the audit report.
Recommended
commitments for clean audit included:
ü
understanding of why AFS are prepared (for operational management
purposes, e.g. analysis of financial performance )
ü
understanding of why key controls are essential
ü
understanding of why service delivery reporting is critical
ü
Continuous professional and skills development for all staff and monitoring
thereof
7.3 South African Council for Educators (SACE)
The amendment of the SACE Act by the Basic Education
Laws Amendment Act (2011) provided SACE with a full mandate to manage a system
of continuing professional development, enhanced further by the National
Development Plan (2011). It further provided SACE with an opportunity to
receive money appropriated by Parliament. SACE had also relocated to its newly leased
building with a view to purchase. The Council re-established the principle that
Professional Development (PD) was the main pillar of SACE.
7.3.1
Registration
– Registration backlogs had been cleared and
applications were processed speedily. The validation and update of the register
was currently underway. The Council was compiling separate registers for the
different types of registration with plans for on-line registration also
underway. The Council observed an emerging trend in fraudulent qualifications.
A total of 39 522 educators were registered (Full Registration: 12 786 and Provisional: 26 736).
7.3.2
Professional
Development – The Continuing Professional Teacher
Development (CPTD) system
pilot had been run in the nine provinces though not all the pilot structures
were functional. The CPTD-Information System was being continually tested both
internally and externally with the endorsement of at least 300 activities. The
CPTD Provider Forum launching meetings had been convened in the Eastern Cape
and Western Cape - and a total of 91 Providers had been reached. The CPTD
system implementation plan was in the process of being finalised. The process
of establishing the Endorsement Committee and appointing more evaluators was
underway. The official roll-out was planned for January 2013 - details would be
circulated once adopted by Council in November. A full scale advocacy programme
would follow.
The Educator Professional Assistance Programme
(EPAP) had been launched in Cape Town in October 2011. The network database of structures and
organisations that would be working with SACE
had been established. A total of 26 cases were handled by the Council with 10
cases being on professional matters and
16 on conditions of service.
World
Teachers’ Day celebrations were successfully held in Cape Town. SACE
worked with E-TV to identify teachers
doing excellent work and going beyond the call of duty in executing their tasks.
These teachers were shown on
E-TV as South African heroes. Educators were also rewarded with bursaries from the ETDPSETA for professional
development. Ten teachers from all nine provinces were recipients of these bursaries.
Several workshops were conducted to concsientise
educators on SACE, its functions and in particular,
the Code of Professional Ethics. (Gauteng for 3600 educators, Limpopo for 4220 educators, Northwest for 2966
educators, Mpumalanga 3792 educators, Eastern Cape 1750 educators, Free State for 1900 educators, KwaZulu-Natal for
5841 educators and Northern Cape for
966 educators)
The number of cases received by provinces
could be summarised as follows:
PROVINCE |
NO. of
CASES RECEIVED |
Kwazulu –Natal |
84 |
Northern
Cape |
06 |
Eastern
Cape |
33 |
Limpopo |
25 |
Mpumalanga |
58 |
Northwest |
18 |
Gauteng |
103 |
Free State |
24 |
Western Cape |
174 |
TOTAL |
525 |
The Type of
offences and breaches could be summarised as follows:
TYPE OF OFFENCE / BREACH |
NUMBERS |
Verbal Abuse,
Victimisation, Harassment, Defamation |
79 |
Sexual Misconduct,
including Rape |
126 |
Fraud, Theft, Financial Mismanagement |
58 |
Racism |
3 |
Corporal Punishment,
Assault |
174 |
Unprofessional Conduct,
Alcohol Abuse, Absenteeism, Insubordination |
69 |
Negligence |
13 |
Murder |
0 |
No Jurisdiction |
3 |
TOTAL |
525 |
The total
number of disciplinary hearings held was 42 with 374 cases being finalised and closed as follows:
·
Educators found guilty : 38
ü
Struck off indefinitely -
31 sexual offences
ü
Struck off but may re-apply - 01
ü
Struck off, suspended for a period - 06
·
Educators found not guilty: 1
·
Charges withdrawn against educators
(parents refusing to avail learners to testify as witnesses): 3
·
Cases referred to other
institutions: 173
·
Cases finalised in other forms other
than disciplinary hearing: 159
At least 151 cases would be carried over into the new
financial year.
SACE worked
with the Centre of the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) on the
effect of school-based violence, with a special focus on educators. A report
was produced in November 2011. The study had shown that the negative impact of
school-based violence on learners/children was well documented nationally and
internationally. Research had clearly shown that there was a lack of focus on
the impact of high levels of violence on educators and how they were able to
cope.
The Council
conducted an analysis of educator misconduct cases reported to SACE in 2008 and
2009. The main findings from the analysis were that most of the cases reported
to SACE came from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. The report also
noted that although the Eastern Cape had the second largest number of educators
in the country, the province had amongst the fewest reported cases of
misconduct. Males were more likely to be accused of misconduct than females and
the largest proportion of offenders were between the ages of 35 and 54. The
largest number of cases before SACE was lodged by the Provincial Education
Departments. The largest proportion of cases involved professional misconduct,
followed by assault. Over the two years the number of sexual cases increased,
including rape allegations, harassment and inappropriate relationships with
learners.
7.3.3
Financial
Statements
Statement of Financial Position
Assets |
2012 |
2011 |
|
|
|
Non-Current Assets |
|
|
Investments |
13,100,000 |
15,097,280 |
Property,
plant and equipment |
1,062,826 |
2,066,767 |
Intangible
assets |
2,265,335 |
3,065,963 |
|
|
|
|
16,428,161 |
20,230,010 |
|
|
|
Current Assets |
|
|
Trade
and other receivables |
6,512,810 |
702,617 |
Cash
and cash equivalents |
29,859,262 |
13,934,708 |
|
|
|
|
36,372,072 |
14,637,325 |
|
|
|
Total Assets |
52,800,233 |
34,867,335 |
|
|
|
Equity and Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
Equity |
|
|
Accumulated
surplus |
24,408,711 |
20,062,148 |
Building
reserve fund |
22,362,956 |
9,516,579 |
|
|
|
|
46,771,667 |
29,578,727 |
|
|
|
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
Current Liabilities |
|
|
Finance
lease obligation |
- |
93,835 |
Trade
and other payables |
6,028,566 |
5,194,773 |
|
|
|
|
6,028,566 |
5,288,608 |
|
|
|
Total Equity and Liabilities |
52,800,233 |
34,867,335 |
|
|
|
Analysis of
Financial Position
Property held for sale last year was now classified as
“investment property”. No offer of purchase existed at the end of the year.
Total assets amounted to R52 million
Total equity of R46.7 million
Increase in equity by 58 percent( building reserve
fund)
Accumulated surplus is R24.4 million
Cash equivalents R29.8 million
Included is R22.3 million building reserve fund
Included in trade and other payables is 2.8 million
government grant deferred to next year.
Statement of
Financial Performance
|
2012 |
2011 |
|
|
|
Revenue |
53,470,094 |
47,355,288 |
Government
Grant |
4,442,813 |
2,417,957 |
Other
Income |
289,277 |
145,152 |
Operating
Expenses |
(39,985,969) |
(37,455,582) |
|
|
|
Operating Surplus |
18,216,215 |
12,462,815 |
|
|
|
Investment
revenue |
993,630 |
182,853 |
Fair
Value adjustments |
(1,997,280) |
- |
Final
costs |
(19,625) |
(43,807) |
|
|
|
Total comprehensive surplus for
the year |
17,192,940 |
12,601,861 |
|
|
|
Analysis of
Financial Performance
·
Revenue increased (Membership and
registration fees)
·
The Department transferred R 7.2
million of which the unspent amount of R 2.8 million was deferred to the next
financial year
·
Fair value adjustment represented a
decrease in the value of building on sale
·
The surplus was R 17 million:
ü R
12.8 million was planned towards building a reserve account
ü The
remainder was unplanned and approval was obtained from Treasury to retain the
amount towards the building reserve fund.
Statement of
Changes in Net Assets
|
Building reserve fund |
Accumulated surplus |
Total Equity |
|
|
|
|
Balance at 1 April 2010 |
- |
16,976,866 |
16,976,866 |
Total
comprehensive surplus for the year |
- |
12,601,861 |
12,601,861 |
Transfer
to building reserve fund |
9,516,579 |
(9,516,579) |
|
|
|
|
|
Balance at 1 April 2011 |
9,516,579 |
20,062,148 |
29,578,727 |
Total
comprehensive surplus for the year |
- |
17,192,940 |
17,192,940 |
Transfer
to building reserve fund |
12,846,377 |
(12,846,377) |
- |
|
|
|
|
Balance at 31 March 2012 |
22,362,956 |
24,408,711 |
46,771,667 |
Analysis of
Statement of Changes in Net Assets
Statement of
Cash Flow
|
2012 |
2011 |
|
|
|
Cash flows from operating
activities |
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
receipts from customers |
53,299,232 |
55,463,962 |
Cash
paid to suppliers and employees |
(37,649,118) |
(38,816,124) |
|
|
|
Cash
generated from operations |
15,650,114 |
16,647,838 |
Interest
income |
993,630 |
182,853 |
Finance
costs |
(19,625) |
(43,807) |
|
|
|
Net cash from operating activities |
16,624,119 |
16,786,884 |
|
|
|
Cash flows from investing
activities |
|
|
|
|
|
Purchase
of property, plant and equipment |
(546,664) |
(3,830,324) |
Proceeds
on sale of property, plant and equipment |
18,609 |
3,868 |
Additions
to intangible assets |
(77,675) |
(355,522) |
|
|
|
Net cash from investment
activities |
(605,730) |
(4,181,978) |
|
|
|
Cash flows from financing
activities |
|
|
Decrease
in finance lease obligation |
(93,835) |
(327,936) |
|
|
|
Total cash movement for the year |
15,924,554 |
12,276,970 |
Cash
at the beginning of the year |
13,934,708 |
1,657,739 |
|
|
|
Total cash at the end of the year |
29,859,262 |
13,934,708 |
|
|
|
Analysis of
Statement of Cash Flow
R 53 million generated from members in the form of
registration fees and levies.
R 0.6 million converted into assets
R 29 million was on hand on the 31st March 2012
Increase in cash was 114 percent
Building Reserve Fund contributes to the high
percentage of cash.
The Council was currently accommodated in one building (240 Lenchen
Street, Centurion). The Council was keeping to its decision to acquire the
currently rented building by June 2015. The Building Reserve Fund had grown to
R 22.3million. A professional development manager position was vacant at the
end of the financial year.
7.3.4 Report by Auditor General – SACE
On
the portfolio audit outcomes and key control status, the Council received an
unqualified opinion with findings for 2011/12 (with unqualified Predetermined
Objectives). For the year under review the compliance remained stable, with no
findings. In respect of key controls, the SACE remained stable for leadership,
financial performance management as well as governance.
In
respect of key focus areas the Audit Report indicated that there were no
matters for all the key focus areas (Supply Chain Management, Audit of
Performance Objectives, Human Resources, It Controls and Material errors in
annual financial statements submitted)
SACE
had no Irregular expenditure or Fruitless and Wasteful expenditure for the
period under review.
SACE
committed to address shortcomings relating to the management of performance
against pre-determined objectives – this was still in progress.
Recommended
commitments for clean audit included:
ü
understanding of why AFS are prepared (for operational
management purposes, eg analysis of financial performance )
ü
understanding of why key controls are essential
ü
understanding of why service delivery reporting is critical
ü
Continuous professional and skills development for all staff and monitoring
thereof
8. Consideration
of Other Sources of Information
8.1 Report
on Millennium Development Goals
The basic education sector in South
Africa was primarily responsible for the attainment of Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) 2 and 3. MDG 2 thrusts for commitment by the Department of Basic
Education (DBE) to achieve universal primary education while MDG 3 sought the
promotion for gender equality and empowerment of women by 2015.
In terms of the South
African government’s development priorities, the focus on education was not
only on access to education, but more on quality of education. The focal point was
on a range of practical steps for attracting, retaining and teaching children
including the provision of no fees for schools servicing poorer communities, up
scaling school nutrition and feeding schemes and further allowing for free
transport. The focus also included: improving access to Grade R; expanding the
provision of infrastructure, facilities and learning resources at primary and
secondary schools; and broadening access to specialist services for Learners
with Special Education Needs (LSEN).
8.1.1 Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
The Department reported
progress in achieving this goal on the following three indicators:
-
Net enrolment rate in primary education
-
Completion rates of primary education for 18 year olds
-
Literacy rate of 15 – 24 years old, women and men
Overall, the performance of the
country in these indicators for the period under review had remained constant.
Net
enrolment rate - On the matter of the Net Enrolment Rate
(NER) in
South Africa, the Department reported on the age level 7 to 13 or grades 1 to 7
which are the recognised primary schooling age. In this
regard, it is significant that South Africa had attained almost universal
access to primary education. The Department further indicated that the girls’ net
enrolment rate in 2009 was higher at 98.8 percent while boys’ net enrolment
rate was at 96.4 percent.
Completion
rates of primary education for 18 year olds - Completion rates of primary
education and higher for those aged 18 years increased from 89.6 percent in
2002 to 93.8 percent in 2009 and was at 92.1 per cent in 2011.
Literacy
rate of 15 – 24 years old, women and men - The Department reported that the
functional literacy rate among 15–24-year-olds, which was based on educational
achievement of up to Grade 7, had steadily increased from 88.0 percent in 2002
to 91.0 percent in 2009 and remained 91.0 per cent in 2011. It was further reported
that the functional literacy level for female youths in 2009 was at 93 percent,
slightly higher than their male counterparts who were at 89 percent.
According to
the Department, South Africa had in effect achieved the goal of universal
primary education before the year 2015, and its education system could now be
recognised as having attained near universal access. However, if this
achievement was to be translated into educational transformation in a
meaningful way, serious interventions would be needed to improve the quality
and functionality of education. The results of 2011 Annual National Assessments
(ANA) gave evidence that most learners did not acquire the skills and
understanding that gave substance to the right to education.
In terms of the different
levels of performance, over half of the total learners assessed performed at a
level that indicated that they had clearly not achieved the competencies
specified in the curriculum. In Grade 6, the results indicated that
approximately 70 percent of learners fell into this category. At the top end
(at least 70 percent), very few learners were able to achieve outstanding
results. For instance, only 3 percent of learners in Grade 6 mathematics could
be considered outstanding.
8.1.2 Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
The target of Goal 3 was
to eliminate the gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005
and to continue doing so in all levels of education no later than 2015. Data
provided confirmed that South Africa had generally performed well against the
international indicators for Goal 3. According to the Department, South Africa
could be considered to have reached most gender equality targets, if not
exceeded them. While the country performed well on the international indicators,
South Africa had a range of socio-economic and cultural challenges that
continued to undermine aspects of gender equality and women empowerment.
8.2 Audit outcome of the Provincial Education
Departments
The
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education received a briefing from the Office of
the Auditor-General on the summary of audit outcomes of the Basic Education
Sector and related entities for the year ended 31 March 2012, on the 9 October
2012.
Audit
outcome of Provincial Departments of Education for 2010/11
Province |
Audit Outcome |
||
|
2011/12 |
2010/11 |
2009/10 |
Eastern Cape |
Disclaimer |
Disclaimer |
Disclaimer |
Free State |
Unqualified
|
Qualified |
Qualified |
Gauteng |
Unqualified |
Unqualified |
Unqualified |
KwaZulu-Natal |
Qualified |
Qualified |
Unqualified |
Limpopo |
Disclaimer |
Qualified |
Disclaimer |
Mpumalanga |
Unqualified |
Unqualified |
Qualified |
Northern Cape |
Qualified |
Qualified |
Qualified |
North West |
Qualified |
Qualified |
Disclaimer |
Western Cape |
Qualified |
Unqualified |
Unqualified |
The briefing highlighted that the overall audit
outcomes of the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) continued to be
unsatisfactory. Two PEDs, Limpopo Education Department and the Eastern Cape Education
Department received disclaimers in 2011/12 compared to one (Eastern Cape) in
2010/11. Limpopo Education Department regressed to disclaimer from qualified
audit opinion in 2010/11. Only Free State Education Department progressed from a
qualified audit opinion to a unqualified audit opinion, while Mpumalanga
progressed from a qualified audit opinion to an unqualified audit opinion. Mpumalanga
and Gauteng Education Departments have retained unqualified audit opinions
while the North West, Northern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal have retained qualified
opinions. The Western Cape showed poorer performance this year, regressing from
an unqualified to a qualified audit opinion.
9. Committee
Observations
9.1
Department of Basic Education
9.1.1 As in previous
reporting periods, the Committee commended the Department and two of its
entities for continuing to receive an unqualified audit opinion in relation to
the management of their finances. The Committee is, however, concerned about a
number of shortcomings in the Department’s planned and reported performance as
highlighted by the Auditor-General. Specific concerns include the lack of
measurability of programme performance related to the delivery of textbooks and
workbooks, the inconsistency regarding the actual performance reported as
achieved and the indicator which required the workbooks and textbooks to be
made available to learners, as well as the lack of adequate controls to ensure
that learners receive workbooks and textbooks. The Committee further noted with
concern that of
the total number of planned targets, the Department failed to achieve 47 per
cent during the year under review. To enhance its
management systems, the Committee expected the Department to work towards
ensuring that the problem areas highlighted as matters of emphasis and other
matters do not arise in future.
9.1.2 The Committee was
concerned that the accuracy of data on the number of learners and teachers remains
questionable, despite raising the matter previously. As a consequence, the
department could not reliably estimate the total number of LTSMs to be delivered
to schools. The problems relating to data also impacted on the budget. The
Department noted in response that, the collection of data was a provincial
function and principals tended to inflate numbers in order to receive more
funding. The Committee further heard that systems were now
underway to verify learner numbers.
9.1.3 The Committee
remained concerned about the recurring poor management of finances in several
Provincial Education Departments as reported by the Auditor General, since this
impacts on service delivery. The Committee requires that the parties involved
update it on the impact of their intervention strategies to resolve this issue.
9.1.4 The Committee continued
to acknowledge that South Africa rated well on standard indicators of access to
education but remained concerned about poor performance of learners as one of
the proxy indicators for measuring the quality of education. The Committee
supported the placing of the Department’s efforts towards improving the quality
of education and sustaining gains made in equity and access.
9.1.5 As in 2010/11, the
Committee remained concerned about the poor utilisation and supply of teachers
in the system and expected to see greater progress made in resolving this
challenge. The Committee previously recommended inter alia that processes to
deal with the absorption of teachers should be fast tracked in order to
facilitate the employment of new educators (Report on
oversight visits to the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, dated 6 March
2012). The Department reported that the DBE had set up a team to deal
with teacher utilisation in the provinces. Excess teachers were moved, though
they were not necessarily matched to the right posts, and this had to do with
post provisioning implementation.
9.1.6 Informed by major
challenges in sector performance, the Committee noted that it is important that
the Department strengthen its steering role as well as its support and
monitoring of implementation in provinces.
9.1.7 The problems with the allocations for Quintile 1 and Quintile 2 needed
to be re-visited. The
Committee
remained concerned about the impact of the training received by the identified
Subject
Advisors.
9.2 Umalusi:
9.2.1 Contrary to what Umalusi
reported, according to the AG Report, Umalusi had regressed from receiving a
clean audit in 2010/11 to an unqualified audit opinion with matters of
emphasis.
9.2.2 The Committee was concerned
about the persistent criticism and comments which persisted from academics on
the “low standard” of exams.
9.2.3 There was a further concern
that Umalusi was losing external moderators on a regular basis.
9.2.4 The Committee was concerned
about plans by Umalusi to mitigate the challenge on the scarcity of suitably
qualified people to be appointed as external examiners for NCV - which was
recurring in all the years of reporting.
9.2.5 There was a further concern
around the challenges behind the Council’s receipt of adverse opinion on
predetermined objectives as raised by the AG.
9.3 ELRC:
9.3.1
The Teacher Laptop Initiative was still of concern to the Portfolio Committee
as this ought to have been rolled out already. This needed to be resolved
urgently.
9.3.2
ELRC mentioned that the lack of skills was mentioned as a reason for the
irregular expenditure. This needed to be remedied.
9.3.3
For the amount of money the Council received, the AG mentioned that the
irregular/wasteful expenditure was too high.
9.3.4
The Council failed to finalise all cases before it with carryover of 195 cases
(38.3 percent).
9.4 SACE:
9.4.1 The Committee observed that
SACE was ready to roll-out the CPTD project and was concerned with the
necessary service providers being on board.
10. Conclusion
The Committee has
reviewed and analysed the performance of the Department and its entities for
the 2011/12 financial year. It observed that the Department and two of its
entities have retained unqualified audit opinions
with findings while the third entity moved from receiving a clean audit in
2010/11 to an unqualified audit opinion in 2011/12. [The Committee noted
that Umalusi disputed aspects of the findings of the Report of the Auditor
General - and would follow up on the matter.]
The Committee further
took note that the Department has responsive strategic priorities and
objectives in place, aimed at realising Outcome 1 of improving quality basic
education. In terms of the overall performance, there were many areas in which
the Department had advanced in achieving its objectives during the reporting
period. The Committee also noted that there were major challenges in the
sector’s service delivery that remain to be resolved. The sector
needs to intensify its work to improve learner performance through key
priorities such as Workbooks, ANA, CAPS, ASIDI and Teacher Education during the
MTEF period.
11. Committee Recommendations
Based on the observations made above, the Committee
recommends that the Minister should ensure that the Department and its Entities
consider the following:
11.1 Department of Basic Education
11.1.1 Programme 1: Administration
·
Addresses audit shortcomings highlighted by the Auditor
General in order to avoid their recurrence in the future - provide Parliament
with details of its audit action plans within three weeks of the adoption of
this report by the National Assembly. This report should include a focus on how
the Department will address challenges around:
o
Under expenditure particularly in programme 4;
o
the lack of measurability of programme
performance and reporting that does not link to the predetermined objectives;
o
Accuracy of Departmental data which impacted on the
ordering, delivering and their provision of textbooks;
o
Leave management.
·
Updates Parliament regarding
details of the systems underway to verify learner numbers during its third quarterly progress report.
·
Strengthen its steering role as well as its
support and monitoring of implementation in provinces and give a report to Parliament
by the end of January 2013.
·
Updates Parliament
on the nature and impact of interventions to improve the management of finances
in affected provinces, given the recurring poor management of finances
in several Provincial Education Departments. The Department should supply Parliament
with a written report within three months of the adoption of this report by the
National Assembly. The Committee will
follow up on this issue in collaboration with relevant committees of
Parliament.
11.1.2 Programme 2: Curriculum
·
Together
with Provincial Education Departments, fast tracks the development of adequate
controls and processes to collect and verify learner numbers in the system and
to ensure timeous delivery of LTSMs to schools. A written report should be
given to Parliament by 30 November 2012.
·
Reviews
or assesses the Dinaledi Schools and supply Parliament with a written report on
progress by 31 January 2013.
·
Reviews
or assesses the subjects offered in Technical Schools and supply Parliament
with a written report on progress by 31 January 2013.
·
Assesses
the White Paper 6 of 2001 on Inclusive Education in order to ascertain whether
it has met its objectives and supply Parliament with a written report on
progress by 31 January 2013.
·
Intensifies
the QLTC particularly its establishment, effectiveness and impact at school
level and supply Parliament with a written report on progress by 31 January
2013.
·
Intensifies the implementation of targeted interventions to improve the
quality and functionality of education if the goal of meaningful access to
education is to be realised.
11.1.3
Programme 3: Teacher and Education
Human Resources Development and Management
·
Provides Parliament a progress report on details
to deal with teacher utilisation in the provinces by the 30 November 2012.
·
Supply an updated written report to Parliament on
supply and demand of teachers by 31 January 2013
11.1.4
Programme 4: Planning, Information and Assessment
·
Considers a better and holistic approach to
planning and implementing ASIDI and supply a written report to Parliament on
progress by 30 November 2012.
·
Supports teachers to effectively use ANA results
as a diagnostic tool to improve teaching and learning and supply a written
report to Parliament on progress by 31 January 2013.
·
Continues to prioritise teacher skills development and supply a
written report to the Parliament on progress by 31 January 2013.
11.2
Umalusi
Umalusi urgently addresses the issues around monetary controls as well as a
turnaround strategy on any pronouncements by the Auditor-General. Umalusi was
urged to meet with the Auditor-General to deal with the issues around the AG
Report on Umalusi. Umalusi should supply Parliament with a written report after
engagements with the AG.
11.3
SACE
·
SACE analyses and monitors the impact of the various
workshops held throughout the country to train
educators on SACE function and role and supply a written report to Parliament
on progress by 31 January 2013.
·
SACE invests in updating its database of its registered
members and supply a written report to Parliament on progress by March 2013.
11.4 ELRC
·
The ELRC in conjunction with the DBE fast-tracks and resolves
the issues around the Teacher Laptop Initiative as implementation has been slow and supply a written report to Parliament on progress by
31 January 2013.
·
Supply Parliament with a report on progress in respect of
the Performance Agreements for Principals and Deputy Principals by 31 January
2013.
·
The ELRC should address the issue around the lack of skills
which contributed to the irregular expenditure and
supply a written report to Parliament on progress by March 2013.
Report
to be considered.