Date: 02/05/2007

Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government

Title: Cronje: KwaZulu-Natal Education Prov Budget Speech 2007/08

Address by the MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Ms I Cronje, on the occasion of the presentation of the Department of Education Budget for the financial year ending

Honourable Chairperson
Ladies and gentlemen

It is my great privilege and pleasure to present to you today the budget of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education for the financial year 2007/2008. I would like to extend a special welcome to all learners who are with us today representing schools, Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges and Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) Centres in our province.

Introduction

The President in his State of the Nation Address of Friday, 9 February 2007, spoke of the need to work together to build a South Africa defined by a common dream. The creation of a transformed, positive, thriving society depends on education. We all share an ambition for KwaZulu-Natal to excel. We in education have come a long way towards this goal. The province has made considerable strides during the past year.

A great deal has been achieved and I believe we have reached a point where we are ready to excel. Since 2004 we have been laying the foundations for achieving academic excellence in all our schools through the formation of a well-functioning, informed and responsive department. Readiness to excel will be both a long term pro-active plan as well as a short term reaction to immediate situations. We will not tolerate non-delivery or inadequate achievement. We are tougher, more demanding, more ambitious as our expectations are growing. The results of our endeavours will begin to bear fruit in the medium term.

We know that despite the numerous challenges, including poverty, unemployment, infrastructure backlogs and crime to mention but a few, the KwaZulu-Natal Government has steadily put in place building blocks towards the realisation of the full meaning of freedom in education and in other contexts. I must remind everyone present today that education is a contested terrain as it is through education that the envisaged integrated society based on the democratic values of equality, non-racialism and non-sexism can be achieved.

As our education system is founded on a concrete progressive foundation, our challenge today is to expand the frontiers of sustainable service for quality education. My department as part of government has the responsibility to provide sustainable, quality education through our schools, FET colleges and ABET centres. In this Budget Vote Speech, I will highlight the strategic priorities of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and indicate how we will resource them.

These are premised on the provincial priorities as announced by the Premier during the State of the Province Address. We recognise that our department, being the largest and one that consumes a large part of the Provincial Budget, is charged with the responsibility of leading in addressing our priorities. Our theme for this Financial Year is "Ready to Excel," in response to the question posed by Minister Naledi Pandor in her Budget Vote Speech last year. This has necessitated an amendment to our motto "failure is not an option" to "success is the only option." In this regard, we are shifting our reference point from failure to success and excellence.

As an anonymous writer once pronounced, excellence can be obtained if you:

* care more than others think is wise
* risk more than others think is safe
* dream more than others think is practical
* expect more than others think is possible.

It is this spirit of excellence that we want the education sector in our province to aspire to and achieve. We owe it to ourselves and to our people.

Achievements

Through our uniting and mobilising slogan "getting KwaZulu-Natal learning," I stood here last year outlining to this House the key interventions that we intended to make for the 2006/07 financial year. Allow me, Honourable Chairperson, to enumerate some of the key achievements that we have recorded over the past year.

Learning spaces, water and sanitation

I have been continually reminding this House of the legacy of infrastructure backlogs that we inherited. When I took office in 2004, I indicated that we had a backlog of, among other things, 14 667 classrooms, 21,7% (1 300) of schools without adequate sanitation facilities, 34% of schools without water on site; 60% of schools without power supply. Our achievements for the period in question should be judged in the context of this legacy.

Since 2004 the department has reduced the backlog it inherited of 14 667 classrooms by a total of 3 830 classrooms. Similarly, the department has built a total of 9 440 toilets since 2004, which has almost halved the number of schools without adequate sanitation facilities from 1 300 to 690.

The department's target for infrastructure service delivery in 2006/07 was to build a total of 1 750 classrooms and 2 750 toilets. Of these targets, the department was able to build a total of 1 090 classrooms (62% of target) and 3 711 toilets (135% of target). From 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 our implementing agents completed the following: IDT: 83 classrooms and 646 toilets, Ithala: 233 classrooms and 291 toilets; Umngeni: seven classrooms and 938 toilets; the Department of Public Works: 424 classrooms and 1 846 toilets, while our emerging contractors in the Fast Track programmes completed 93 classrooms. The department also provided 250 mobile classrooms in the past financial year.

In addition we have delivered three large new schools Nzuzwenhle Primary in Edendale, Ullovu Primary in Illovu and KwaMyeza Primary in Hammersdale. Thirty four administration blocks and 15 specialist laboratories were completed in the upgrades and additions programme, while approximately 130 administration blocks, four computer rooms and 13 libraries are under construction and due for completion by the end of April 2007 in the Curriculum Redress Programme.

In 2007/08, we will further reduce our inherited backlog by a further 1 750 classrooms and 2 750 toilets. In line with the department's focus on ensuring safety and security in schools, a total of 147 schools received fencing during the course of 2006/07. We initiative will continue in 2007/08 to erect fences at schools without them.

Repairs and Renovations

An amount of R240 million was spent in the 2006/2007 financial year on substantial repairs and even total renovations of schools across the province. Sixty eight schools had to be renovated as a matter of urgency as a result of storm damage during the 2006/07 financial year.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Schools Project

The provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to schools was previously a neglected area in the Department. In 2005, for the first time, the Department embarked on a strategy to ensure that the provision of ICT to schools receives attention. This strategy was successful and the first phase ensured that 50% of schools have at least one computer for administrative purposes. The momentum has been sustained in that an additional 850 schools received one computer each in 2006. Different sections in the department collectively ensured the establishment of about 100 new computer laboratories that will be used for teaching and learning. Just over 2 300 educators from schools that received computers in the first phase were trained over three days in basic computer literacy. Many subjects in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 require educators to have computer skills. To this end 800 Grades 10-12 educators received accredited International Computer Drivers Licence (ICDL) training. A further 110 educators were trained in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Presently about 635 schools are connected to the Internet. Partnership programmes with the private sector have supported the provision of computers to schools.

From my Office we have rewarded 68 schools that obtained a 100% pass in the 2005 and 2006 matric examinations with computer laboratories of 10 or 20 computers per laboratory, as well as printers and relevant software. The Department is grateful for donations that have been made. A media centre and two computer laboratories sponsored by Bytes Technology were officially opened in February 2007.

A lack of electricity in many of our schools militates against the desired aim of providing computers to all schools. In addition, a lack of clarity on providing the e-Rate as per the Government's Communications Policy has posed a challenge to ensuring that schools receive connectivity at a discounted rate.

Education Centres Supporting Rural Development

Education Centres constitute one of our key interventions for dealing with the education resource hunger in our rural schools:

* these centres have been equipped with furniture, computers, data projectors, videos, television sets, photocopiers and access to the internet, as well as e-mail facilities.
* ninety-two computer laboratories have been set up in the centres
* renovations of close to R10 million at 76 centres were undertaken
* science kits have been delivered to some of the centres and more centres will be similarly equipped in 2007/08
* forty education centre managers assumed duty between January and March 2007.

The centres are also used as venues for empowerment programmes offering the Advanced Certificate in Education course for school librarians, Early Childhood Education facilitators training and language across the curriculum courses, computer courses and economic upliftment programmes for the benefit of local communities.

All this is made possible through the generous funding received from the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE) which allocated R160 million to the department and the Media in Education Trust for the implementation of this programme over a four year period.

Masifundisane Adult Literacy Campaign

Good progress has been made towards achieving the objectives of the Masifundisane Adult Literacy Campaign � the provincial community programme to teach adult learners in the province to read write and count.

By Saturday, 1 April 2007, a total of 33 000 learners had been recruited and assigned to facilitators. Obonjeni has the highest learner numbers at 5 300 and Umlazi has the lowest at 600 learners thus far. We pay a special tribute for the successful recruitment to the communities and structures of civil society that continue to mobilise and fly the flag of Masifundisane high. Masifundisane has truly become an inclusive community programme. This is illustrated by the involvement of 92 partner organisations.

Teaching is conducted by trainee facilitators and volunteers. Of the 800 facilitators that we have trained, 400 signed formal contracts, drawing a monthly stipend of R1 000. Exciting and effective teaching and learning material in isiZulu the mother tongue of 80% of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have been developed by the Masifundisane component of the Department. The liberating potential of the Masifundisane campaign is such that six months ago an elderly woman, Gogo Shongwe, who could not read and write and who had to sign her name by drawing a cross, can now sign her own name. I acknowledge her presence in the public gallery today. Sawubona Gogo Shongwe!

To ensure effective monitoring of learning sites, broad-based monitoring teams have to date been set up in 11 out of the 12 education districts. The setting up of the monitoring systems and teams is in line with our goal of providing nothing less than excellent service to our people.

Adult Basic Education and Training

Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET): the formal literacy programme is one of our provincial priority programmes that is seen as an indispensable transformation project, contributing to the reconstruction and development of our previously disadvantaged communities. During the 2006/07 period our public learning centres increased from 1 030 to 1 054; the number of educators from 6 212 to 6 575 and the number of learners increased from 53 138 to 54 439.

Despite these achievements, the sector is still faced with the challenges of fully complying with the ABET Act, the Employment of Educators Act of 1998 and Basic Conditions of Employment Act 1996, impacting on labour stability in the sector. We hope that discussions with labour unions in the national Education Relations Labour Council (ELRC) on the conditions of service of ABET practitioners will yield positive results to address these challenges.

Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Consistent with national policy to provide a Grade R class at every school that offers Grade 1, a total of 151 976 of a possible 227 459 children in the Province could enrol for Grade R by the end of March 2007. This implies that we have reached 67% of our 2010 target of the universal Grade R. We also reached our target of 1 200 new ECD practitioners for 2006/07, increasing the total number of ECD practitioners to 3 794, of which 853 are in community-based sites and 2 941 are in public primary schools.

Monitoring the functionality of schools

As part of our readiness to excel we have prioritised the monitoring of the functionality of schools. In this regard, I thank all Honourable Members of this House, led by the Premier, who participated in the programme of visiting schools in the first three days of the 2007 school year. The Department of Education has a responsibility to ensure that children have access to education and to this end we have extended the monitoring to the first three days and the last three days of each term. We do this with the belief that our schools cannot excel without achieving basic functionality as a prerequisite.

From 28 to 30 March this year, departmental officials visited a total of 200 schools, focusing on the poorly performing schools. The emphasis on school functionality monitoring has assisted in terms of improving the work ethic at these schools.

The purpose of this exercise is:

* to set the tone and to emphasise the fact that teaching and learning should happen from the first day of school until the very last day of the term
* to identify gaps and challenges and ensure the necessary support through post-monitoring intervention
* to recognise good performance and give schools extrinsic motivation
* to monitor the provision of infrastructure
* to monitor the implementation of the turnaround plans developed by underperforming schools.

Safety in Schools

I am very concerned that our educators and learners have become victims of violence in and around our schools. Strategies have been put in place to increase the level of security in schools. Schools in the 12 education districts have been linked to their local police stations. This will enhance the capacity of the School Safety Committees and principals to deal with crime in and around their schools. The schools have been clustered into policing sectors and principals have the names and contact details of police sector managers.

A revised School Safety Policy, highlighting the roles and functions of safety structures at school, as well as the policing sector, district and provincial levels, has been put into place.

Last year I reported that we were entering into a partnership with Business against Crime. I am pleased to report that the 'Tiisa Thuto' pilot project in 52 schools has been undertaken in the following five districts:

* Umgungundlovu: 7 schools
* Port Shepstone: 6 schools
* Empangeni: 12 schools
* Umlazi: 8 schools
* Pinetown: 19 schools.

We are now considering the extension of the Tiisa Thuto project to other districts.

Awards for excellent schools

100% club and most improved schools:

A total of 80 public schools that either obtained a 100% pass in the 2006 Senior Certificate Examination and/or had drastic improvements in their results received rewards in the form of computers and printers, science kits, library books and sports equipment to the value of R4,7 million.

Of these, 34 schools that already have equipped computer laboratories will receive science kits, library books or sports equipment to the value of R136 215 00. Each of the 24 schools with no computer laboratories with an enrolment of less than 500 learners will be provided with 10 computers, one printer and software, while 11 schools with an enrolment of more than 500 learners will receive 20 computers, 10 printers and relevant software per computer laboratory.

The following nine schools that improved their results from below 20% to above 60% in 2006 were rewarded with science kits, sports kits and library book vouchers to the value of R136 215.

* Thokozwayo: from 0% to 100%
* Leshman: from 11.8% to 92%
* Sizathina: from 0% to 85.7%
* Isulomphakathi: from 15,6% to 75%
* Gcinokuhle: from 18,8% to 70%
* Joko: from 0% to 69%
* Mankenke: from 8,6% to 65%
* Momaqoni: from 13,8% to 62,5%
* Mashinga: from 16% to 60,7%.

These awards demonstrated our appreciation for the hard work of the principals, the teachers and the learners of these schools in their quest to excel.

Teachers' Bursaries

Two years ago we changed the bursary system to deal with the critical shortage of teachers in gateway subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Technology. The new bursary system has also in part addressed the large number of applications for financial assistance from historically disadvantaged learners who passed their Senior Certificate Examinations and wish to study at, or are already enrolled at tertiary institutions.

Instead of giving our limited funds to students to study in fields not related to education the department has now entered into agreements with students to study towards teaching qualifications in scarce and critical fields. In 2006 the KZN Department of Education awarded bursaries to 55 students to study towards BEd degrees. In February 2007 the department awarded bursaries to 78 new students, taking our bursary allocation to a total of R4,5 million per annum.

A total of 133 students have been awarded bursaries in 2006 and 2007 by the Office of the MEC. After completion of their studies they will be employed by the department for at least an equal number of years to their studies.

We acknowledge the contribution of social partners in adding to the limited resources at our disposal to ensure the expansion of access to teacher education bursaries. We acknowledge GEM school wear for sponsoring two students to study towards teaching qualifications. We also thank the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for awarding bursaries to 10 students to be trained in the teaching of scarce subjects.

Provision of Learner and Teacher Support Materials (LTSM)

I reiterate what I reported to the legislature on Thursday, 15 March 2007, that the delivery of textbooks for the 2007 school year showed significant improvement from 2006. Honourable Members could testify that during their visits to schools on the first day it was evident that 95% of the schools they visited had 100% deliveries in terms of basic stationery and textbooks. The story of textbook and stationery delivery for the rest of our schools was similar to what the Honourable members experienced during their visits.

Part of the improvement in the delivery of textbooks and stationery can be attributed to the tightening of our monitoring systems. To this end a project management team was appointed to assist the department in monitoring the work of the Learning to Teach Secondary Mathematics (LTSM) Managing Agents. In addition, we streamlined the LTSM procurement processes to drastically reduce the turn around time between placing orders and delivery to schools.

Providing library books to our schools

Reading is the most basic requirement to excel and we regard the provision of library books to our schools as an essential need. A total of R40 million has been spent in 2006/07 to purchase library books for 652 schools. Deliveries are currently taking place, using local drivers, which generates an income for people in poor communities.

National School Nutrition Programme

The past year was the third year in which the Department of Education administered the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). The department regards food security as one of the key pillars of our fight against poverty and hunger. The nutrition programme has been crucial in promoting food production and economic activities in schools and surrounding communities and in strengthening nutrition education in the school curriculum.

In a nutshell, 3 663 schools participated in the NSNP, including 16 schools for learners with special educational needs. We are now extending it to all LSEN schools that indicated such a need. More than 1,3 million learners participate in the scheme from Mondays to Fridays for 156 days in a school year. The programme has also been extended to 151 schools in Umzimkhulu on the same basis as it was operating in the rest of the province.

The menus are standardised and carefully analysed for the nutritional content. There are approximately 4 000 cooks involved in food preparation. Last year I indicated that we had begun training 43 local women co-operatives to participate in the programme. I am pleased to report that all 43 local women co-operatives became operational in July 2006 and are providing much needed employment for more than 400 women in poor communities.

No fee schools

The no fee policy was introduced to make sure that all children of school going age have access to education. Many children have been denied access to schooling because of the low socio-economic status of their families. Children from poor families have had their report cards and examination results unlawfully withheld because their parents could not afford to pay compulsory school fees.

The introduction of the policy will ensure that the children at schools declared no fee schools have access to education. Voluntary contributions from parents and community members who can afford to do so are however welcome. We take great pride in having introduced the no fee schools in our province in 2006 which benefited the poorest 20% of schools in Quintile 1. The 2006/07 financial year also witnessed the successful revision of criteria that has taken cognisance of parents� poverty index. Many of the schools that had previously been incorrectly categorised were located in appropriate quintiles. More will be said of the figures and funds when I address this House on key interventions of the department for 2007.

Skills development through FET Colleges

I take great pride in the manner in which the FET colleges are taking on the challenge of contributing significantly to the building of the skills base of our province.

In 2006/2007 the Recapitalisation Conditional Grant of R90 million enabled our FET Colleges to:

* upgrade 35 workshops and classrooms at campuses
* upgrade 21 skills centres
* upgrade administrative systems and procedures
* train all lecturers in the National Certificate Vocational
* train all management and administrative staff in the new administrative system and procedures.

This year saw the introduction of the National Certificate Vocational which is a new national qualification for FET colleges. All 11 new programmes of the NCV are offered at the nine FET Colleges in our province and offer a viable alternative to learners after completion of grade nine at ordinary schools. Since my appointment as MEC in 2004 I have actively encouraged FET Colleges not to limit themselves to formal qualification programmes but also to offer short courses to thousands of unskilled youth and adults in our province. In this regard, apart from the NCV programmes, our FET colleges have offered leadership and skills programmes in areas such as carpentry, home industries, bricklaying, electrician work, plumbing and welding.

It is significant that 122 448 young people and adults have benefited from both the formal qualifications and short courses by the end of the 2006 academic year. An amount of R18,5 million was allocated to our province as a bursary fund to support the students enrolled for the National Certificate Vocational. The NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) has assisted us in the processing of applications and a total number of 2 411 students have benefited from this fund.

The Tooling Centre of Excellence: Last year I announced that through a partnership with the Tooling Industry we were going to establish a Tooling Centre of Excellence. Whilst we have already enrolled learners at the Plessislaer Campus of the Umgungundlovu FET College, the construction of the Centre on the Durban Campus of the Coastal KZN FET College is nearing completion. KZN is in the fore front of resurrecting the dying art of tool making in South Africa with this R40 million pilot project. South Africa requires 54 000 toolmakers and our target in this province is that by 2014 at least 22% of all required toolmakers must be available in KwaZulu-Natal. Statistically, for each trained toolmaker, 10 new downstream jobs would be created.

One of our strategic partners in skills development in this country is the Umsobomvu Youth Fund. The fund has provided support to three of our FET Colleges in the province. Umfolozi FET College was allocated R1.4 million to develop youth on Community Gardening, Hydrophonic Co-operatives and Small Scale Poultry; Coastal KZN FET College was allocated R3 million for Engineering and Manufacturing courses and Umgungundlovu FET College received a grant of R500 000 to build a youth advisory centre targeting unemployed graduates and other young people in need of skills upliftment.

The Monuments of Peace Project, in conjunction with the Office of the Premier, was established to explore the opportunities for the training, involving and utilising of former combatants in building toilets in rural schools in the province. Of a total of 200 former soldiers, 99 have already been trained through the Umgungundlovu FET College in basic construction skills in 2006 and another 100 have enrolled for 2007.

In a partnership with the Department of Correctional Services 150 prisoners have already enrolled at the Majuba FET College in the civil, mechanical and electrical fields, as well as for computer literacy. Our province was chosen to pilot the introduction of a Virtual Private Network for colleges and was allocated an amount of R65 million for this purpose. All colleges as well as Head Office are now digitally connected. This has led to improved communication between Head Office and the central campuses of all nine colleges.

Technical and focus schools

Last year we allocated R20 million for the recapitalization of technical and focus schools. We installed computer laboratories in 17 non-section 21 schools with the auto computer aided design (CAD) programme for Engineering Graphics Design and Civil Technology. A total of 18 section 21 schools were allocated funds for the installation of computers, the purchase of tools and equipment for Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Technology.

Eleven section 21 schools received funds to purchase equipment and appliances for consumer Studies and Hospitality Studies. Furthermore, 10 non-section 21 schools received full equipment and appliances for Consumer Studies and Hospitality Studies. Most agriculture focus schools in the province received funds for the installation of computer laboratories. We also provided agricultural science kits to 517 schools offering Agricultural Science.

Teacher Training

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been upgrading the qualifications of close to 3 000 unqualified and under qualified teachers since 2004. Prior to the advent of democracy in 1994, the then separate education departments had varying numbers of unqualified (standard eight to matric) and under-qualified matric plus one and two years tertiary education). The departments that were worst affected by this phenomenon were those departments in former homelands, as well as the Department of Education and Training. In a survey conducted by the National Education Department in 2002 KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of unqualified and under-qualified teachers.

Between 2004 and 2007 a total of 2963 teachers have been enrolled at institutions to upgrade their qualifications. The process for the 2007 intake is underway. A total of 1150 educators are being registered with two Higher Education Institutions, namely, the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and Zululand. The Netherlands is funding the training through the national department of Education.

Employment of Educators

Since 2004 we have allocated significant budgetary resources to ensure the steady reduction of the learner-educator (L: E) ratio. The L: E ratio has been reduced from 34.9:1 to 31.36:1 over the past three years. This achievement has been welcomed by all our social partners, in particular our teacher unions.

Another milestone for us has been the conversion of an additional 1 667 temporary educator posts to permanent status in terms of the Provincial Collective Agreement No 1 of 2006. This has helped address the perennial problem of job security and rewarded the invaluable service of these teachers to education. We have reached a further agreement with our teacher unions that will result in an additional number of temporary teachers being converted to permanent teachers.

As indicated last year there will always be a need for the employment of temporary teachers for various periods to cater for the temporary absence of teachers due to a variety of circumstances. It should be noted that the reduction of the number of temporary educators to a bare minimum would be greatly enhanced by the logical conclusion of the post distribution process on an annual basis as agreed to with teacher unions under the National Post Distribution Model.

One of the mitigating factors against converting teachers to permanent status is the problem of teachers who are professionally unqualified. These include teachers who have obtained a first degree but do not possess a teaching qualification and those teachers who possess neither a degree nor a teaching qualification. The department has many such teachers offering scarce subjects in schools across the province. To that end the department has agreed to regard the employment of temporary educators offering subjects where there is a skills shortage as permanent for the purposes of implementing the final post establishment. This includes temporary educators who are academically qualified but who do not have a professional teaching qualification and who are employed as or are offering: Technical subjects, including Hair Care, Technical Drawing, Instrumental Music, Practical ballet, national Greek dances, History of Ballet and Anatomy, training in the Hotel and Catering Industry, Ballet accompanists, Speech and Drama, nursing at schools for learners with special educational needs, librarians, education therapists, psychologists and social workers or pedagogues, instructional programmes in the Engineering field, programmes in the fields of Business Studies, Art, Agriculture, Computer and Information Studies, Maritime Studies, Utility Services and Social Services.

In addition the KZN department has included Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology, Accounting, Business Economics and Economics to the list of subjects. This will benefit educators who are academically qualified but without teaching diplomas, currently appointed on a temporary basis. Such educators will be treated as permanent and their services will not be terminated. Such educators may be considered for upgrading, especially where a skills shortage has been identified.

Two collective agreements were signed and implemented in 2006/07. These are Collective Agreement No. 3 of 2006, which provides for revised norms for grading of schools; and Collective Agreement No. 5 of 2006, which provides for salary progression (1%), accelerated progression (3%) and grade progression (7%) to eligible educators. Our department is one of the few that have been able to implement these agreements within specified time frames.

Women in Senior Management Service (SMS)

In 2006/07 I indicated that the department is making great strides in addressing the under-representation of women at the Senior Management Service level. I can announce today that we have increased the number of women at SMS level from 29% to 37% in the past year. This is a far cry from the 17% in 2004! We are determined to reach the national target of 50% by the end of 2009.

Administration

The department's administration component remains an important means of ensuring effective support for the provision of quality education in the province. After months of discussions with our social partners, we finally concluded the organisational review of the department in November 2006. We are currently in the process of filling critical posts established in the new organogram. These include key management and professional posts in the subject advisory and the psychological services.

Members of the Portfolio Committees on Finance and Education and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will be well aware of the great strides we have made in putting our house in order in respect of financial management. For the second year running we obtained a qualified audit opinion after five years of consecutive disclaimers. Of significance in the 2005/06 audit opinion is that the department received only one qualification. We are working around the clock to realise the day when the department will obtain a clean, unqualified bill of health from the Auditor-General.

We are also pleased that the quality of management information from schools improved significantly in 2006/07. Funding allocated to this function in the previous financial year enabled the Department to employ technical assistants to implement the South African School Administration and Management System (SA SAMS) and the Learner Unit Record and Information Tracking System (LURITS) and to purchase appropriate equipment in support of the EMIS function at district and school levels.

School Sports Mass Participation Programme

The School Sports Mass Participation Programme a joint project with the Department of Sport and Recreation involves intra-school and inter-school sports programmes across the province:

* 159 schools have been identified
* 159 school sports assistants, nine cluster co-ordinators and two administration officers were appointed and trained
* educators and volunteers in each of the six sports codes received training by provincial federations and the Academy of Sport
* sports equipment was provided to all 159 schools
* successful sports festivals in each of the nine clusters were held, impacting positively on learners.

We are grateful to MEC Rajbansi for his enthusiastic support of and co-operation with the Department of Education.

Key interventions for 2007/08

Key interventions for this current financial year are:

Personnel

The department has recently completed the development of a Human Resources Plan. The plan, among other things, emphasises the importance of skills development and is also in line with the equity targets of the department. In accordance with the Skills Development Act, the department has set aside 1% of its personnel budget to provide training and development programmes to its employees, as identified through the processes of the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) and the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS).

HIV and AIDS

The Life Skills and HIV and AIDS Education Programme is a prevention programme in the curriculum and is compulsory for all primary and secondary schools. Approximately 2 880 ECD; 22 400 GET and 3 400 Grades 10-11 teachers have been trained to run this programme. The programme has been implemented in the Life Orientation Learning Area in all our schools.

The 2007/08 Business Plan has made provision for the top-up training of 1700 Grade 12 teachers. The integration of HIV and AIDS into all learning areas will be rolled out to 2 800 Grade R sites.

Extension of no fee schools

Last year a total of 1 341 schools in quintile 1 were declared no fee schools. The allocation per learner was R569 which was above the national adequacy level of R527 per learner. We have increased the allocation to R629 per learner in Quintile 1 in 2007.

For 2007 the no fee schools have been extended to include all schools in quintile 2 we have a total number of 503 386 learners in 1 212 schools in quintile 2. This is in addition to 676 110 learners in 2 130 schools in Quintile 1. A grand total of 1 179 496 learners and 3 342 schools, which translates into 42% of the total number of learners will benefit from the programme. The per learner allocation for Quintile 2 has been increased in 2007 from R422 to R560 per learner.

Consolidation of rural and farm schools

Our department has adopted a strategy to consolidate rural and farm schools aimed at reviving and equipping them sufficiently so that they cater for a significantly large number of learners in rural and farm schools.

The consolidation project will include upgrading institutions so that learners have access to bigger and better resourced schools, equipped with facilities such as laboratories, libraries and computers. This is a major long-term project of our department. It will not be done and completed in one go. During the 2007/8 financial year we aim to launch the project at Appelsbosch and Msinga on a pilot basis. The project will include the provision of boarding facilities at Umsinga Secondary school and at the former Appelsbosch College of Education. This initiative allows us to accommodate as many as 800 learners in Umsinga and about 1 200 in Appelsbosch. We have allocated R20 million for this purpose in the 2007/8 financial year.

Senior Certificate Improvement Plan (R20 million)

We have developed a sustainable Senior Certificate Improvement Plan to improve the performance of our grade 12s. We launched the plan on 25 January 2007, as we had promised at the release of the 2006 Senior Certificate Examinations results. The focus is on all schools with a pass rate below 50%, as well as schools that fluctuated in performance over the last five years. Schools with a performance backflow exceeding 10% will also be targeted through specific interventions.

Our Senior Certificate Improvement Plan is based on the premise that the school remains the central place for the execution of the core mandate of the Department of Education. The Top Management of the Department under my leadership has been visiting all districts to meet school management teams from all underperforming and fluctuating schools. Likewise, district, circuit and ward officials have been visiting and supporting underperforming schools and are monitoring the implementation of the turnaround plans that each underperforming school developed early this year. We also met with all principals of underperforming schools during February 2007 in an effort to enable them to excel.

The Department has allocated R20 million rand for this intervention, and we are confident that it will yield the desired results.

Masifundisane (R100 million)

Chairperson, as I indicated earlier, the Masifundisane Adult Literacy Campaign is making good progress, with 33 000 learners already recruited from churches, farms, prisons, workplaces and communities.

Our literacy tutors are reaching the hills and valleys of our province where illiterate citizens reside. We aim to accelerate the pace in the 2007/8 financial year and will reach an additional 300 000 learners and provide work to approximately 3000 facilitators and 300 supervisors/assessors in this financial year. Another development for this year is � besides teaching in isiZulu - to provide teaching in isiXhosa, SeSotho, English and Braille.

We have allocated R100 million for this programme.

ICT Roll out:

The White Paper on e-Education requires that all learners and educators in the General Education and Training (GET) and Further Education and Training (FET) bands are ICT competent by the year 2013. In the 2007/08 financial year an additional R40 million has been allocated for the roll-out of ICT.

A further 100 computer laboratories will be established in schools to ensure the integration of ICT into the teaching and learning process. In addition to the specialised ICT training to the FET educators, basic computer training will be offered to educators and managers.

An allocation of approximately R300 million per year over the next six years is required if we are to meet our target by 2013 in line with the goals of White Paper 7.

Recapitalisation of technical and focus schools

I referred earlier to our achievements on the recapitalisation of technical and focus schools in our quest to achieve excellence in vocational skills training. Given that most of these schools are located in disadvantaged communities, it is our intention to continue with our programme of recapitalisation that we started in 2006/7. In this regard, the Department has allocated R110 million over the 2006/07-2008/9 MTEF to recapitalise these schools. The budget for the 2007/8 financial year is R40 million. The intention is to supply these schools with tools, new equipment and facilities for practical training, as well as upgraded and new hardware and software for IT programmes.

As part of our promotion of focus schools, and with specific reference to agricultural high schools, our Department has partnered with the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs to provide curricular and other support to these schools from the current financial year.

Infrastructure

Eliminating the backlog in the provision of classrooms and toilets remains a challenge for the Department, primarily because of the lack of capacity among contractors to execute the number of projects planned. The Department will continue its Fast-Track Classroom Construction Programme (named �Accelerated Needs Delivery Programme�) and pay even more attention to the provision of water and sanitation facilities, as some old facilities have reached expiry dates. This year, we aim to build 1750 classrooms and 2500 toilets in schools across the province. For this purpose, the Department has allocated R974 million.

In order to create the necessary capacity for the successful implementation of the Infrastructure Development Improvement Programme (IDIP), the Department intends putting in place a high level operational support team to transfer skills and build the capacity of our officials to handle our infrastructure development programme in a more efficient and effective manner. Only through a highly competent cadre are we able to excel even further in the delivery of infrastructure to our schools.

QIDS-UP Programme

Chairperson, the Quality Improvement, Development, Support and Upliftment Programme (QIDS-UP) is a redress programme aimed at giving all South African schools an equal chance to provide quality education for all their learners. It is based on the following critical assumptions: that poverty is the most dominant reality for the majority of learners in the country; that these learners largely attend schools located in rural, farm and township schools; and that a large number of schools in South Africa serving poor learners do not have the basic minimum resources required to make quality learning possible.

For 2007/08 we have allocated a budget of R40 million to this programme. The target group consists of primary schools in Quintile 1. We plan to add Quintiles 2 and 3 schools and 30 special schools in the next three years.

The schools targeted by the QIDS UP programme will receive learning and teaching support materials to improve literacy, basic operational equipment such as photocopiers and fax machines, and renovations to ensure safe learning spaces.

More books to our schools

Another R40 million has been allocated to expand the delivery of library books to our schools in 2007/08 and a further allocation of R12 million will ensure that each of our 12 education district have a mobile library, which will service a cluster of at least 16 schools, reaching 20 000 learners per cluster. The Department is currently implementing a Provincial Reading Policy in which 100 schools are used as a pilot to improve the reading levels of learners.

School safety

School safety is a broader societal problem that has found its way into our schools, with deadly consequences as we have witnessed in recent times.

This year we will erect fences at all schools that do not have them. We will also be exploring the employment of security officers as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme. High risk schools will be targeted in this regard.

The Department will also be expanding the Tiisa Thuto programme to 15 more schools in districts such as Obonjeni, which were not catered for in this programme in the previous financial year.

In May this year, we will be convening a Provincial School Safety and Security Indaba at which all stakeholders will be afforded an opportunity to make inputs that will contribute to making our schools safe spaces for learners and educators. Only a combined effort by people from all walks of life will get us closer to crime-free schools.

Our peace pledge, launched at our provincial prayer rally for peace at Esikhawini two weeks ago, will be taken to all schools in the province. Learners and teachers are expected to sign the pledge and commit themselves to promoting respect for each other, peace, security and the dignity of fellow learners and teachers. This will later be rolled out to parents and all communities.

Building bridges and roads project

We are working closely with the Department of Transport to provide access roads and bridges to some of our inaccessible schools. We provided the Department of Transport with a database which indicated the condition of access roads to all schools. The Department of Transport has since allocated an amount of R82 million for upgrading roads and constructing pedestrian bridges, including access roads and bridges to schools, for the 2006/2007 financial year.

This will relieve the burden of walking to school over rough terrain for thousands of children in rural areas. A joint task team is being established between the Departments of Education, Transport and Works and we appreciate this cooperation.

Human Resource Management

The 2007/8 budget will allow the creation of 2000 posts to be allocated for the provision of substitute educators at any given time. In addressing the need for curriculum transformation at previously disadvantaged schools we have created a further 955 posts for curriculum redress.

A total of 455 posts have been created for the Grade R sector. These posts will be allocated to previously disadvantaged schools, as they were not afforded this luxury under the old dispensation.

To address the shortage of educators in subjects such as Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Travel and Tourism, Accounting, Economics, Business Economics, Technology, Computer Studies and Biology, we are recruiting retired teachers. To date the Department has registered 427 applicants. These educators will be appointed on a contractual part time basis where required.

As a long term proactive strategy, the department is planning for the placement of teacher assistants in the Foundation Phase. The teacher assistants will relieve the Permanent Foundation Phase teachers of approximately 40% of classroom management actions which are not necessarily direct teaching input. Foundation Phase learners will benefit from increased individual attention, thus laying a sound literacy and numeracy foundation at an early crucial stage. It will set learners on a firm path towards readiness to excel.

The department is also deploying teacher assistants in critical gateway subjects. The Senior Certificate teacher assistants will be recruited from retired teachers, unemployed university graduates and even retired lecturers for that matter. This intervention is aimed at providing excellence.

National School Nutrition Programme

The National School Nutrition Programme will include special schools and Grade R learners in registered community-based sites in 2007/08. Based on what we have learnt from this programme we will be increasing, with effect from the new financial year, the number of learners served by each Cooperative to 6 000 in order to ensure that the co-operatives begin to make some profit from their endeavours. During the year 2007/2008 all primary schools in quintiles 1 and 2, special schools and community based ECD sites that are in nodal areas will participate in the programme.

For the first time in history all schools with learners with special educational needs will have the opportunity to join the programme. Twenty-five new LSEN schools will benefit in the 2007/08 financial year in addition to the 16 that are already participating in the programme. The remaining LSEN schools are either boarding schools or day schools that did not indicate in writing that they wanted to be involved in the scheme.

Through the sustainable food production programme in partnership with the Departments of Agriculture, Health, Welfare and ELITS (non-governmental organisation (NGO), 85 schools have been selected to participate in this Flemish funded project.

The invoices for the March expenditure in respect of the National School Nutrition Programme are only received and processed during April, which falls into the next financial year, thus falling outside of the grant allocated for a particular financial year. The Department is investigating solutions to this perennial problem.

Public Special School Education

This financial year will bring great relief for parents of learners with special needs. For the first time in history the department will provide transport for these learners. They are the most vulnerable and need special protection. R20 million has been put aside for this purpose. We have increased the budget for this programme to address the uneven distribution of special schools in the province. The planning for three new special schools for delivery in the 2008/09 financial year in Hlabisa, Msinga and Eshowe has already started.

In line with our plan to convert ordinary schools and special schools into inclusive centres of learning, we will convert two schools in the 2007/2008 financial year into full service schools, as well as renovating nine LSEN schools.

Further Education and Training

The department has nine FET institutions and 74 delivery sites in the province that offer a wide range of programmes in order to respond fully to the needs of the communities, commerce, industry and macro-economic initiatives in KwaZulu-Natal. To this end, more linkages and partnerships between FET colleges, industries, and business, the Department of Labour, the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETAs) and the Departments of Finance and Economic Development are critical to ensure that colleges provide a range of learning programmes which are responsive to the labour market and cover diverse needs. Furthermore, the outreach programme was extended and a number of new skills training sites are being developed to increase access to training in selected rural areas.

Early Childhood Development

The department is currently developing a strategy for Grade R Roll-Out aimed at meeting the 2010 goals articulated in White Paper five. The strategy will be premised on the policy directive of White Paper five which requires that, by 2010, all learners entering Grade 1 should have gone through the Grade R reception year.

We will prioritise the poorest schools in rolling out Grade R classes. The department will start by providing Grade R to the poorest learners in quintiles one and two, before proceeding to quintile three; formulating a resourcing strategy outlining the extent of the need for Grade R classes and the financial implications thereof; building the human resource capacity which relates to qualifications, conditions of employment and a remuneration mechanism for ECD practitioners; determining the curriculum, learning and teaching support materials and other resources that enhance the quality of early learning programmes.; determining infrastructure needs essential for the age group.

The districts are identifying new sites for Grade R in public schools, as it is envisaged that the minimum number of sites per district in 2007/08 will be 100. The Department is not phasing in additional community-based sites, since White Paper 5 suggests a ratio of 85% public schools to 15% community based sites. The provincial ratio is currently 75:25.

Child Eye Care Programme in Primary Schools

An estimated 45 000 children in KZN schools need spectacles. An inter-sectoral project by the International Centre for Eye Care Education Africa (ICEE) will benefit all primary schools in KZN by immediately delivering eye care services to children in need and concurrently strengthen and develop the capacity of existing government structures to deliver ongoing eye care services to all primary school children in the province. This joint project with the Department of Health will result in vision screening at 4 353 primary schools, while an estimated 36 000 spectacles and 400 low vision devices will be dispensed.

School Sports Mass Participation Programme

The School Sports Mass Participation Programme the joint intra-school and inter-school project with the Department of Sport and Recreation that started in the previous financial year will continue in the 2007/08 financial year and a further nine clusters and 162 schools will be introduced into the programme. Equipment will be given to 321 schools and all contract employees and 5 778 educators and or volunteers will be trained. For this financial year 36 cluster festivals will be organised.

Presentation of the department's budget

The following programmes are key delivery areas that the department will be pursuing during the 2007/08 financial year:

Programme 1: Administration: (Budget R1 084 282 000)

This programme contains the funds for the Executive Authority and the overall management of the Department as shown below:

The Office of the MEC: (Budget R14 090 000)

There is a slight decrease in the current budget as opposed to the prior year�s budget of R18 689 000. This is due to once off activities undertaken as a result of the restructuring to the Office of the MEC. Approximately R4,5 million of the budget of the Office of the MEC will be used for bursaries for students to study towards a teaching qualification at tertiary institutions and about R4,7 million will be used for schools that achieved a 100% pass rate and schools that have shown a dramatic improvement in their Grade 12 results.

Education Management: (Budget R1 070 192 000)

Education Management is made up of a number of components including Corporate Services, Human Resources Development (HRD), HIV and AIDS Conditional Grant and Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) which are specifically disclosed in the Budget Statement as required by the Education sector. As explained in the paragraph above, there are certain activities which we did not cater for in this financial year because there were once off expenditures, solely to support the restructuring of the department, which is almost complete. Under this sub-programme we specifically provide:

* R35 292 000 to HIV and AIDS to assist in the fight against this pandemic
* R61 441 to HRD for training and development of the administration staff
* R34 859 000 to EMIS for the improvement in the collection, capturing, analysing and provision of data, including statistical data.

Programme 2: Public ordinary schools: (Budget R16 078 596 000)

The lion's share of the department�s budget is for providing learning and teaching facilities in our public ordinary schools. Listed below are sub-programmes in this programme:

Public Ordinary Schools: (Budget R15 582 029 000)

This budget combines the allocation for ordinary primary and secondary schools. 84% of this budget is for the remuneration of educators and the rest is for norms and standards (11%) and infrastructure development (5%).

Access to basic education is a constitutional right. Yet for many learners, especially in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, access is hampered by the long distances that our children have to travel to school.

To provide transport to learners in KwaZulu-Natal would require more than R900 million which is money that we don't have in our budget. We only have a R10 million allocations to deal with emergency cases and this is cause for great concern to us as well as to all our stakeholders, in particular to our children and their parents. We have also been working closely with the Department of Transport to make walking routes to schools safe and secure and to provide bridges and road infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.

Professional Services: (Budget R79 331 000)

In line with the Education sector requirements we have combined the previously separated budgets of Advisory services and Planning services. The increase in this component was limited to 4%. This is an area in which future increases will be significant in order to address the shortage of Subject Advisors.

Human Resources Development: (Budget R126 780 000)

This budget combines the allocations for Skills Development.

In-school Sport and Culture: (Budget R30 450 000)

This component provides in-school sports and in-school cultural activities as well as youth activities. Its activities are severely affected by its under-funding. It needs to be borne in mind that when the Department of Arts and Culture as well as the Department of Sports and Recreation were formed, their budgets were moved from Education to them. However, in-schools Sports and Culture was assigned to the department, but the budget did not follow. We had to make funding available from other programmes, but the allocation remains inadequate, although we are progressively increasing this budget.

National school nutrition programme: (Budget R260 006 000)

The budget for school nutrition is systematically growing, with an 8,62% growth in the current financial year. Ideally we should cover all the poor schools, including such high schools and this is our medium to long term goal.

Programme 3: Independent school subsidies: (Budget R48 702 000)
The budget for this programme has increased by 5% in the current year which is a normal increase.

Programme 4: Public special school education: (Budget R359 296 000)

The budget for Special Schools has increased by 21% in order to address the shortage of Special Schools in the Province. Planning and the documentation for the renovation of nine schools and the conversion of two schools into full service schools are well advanced and construction will soon start. The planning for three new special schools in 2008/2009 has also started: Intuthuko (Hlabisa), Ukukhanya koMsinga (Msinga) and Thembinfundo (Eshowe) will be completed in the 2008/2009.

Programme 5: Further Education and Training: (Budget R401 275 000)

The budget for this programme includes the conditional grant of R115 453 000 for recapitalisation. Increased funding is required to do justice to the dire need for skills training in the province.

Programme 6 � Adult Basic Education and Training: (Budget R106 968 000)

The budget for this programme excludes the Masifundisane budget, which was moved to Programme 8 in line with the requirements of the Education Sector. Excluding the Masifundisane budget in the 2006/07 budget, the budget for the formal ABET programme has increased by R12 013 000.

Programme 7: Early Childhood Development: (Budget R167 697 000)

The programme has two sub-programmes, namely Grade R in Community Centres and Grade R in Public schools. We will be adding 1655 new subsidized Grade R classes to public primary schools. Another improvement is that all Grade R classes will receive R1500 for equipment. Salaried subsidies have also increased from R1500 to R1750 per month in the 2007/08 financial year.

Programme 8: Auxiliary Services: (Budget R330 005 000)

The programme has three sub-programmes, namely Examination Services (R215 237 000), Payments to Sectoral Education and Training Authority (SETA) (R14 768 000) and Masifundisane (R100 million).

Conclusion

Everyone in this House will agree that the task at hand is enormous, but the resolve to ensure optimal operational efficiency and effectiveness is as constant as the North Star.

We commit ourselves to continuously enhance the efficiency and capacity of the department to respond adequately to the ever-changing needs of the varied communities we serve. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all members of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education for the remarkable contributions they have made through their unstinting commitment to the transformation of education in the province. I offer my heartfelt thanks to the Honourable Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sbu Ndebele; the Executive Council, the Portfolio Committees on Education and on Finance, as well as the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Speaker and Members of the Provincial Legislature support in "getting KwaZulu-Natal Learning."

In conclusion, this budget will go some way to enable us to reach sustained levels of improvement and quality in the future. However, we still need to achieve quality learning outcomes for all our learners, optimal conditions for quality teaching for our teachers and effective and responsive support mechanisms that create the basis for a working system of education. A long winding road lies ahead but we in this province are ready to excel with your help and support, Honourable Members.

Honourable Chair, I commend this Budget to the House.

Ngiyabonga! Baie dankie! Enkosi! I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Education, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
2 May 2007