SECTION 4

EVALUATION OF THE PROVINCES’ PROGRESS IN THE PROCUREMENT OF LEARNING SUPPORT MATERIALS (LSM) FOR 2001

Delivery of LSM for the opening of schools in January 2000

The Department of Education requested provincial departments of education to provide information on progress made up till 31 January 2000 regarding the delivery of learning support materials. The information is summarised in Table 4.1.

The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga experienced delays with the tendering process during the second half of 1999. Tenders were only approved late in November to December 1999. As a result of this, deliveries only commenced in January in KwaZulu-Natal. Information is awaited from the other provinces.

From information supplied by the provincial departments of education only the Northern Cape indicated supplying textbooks, workbooks and stationery to all the grades. The remaining provinces appear to have supplied LSM to grades which required materials for Curriculum 2005. Most provinces supplied stationery to all grades except the Eastern Cape, which provided only for grades 1 to 9. No information was obtained from Mpumalanga and Northern Province. None of the provinces had supplied all the textbooks by 31 January 2000. The reasons provided vary from shortage of funds in the case of KwaZulu-Natal to shortages due to books that are out of print in the case of Gauteng and the capacity of suppliers and late deliveries by publishers in the case of the North West. It appears from the table that some of the provinces will only complete deliveries by the end of March 2000.

LSM budget for the year 2000 and for 2001

Provincial Departments of Education were requested to supply information regarding the budget allocation for LSM in preparation of schools opening in 2001. The budget allocations reserved for 2001 are compared to the budget allocations for 2000. This information is summarised in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Comparison of budget allocation for the procurement of learning support materials for 2000 and for 2001

(Figures for 2001 are only indicative, as Provincial Treasuries had not approved them at the time of writing.)

The total amount allocated by the provincial departments of education in the financial year 1999/2000 for textbooks and workbooks for the opening of schools in January 2000 was R579.3 million. While this amount fell far short of the amount required it nevertheless was an improvement and was more that double the amount available in the previous financial year. It should be expected, with the phasing-in of Grades 4 and 8 at the beginning of 2001, that the expenditure on LSM should increase beyond the R579 million. Information currently available and reflected in Table 4.2 does not indicate that this will necessarily be case.

Three important aspects of the procurement and distribution of the learning support materials that require timely action are:

• Textbook selection should be completed early enough to ensure that schools and teachers have adequate time to evaluate the LSM and complete requisitions, preferably by June of each year. This would leave adequate time for directorates responsible for procurement to consolidate and submit orders by August of each year.

• All the steps in the procurement process are monitored and coordinated on a continuous basis and regular reports given to senior management in each province so that corrective action can be taken timely should that be necessary.

• Ensuring that the budget allocation for LSM is adequate or at least does not decline but should rather increase and be secured. This will ensure that any intervention that is deemed necessary should the allocation appear to decline, can be taken timely

1. Eastern Cape

Management plan for the procurement process

The management plan for the procurement process is reflected in Table 4.3

Table 4.3: The management plan for the procurement process

Budget allocation for stationery and textbooks.

The amount reserved for procurement of learning materials for 2001 reflected in Table 4.2 is R162 738 237 (pending voting by Cabinet). This amount exceeds the allocation for 2000 by R43 million as would be expected due to the phasing-in of Grades 4 and 8.

4.2 Free State

Summary of steps completed in the LSM procurement cycle and projected dates of remaining steps

The Free State has a detailed management plan which is monitored continuously to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays. Only key steps have been reflected for the purpose of this report.

Table 4.4 Management plans for the procurement of learning support materials for January 2001

Budget allocation for stationery and textbooks

The provincial department has introduced a book retrieval system in all its schools which will contribute to the reduction of the amount required on its budget for book provisioning. The amounts that have been allocated for stationery and textbooks by the provincial department are R24 million and R70 million respectively as shown in Table 4.2 above. The LSM budget allocation for 2001 has increased by R20.4 million compared to the budget for the year 2000.

4.3 Gauteng

Summary of steps completed in the LSM procurement cycle and projected dates of remaining steps

The department is currently evaluating the 1999/2000 procurement process. The purpose of the evaluation is to enable the department to effect improvements when planning for the 2000/2001 process. The areas of evaluation are the performance of the suppliers, regional district teams and the overall process.

The current suppliers signed a two-year contract with GDE to supply learning support materials for 2000 and 2001. They will still supply schools with materials in 2000 for 2001. The department needs to evaluate their performance in the 1999/ 2000 process so as to determine whether or not it would wish to continue with them in the future financial year.

The regional teams were responsible for the ordering and delivery activities of the LSM provisioning process. Subsequent to the department’s restructuring process, the functions of the current regions will be transferred to districts and to head office. The department needed to evaluate its processes in order to inform decisions regarding the movement of staff.

The district and school processes require management of the open system adopted by Gauteng in 1997 and continued in 1999/2000. Districts and schools focused on developing their systems towards self-management. The department needed to evaluate their understanding of the process before it could even evaluate the systems they had developed.

The department will determine if any weaknesses existed in the overall management of the process of delivery of learning support material for 2000 and effect the necessary refinement for delivery in 2001.

The management plan of the department is in Table 4.4

Table 4.4: Provincial management plan for procurement of learning support materials in 2001

Each of the processes has a number of other activities at different levels of the procurement process. The different levels (offices) have already developed their operational plans, based on the provincial management plan.

Summary of completed steps

• Evaluation of the current process (1999/2000)

(i) Supplier’s report - 4 February 2000

(ii) Regional teams – 4 February 2000

(iii) District teams – 4 February 2000

• Calling for submissions from publishers – 10 January 2000
• Development of frame for provincial management plan : 20-21 January 2000
• District operational plans : 28 January 2000
• Planning workshops with schools on school activities (including training on selection) :
• South Region : 31 January to 4 February 2000
• North Region : 7-11 February 2000
• Central Region: 14-18 February 2000
• Establishment of LSM school teams : February 1999
• Development of evaluation and selection instrument : January 2000

Projected dates for remaining steps

Only the main dates are given as per provincial management plan:

• Requisitioning31 May 2000
• Ordering28 July 2000
• Delivering31 October 2000

However, the latest date for the submission of materials by the publishers for evaluation is 21 February 2000. The evaluation of this material will take place between that date and 15 April 2000 to enable schools to put systems in place for requisitioning.

The department is also developing an LSM manual to benefit in particular, the Section 21.1 ( c) schools: target date: 28/02/2000.

Budget for procurement learning support materials

The provincial department of education will be implementing the Norms and Standards for Funding Schools this year. Schools will allocate 60% of their total allocated budget to learning materials and to all other curricular needs. Schools have been allocated R151m, of which 60% should be used on LSM and other curriculum needs. Workshops to train school and district office staff on all LSM processes, including budgeting and financial management, were scheduled to take place on 10 November 1999 and 12 March 2000.

4. KwaZulu-Natal

Evaluation of the province’s progress with the procurement of learning support materials (LSM) for 2001

The management plan for procurement of learning support materials is in Table 4.6.

Table 4.6 Management plans for the procurement of learning support materials for January 2001

Budget allocation for stationery and textbooks

This will be done in September in accordance with the South African Schools Act, or earlier, if our expenditure patters are uniform enough for us to make this allocation. Textbooks and stationery will be ordered by schools according to their Norm and Standards allocations. Ring fencing of amounts for LSM will be done.

4.5 Mpumalanga

Summary of steps completed in the LSM procurement cycle and projected dates of remaining steps

Table 4.5: Projected dates of remaining steps for procurement of stationery

Table 4.5: Projected dates of remaining steps for procurement of stationery

The steps outlined above and time-frames indicated by the provincial department of education are not tight and may be missed, causing delays in the procurement process.

4. Northern Cape

Budget allocation for learning support materials

The provincial department of education will be implementing the Norms and Standards for Funding Schools with effect from 2000. The allocation per capita for learning support materials is R100.00 for poor schools and R75.00 for reasonably endowed schools. The budget for learning support materials for the Northern Cape is indicated in Table 4.7 and is expected to be R19.6 million for non-section 21 schools.

Learning support materials procurement plans

Table 4.7 outlines the provincial plans for the procurement of learning support materials for the year 2001.

Table 4.7: Projected dates of remaining steps for procurement of stationery

The provincial department of education held a meeting with publishers on 28 January 2000 to discuss the management plan of the department as well as role and responsibilities, expectations and partnership arrangements.

All schools are required to ensure that all learners in Grades 4 and 8 will be supplied with all the textbooks. School principals are required to inform Regional Directors if the school’s budget will not be sufficient for the purpose.

Schools are required to place orders with approved suppliers whose contact details will be supplied by the provincial department of education. Suppliers will be given an opportunity to meet and explain procurement processes to school principal during the book exhibition week.

A code of conduct for suppliers will be developed as they will be aggressively marketing books at schools. The department is considering issuing permits for the marketing exercise.

The provincial department is encouraging schools to invest in learning support materials for Curriculum 2005 and to improve their book-retrieval systems in order to reduce the top-up costs of learning support materials. Section 21 schools are encouraged to monitor delivery of orders which should be within 60 days of placement of the orders. Officials from the provincial head office will visit Regional Offices/School Management Teams during February 2000 to clarify the procurement process. Officials from the provincial head office will also meet with approved suppliers should this be necessary.

7. Northern Province

Evaluation of the provinces’ progress in the procurement of learning support materials (LSM) for 2001

Books for Grades 4 and 8 were approved and finalised on the 4^th January 2000. Capturing of the book-list for Grades 4 and 8 books into the computer procurement system for LSM was finalised on 31 January 2000. The remaining steps and dates are shown in the management plan in Table 4.4.

Table 4.9: Projected dates of remaining steps for procurement of learning support materials

Budget allocation for stationery and textbooks

The total budget allocation for learning support materials is R99,332 million distributed between textbooks and stationery as follows:

• Stationery = R45,332
• Text books = R54,00m

The amount available will only cover the phasing-in of Grades 4 and 8. The top-up of other grades and the amount for stationery will not be fully covered.

7. North-West

The amounts that have been allocated for stationery and textbooks by the provincial department is R24 million and R70 million respectively as shown in Table 4.2 above. The LSM budget allocation for 2001 has increased by 105 compared to the budget for 2000.

Table 4.7 outlines the provincial plans for the procurement of learning support materials for the year 2001.

• Western Cape

Summary of steps completed in the cycle

The procurement cycle for the year 2000 has been completed. Textbooks and stationery items were delivered to schools during December 1999 and January 2000. Although textbooks were delivered on time, certain stationery items could not be delivered during the first week of the first school term in 2000. This delay was due to the implementation of the Norms and Standards for Funding Schools in the province and new procedures which had been instituted. As a result of this, some schools neglected to submit their requisitions on time, which caused delays. These orders (from 43 schools) for certain stationery items were finalised on 2 February 2000. Payments are now being effected.

Budget allocation for stationery and textbooks

The allocation to schools in terms of the Norms and Standards for Funding Schools includes funds for stores, maintenance and municipal services. Governing bodies determine the need for acquiring textbooks, stationery and other services. This means that they have to draw up a budget for each service and inform the provincial department by 24 July 2000 what amounts have been allocated to each service. Schools are thus not required to spend a certain percentage of their allocation on learning support materials. They determine their own needs. The total allocation for 2001 has not yet been calculated, but should be available in the first week of June 2000. It should be mentioned that the average spending on learning support materials per school comprised 60% of the schools budget for the 2000 school year.

Table 4.7 outlines the provincial plans for the procurement of learning support materials for the year 2001.

Table 4.7: Projected dates of remaining steps for procurement of stationery

Activity	Time-frames
	Commencement	Finalisation
Determination of the Norms and Standards allocations to schools for LSM, maintenance and municipal services. (One allocation is made for these services. Schools then make allocations to each service according to needs and budgetary constraints.)	15 June 2000	23 June 2000
Inform schools of allocations so that school governing bodies can compile a budget to fund LSM, maintenance and municipal services and then submit requisitions (non-section 21 schools) by the required dates. Section 21 schools, after compiling their budgets, place orders for LSM with suppliers of their choice.	23 June 2000	24 July 2000
Final dates for receipt of requisitions from schools	24 July 2000	24 August
Check requisitions against school budgets and ensure that sufficient funds are allocated for other services and log on school budgets data-base to track expenses.	24 July 2000	4 August 2000
Place all textbook orders		25 August 2000
Deliveries to schools (Principals to check invoices and arrange safe storage)		30 November 2000 (60 day delivery period in contract)
Spot checks for deliveries (all principals to confirm deliveries by end of term)		6 December 2000
Payment of suppliers (Section 21 schools receive their N & allocation for 2001 as a transfer payment to pay their suppliers)		Continuous up till 31 March 2001

Summary and conclusions

The delivery of learning support materials to schools before the opening of schools in January 2000 showed a marked improvement compared to the situation at the beginning of 1999. Most provinces put much effort in ensuring that there was an improvement in their systems of procurement for delivery of learning support materials. There are provinces which experienced severe problems, in particular Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. This affected timely delivery in the three provinces. In addition to the effort put by provincial authorities the intervention of the Minister of Education in collaboration with the Minister of Finance with their provincial counterparts, played a major role in ensuring that the LSM budget improved compared to the previous two years. The Ministries of Education and Finance also established a joint task team consisting of senior officials of both departments which monitored and offered assistance to provincial officials, especially in provinces with severe problems.

All the provincial departments of education have commenced with the arrangements in preparation for the delivery of learning support materials in January 2001. Provincial management plans for the LSM procurement indicate that departments are still on target at this stage. This situation will be closely monitored again this year by the joint task team from the Departments of Education and State Expenditure.

There is a gradual shift in the procurement processes in most provinces from central control of the procurement of LSM to school based procurement. This shift is influenced by the provisions of the South African Schools Act, 1996, and the implementation of the Norms and Standards for Funding Schools which came into effect in January 2000. The Western Cape and Gauteng are far ahead down this track, compared to the other provinces. KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape are phasing in the process of school based procurement. The Department of Education will be monitoring progress in this regard.

The new curriculum will be phased in at the beginning of January 2001 in Grades 4 and 8. This has implications for the LSM budget allocation. The total amount allocated by the provincial departments of education in the financial year 1999/2000 for textbooks and workbooks for the opening of schools in January 2000, was R579.3 million. While this amount fell far short of the amount required, it nevertheless was an improvement and was more than double the amount available in the previous financial year.

It should be expected, with the phasing-in of Grades 4 and 8 at the beginning of 2001, that the expenditure on LSM should increase beyond the R579 million. Information currently available and reflected in the report does not indicate that this will be case. Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Northern Cape have reported an increase in their allocations. Mpumalanga, Northern Province and North-West have reported a decrease. The allocations for KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape have still to be worked out. An increase in the budget allocation for LSM, as progress is made with phasing-in the new curriculum, can be controlled by improving book retrieval systems at school level.