1. Mandate of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION

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Reflections on the Education Sector and key issues from the portfolio Committee’s Legacy Report

1. Mandate of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education

Committees derive their mandate from Sections 55 and 92 the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and the Rules of Parliament, to scrutinize and oversee Executive action and relevant organs of state. In this context, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education focuses its work within the five constitutional mandates of Parliament, which are to process and approve legislation, conduct oversight, ensure public participation, process international agreements and facilitate co-operative governance. In addition to performing these constitutional mandates, the Committee engages in various activities and programmes focussing on the development and delivery of quality public education to all South Africans.The Committee also deals with matters referred to it by the Speaker or the National Assembly.

2. Oversight function during the Fourth Parliament

The thrust of the Committee’s work during theFourth Parliament was on oversight.In terms of the oversight approach, the Committee called statutory bodies to account to the Committee and brief the Committee on the implementation of priorities pertaining to Basic Education. The Committee also scrutinised Budget Votes, Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, and Annual Reports of the Department and its entities as well as held strategic sessions and workshops. In addition, the Portfolio Committee conducted study visits of Provinces, Districts and schools in respect of provincial state-of-school readiness, exam readiness and the basic functionality of schools. Recognising that the South African public education system is vast, with approximately 24000 ordinary public schools, the Portfolio Committee resolved in its Five Year Strategic Plan to prioritise its focus on underperforming schools in order to make the greatest impact in the system. The Portfolio Committee further resolved to work closely with provincial legislative committees on education and the Select Committee on Education of the NCOP in assessing school performance and functioning, given that Basic Education is a concurrent function.

3. Basic education in the international context

Basic education enjoys recognition as a fundamental human right and a developmental priority in terms of international, regional and national legal instruments and development frameworks. Key international and regional instruments recognising basic education as a fundamental human right include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination(1969); the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (1979); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1989) and the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).

In terms of development, frameworks such as the Education for All (2000), the Millennium Development Goals (2000) and the African Unions New Partnership for African Development recognise the crucial link between the realisation of the right to education and improved and sustainable social and economic development[1].

4) Basic education in the national context

In line with the international and regional legal instruments and development frameworks, Section 29 of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) enshrines the right to basic education. Access to quality education also enjoys priority status on the national development agenda. In 2009, government identified education as an apex priority in the National Medium Term Strategic Framework. In 2010, education was identified as one of the 12 development outcomes on which government would focus its attention.

The long term National Development Plan also identifies the improvement of the quality of education as the key to reducing poverty and accelerating the long-term economic growth.

5) The Department and Entities falling within the Committee’s portfolio

a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE)

National policy and legal framework

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) derives its mandate firstly from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), which requires education to be transformed and democratised in accordance with the values of human dignity, equality, human rights and freedom, non-racism and non-sexism. The Constitution guarantees access to basic education for all, including adult basic education. Secondly, the National Education Policy Act, 1996 Act 27 of 1996 (NEPA), inscribes into law the policies for the national system of education, the legislative and monitoring responsibilities of the Minister of Education, as well as the formal relations between national and provincial authorities. In terms of NEPA, the DBE’s statutory role is to formulate national policy, norms and standards as well as to monitor and evaluate policy implementation and impact.

In line with its mandate, the Department has a vision of a South Africa in which all people will have access to lifelong learning, education and training opportunities, which will, in turn, contribute towards improving the quality of life and building a peaceful, prosperous and democratic South Africa.

Concurrent functions

It should be noted that the Constitution enjoins the three levels of government to observe the principle of “co-operative governance” (Constitution, 1996a, Article 41:1). Under thisprinciple, the national and provincial governments have “concurrent legislative competence”.Although each level has specific powers, there is no hierarchy among them, and “co-operative governance” in the education sector is exercised via a ministerial council comprising the national minister as well as all nine provincial ministers on an equal basis. Provincial governments are in charge of the implementation ofnationally determined policy, formulating and adopting provinciallegislation, regulations, norms, and standards.

b)Entities

The Portfolio Committee oversees activities of three entities, as follows:

• The South African Council for Educators (SACE): SACE is responsible for the regulation, oversight and promotion of the teaching profession.
• The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC): The primary business of the Council is to promote the maintenance of labour peace in the public education sector through the provision of dispute resolution (and prevention) services
• The General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Council (UMALUSI): Umalusi is tasked with the following:

• Qualifications: Monitor and report on the adequacy and sustainability of qualifications and standards in general and further education and training
• Quality Assurance: Accredit private providers of education and training and assessment and promote quality amongst providers and ensure that providers adopt quality management systems

6. Overview of the Basic Education sector

a) Progress on access, equity and redress

Substantial progress has been made on access, equity and redress over the past two decades. In terms of access, South Africa has reached almost universal enrolment in compulsory basic education[2]. In 2012, the Stats SA General Household Survey (GHS) findings showed that 98.8 percent of 7 to 15 year old children were attending educational institutions. This suggests that South Africa is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving universal primary education by 2015. Gross secondary enrolment improved from 51 percent in 1994 to 89 percent in 2012[3]. South Africa is also achieving gender parity in school enrolment with a Gender Parity Index of 1 in 2012[4]. This is a remarkable achievement given that gender parity is not observed in other emerging countries such as India or Brazil[5]. In 2007, 5 million learners had access to free education; in 2014 the number has reached 8.8 million[6].

In recent years, there has also been a sharp increase in the number of children who attend Grade R from 544000 in 2009 to 779000 in 2014[7], nearly reaching the level of universal access. Compared to 2003, enrolment in Grade R has more than doubled, increasing from 300000[8] to the current 779000. This is a remarkable achievement, indicative of South Africa’s investment in the foundation phase of education. According to the Department, by 2011, spending on ECD was four times what it was in 2006 in real terms[9]. However, the quality of ECD still needs to be improved. Progress has also been made in increasing access to schools for children with disabilities. Based on General Household Survey (GHS) data, the percentage of out-of-school children with a disability in the age cohort of 7 – 15-year-olds decreased from 27 percent in 2002 to 8 percent in 2011[10]. However, more work is required in this regard since access is still limited, either through special schools or mainstream education.

Key interventions made in improving equity in the provision of quality basic education include poverty mitigation measures; the provision of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) and the Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM). One of the key poverty mitigation measures was the introduction of the no-fee schools policy in 2007, which has reduced the burden of school fees for poor households. The Education Laws Amendment Act (Act 24 of 2005) provided the legal foundation for introducing the no-fee school policy. By 2012, 78 percent of learners (more than 8 million) in 80 percent of public schools benefited from the no-fee policy. In terms of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), in 2013/14, approximately 8.7 million learners benefitted from the programme[11]. By providing children with one hot meal a day at school, the NSNP has contributed to regular and punctual attendance by learners. While there has been an improvement in the equity of education funding, inequalities in terms of resources available at public schools remain due to the disparity in households’ ability to supplement the funding of public schools[12] as well as due to inherited school infrastructure backlogs.

b) Quality of education outcomes

Despite the gains on access, equity and redress, there is a shared recognition that education quality and educational outcomes for children at primary and secondary levels remain low on average and uneven across regions, which largely reflects the country’s historical legacy.

Based on the results of a number of international assessments of learners’ competencies in reading (PIRLS, 2006) and Mathematics (TIMMS, 2006), South Africa displays the worst average test scores among all middle-income countries and performs worse than many low-income African countries that spend less on education per capita. For example, with a GDP per capita less than one fifth as large, Kenya performed significantly better than South Africa in SACMEQ (2007) reading and mathematics tests in 2000 and 2007. The most recent evidence (TIMSS, 2011, Human Sciences Research Council,2012) shows a marked improvement in average test scores, especially for learners attending the poorest schools, but South Africa still ranks atthe bottom of the international spectrum. The recent ANA test results also show that despite improvements in performance in the Foundation and Intermediate Phases, South Africa still has a low average in Mathematics and Science performance, below the level expected for Grade 9 learners. These findings underline the need for urgent and sustained intervention.

A number of studies attribute the relatively low educational outcomes for the majority of children to a range of reasons which include, inter alia, social and economic factors such as poverty; low literacy levels; low levels of formal education in children’s families; insufficient levels of educational support at home; insufficient school infrastructure and basic services at schools such as water, sanitation and electricity; lack of learning resources and materials such as libraries, laboratories and textbooks; the inefficient use of educational resources; lack of effective management and administrative capacity; poor accountable mechanisms and processes for education outcomes; low teacher-content knowledge; lack of access to quality early childhood education; and poorly designed assessment and quality improvement systems (Amongst others, Spaull, 2011; Taylor et al., 2012; NEEDU, 2012; Centre for Development and Enterprise, 2011; SACMEQ, 2007).

c) Key challenges outlined in DBE Plans

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is acutely aware of these shortcomings. The DBE 2011 – 2014 Strategic Plan outlined the following key challenges:

• The quality learner outcomes are not optimal across all grades
• The quality and quantity of LTSM are not adequate to support quality learning
• The quality of school based tests and examinations is not of the required standard and is not being moderated or benchmarked
• The quality of support from the districts specifically school support personnel has not been constructive nor responsive to the needs of the schools.
• Access to basic education not optimal.

d) Responses of the Department and the sector

In response to these challenges, the DBE introduced an array of interventions between 2010 and 2014. These include:

• The introduction of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) between 2011 and 2014. The CAPS spells out what teachers should teach and assess, how lesson plans should be prepared, and how teaching should take place.
• The introduction of Annual National Assessments ANA) as part of an integrated learner assessment strategy to facilitate regular assessment of teachers.
• A new Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development which makes provision for revised minimum qualifications, support to teachers, and incentives to attract young quality educators to the sector.
• The development and distribution of literacy and numeracy learning and support materials such as workbooks and textbooks, including the translation of these into Braille for blind children.
• Programmes such as the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) for improved infrastructure development.
• The establishment of the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) to review the status of education policies, implementation, coordination and quality of educational inputs and outcomes.

The Action Plan to 2014 was also developed in response to the key challenges facing Basic Education to ensure long term planning, monitoring and evaluation against quality indicators. It is based on 27 goals. Goals 1 – 13 focus on outputs tobe achieved. Theserelate to improving access of children to quality ECD programmes below grade 1; improving performance in language and mathematics in Grades 3, 6 and 9; improving performance in Grade 12; learner enrolment until age 15; improving grade promotion of learners through Grades 1 to 9; and improving access of youth to FET beyond Grade 9.

The Action Planfurther has the following priority goals:

• Improve the professionalism, teaching skills, subject knowledge and computer literacy of teachers throughout their entire career;
• Ensure that every learner has access to the minimum set of textbooks and workbooks required according to national policy standards;
• Ensure that the basic annual management processes take place across all schools in the country in a way that contributes towards a functional school environment;
• Improve the frequency and quality of the monitoring and support services provided to schools by district offices, partly through better use of e-Education.

e) Key areas for oversight on access – the Legacy Report

The following are key areas for oversight in respect of access:

•Improvement in the quality of ECD – employment of qualified practitioners, approved programmes for a Diploma in grade R and provision of workbooks

•Improved access to quality education for children with disabilities, including issues of teacher training in specialised areas of special needs

•Although the delivery of LTSM has improved, shortages, largely due to changes in learner enrolments, are still reported in some schools. There is also a need to oversee the implementation of the textbook retrieval policy

•Provision of learner transport to all qualifying learners, including those with special needs

Key areas for oversight in respect of quality educational outcomes include:

•Improved learner outcomes: Although learner performance in the NSC and ANA, FP, improved during the Fourth Parliament, learner outcomes in Intermediate and Senior phases, particularly Grade 9 in Mathematics, remain of concern. The number of bachelor passes and the quality and number of Mathematics and Science also requires oversight attention

•District support: the 2014 oversight visit to the EC highlighted the need for more targeted support to underperforming schools. There is also a need to intensify support to schools in using ANA

•Post provisioning: The high vacancy rate of educators remains a matter for concern, particularly in gateway subjects of Mathematics and Science;There is a need to strengthen oversight on the placement of Funza Lushaka bursary graduates in needy subjects

•Infrastructure: Progress in the eradication of inappropriate structures was slower than intended during the Fourth Term

•Inter-sectoral collaboration: There is a need to strengthen the inter-sectoral collaboration, how this is coordinated and how it affects the work of the Department

•QLTC: The QLTC should be strengthened at all levels across provinces to make education a societal issue

•Exam readiness: The issue of the competency tests for markers should be resolved as a matter of urgency through engagements with all unions

•Rural incentives: Prioritising, scaling up and closely monitoring the roll out of motivational incentives

f) Issues for oversight emerging from the sector’s plans for 2014 – 2019

2014 SONA:

•Universal access to education for children ages 7 – 15 (1.2 percent of excluded learners)

•The increase in the number of Grade 12 learners who gain entrance to university, from 172 000 in 2013 to 250 000 in 2019

•The eradication of mud schools and other inappropriate structures

•Continuing to fight drugs and substance abuse in schools

•Prioritising safety and child health in schools

•Prioritising learner transport

•The delivery of furniture in all Eastern Cape schools by the middle of August 2014

g) Key priorities identified in the National Development Plan

The National Development Plan makes the following recommendations to improve the education system:

• Achieve high-quality early education with an emphasis on child nutrition. Every child should receive at least two years of pre-school education.
• Resources should be made available to teachers and schools to support learning, with the focus on improving literacy, numeracy, science and language outcomes.
• Improve education quality by upgrading the management of the system, with supportive and corrective measures targeting low-performing schools, and an infrastructure campaign in poor schools especially in rural areas. Improve the competence and capacity of school principals, emphasising a higher degree of selection among applicants, greater management powers and greater accountability.
• Improve teacher accountability. Issues related to teacher performance such as training, remuneration, incentives, teaching time and performance measurement are discussed.

f) DBE’s Draft MSTF priorities