PRESENTATION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND RECREATION ONTHE INTERVENTION IN THE EASTERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
by the Bobby Soobrayan Director-General: Department of Basic Education
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES, Cape Town 23 March 2011
INTRODUCTION
1. The purpose of this presentation is to provide the Select Committee on Education on and Recreation with a briefing on the intervention in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDOE) that is being implemented in terms of Section 100 (1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
2. The presentation includes the following sections:

  • Background to the intervention
  • Scope and nature of the intervention
  • Progress to date

BACKGROUND TO THE INTERVENTION
1. The ECDOE has been plagued by many serious problems over the years and the manifestation of severe challenges has been a recurring problem. The most recent challenges in the Eastern Cape Education Department has manifested in the following areas:

  • Dramatic over-expenditure of the budget for Compensation of Employees, because the Province failed over a number of years to effectively comply with policies and norms and standards related to Educator Post Provisioning. This problem has placed an enormous strain on the overall budget for education in the Province and has probably also impacted on the Province's overall budget and spending trends;
  • Failure to provide textbooks and stationery to Section 20 schools (that is, schools for which the PED supplies textbooks and stationery as opposed to Section 21 schools that procure their own) in the Province due to poor management of the procurement process;
  • Sudden suspension of the scholar transport programme due to over-spending.This situation arose due to poor implementation of policy.
  • Termination of the School Nutrition Programme before the end of the financial year due to the following factors: non-compliance with policy; poor management of the budget; and poor supply chain management in the process.
  • Failure to effectively implement the school infrastructure development programme. This has resulted in funding earmarked for school infrastructure being returned to the National Treasury.

2. The serious problem of educator provisioning has been around for a number of years and, for all of this time, it has had a particularly adverse impact on budgeting and expenditure. In its current manifestation, this problem has plunged the ECDOE into an untenable situation. It is clear that the department does not have the capacity and enabling conditions to mount an effective turnaround of these serious challenges.
3. Given the recurring nature of the problems in the ECDOE and based on the findings of various reviews, it is clear that the current high-profile problems are symptoms of serious underlying problems in the department. Any effort to bring about a sustainableturnaround of the department must effectively identify and remediate all of the critical and systemic underlying problems in the department.
4. It must be stressed that there are many positive conditions and achievement for which the ECDOE should receive due recognition. The number of candidates in the 2010 NSC examination who qualified for admission to study for a Bachelors degree increased from 13.9% in 2009 to 16% in 2010 - this on top of a 7% improvement in the overall result. It has the second highest percentage for Grade 1 learners who received formal Grade R at 68%. The province performed better than 4 other provinces in the 2007 Systemic Evaluation. This confirms that parts of the system are working.
5. However, it has become clear that the overall conditions in education in the province amount to a serious challenge in terms of compliance with national policy, minimum norms and standards for education service delivery, the obligations arising from the constitution, the National Education Policy, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996); the South AfricanSchools Act, 1996 (Act No.84 of 1996) and relevant regulations formulated in terms of these statutes.
6. Following consultations with the Premier of Eastern Cape, Noxolo Kiviet and the MEC for Education, Mandla Makupula, as well as the ruling party, coupled with the Education Ministry visit to the Eastern Cape on the 27th January 2011, all parties agreed that an intervention was required to remediate the situation faced by the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
7. In his reply to the State of the Nation Address debate, President Jacob Zuma committed to give serious consideration to providing a sustainable intervention to the education challenges in the Eastern Cape. In view of the seriousness of these challenges the Minister Motshekga was obliged, in terms of her statutory obligations as the Minister of Basic Education, to take the steps required to ensure a sustainable turnaround of basic education in the Eastern Cape Province.
8. In pursuance of the above, the President directed the Minister of Basic Education to table the matter for discussion at the Cabinet meeting of 2 March 2011. This meeting of Cabinet resolved that the Minister of Basic Education would, in terms of Section 100 (1) (b) of The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), assume responsibility for those obligations that the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDOE) have failed in achieving minimum standards of service delivery.
9. Cabinet directed that Section 100 of the constitution be used in order to provide the required constitutional and legal authority for this intervention. Cabinet was of the view that this intervention should be implemented in the spirit of cooperative governance.
SCOPE AND NATURE OF INTERVENTION
1. Chapter 5, section 100 (1) of the Constitution of Republic South Africa provides that:
When a province cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation, the national executive may intervene by taking any appropriatesteps to ensure fulfilment of that obligation, including-
(a) issuing a directive to the provincial executive, describing the extent of the failureto fulfil its obligations and stating any steps .required to meet its obligations; and
(b) assuming responsibility for the relevant obligation in that province to the extentnecessary to-
(i) maintain essential national standards or meet established minimumstandards for the rendering of a service;
(iv) prevent that province from taking unreasonable action that is prejudicial tothe interests of another province or to the country as a whole.
2. The aims of turnaround strategy are twofold: firstly to stabilize the education system in the province in the short term and secondly to address decisively the administrative, management and systemic challenges over a longer period.
3. The Ministry remains convinced that the intervention must result in the creation of long-term capacity in the department and a sustainable turnaround of education service delivery in the province. This should include the creation of positive and sustainable changes at a systemic level to achieve efficiency and stability in the Provincial Department of Education.
4. It is therefore expected that the duration of the intervention will last for 3 to 4 years with an annual review to assess whether a continuation is necessary based on progress made against clearly defined targets.
5. The following will be the key objectives of the intervention:

  • To Arrest and deal with immediate challenges in respect of the following areas:

- Appointments of teachers and allocation of teachers

- School nutrition

- Learning and Teaching Support Materials (L TSM) ./ Scholar transport

- Infrastructure

  • To implement a credible Learner Performance Improvement Strategy

- Provision of effective learning support materials

- Focus on under-performing schools

- Teacher support and development

- District support and development

  • To address underlying causes that impact on the efficiency and efficacy of thedepartment with a particular focus on:

- Organisational performance

- Size and shape of education

- Educational problems

- Deal with root causes

  • To review the financing, Budgeting and resourcing of mandates with particular focusin the following areas:

- Review of the budget assumptions

- Adequacy of funding

- Credibility of budget

- Expenditure management

- Leakage

- Fraud and corruption

- Risk management strategy

- Planning and operating systems

- Credibility of planning and operational data

- Sustainable business contracts

- Efficiency and effectiveness

PROGRESS TO DATE
1. In pursuance of this Cabinet decision, the Minister of Basic Education and the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, accompanied by the Director-General and senior officials of the Department of Basic Education visited the Eastern Cape Province on 2 and 3 March 2011.
2. Various meetings were conducted with the Premier, MEC for Education and Senior officials of the ECDOE to explain and discuss the implications of the intervention. The delegation also met with other relevant stakeholders in the Province to share the same information.
3. A media conference was convened by the Minister of Basic Education on 3 March 2011 in which a media statement, jointly prepared with the Premier and MEC, was released. The Premier, the MEC and the Superintendent-General for education joined the Minister and Deputy Minister in this media conference.
4. The DBE appointed a technical team comprising of senior officials to develop a problem analysis and draft intervention plan. The first draft of this plan was completed on 8 March 2011.
5. The Director-General: Basic Education led a seven-person technical team which held ameeting with Senior Officials of the ECDOE in East London on 10 March 2011.
6. Deliberations at the meeting were very constructive and all senior officials of the ECDOE indicated that their earlier anxieties had been addressed and that they were happy to participate in the intervention.
7. As required in terms of Section 100 (2) of The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), a notice regarding this intervention was duly lodged with the NCOP within 14 days of the commencement of the intervention.
8. The Minister of Basic Education held a meeting with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Service and Administration on the Section 100 intervention in the ECDOE on 14 March 2011. The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Service and Administration agreed to actively support the intervention. The DGs of the respective departments are working together to define the practical contributions of each department to the process.
9. A framework for the intervention is in the final stages of development. This frameworkdraws on the turnaround strategy formulated by the ECDOE senior management team.
10. A follow up visit will be conducted on 24 March to finalise the framework and toproceed with implementation.
11. The. framework will be used to formulate a Protocol that will guide the content, processes, institutional mechanisms and definition of roles and responsibilities. The Minister win provide regular reports to Cabinet on progress.
12. The Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Committee will also receive regular briefings onprogress.
13. The Minister of Basic Education, the Eastern Cape Premier and the MEC for Education inthe Eastern Cape Province will jointly exercise political oversight over the process.
CONCLUSION
1. The intervention has emerged following engagement with all of the major stakeholdersand is based on a consensus that a sustainable turnaround is necessary.
2. The task is not easy and the road ahead will be very challenging.
3. We believe that the conditions for this intervention appear to be conducive to achievinga successful outcome.