Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier
Honourable members of the Executive Council
Honourable members of the Provincial Legislature
Distinguished guests
Superintendent-General and senior management of Eastern Cape Department of Education

Introduction

It is indeed a great pleasure for me to present my maiden policy speech for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, for the 2007/08 financial year. In so doing let me premise my speech by thanking one and all for the congratulations as well as the commiserations; they were equally well received by myself.

Madam Speaker, a special thank you for Norman Dyer of the Midas Parts Centre, 14 Todd Street, Port Elizabeth. Mr Dyer found time to write to me not only to congratulate me but stated that my business acumen will put me in a good stead in my new portfolio. Madam Speaker, in 1969 after writing my matriculation certificate I joined a company called Quay Motor Services, now called Midas Parts Centre. It's a company that I worked for in different positions. In the process I learnt different skills which were as applicable then as they are now, albeit evolved over time.

I thank members of the Executive Council ably led by Premier who made my entrance smooth, my predecessor comrade Mkangeli Matomela, who found time to seat with me to go through the political report, as well as the members that I served with in the finance portfolio committee and standing committee of public accounts for the confidence they placed in me as they congratulated me. Lastly, I also want to thank my family for the nonchalant congratulations they sent. I would have been disappointed if they had instead displayed a lot of glamour, glory, excitement and exuberance as we are not a family of theatrics.

Core business

The mandate of the Eastern Cape Department of Education is human capital development, through public quality education. The report of the United Nations (UN) on poor performance of the Republic of South Africa on human capital development is a serious indictment to us as a Department among other institutions that are mandated to do the same. My predecessor worked hard with stakeholders to improve the 2006 matriculations results by 2,5%, albeit the target of 5%. The analysis of the results reveals that only 3% of the learners who sat for matric examinations in 2006 attained higher grade mathematics. There is also an acute shortage of mathematics educators with requisite skills and qualifications., Schools are poaching from each other, thereby recycling the same teachers. The underperformance by 11 Dinaledi Schools out of 60, is attributable to the shortage of these mathematics educators as well as disparities in resourcing them.

The Council of Education Ministers, mindful of this acute shortage, resolved to mandate the Minister of Education to solicit help from countries that have excess mathematics educators, to be contracted over a period as we endeavour to intensify training of the local mathematics educators. The collaboration by Eastern Cape Department of Education with the four Eastern Cape universities and the meeting held with representatives of the three vice-chancellors has opened a door for the member of executive to enter into partnerships with individual university. The invitation to the MEC to be part of the Tele-Conference of Vice-Chancellors and certain deans of faculties needs to be applauded as a worthy cause. Furthermore, it is the Department's intent to seek and consolidate mutually benefiting initiatives with the corporate world.

Organisational design

The departmental organisational design does not respond to the challenges of mathematics that the schools solely need, even the introduction of the national curriculum statements that advocates for mathematics/literacy as compulsory learning area from grade 1 to grade 11 (12 in 2008). The Department pitched the directorate at sub-directorate level. The MEC advocates that in the 2007/08 financial year the mathematics, science and technology directorate be pitched at chief directorate level with two directors. This cannot wait for the re-organising of the entire organisational design to be responsive to the core business of the Department, it's been long overdue.

Current service delivery environment: audits and finance related matters

The Department has been slapped with 10 disclaimers in as many years. The following are persistent transgressions: extreme weakness in document management including files and leave records, lack of internal controls, asset management, financial management etc. The meeting of the audit committee that I joined midstream confirmed that indeed the Department has not been getting value for money from the internal audit as well as the audit committee, in spite of high fees for the seating of their meetings as well as the contractual payments for internal auditing. The Department is audited in three areas of operation, i.e. schools, districts, head office and related institutions such as the Education.

Leadership Institute (ELI).

Madam Speaker, this calls for an integrated plan of overcoming areas of weakness that will include among others ensuring that all districts offices have at least three corporate services deputy directors and two assistant directors namely finance, human resource administration and supply chain management with requisite skills and adequate support from head office and schools to be given template for finance management as well as guidance on asset management.

Furthermore, I fully concur with both the President and the Premier on the need for a tight performance appraisal system at all levels, starting with the senior management corps as there is a direct link between performance outcomes and how the organisation is managed.

The Department did not fare well in some of its programmes notably delivery of Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) and the School Nutrition Programme (SNP). In my presentation of the budget and policy speech for the 2007/08 financial year, I will touch upon key interventions that my Department is embarking upon in order to turn around the situation.

Learner-Teacher Support Materials (LTSM)

In the current cycle of LTSM delivery, covering 2005/06, the delivery of LTSM has not improved significantly compared to previous years and certainly this is not acceptable to all of us. As the Department we are thus committing ourselves that, in the 2008 academic year the prevailing logistical challenges will be eliminated as we are currently re-evaluating the whole LTSM delivery model.

School Nutrition Programme (SNP)

The conditional grant budgeted for SNP this financial year is R245,576 million. In the next financial year the Department intends matching rand for rand the conditional grant.

The challenges that have beset this programme in the recent past still remain a serious concern. I want to reassure you that the significance and importance of this initiative is not lost on us. We are currently working on a long-term strategy that is based on interdepartmental co-operation and structured school community involvement, as well as all relevant stakeholders.

Curriculum delivery in our schools

As noted above, the incremental improvement in matric performance is welcomed. The Department will continue to explore creative interventions to ensure improvement both in quality and quantity of learner outcomes from grade R to 12. The Department is currently sharpening and refining its learner attainment strategy to make it comprehensive, sustainable, more focused and subject oriented. In realisation of these objectives an amount of R16,926,000 million has been set aside. In our quest for an improved public quality education, the Department has just appointed assessment and examinations board whose task is to advise the MEC on matters relating to delivery of public quality education through out the system.

To further add meaning to the above noble endeavour, the Department is prioritising teacher development and has set aside an amount of R48 million.

School Safety and Promotion of Social Values

The high prevalence of violence in our schools which manifests itself in the form of substance abuse, rape, assault, vandalism and theft has prompted the Department of Education to resuscitate the school safety programme in partnership with the Department of Safety and Security. This programme is currently being piloted in three local municipalities.

Madam Speaker, we cannot win this battle alone. The Department is calling upon all stakeholders to collaborate with us in restoring the moral fibre of our society. An amount of R6,7 million has been set aside to initiate this programme in 30 schools.

Furthermore, this financial year, in collaboration with the departments of justice, social development, safety and security and correctional services a fully serviced, staffed and functional centre for youth in conflict with the law is being operationalised in Queenstown.

Strengthening School Management

Madam Speaker, I am also equally worried about the degree and intensity of conflict and feuds in our schools. It would appear that the overwhelming causal factors stem from the misapprehension of roles and responsibilities between the principals and school governing bodies (SGBs) and sometimes the ordinary teachers and the community at large.

In order to arrest and turn around this situation, the induction programme for newly elected SGBs has commenced in all districts and the Department will continue to empower the education development officers with the required skills to remedy the situation. An amount of R13,500,000 million has been set aside for the purpose.

"No-Fee" Schools

For the academic year 2007, 3 825 schools out of 6 159 or 61% of public schools in the province have been declared as "no-fee" schools and the majority of them are in poverty stricken areas. The average amount which can be spent on a learner is R554 up from R527 in the current financial year. Overall R897,989 million has been set aside for this purpose.

District Development

Madam Speaker, in order to ensure that district offices are adequately resourced and capacitated, 690 education specialist and 350 corporate support vacancies will be filled at a cost of R318 million this financial year. In the first quarter, a district development strategy led by Professor HR Nengwekhulu will amongst other things ensure that all delegations for district directors are reviewed with a tacit purpose of streamlining and strengthening district and school functionality. He will also ensure that our education districts are aligned to district municipalities. A comprehensive and accelerated skills development programme with specific emphasis on finance and personnel management will also be rolled out.

Madam Speaker, the above process will take into account the recommendations of the October 2006 District Colloquium hosted by the national Minister and the public service commission report on guidelines on school district management. To give impetus to the above, a Departmental Service Charter will be published before 30 April 2007.

Infrastructure

The capital budget for 2007/08 is R625,715 million. A number of 79 projects will be completed and they include, amongst others, rehabilitation of at least three worst mud structured schools per district, rehabilitation of 46 schools, building of 577 additional classrooms, 1 313 toilets, 317 water tanks and building of assessment and examination centre at a cost of R78 million.

Madam Speaker, in line with what the honourable MEC for Finance has pronounced on I wish to confirm that the Department is examining mechanisms through which the eradication of mud structures and accessing of maintenance budget by schools can be fast tracked as situations such as the one I have seen at Dalisoka, Masibambane and many other institutions are a cause for serious concern for all of us.

In order to respond meaningfully to these challenges I am in the process of finalising partnerships with the East Cape Appropriate Technology Unit (ECATU) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to provide assistance and technical support in the eradication of mud structures and dilapidated buildings masquerading as schools.

Furthermore, next week I plan to meet the Minister of Correctional Services to discuss a possible memorandum of understanding (MoU) between our departments on alternative school furniture delivery mechanisms.

Adult Basic Education (ABET)

The amount allocated to this programme is R149,383 million. The Department's ABET initiative incorporates the adult literacy and skills development programme, which has been flagged as a national priority area. With the province's high illiteracy rate, there is still much work to be done.

Allocation of Bursaries to Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges

The budget allocation for 2007/08 for this programme is R302,200 million. R78,706 million of this amount is a conditional grant for the recapitalisation of FET colleges.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce that for 2007 academic year the national Department of Education through the National Student Financial Assistance (NSFA) has allocated R15,5 million for the most needy of the 3 610 learners who are enrolled in our eight FET colleges. The Department has doubled up this effort by allocating an additional amount of R5 million.

Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Madam Speaker, the budget for this programme will be R105,753 million in the new financial year. Furthermore, with effect from 1 April 2007, ECD practitioners will benefit from an increased stipend that will for the first time be paid monthly through persal thus acknowledging and restoring the dignity of the ECD profession. As part of further strengthening ECD sector, strategic partnerships will be entered into with all the relevant stakeholders in particular the Department of Social Development around the area of pre-grade R and the supply of educational toys.

HIV and AIDS

The funding for this programme will be R26,797 million in 2007/08. The HIV and AIDS and life skills programme of the Department builds on what was started in 2000/01. It is prioritised in the strategic plan and is funded through a conditional grant. For the 2008/09 financial year, it is the Department's intention to match the conditional grant rand for rand through the equitable share funding.

Madam Speaker, this is a prevention programme that is infused in the curriculum of all primary and secondary schools. The programme also aims to support strong management and monitoring systems. The priorities for 2007/08 are as follows:

* Advocacy for the support of the life skills and HIV and Aids programme.
* The Department will engage in a range of advocacy activities to create a broad base of support for the programme. These will include recognition of HIV and AIDS national days of importance, road shows, supporting initiatives for safe circumcision in partnership with relevant stakeholders such as the house of traditional leaders including closer engagement of Faith Based Organisations (FBOs). The budget for this initiative is R4 003 376.21.

Integration of HIV and AIDS into and across the curriculum

This will be achieved through the training of 1 000 master educators in the foundation phase.

The Department will also continue with the training of educators in the abstinence based life skills programme, covering 3 438 educators. For this intervention a budget of R4 557 030.21 has been set aside.

Functional Peer Education Programmes

The Department already has a functional peer education programme covering 1 490 schools.

The goal of this programme is to train and develop learners as peer educators so that they can role model healthy lifestyle behaviour in their schools and communities and recognise fellow learners in need of help and refer them for assistance. The priority for this financial year is to roll out the programme to an additional 800 schools utilising their allocation of R3 775 761.67.

Holistic Support for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children /Learners and Respect for the Rights of Those who are Infected and Affected

The Department will assist an additional 460 schools in the establishment and capacity building of health advisory committees in order to improve the management of health related issues in schools. A further 600 educators will be trained in HIV and AIDS related basic counselling skills, so that they can mainstream HIV and AIDS related needs into the psychosocial services in schools.

The Department will also work with the department for international development (DFID) multi-sectoral support programme in the training and support of 60 school based caregivers and cluster managers. Through this project the Department wants to strengthen the safety nets for orphans and vulnerable children in 100 primary schools. The budget for this is R5 178 947.06.

HIV and Aids Workplace Programme

Madam Speaker, what remains as the key challenge is education sector response to the impact of HIV and AIDS scourge on the teaching fraternity as we are fast losing teachers and potential graduates on an unprecedented scale through this epidemic. To combat the spread of HIV and AIDS amongst educators and other employees, the Department has set aside a budget of R8 million for a comprehensive prevention, education and care and support programme. This programme will take into consideration the recommendations of the 2004 Education Labour Relations Council - Human Sciences Research Council (ELRC-HSRC) study on HIV and AIDS prevalence amongst educators.

Monitoring and Evaluation

In order to be in a position to monitor and appraise performance of all the objectives set above, a monitoring and evaluation unit will be created in my office within the first quarter of this financial year. This has been necessitated by the realisation that we need to have effective and efficient early warning systems at all critical levels of our organisation.

Strengthening our Communication Systems

On a more positive note, the Department is currently undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of our communications unit. We realise that part of the incessant negative publicity that regularly comes our way has been partly as result of our failure to effectively communicate the strides that we have made since 1994 in our endeavour to effect meaningful transformation of the educational landscape.

In addition to this we intend to establish a fully fledged customer focused call centre in order to facilitate the flow of information and be able to respond promptly and systematically to the concerns of our internal and external customers.

Pockets of Excellence

Madam Speaker, let me also use this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all pockets of excellence in our schooling community including, amongst others, Mr R Ngambu of Ebenezer Majombozi, Mr R Ndabeni of St Johns' College and Ms Y Dlangamandla of Thomas Ntaba as well as their dedicated support staff for being amongst the best performing schools in the area of mathematics and science. Furthermore, the district teams of Mount Fletcher and Qumbu cannot go unnoticed for their efforts in fast improving learner outcomes in the past two academic years.

Partnerships

Madam Speaker, I wish to extend a special word of acknowledgement and appreciation for the role that has been played by FNB, Telkom, Eskom and Vodacom for their contribution to our school building programme. In the same vein let me also thank Mr Sipho Pityana who has been instrumental in the revamping of his Estwhile Pimary Shool, Charles Duna since 2005 to date. Currently he is working towards providing a computer laboratory.

At this point it is important to recognise and pay tribute to the valuable contribution made to educational transformation in this province by the British Department for International Development (DFID) over the past 10 years. This contribution, totalling £24,5 million (translating to approximately R300 million) has enabled us through our Imbewu Programme, to travel much further down the road to effective school transformation. Some of the outputs of this programme now unfortunately in its final year of funding by DFID, have generated wide interest even at national and international levels. An opportunity to engage with some of the case studies of this programme as well as a few other relevant systemic interventions at provincial, national and international levels will be possible during an international conference to be held at the end of June.

Budget Allocation

Programme: allocation:

1 Administration: R968,591
2 Public Ordinary Schools: R12 609 444
3 Independent Schools: R35,241
4 Public Special Schools: R336,880
5 FET colleges: R302,200
6 ABET: R149,383
7 ECD: R105,753
8 Auxiliary Services: R218,569

Total: R14 726 061

Conclusion

Madam Speaker, I wish to use this platform to thank the following list of esteemed colleagues:

* the honourable national Minister of Education
* our honourable Premier
* my colleagues in the Executive Council
* all members of Parliament, especially the Education Portfolio Committee
* the Department's Head of Department, Ms Nomlamli Mahanjana and her team, for their steadfast and solid support.

Madam Speaker, it is imperative that civil society and communities be afforded the opportunity to hold the Department and myself accountable and simultaneously maintain social dialogue with our social partners in the education sector. That is why the Department intends to convene a Consultative Education Summit before the end of the second quarter and hold regular interactive discussions with all the labour unions operating within the sector.

We furthermore intend to communicate and meet regularly with all stakeholders in education in the province such as SGBs, the SGB Association, education foras, student organisations and educators formations on matters of mutual interest.

Let me also acknowledge the work done by our teams of dedicated educators and the rest of the schooling community cannot go unnoticed, hence I wish to express my gratitude to all of them for the sterling job they are doing. In this regard I intend to further motivate them by ensuring that all salary related backlogs are addressed as matter of urgency through setting up a project team led by the Head of the Department.

In conclusion, I hope you have all noted the shocking structure pictured in the back cover of this speech. All that I want to say about it is that, "A mud school is indeed a barrier to quality public education."

Thank you!