Minister Angie Motshekga: Media briefing on Basic Education

29 Oct 2023

Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen. I believe it is appropriate to begin by congratulating the Springboks for the stunning win last night. They have done us proud as a nation at the Rugby World Cup which ended yesterday with South African bringing back the Web Ellis trophy from Paris. Well done to the boys, we can’t wait for the victory parade when they return home.

National Senior Certificate Examinations

As we stand on the brink of the 2023 National Senior Certificate examinations for the Class of 2023, it is heartening to witness the dedication and commitment of South Africa’s basic education sector in ensuring the smooth execution of this pivotal national duty. The numbers paint a promising picture of our educational landscape as we prepare for the exams starting tomorrow (30 October).

Interestingly, Umalusi has approved all question papers to be administered in the October/November 2023 Examinations and given the nod to the exams.

We’ve enhanced security measures to prevent paper leaks in all nine provinces. The State Security Agency has also audited these processes. Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) must follow standard operating procedures training storage point managers in security protocols. Moreover, specific collection times for question papers by chief invigilators have been established to deter early access. Each PED has its own irregularity committee to anticipate and mitigate crises.

To mitigate the challenge of load shedding, all PEDs and schools have devised contingency plans, including backup generators. The Computer Applications Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT) Paper 1 examinations were generally conducted this week without power issues, with isolated incidents.

Affected candidates were isolated and managed. We will offer a backup paper if needed due to power interruptions. In South African Sign Language Home Language (SASL HL), candidates’ laptops will be fully charged before each examination commences, and backup power supply measures have been put in place.

This year, we take pride in announcing that we have over 717 377 candidates registered to participate in the final examinations across 6,898 centres nationwide. These figures are not mere statistics; they embody the aspirations, dreams, and relentless efforts of our Grade 12 learners.

They stand as a testament to the resilience of our students and the continuous dedication of the Department of Basic Education in providing them with a platform to succeed.

When we compare this year’s figures to 2022, we observe a gradual decrease in the number of candidates, 34,626 candidates, and this could be attributed to the fact that more candidates complete their qualifications on time.

There has been an increase in the number of part-time learners from 168 631 in 2022 to 181 143 in 2023 (an increase of 12 512). A total of 207 question papers, 72 500 invigilators and 52 500 markers will drive the examinations process.

Furthermore, our roster boasts 72,500 invigilators ready to ensure the smooth conduct of the examinations, compared to 72,000 last year.

Dr Rufus Poliah, the Chief Director for National Examinations and Public Assessments will speak more about the statistics in his presentation.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES THE BELA BILL  

It is imperative to also provide an update on other key developments in the basic education sector.

On Thursday, 26 October 2023, the National Assembly passed the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, the BELA BILL.

The amendments address some of the key challenges that have, for years, hindered the progress of our education ecosystem.

The strategic focus of the BELA Bill is to:

• Make Grade R compulsory;
• Serve to capture the essence of court judgments in order to ensure that it gives effect to the Bill of Rights and in particular the right to procedurally fair administrative action;
• Provide for financial and public accountability frameworks for governing bodies and provincial departments;
• System and administrative improvements in terms of admissions policy, in particular pertaining to undocumented learners; and 
• For technical and substantive adjustments, the BILL clarifies certain existing provisions, insert provisions which are not provided for in existing legislation and strengthen enforcement mechanisms for offences and penalties.

It is a Bill that responds to the current needs in terms of the changing demographics of our communities, findings by the courts and our own observations as we monitor schools.

The Bill has 56 clauses ranging from the introduction of Grade R to learner attendance, Code of Conduct for learners, Home Schooling, rationalisation of schools, abolishment of corporal punishment and initiations, language policy, admission policy, criminalisation of disruptions of school.

All the above-mentioned clauses in the Bill are about providing access to education and providing a child friendly environment as per the dictates of international treaties.

The country cannot fold is arms and watch parents using children at traffic light as beggars instead of sending them to school. The country cannot afford to have children working in farms or roam the streets nor allow adults to use children as pons for their service delivery protests at the expense of the children’s education.

Let me reiterate that there is no taking away of the powers of SGBs.

The fact that language and admission policies were solely determined and adjudicated by SGBs with veto powers without checks and balances led to the abuse of such powers when some schools excluded learners in those schools using discriminatory practices such admitting learners according to race, ability of parents to pay school fees, academic performance and sporting abilities.

In reality, the BELA Bill aspires to harmonise the powers of the SGB with the directives of the relevant provincial Head of Department (HOD). While the SGB is initially tasked with setting a school's language policy, the bill emphasises that this authority is not unequivocal. It ascertains that such policies are adaptable, inclusive and congruent with the constitutional right to basic education.

Early Childhood Development

I thought that it was also vital to update the nation on the progress regarding the work we do in Early Childhood Development.

Since receiving the function, the DBE has placed a strong focus on increasing the quality of early learning programmes and 17,252 early learning practitioners have been trained in the implementation of the National Curriculum Framework for children from birth to four, 6,965 early learning practitioners trained through the PLAYSA online training; 6,521 parents and caregivers have been utilising the ECD Mobi application regularly; 2,017 early learning programmes have been monitored and supported across all provinces.

This year we are training 18,200 parents on the National Parenting Programme, in collaboration with various partners, and 2,265 early learning practitioners are being trained on the NQF Level 4 qualification.

The DBE is in the process of developing very clear quality early learning programme standards that are linked to improved child outcomes. These standards will provide early learning programmes, parents and society as a whole with clear expectations on what quality early learning programme delivery entails. These quality standards will be implemented by taking a developmental approach to supporting current early learning programmes to meet the required expectations.

The recent StatsSA population Census indicated that 2.8 million children are accessing early learning programmes, but it is estimated that a further 1.3 million children aged 3 – 5 still require access to programmes. Currently, about 760,000 children are benefitting from the ECD subsidy to enable further access to early learning programmes.

To address the access gap, and to improve the quality of early learning programmes, the DBE developed a vision and strategy for achieving universal access to early learning programmes by 2030. The Strategy proposes a new ECD Compact with all role-players, including national, provincial and local government, business, donors, civil society, large implementing partners, parents and the whole of South African society to rally around the vision of setting up our children to thrive by five. Over the coming months, the DBE will be engaging with all role-players to explore the part that they can play in realising this vision. If the children of South Africa thrive, all of South Africa will thrive.

School Infrastructure

The Department is working together with Provincial Education Departments to intensify the all-important work of delivering school infrastructure.   

The Department is confident that the annual performance plan targets will be met and that the budget allocated will be used. The Department has developed detailed tracking tools and monitoring is taking place daily to ensure that implementing agents deliver as expected.

At the moment 2 871 schools have been provided with sanitation facilities through SAFE programme.

511 schools are at various stages of implementation and DBE plans to provide these with sanitation facilities by end of the financial year, that is 31st March 2024.

We are doing all that we can to ensure that we provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning in all our schools.

On the Oppenheimer Education Report

Lastly, let me reiterate our response to the Education report released by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.  

The report focusses on the future of South Africa’s education system. It presents several interesting proposals, drawing from research and interviews. However, its diagnosis is in certain respects inaccurate, or one-sided, which weakens the report and the validity of its proposals.

Many of the proposals made in the report are drawn straight from the NDP, meaning they are proposals currently pursued, to varying degrees of success, by government. By not looking beyond the NDP, specifically at the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) documents, which enact and in some cases adapt the recommendations of the NDP, the OMT missed an opportunity to engage more deeply with what government is doing.

The weakness of this report, particularly with respect to diagnosis of the problem in the Basic Education Sector is the deliberate exclusion of the issue of language and how it impacts on opportunities for learning.

A proper desktop review of the complex education system would ideally extend not just to government documents, but also a critical view of teacher union policies, reviews of South Africa’s education system by global bodies such as the OECD, and how the media covers education. The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust has therefore missed an opportunity for a meaningful engagement on the current state of our education system and more specifically the plans and action underway to address the various priority areas referred to in their report.  

In pursuit of supporting the stance of fresh thinking and action in Higher Education Institutions, the DBE has requested a colloquium for discourse with all relevant bodies in education which include all Higher Education Institutions where the DBE’s Director-General (DG) will address the forum.

Among other issues which will be raised at the symposium is the science of teaching reading. This in an attempt to bring new ideas, the DBE will request the HEIs and other stakeholders endowed with imparting knowledge at Higher Education Institutions to re-consider their methodology of teaching reading and other aspects of content knowledge gap and the teaching of learners with special education needs.

This includes the logic of reading for meaning in African languages that need to be revised as a matter of urgency, the PIRLS will also be unpacked.

The colloquium takes place on Tuesday, 31st October, at the University of  Witwatersrand.

Thank you

Issued by Department of Basic Education, 29 October 2023