Motshekga has captured the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit
The DA is in possession of an email authored by the Acting CEO of the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU), Dr Sibusiso Sithole.
Dr Sithole’s email to NEEDU staff (pasted in full below) contains a directive from Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to curtail NEEDU’s independence.
The directive is in contravention of NEEDU’s mandate, stated on its website as: “…an evaluation and development institution which is independent of that part of the civil service responsible for the administration of schools.”
However, it is clear from Dr Sithole’s email that Minister Motshekga is attempting to inappropriately influence the work of NEEDU in the following ways:
- Minister Motshekga has concerns about the way that “certain issues were handled in the past”.
- Minister Motshekga instructed NEEDU to stop reporting what is wrong in the education system.
- Senior Managers in the Basic Education Department are issuing directives to NEEDU on what to prioritise in its work.
- Minister Motshekga has suspended NEEDU’s work and instructed it to “start planning for new work”.
- Minister Motshekga told Dr Sithole that she wanted NEEDU to be "closer" to the Department. She said, "keep it independent, but keep it closer."
Since NEEDU was established in 2009, it has published two very frank reports on the state of our education system. Judging from Dr Sithole’s email, it is the frankness of NEEDU’s previous reports that have irked Minister Motshekga.
This goes some way to explain why the 2014 NEEDU report has still not been published. Indeed, it seems that Dr Sithole – in connivance with Minister Motshekga – is in the process of delaying and sanitising the 2014 NEEDU report. In Portfolio Committee last week, Dr Sithole told us that the report was undergoing wholesale changes and he could not give us a specific time-frame for its release.
It has been apparent for some time that NEEDU is too independent for Minister Motshekga’s liking. Indeed, she shelved the National Education and Evaluation Development Unit (NEEDU) Bill gazetted on 23 December 2011 that contained a number of measures to safeguard NEEDU’s independence.
These included:
- The need for “an external agency is needed to conduct independent evaluations and to report on the state of school leadership, management, teaching and learning.” (Preamble)
- Recognition that “the Minister and the public need independent expert advice on developmental interventions to repair dysfunction in schools.” (Preamble)
- “The NEEDU must be impartial and must exercise its powers and perform its [duties] in the public interest.” (Section 5.1)
- “No person or organ of State may interfere with the functioning of the NEEDU in terms of this Act.” (Section 5.2)
The DA calls on Minister Motshekga to clarify her position on the independence of NEEDU. In particular, she must explain:
- Why she instructed the Acting CEO of NEEDU to bring the unit “closer” to the Department;
- Why she shelved the NEEDU Bill that would have guaranteed NEEDU’s independence in law; and
- Why there is a prolonged delay in the release of the 2014 NEEDU report?
NEEDU was established to scrutinise our education system without fear or favour, which is precisely why Minister Motshkega is curtailing its independence. We condemn Minister Motshekga’s attempt to capture NEEDU in the strongest possible terms.
Note to Editors:
The email below was sent to NEEDU staff by its Acting CEO Dr Sithole Sibusiso on 1 September 2016 (emphasis added):
From: Sithole, Sibusiso
Sent: 01 September 2016 09:23 AM
To: Mokgawa.L
Subject: Activating 'D' in NEEDU
Hi Leah. Please forward to all NEs.
Dear colleagues,
Last month Shaeda and I met with the Minister to discuss the work of NEEDU. Since then there has been some internal processes that had to be completed to ensure that what we do is in line with the Minister’s directive hence I am writing to you now.
Work of NEEDU in the coming years:
In our fruitful meeting with the Minister she acknowledge good work that NEEDU has done but also raised some concerns in matter that certain issues were handled in the past. The Minister has confidence in our team. She saw the following as the core function of NEEDU moving forward:
(a) That NEEDU must be the research/information hub of the department. In the first instance, NEEDU must conduct its own research not to report about what is wrong in the system, because that is known, but to identify the causes of programme implementation gaps.
(b) The Minister also challenged NEEDU, in its role as the research/information hub of the department, to manage and consolidate research findings from universities and our social partners. She wants NEEDU to engage with research findings from these sources, look at the Department's plans in different branches and advise the Department about the implications of these findings on the work of the Department.
(c) She said NEEDU must take a lead in reviewing results from the international assessments like SACMEQ, PIRLS, TIMSS and advise the Department how to use these results in its programmes to improve curriculum delivery. She said she wants the Department to be a research-driven organization whose programmes are informed by and anchored on what research says works. She said NEEDU would be best placed to coordinate this and to advice the Department how manage, process and deal with research findings.
(d) After identifying implementation gaps in the system using NEEDU's own research and drawing from research findings from other sources, NEEDU must go a step further and propose solutions to address the gaps. She said after finding the gaps, then the "so what" question must be addressed.
(e) She encouraged NEEDU to conduct its evaluations to understand why national and provincial programmes with good intentions don't get implemented successfully in schools. She said NEEDU work must inform the work of different branches in the department.
Following the meeting with the Minister, we were then asked to provide a summary of NEEDU findings over the years to assist the Minister and DBE senior management to prioritise actions that must be taken to address some of the NEEDU findings. Yesterday, we received a response to our submission from the Senior Management highlighting what they think we must prioritise in our work. Because the Minister had emphasized that actions to address NEEDU findings must start immediately, we will suspend all school and district visits in mid-September to start planning for new work (excpet few district visits that will postpone for later date). Next week, we will send you a date for a brainstorming meeting here in Pretoria. We will have short- and long-term planning. In short-term, some things must be ready for implementation when schools re-open in January 2017; that is why we are suspending school visits for the remainder of this year.
NEEDU independence:
She said while she wants an independent NEEDU that is not seen as part of the bureaucracy and that is not bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, she wanted NEEDU to be "closer" to the Department. She said, "keep it independent, but keep it closer." She was concerned how NEEDU operated in the past. She said she wanted a working relationship between NEEDU and the Department to allow the latter to integrate NEEDU work its work and to inform its planning. To this end, she said wanted NEEDU to work with the Planning, Development and Oversight Unit (PDOU) headed by Mrs Palesa Tyobeka. You will be introduced to her in our mid-September meeting.
We will discuss the details and any questions that you might have in our mid-September meeting. I think we are going to do exciting work moving forward as we activate “D” in NEEDU but this does not mean that we are abandoning to “E”.
ENDS
Statement issued by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 9 November 2016
