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PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SECTION 100(1)(b)

INTERVENTION – LIMPOPO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Presented to the Joint NCOP Select Committees on 15-16 October 2013

Introduction On 05 December 2011, the National Executive (“the Cabinet”) agreed

to intervene in five provincial line function departments in Limpopo in terms of section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Among the five provincial line function departments, was the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE).

In terms of section 100(2)(c), the NCOP is enjoined to “review the intervention regularly” in order to “make appropriate recommendations to the National Executive”.

The relevant Select Committees responsible for the five departments under section 100(1)(b) intervention in Limpopo include the Education and Recreation; Finance; Health; Public Works; as well as Roads and Transport, led by the Select Committee on Finance

The Select Committees have been regularly monitoring and reviewing the intervention in Limpopo.

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Introduction (cont.)

The most recent oversight visit of the NCOP Select Committee on Finance was on 23-26 April 2013. It was at this meeting that the Select Committee recommended that –

the Administrator for the Limpopo Department of Education should table a report to the House, three months after the adoption of the Committee’s report on service delivery achievements since the beginning of the intervention; and a plan to ensure that procurement of infrastructure follows due processes and stay within the budget; and

the Department of Basic Education and the Provincial Treasury should assist the Limpopo Department of Education in terms of resolving the issues related to funds that had been withdrawn by the National Treasury.

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Diagnostic analysis (key findings) An inability to fund key strategic educational priorities, resulting in

essential national standards or the established minimum standards for the provisioning of quality basic education not being met, including the – failure to procure LTSMs especially for Grades1-3 and 10; failure to train educators for the roll-out of CAPS; bloated CoE budget; inadequate funds for the roll-out of the learner transport programme; noncompliance with contractual stipulations in the infrastructure

programmes; inadequate funding to implement remedial programmes for Grades 10-

12 limited funding to transfer to schools ito the Norms & Standards; Uncertainty on the administration of trouble-free ANA & the NSC; and questionable data integrity, leading to risky & misinformed management

decisions for planning, budgeting and provisioning.

Diagnostic analysis (cont.)The system of financial, supply chain, contract, asset,

records and cash flow management and controls was not effective, efficient and accountable to an extent that –

2010/11 and 2011/12 adverse audit opinions were not adequately addressed;

the Department continually overspent on its personnel budget between the 2007/08 and 2012/13 financial years;

funds allocated for priority education programmes were moved to augment the CoE budget; and

cashflow management challenges led to the delayed payment of invoices, thus creating huge accruals.

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Diagnostic analysis (cont.)The Compensation of Employees budget was bloated,

thus needing an effective and sound human resource management strategy whose focus areas should include, but not limited to –

applying the post provisioning norms;PERSAL clean-up;aligning the PERSAL delegations with human resource

delegations;aligning the organisational structure with the Strategic and

Annual Performance Plans; andaddressing the high vacancy rates of support staff at

schools, districts and head office.

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SOME OF THE SUCCESSES OF THE INTERVENTION

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Textbooks and Stationery A Provincial Strategy for the procurement and delivery of LTSMs has

been developed and is implemented and constantly improved. In 2012, CAPS-aligned textbooks, were procured for the Foundation

Phase (Grades 1-3) and Grade 10. This was in line with the phase-in implementation of the CAPS in Grades 1-3 and 10 in the 2012 academic year.

Also in 2012, top-ups for NCS-aligned textbooks for selected subjects were procured for Grades 11 and 12 – covering more than 26 000 Grade 11, and more 15 500 Grade 12 learners.

Since there was no budget allocation to procure textbooks for the 2012 academic year, a decision was taken, with the support of the National and Provincial Treasuries, to use the R249m allocated for the procurement of textbooks for the 2013 academic year.

137 997 Grade 1, 129 037 Grade 2, and 113 825 Grade 3 received workbooks, Big Books, Phonic Books, and Graded Readers; and 178 398 Grade 10 learners received CAPS-aligned textbooks (100% coverage).

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Textbooks and Stationery (cont.) During the 2012/13 budget adjustment process, the National and Provincial

Treasuries made available an additional R510m for the procurement of CAPS-aligned textbooks for Intermediate Phase (Grades 4-6) and Grade 11 (R380m), and stationery for Grades R-12 (R130m).

In 2012 CAPS-aligned textbooks for the Intermediate Phase (Grades 4-6) and Grade 11 learners were procured for the 2013 school calendar year – again in line with the phased-in implementation of the CAPS in these Grades.

113 825 Grade 4, 118 067 Grade 5, and 116 150 Grade 6 received workbooks and CAPS-aligned textbooks; and 172 398 Grade 11 learners received CAPS-aligned textbooks (100% coverage).

Stationery was supplied to all learners (1.66 million Grades R-12 learners). The central procurement model for LTSM procurement has yielded “good fruit”.

Of the budgeted R382,889,409.75 for the procurement of Grades 4-6 and 11 (based on the lowest unit cost in the National Catalogues) was reduced to R236,155,121.05 – a total savings of R146,734,288.70 (38.32%).

The 2012 stationery cost R259,451,202.38. However, the 2013 stationery, directly procured from the stationery manufacturers, cost R129,117,514.47 – a total savings of R130,333,688.73 (50.2% )

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Textbooks and Stationery (cont.) A budget allocation of R620m has been made available for the 2014

LTSM procurement and delivery processes. R145m of the R620m has been earmarked for stationery; while R475m

has been earmarked for the CAPS-aligned textbooks for Grades 7-9 and 12 – the last Grades in which the CAPS are implemented.

Savings realised, will be used for requested top-ups for Grades 4-6,10 & 11, as well as special learning devices for learners with special educational needs.

More than 6 million CAPS-aligned textbooks have been ordered for Grades 7-9 and 12; while stationery has been ordered for more than 1.66 million learners.

120 794 Grade 7, 122 547 Grade 8, and 184 532 Grade 9, and 82 983 Grade 12 learners will receive CAPS-aligned textbooks.

The first batch of textbooks has been delivered to Capricorn schools; deliveries to schools in other Districts will begin next week. The completion date is set at mid-November 2013.

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LTSMs – Challenges & interventions Some of the challenges include but not limited to – Logistical challenges, such as late delivery, delivery of wrong quantities and

titles; Utilisation and retrieval of textbooks at the end of academic year; Shelf / book life (longevity) of textbooks; and Escalating costs for textbooks. Possible intervention include but not limited to – Early procurement of LTSMs and signing of contractual agreements between

the Department and Publishers and stationery Manufacturers; Constant monitoring of logistical processes and utilisation; Develop and enforce a textbook retrieval policy and strategy, which must

include compelling principals to include textbook retrieval in their performance agreements;

Continue with the central procurement and delivery of textbooks; and Consider establishing a Government printing and production firm,

specialising among others, textbooks printing and production

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TOTAL PERMANENT EDUCATORS IN PUBLIC ORDINARY SCHOOLS

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YEAR

TOTAL PERMANENT

EDUCATORS IN PUBLIC

ORDINARY SCHOOLS

2009 Nov 52 3002010 Nov 51 3962011 Nov 50 4352012 Nov 51 936

2013 March 52 071

No. of staff in public ordinary schools

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YEAR

NO OF SUPPORT STAFF

IN PUBLIC ORDINARY SCHOOLS

2009 Nov 2 1792010 Nov 1 9982011 Nov 1 9822012 Nov 1 973

2013 March 1 924

Permanent educators in special schools

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YEAR

PERMANENT EDUCATORS IN

SPECIAL SCHOOLS

2009 Nov 4812010 Nov 5002011 Nov 5452012 Nov 633

2013 March 647

No. of support staff in special schools

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YEAR

SUPPORT STAFF IN SPECIAL

SCHOOLS

2009 Nov 4782010 Nov 6362011 Nov 6392012 Nov 663

2013 March 653

Professional support in special schools

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YEAR

PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT IN

SPECIAL SCHOOLS

2009 Nov 92010 Nov 182011 Nov 162012 Nov 20

2013 March 20

Support staff at Head Office,Districts & Circuits

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YEAR

SUPPORT STAFF IN

OFFICES (HEAD OFFICE,

DISTRICTS & CIRCUITS)

2009 Nov 3 2492010 Nov 2 5892011 Nov 3 1702012 Nov 2 658

2013 March 2 580

Note:The establishment has been declining since November 2011 due to attrition. Some Districts are seriously affected. Vacant funded posts must be filled

CoE Budget, 2010/11 – 2012/13

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NOTE:2010/11 = - (R622.318m)2011/12 = - (R122.771m)2012/13 = R329.087m

Financial year

Budget R'000

Expenditure R'000

2010/2011 15 243 594 15 865 912

2011/2012 17 168 362 17 291 133

2012/2013 18 584 369 18 255 081

Interventions – HR The Department of Education is a labour intensive Department,

and as such, teachers and learners are key cost drivers. Through the Collective Agreement No. 01 of 2012, 2 489 of the 2

544 temporary educators in substantive posts have been permanently absorbed – leaving a meagre surplus of 55 temporary educators as at the end of August 2013.

The HR interventions implemented, enabled the Department to realise savings of R327 million (a whopping 99.4% of the total CoE savings in the province).

The 2014 post provisioning baskets declared in September 2013 will go a long way in addressing some of these HR challenges.

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HR Challenges The reinstatement of the rural allowance to the 7 000 beneficiaries

of the programme before its termination in December 2012 put pressure on our CoE budget.

The Department is also characterised by an aging workforce (see slides below).

Shortage of teachers for key as well as gateway subjects as well as Curriculum Advisors, particularly at Circuit level.

Lack of professional leadership and management skills.Lack of an integrated and comprehensive HRD strategy.There is an URGENT need for a structured, comprehensive and

strategic HRD plan for the Province – focusing on demand, supply and utilisation of professionals with scarce skills.

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AGE PROFILE

The department has 26 366 educators between the age of 45 to 55 years 7 782 educators are between 55 and 65 This require a strategic approach.

AGE PROFILE cont…

The pattern is the same, 2323 support staff are between the age of 45 to 55. The department is characterized by ageing workforce

AGE PROFILE cont…

“No Fee” Schools Policy

The Department introduced a policy on school fee exemption. This policy is applicable to public schools that have been categorised as Quintile 1, 2 and 3.

Comparatively, Limpopo Province has the highest number of learners benefiting from the ‘’No Fee” School Policy.

The Table below indicates the number of learners benefiting from the “No Fee” School Policy (2010-2012):

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2010 2011 2012 Learner Enrolment 1,658 624 1,664 597 1,662,106

Beneficiaries 1,605 065 1,611 666 1,600,105

Percentage of Beneficiaries

96.8% 96.8% 96.3%

Budget allocation R505.844m R620m

“No Fee” Schools Policy From the Table above, it can be seen that in 2012/13 1,611,666 out of

1,664,597 (96.8%) learners were in “no fee” schools, costing the fiscus R489.8m.

During the current financial year, 1,600,105 out of 1,662,106 (96.3%) learners are in the “no fee” schools; costing the fiscus R596.9m.

Of the 3 947 ordinary public schools in Limpopo, 3 851 of these schools are “no fee” schools. This is equivalent to 97.6% of the ordinary public schools in the province. This signals that education provisioning in Limpopo is almost “free”.

As at 30 September 2013, 75% of the Norms per capita funds have transferred to the schools. The remaining 25% will be transferred in November 2013.

The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) had resolved that the “no fee” schools should be funded at R1 010 per learner (inclusive of the subsidies for LTSMs and the running costs). This translates to a budget requirement of R1.631 billion (taking into account the R505 and R174 national norm for quintile 4 and 5 learners, respectively

The allocation for 2014/15 will be R1.2 billion – a deficit of R431m, equivalent to 35.9%.

“No fee” schools – Challenges& interventions

The Department has consistently funded schools below the nationally determined target levels due to financial constraints, though the situation is gradually improving – 62% of the national in 2012/13; and 76.6% of the national norm in 2013/14 (24.6% improvement from 2012/13).

Underfunding of schools has resulted in some Quintile 3 schools requesting the Department to categorise them as Quintile 4 schools so that they can charge school fees.

Municipality costs are increasing at rates that are higher than the allocation to schools – unfortunately the municipal rates are not commensurate with the level of poverty of the schools, and the communities from which the learners come.

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“No fee” schools – Challenges & interventions

Schools spend large portions of their Norms funds on Eskom and municipality services with respect to rates and taxes, water and electricity charges.

Currently, there are several schools particularly state-of-the-art schools whose electricity supply is cut because of their failure to pay Eskom and/or municipalities. This matter was tabled at the Provincial EXCO Lekgotla on 09-10 October 2013. The Provincial EXCO Lekgotla –

noted the commitment of the Department to settle the municipal and ESKOM debts;

supported that the Department be exempted from paying interests – therefore municipalities are expected to reverse the interest charged;

supported that debts related rates and taxes will be sent to the LDPW and not LDoE nor the schools;

recommended that municipalities should consider cheaper rates for schools, as most of the learners attending “no fee” schools come from indigent communities.

recommended that the revised invoices must be sent to the Department as soon as possible, so that the Department can settle these debts within a month.

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“No fee” schools – Challenges& interventions

2014 is the final year in which the CAPS are implemented. Therefore, allocations in terms of the Norms and Standards will be skewed toward per capita transfers to schools.

The National Education Collaboration Trust will, among other objectives, alleviate the financial pressures currently faced by schools.

Cooperation with strategic Government Departments and entities can maximise the economies of scale, as the Department will procure services directly from other Government Departments and entities.

More than 1.6 million learners in the “no fee” primary and secondary schools do participate in the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP).

This is an important programme as it guarantees a nutritious meal to every learner per day.

The programme also generates some form of economic activities for the communities surrounding these “no fee” schools – as service providers, food handlers and monitors in the main, come from the school’s neighbouring communities.

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2011 & 2012 ANA RESULTS Grade 3 – Literacy improved from 35% in 2011 to 52% in 2012; and

Numeracy improved from 28% in 2011 to 41% in 2012. Grade 6 – Languages improved from 36% in 2011 to 43% in 2012; and

Mathematics decreased from 30% in 2011 to 28% in 2012. Grade 9 – Performance in Home Language was 31%; FAL was 32%; and

Mathematics was 9% in 2012. During the 2012/2013 financial year, a total of 956 269 learners

in our province, in Grade 1-6 and Grade 9, wrote the ANA tests. The results show that our learners still perform below the expected levels.

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National Senior Certificate(NSC) examination results (cont.)

The performance of the Province since 2009 is as follows – In 2009, the pass rate of Grade 12 learners was 48.9%; In 2010, the pass rate of Grade 12 learners was 57.9%; In 2011, the pass rate of Grade 12 learners was 63.9%;and In 2012, the pass rate of Grade 12 learners was 66.9% (3.1% less than

the target of 70%). Therefore, since 2009 there has been a steady increase in the Grade 12

pass rate, which in 2012, stood at 18%. The quality of the passes during the 2012 NSC examinations in Limpopo can be best illustrated as follows –

Limpopo remains the top province in the production of the Bachelor passes at 15 324 candidates;

the top performing candidate in the 2012 NSC examination nationally, came from a Quintile 3 school in the province;

14 of the 27 best performing candidates in a variety of subjects nationally, including mathematics and science, came from Limpopo; and

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National Senior Certificate(NSC) examination results (cont.)

the top performing candidate in the independent schools that administered the 2012 NSC examinations in Limpopo, was the 27th compared to top performing candidates from ordinary public schools.

It must also be reported that none of the Limpopo Education Districts performed at less than 60% – the level regarded as underperformance for Districts.

It should also be noted that the Class of 2012 improved their 2012 NSC examination results by obtaining a further 3.8% in the 2013 NSC supplementary examinations. This improves the 2012 pass marks to 70.8% -- the highest pass mark in the province during the democratic dispensation

The ANA and the NSC examination results as provided supra, demystify the argument that was advanced that there was no learning and teaching in Limpopo as a result of the late delivery of textbooks. In fact, not only the number of candidates who performed well, the quality of performances could just be marveled at.

For the 2013 NSC examinations, a target of 75% has been set. We are confident that we will reach this target.

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National Senior Certificate(NSC) examination results (cont.)

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Districts 2011 2012 Variance

Capricorn 66.8 66 -0.8

Mopani 60.1 63.2 (+2.1)

Sekhukhune 60.8 63 (+2.2)

Vhembe 70.3 76.8 (+6.5)

Waterberg 55.1 60.1 (+5.0)

2012/13 Audit outcomes Disclaimer audit opinion Qualification in the following areas – Assets Completeness and accuracy of asset register; Misclassification of maintenance as capital Commitments schedule not complete Long outstanding receivables HR matters Leave management Management of appointments and terminations Root causes have been analysed and an Action Plan for the AGSA

Audit outcome has been developed and is implemented We are negotiating with the AGSA for an interim audit, despite the fact

that the final audit report and management letter were submitted late.

OTHER SUCCESSES OF THE INTERVENTION

Other successes of the section 100(1)(b) intervention include but not limited to –

all education information management systems (EMIS, SA-SAMS and LURITS) have been integrated and customised. 134 SA-SAMS coordinators have been appointed (though on contract) to collect data from schools in the 134 Circuits;

the organisational structure of the Department has been realigned, guided by the organisational development (OD) principles, the outcomes of the Organisational Functionality Assessment (OFA) conducted in collaboration with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), and the service delivery model of the Department;

the PERSAL transversal system has been cleaned-up with the assistance of the DPSA. This resulted in the abolition of more than 8 000 unfunded post. The irregular HR practice in Waterberg, which is currently sub judice, was picked through the PERSAL clean-up;

Stats-SA has recently completed the physical headcount of learners and educators to ensure credible and reliable datasets for strategic planning, credible budgeting, and pointed provisioning;

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OTHER SUCCESSES OF THE INTERVENTION (cont.)

suitably qualified educators have been and are in the process of being appointed in promotional posts (principals, deputy principals and subject heads of departments); and vacant Circuit managers’ posts have been and are being filled;

a team of technical experts (PWC-Rakoma Consortium) has been appointed by the Provincial Treasury to assist the Department in addressing financial, supply chain, asset, contract, document, and human resource management challenges, including guiding the audit processes.

the team has played a pivotal role in the following areas – the improvement of the 2012/13 Annual Financial Statements; assistance with all AGSA processes, especially the creation a

credible movable asset register; and the verification of assets; Completion of the inventory of immovable assets that are in the

process of being transferred to the LDPW Works ito section 42 of the PFMA, 1999.

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20 736 learners benefitted from the scholar transport programme in 2012/13. The number has increased to 26 540 in this year. These learners travel 11 557.2 kms/day in 290 routes.

In conclusion, it must be stated that the MEC has announced her intention to merge 308 schools. These are small schools that are not educationally and economically viable to run.

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THANK YOU

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