Parliament, Monday, 3 May 2021 – The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education will from tomorrow undertake a week-long oversight to the Department of Basic Education (DBE) head office to discuss various issues affecting the sector.
The committee is mandated by Section 55 (2) of the Constitution to ensure effective oversight over the executive. Among the issues to be discussed during the oversight visit include the perennial infrastructure challenges facing the sector, the unacceptable increase in incidents of bullying in the basic education sector, school governing body (SGB) elections as well as an update on the status of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill. The aim of the oversight is to find lasting solutions to challenges within the sector as well as ensure accountability from the department.
The committee has since its inception and following various of its oversight visits to provinces highlighted the need for concerted and collaborative effort to find workable solutions to the challenge of inadequate infrastructure within the sector. “In line with this, we decided to hold a school infrastructure roundtable, which will include DBE, provincial departments of education, and chairpersons of education committees in provincial legislatures. We have to work together to find practical solutions to this challenge,” said Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, the Chairperson of the committee.
Meanwhile, the committee had raised its concerns about the worrying increase in incidents of bullying within the sector that at Mbilwi High School led to the death of a student. “Schools are meant to be safe environments conducive for learning and teaching. What we have witnessed in the recent past is worrying and requires urgent action from all stakeholders within the sector,” Ms Mbonqo-Gigaba emphasised. As a result, the committee will engage with the DBE on the implementation of the sector’s anti-bullying policy.
The sector is also in the process of completing school governing body elections. The committee remains of the views that good governance and effective SGBs remain the heart of the sector, and thus will receive an update on the status and outcomes of the elections.
As part of the week-long programme, the committee will also engage with Umalusi and the South African Council for Educators on their 2021-22 budget review. The budget review process provides for committees to prepare budgetary reports, which provide an assessment of the entity’s service delivery performance given available resources, provide an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the department’s use and forward allocation of available resources, and may also include recommendations on the forward use of resources.
Details of the oversight (Day 1)
Date: Tuesday, 4 May 2021
Time: 09:00
Venue: DBE head office (222 Struben Street, Pretoria)
Download the full oversight programme here: https://tinyurl.com/njnwuxaz
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS BONGIWE MBINQO-GIGABA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
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