Speaking notes of the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences & Creative Industries, Mr Makhi Feni, at the Social Services cluster media briefing on 23 June at Good Hope Chamber, Parliament.
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Eastern Cape Floods
The select committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries offers its sincere condolences to the families of the 13 learners that have lost their lives in the when their scholar transport was swept away during the floods, this is indeed a tragedy for the loss of the nation. The committee calls for the families of these learners to be supported during this difficult period.
The committee is to consider conducting an oversight visit to the Eastern Cape Province to identify the extent of the damage in schools and engage the executive on how soon the damaged school infrastructure can be rebuilt. No official report from the province on the extent and the impact.
The committee will also be requesting a disaster management report that will inform members of the committee about the damage and come up with recommendations for the executive to action urgently.
Furthermore, the committee will ensure that no learners are disadvantaged from writing their mid-year exams as well as losing school time due to the floods. The Provincial Department will need to urgently put catch up measures for learners.
Funds that will be used for infrastructure school rebuild will be closely monitored, working together with the office of the Auditor General, and quarterly progress reports will be submitted to the committee and the NCOP.
BELA Act implementation
The committee appreciates the work of the DBE in its quest to speedily implement the Basic Education Amendment Laws (BELA) Act terms of reference and is closely monitoring the progress of implementation.
More importantly, the committee is paying attention to the full implementation of compulsory Grade R, especially with regards to schools having capacity to accommodate the learners, as well as appointing more qualified educators for early childhood development.
The committee also made a resolution at its recent strategic planning session, that it will focus its attention on learners living with disabilities and special needs at an Early Childhood Development (ECD) level. This will be the focus area of the committee over its term. Schools must have educators specifically trained and qualified to care for learners living with disabilities. This is to ensure that no child is left behind as this is also the intention of the BELA act.
The Act remains enacted with the understanding that regulations setting out the norms and standards are to be prepared. The deadline for those regulations is the end of this month. It is important to note we have become aware of guidelines from the DBE. These guidelines, the DBE indicated, are intended to offer non-binding, but important guidance on how schools and education departments should interpret and implement the BELA Act and related legislation. We call for greater clarity on these guidelines; and wish to remind all that implementation of the BELA is not an option to schools but a law of the republic.
May I also reflect on the migration of the early childhood development (ECD) function and the Children’s Amendment Act. Some time ago, colleagues in the 6th Parliament made a very progressive call to move the ECD function to the DBE. This decision is being implemented with successes and is being monitored by Education committees in the NA and the NCOP.
We are proud of this and will form a great deal of our work especially when conducting oversight. ECD centres will be included in our oversight programmes whenever we go out on physical oversight visits.
We call for better resources in terms of funding and maintenance. Chapter 5 and 6 of the Children’s Amendment Act relate to the work of the DBE and deal with role clarification. It is in these chapters that we note that the responsibility for infrastructure maintenance, also in historically disadvantaged areas, is the responsibility of local municipalities.
The committees call for a greater working relationship between the DBE and local municipalities regarding these infrastructure concerns. We are aware and note the DBE’s Bana Pele Registration drive of registering at least 10 000 ECD centres.
DBE needs to prioritise historically disadvantaged communities as the need for funding and infrastructure are greater in those areas. Other area of concern that needs budget prioritisation is security.
As a country we have seen that the migration patterns of parents and caregivers affect schooling. Schools in economically thriving provinces like the Gauteng, Western Cape and KZN provinces are oversubscribed. This learner movement calls for precise decisions on where we build schools; and how we maintain them.
We cannot continue to ignore maintenance, especially in poor areas and our schools fall into disrepair.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:
- It remains a ministerial process of how the Minister appoints SETA boards and board Chairs,
- Due diligence is done on this new process, conflict of interest must not arise, and that transparency with issues such as panel members helping the Minister. But importantly, deserving candidates are not disadvantaged for political affiliations, but we must be honest about that.
- And finally that women candidates must also be appointed to Chair these boards.
- The committee acknowledges and appreciates the Ministers’ efforts in once again opening the application process for the SETA Boards. It is now the role of the committee to perform effective oversight over the process of the appointment of the new board chairpersons. We recommend that the board must have experienced people who display exceptional leadership qualities and high levels of integrity to serve in the SETAs.
- In terms of the consolidation of the previous panel appointed by the Minister, the committee acknowledges the report requested by President Cyril Ramaphosa in which the Minister is supposed to submit to the President to consideration. We will allow for the President to process the report and take a decision on the matter. This will also inform us of the next steps to take going forward.
Thank you
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