Page 322 - Provincial Treasury Estimates.pdf
P. 322

Department: Education

           support during the period under review. Key trends that emerged from monitoring visits, included the

           greater compliance in the implementation of the programme by primary schools in respect of the meal
           balance, serving the correct portion sizes as well as adhering to the feeding times. Overall, the breakfast
           programme is implemented well at primary and secondary schools and the coming financial year suggest

           for greater participation in the primary schools.

           Provision of classroom resources i.e. Learner Teacher Support Material and furniture
           The department set aside an original funding of R654.075 million for 2022/23, largely for the acquisition of

           textbooks and stationery, and a further provision of R134.213 million for furniture (chairs and desks).
           Procurement for both furniture and learner teacher support material is being managed by the department
           centrally, and in line with approved central procurement deliveries to schools.

           x    Learning material - the department gave priority to LTSM acquisition of a consumable nature, as the
                replenishment of the stock is required on yearly basis. As such, 100 per cent delivery of stationery to

                all deserving schools. Likewise, education has  managed  to deliver 1 612 347  textbooks  from  53
                publishers, to 5 017 deserving schools, including reported new schools and schools with curriculum
                extensions.

           x    Furniture – for the period under question, 343 schools received school furniture i.e. learner desks and
                chairs from the warehouse stock on hand. The recipient of delivery included 50 373 units, consisting

                of 17 988 chairs and 32 385 tables, delivered across different school levels.

           Access to Early Childhood Development  is currently threatened  by a  number  of factors  including

           defective infrastructure and mobility towards accessing the centres. Most children in the province are not
           thriving in foundational numeracy and literacy. All of this creates the risk that the sector will not adequately
           prepare children for economic participation in the nation. Moreover, the facilities from which the programs

           are administered are not purpose-built, as such guidelines and requirements are not adhered to. Strides,
           however, have been made in certain areas of the programme, including the training of Grade R educators
           on National Curriculum Framework and the provision of core material thereof, as well as the successful

           payment of all ECD centres for both first and second quarter.
           Whilst identification of  three “High Impact Projects” was made on  Information Communication
           Technology, during 2022/23, the department had not fully implemented these projects due to constrained

           iscus, however there has been a noticeable number of schools connected through broadband with the
           assistance of Premier’s Office. To this effect, 30 per cent of the schools have been connected thus far. A

           futher deployment of ICT devices were distributed to 393 schools for teaching and learning purposes
           through partnership with Nudle Group and through the utilisation of the departmental budget allocation (to
           116 schools). Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) also donated 8 000 tablets that were distributed to 14

           schools across different districts in the province.

           The department made a commitment to inclusion, which means that no learner will ever be left out on
           account of disability of  whatever kind, hence the Bonke Ngabethu Project. To  realize  this, several








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