Ensuring that all Hands are on Deck PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION Cape Town 16 February 2016

PRESENTATION Introduction Schools and Districts visited Key Focus Areas and approach to Monitoring Overview of Findings Way Forward

INTRODUCTION School Readiness Monitoring forms a critical component of the work of the Department of Basic Education, which seeks to ensure that schools are properly prepared to provide teaching and learning. As such, the Department of Basic Education organises annual School Readiness Monitoring visits. In the past three years, School Readiness Monitoring has comprised two rounds of monitoring, namely, pre-closure Readiness Monitoring conducted at the end of the academic year and Readiness Monitoring when schools open at the beginning of the new school year.

INTRODUCTION To monitor readiness for the 2016 academic year, pre-closure visits were conducted between 07 November and 04 December Followed by monitoring of school opening from 11 January to 22 January 2016 in a total of 1602 schools. The approach to the 2016 monitoring process differed from previous years in that it did not sample schools from across the province but focused on selected circuits and districts to pick up trends and patterns that can be utilised to inform the system of deficiencies and best practice, and to shape interventions to move the system towards improved quality of education.

EDUCATION DISTRICTS VISITED Eastern Cape (6): East London; Grahamstown; Fort Beaufort; King Williams Town; Port Elizabeth; and Sterkspruit. Free State (3): Fezile Dabi; Lejweleputswa; and Thabo Mofutsanyana. Gauteng (11): Ekurhuleni South; Gauteng East; Gauteng North; Gauteng West; Johannesburg East; Johannesburg North; Johannesburg West; Sedibeng East; Tshwane North; Tshwane South; and Tshwane West. KwaZulu-Natal (10): Amajuba; Pinetown; Sisonke; Ugu; Umgungundlovu; Umlazi; Umzinyathi; Uthukela; Uthungulu; and Zululand.

EDUCATION DISTRICTS VISITED Limpopo (6): Capricorn; Greater Sekhukhune; Lebowakgomo; Mopani; Vhembe; and Waterberg. Mpumalanga (3): Bohlabela; Gert Sibande; and Nkangala. Northern Cape (1): Siyanda North West (4): Bojanala; Dr Kenneth Kaunda; Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati; and Ngaka Modiri Molema. Western Cape (5): Eden and Central Karoo; Metro Central; Metro East; Metro North; and Overberg.

NUMBER OF SCHOOLS VISITED Province07 Nov to 04 Dec to 22 Jan 2016 Eastern Cape**7543 Free State5313 Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga7778 North West6541 Northern Cape4916 Western Cape10070 Total803799

KEY FOCUS AREAS OF VISITS The following key areas were the focus of the School Readiness Monitoring: Admission and Registration; LTSM; Human Resource Provisioning; Planning for 2016; and Minimum Infrastructural Needs.

APPROACH ADOPTED All visits undertaken complemented provincial and district led processes; Monitors reported challenges picked up to relevant district and DBE daily to ensure a speedy resolution; Two sets of letters were sent to provincial HoDs on the most pressing challenges observed– the first batch after the first week of monitoring and the second batch after the second week of monitoring; Provinces in most instances responded quickly to serious issues they were alerted to – in line with the nature of the challenge.

Overview of findings The majority of schools visited were found to be ready to start with learning and teaching – even more so than in previous years. Areas that the sector had previously pushed to ensure readiness to start, were fairly well managed: – Timely registration of learners – Allocation of Post Establishments – LTSM and textbook availability – Allocation of budgets and – School-level management tools i.e. Attendance registers Time-tables Curriculum documents and Teaching and Assessment plans.

Overview of findings There were, however, key issues that were picked up as still a challenge across the system: – HR Provisioning: Too many schools start the year with vacant substantive posts; – A continuation of small and nonviable schools that place immense pressure on provincial budgets as well as difficulties of post provisioning. Many of these schools are also serial underperformers. – Schools that could not start because of community and school conflicts that have run a number of years without resolution; – The lack of learner profiles, particularly at Secondary School; – Lack of knowledge and implementation of the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) Policy

Overview of findings – Poor School Improvement Plans – primarily carried out for compliance and not based on either School Self-Evaluation or Whole School Evaluation; and – Poorly maintained schools: dirty and even where the school was clean, the state of toilets was shocking; – No infrastructure maintenance plans for utilisation of the ring- fenced allocation for this; – Insufficient or broken furniture; and – Schools that continue not to plan for a minimum of seven working hours a day or simply do not safeguard it by openly declaring Fridays and ‘pay days’ short working days.

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ADMISSION/REGISTRATION

Out of the 799 schools monitored in January, 435 schools (54 per cent) indicated that they had finalised admission and registration for 2016, while the 364 (46 per cent) of schools had not. In the Eastern Cape and Gauteng some schools were still busy with admissions and registrations. In Gauteng, unlike in the Eastern Cape, this was mainly due to the interest of parents (even from outside the province) to enrol their children in the schools in the province. For Eastern Cape, it is an area that will be closely monitored.

LTSM

74 per cent of schools visited had received their top ups. Where schools had not received their top ups there were challenges as many schools in poorer communities feel ‘unable’ to implement their retrieval policies as most of the parents they serve were unemployed and could not afford to pay for lost/damaged books.

WORKBOOK 1 OF 2016

92% of schools monitored had received Workbook 1 in all provinces. The 8% that had not received by the time of monitoring is being followed up. Systems of addressing workbook shortages/non delivery are fairly well laid out so this is an area that has probably been resolved already. DBE following up. Special schools visited complained of often being excluded in the provision of workbooks. This also being followed up.

LEARNER PROFILES

Learner profiles are available mainly in primary schools. Very few secondary schools keep learner profiles. This is an area that will be paid attention to. Out of 799 schools visited in January, 543 had a learner profile for each learner, while 256 did not. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest percentage (42 per cent) of schools visited which were without learner profiles.

SIAS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

SIAS IMPLEMENTATION PLANS Forty two per cent of schools visited in January had a SIAS Implementation Plan, while 58 per cent did not. Limpopo had the highest percentage (83 per cent) of schools without a SIAS Implementation Plan. The absence of SIAS implementation plans in schools is a concern as it signals the possibility that learners may not be receiving the support they need, particularly given the fact that the system had to progress a number of learners. The support part of SIAS is quite critical in ensuring that all learners have equitable access to learning opportunities.

IMPROVEMENT PLANS

76 per cent of schools visited had both School Improvement Plans (SIP) and Academic Improvement Plans (AIP), while 195 schools did not. Although Eastern Cape had the lowest number of schools visited, a significant number of schools (47 per cent) did not have either a SIP or an AIP. On the other hand, out of 70 schools visited in the Western Cape, only one did not have these plans. An issue of concern, however, was that a fair number of these improvement plans seemed to be primarily for compliance and did not always demonstrate a deep analysis of the school and its performance.

FILLING OF SUBSTANTIVE POSTS

Of the schools visited in January only 60 per cent had filled all their substantive posts. This matter is of concern particularly as a number of these schools comprised schools that were already underperforming and they were beginning the year with vacant substantive posts, particularly in the following provinces: EC, KZN and LP. In a number of cases, schools were still utilising un- and underqualified teachers – posing a potential threat to the drive to improve quality in all schools.

SCHOOL TIMETABLE

91 per cent of schools visited had a timetable for the mandated subjects, while 9 per cent did not. It is pleasing to note that the majority of schools visited were ready for 2016 with regards to this aspect. However, it is a concern that schools in some provinces still do not have this basic management tool in place. In many of the schools where there was no timetable, there tended to be other problems such as teachers not teaching, late coming, vacant posts, in-fighting, suspended principals, and poor performance.

BUDGET ALLOCATION LETTER

AVAILABILITY AND CONDITION OF TOILETS

FURNITURE FOR LEARNERS

Provincial ‘feel-good’ stories Western Cape: Very few challenges picked up. Early registration timelines seemed to be paying dividends and not many parents queueing in schools. Special Schools visited expressed feeling of not always being included; North West: Problems with teacher provisioning particularly at FP level. Impressive circuit and district-level responses to challenges identified; Gauteng: Great confidence in the ability of the province to resolve the issues. Refrain from schools was that “the problems are for now – by March the GDE will have resolved all these challenges”. Free State: Schools visited where Kagiso Trust and Shanduka are working with FS Department demonstrated how working towards quality outcomes can be linked to ensuring the dignity of learners as well. Overall, many examples of best practice exist alongside the challenges identified which have already been shared with the individual provinces.

NEXT STEPS Provinces and affected districts and circuits have been provided with summary reports on all schools visited – including challenges that need urgent attention. The report has also been presented to both HEDCOM and CEM. The DBE team will conduct follow up visits at the beginning of the second quarter to schools where challenges were found, to assess progress.

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