Department of Basic Education on its 2 Quarter 2015/16 performance; Mathematics Paper 2 leak

Meeting report

Opening remarks
The Chairperson stated that the results to be tabled will be from July till September. This meeting is to see how the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is doing against their targets according to the Annual Performance Plan (APP). She asked that Director General speak about the Mathematics Paper 2 leak.

Mathematics Paper 2 leak
Mr Hubert Mweli, DBE Director General, spoke about the leak as reported by the media. He said that National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations started on 19 October 2016 with Information Technology, Computer Application and Technology which were both practical papers. The major examinations started on 24 October with all learners writing English. On 30 October when learners were writing Mathematics Paper 2, there was information received of a leak at Giyani High School in Limpopo. One learner shared the leaked paper with 25 other learners. The learner confessed of her volition, saying that there was no use in continuing with the paper as the paper they were writing was similar to the one they discussed while preparing for the examination.

The principal of the school then interviewed the other learners and got confirmation of what the learner had said. This information was then relayed to the Department. Mr Bheki Mpanza who is Acting Department Head, went to Limpopo on 31 October to start investigations. There are 124 learners doing Mathematics in Giyani and the leak affected two other schools in the area; one public and one independent. During the investigation, Dr Poliah and his team found that the leak came from a source based in Gauteng, but was originally from the Giyani area. This was a University of Johannesburg (UJ) student. The police were immediately contacted and the Hawks are dealing with the matter. The deadline for the investigation is 15 November, as by then the Department needs to know the scale of the leakage to determine future steps and start on logistics for the number of learners that will have to rewrite, and commence disciplinary processes.

The Hawks have confiscated the cell phones of all involved learners as the paper was shared over WhatsApp. There will be an update on further developments. The Hawks have interviewed three other learners in Gauteng including the student who is the source of the leaked paper.

The Chairperson allowed Members to ask questions

Mr G Davis (DA) thanked the DG for the report and asked if there is any knowledge of how the UJ student got the paper. Is there any knowledge of other papers being leaked? Are there any steps taken to ensure that no more leakages occur during this examination period?

Ms H Boshoff (DA) asked if the person who leaked the paper did not write any leaked papers herself when she was in matric?

The DG responded that in addition to the Hawks, there will be a special investigation within the Department as the source of last year’s Life Science paper leak has not been found. There will be a private investigator that will look at security measures for the Department to see if there is a lack there. The Department does not know if the student herself wrote leaked papers, but with the cell phone confiscated, there is hope that evidence will be found. If the student is found to have cheated, then the certificate will be withdrawn and the necessary steps will be taken. He added that when the Department released a press statement, a journalist said he had reliable information that Economics Paper 2 has been leaked, however no information regarding this has been made available to them.

Department of Basic Education on its 2 Quarter 2015/16 performance
Mr Hubert Mweli, DBE Director General, highlighted areas of achievement and focused on areas of underperformance and gave explanations for these.

Performance Indicators and Targets
Programme One: Administration
The Department submitted a final Annual Performance Evaluation Report on Conditional Grants to National Treasury on 4 August 2016 and participated in meeting with international organisations such as UNESCO, where they discussed the Sustainable Development Goals, the Regional Office for Southern Africa Education Sector and Institute for Advancement of Journalism Seminar. The Department participated in meetings about Memorandums of Understanding with Cuba and South Korea. The internal audit unit remains an issue; there is focus in strengthening the unit and restructuring it.

Programme Two: Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring
There are a number of annual targets under this programme and under achievement or partial achievement is due to the financial resources the Department depends on to monitor these activities such as the European Union grant that is used to monitor. There was a delay in finalising the business plan with National Treasury which viewed that some aspects had to be changed. The delivery of workbooks was at 56.5% in quarter 2, but volume one workbooks for Grade R-9 had been delivered to all schools. There was underperformance in the number of districts visited for monitoring the 1+4 strategy which was due to financial constraints.

The major issue in Early Childhood Development has been implementing a uniform curriculum, a management guide for the in-service training of ECD practitioners has been finalised. The Department has finalised 26 draft subjects for Technical Occupational pathway, as the pilot will start in 2017 for this stream. Consultative meetings on the Development of the Rural Education Policy were held in three provinces namely, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The engagements with these stakeholders were necessary and they ensured that the development of the Rural Education Policy is done from a well-informed position. The DBE and the Department of Science and Technology have partnered with Hydrogen South Africa, to install Energy Fuel Cell technology for the provision of power at rural schools.

A total of 229 schools were supplied with resources, 4 557 teachers trained and 8 754 learners supported during the first quarter of 2016/17 under the Mathematics and Science Technology (MST) programme. The Department provided connectivity to 278 schools through the Universal Service and Access Obligation (USAO). Department has engaged with all the stakeholders - ICASA, Vodacom, MTN and Neotel - to discuss future rollouts. A total of 1 380 digital offline content packs were distributed to 10 districts in all provinces.

With the Kha Ri Gude literacy project, the main focus in the last few months has been to prepare for the project which only started end of October and will end in March 2017. For the Second Chance Matric Programme, access to the content was made available via the 74 Vodacom Centres, schools with Telematics and Internet Broadcasting Programme. Four venues per province (36 nationally) were identified for face-to-face classes. The Department has monitored winter schools across the country and has conducted oversight visits to all provinces.

Programme Three: Teachers, Education Human Resources and Institutional Development
The first two indicators are annual with the third one having been met with the others being partially met. Under Teacher and Professional Development, officials have been trained in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo on the implementation of the Post Provisioning Norms (PPN). A report conducted by Deloitte and Touche indicated that all provinces have not been implementing the provisioning norms correctly, these provinces therefore requested training. The Funza Lushaka bursary allocation from National Treasury for 2016/17 is R1 043 611 000 which translates into about 14,000 bursaries that can be awarded to students in 2016.

156 Teacher Centre Managers and E- Learning specialists have been trained through an on-line university accredited course. DBE provided three-day training for 1 316 Grade 12 Mathematics and Physical Science Teachers in 10 districts on critical topics identified through the Diagnostic Report. DBE has provided oversight and support to provinces on Reading Promotion and Library and Information Services (RLIS) programme implementation. DBE oversaw the training of 11 666 school governing body members on financial management in collaboration with ABSA in Free State, Gauteng, KZN and North West.

DBE has overseen the implementation and administration of the IQMS in the provinces. Total number of 8 061 new entrants in the profession attended workshops/ information sessions on the implementation of the IQMS. Gauteng and Western Cape are implementing an efficient data driven system to manage the analysis of IQMS scores. DBE has completed an analysis of quarterly reports on Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) implementation in the provinces. DBE designed programmes for supporting NSC in partnership with the National Education Collaboration Trust with a total of 160 Mathematics and Physical Science Teachers trained. DBE has developed a diagnostic self-assessment in English First Additional Language (EFAL) and Mathematics. A programme has been designed to strengthen Provincial Teacher Development Institutes and District Teacher development centres to act as hubs of teacher professional development. A total number of 1 316 teachers were trained in 10 districts in seven provinces for Grade 12 Mathematics and Physical Science on content and pedagogy.

Programme Four: Planning, Information and Assessment
The first three targets are annual with the fourth being around the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Imitative (ASIDI) not met due to the serious challenge of planning. The DG said that he has spoken about the need to engage on an 18 month planning cycle so that at least 6 months in advance, DBE would know which projects would be carried out, which would allow them to contract implementing agents and constructors before the beginning of the financial year. The supply management processes are not coming to the party on this programme. He has written to National Treasury to assist in the matter and is working with the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer to assist.

The Annual National Assessment (ANA) programme is currently under review and there has been extensive consultation on its design with teacher unions to establish suitable models. A concept document with proposals for re-design of ANA in 2016 and beyond has been developed and a proposed National Integrated Assessment Framework (NAIF) consisting of three distinct, yet complementary assessment programmes, have been developed. The NIAF comprises of three legs:
• Systemic evaluation: It will be administered once in 3 years to a sample of learners at Grade 3, 6, and 9.
• Diagnostic tests: Phase focused test administered to Grade 3, 6 and 9 – they will not be reported on but will  assist the teacher to diagnose learner challenges. They are currently being prepared for offering end of the year 2016.
• Summative evaluation: This is proposed to be administered in 2017 to Grade 6 only and will continue to be administered in Grade 9 only from 2018, every year.

The TIMSS study was completed in August 2015 at the Grade 9 level and TIMSS Numeracy study was completed at the Grade 5 level. Results will be released on 29 November. The PIRLS study was completed with Grade 5 learners in 2016. The administration of the study is managed by the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) at the University of Pretoria. Preliminary results for the PIRLS will be available in the 2nd quarter of 2017.

Africa has received the preliminary results of the SACMEQ IV Study from the SACMEQ Coordinating Centre (SCC). The study was conducted in 2013 and tested learner competencies at a Grade 6 level on Reading, Mathematics and Health Knowledge. The preliminary shows an improvement in the performance of our learners.

The NSC and Senior Certificate examinations are currently being written with close to 680 000 full time candidates writing these examinations. DBE embarked on the maintenance of the SA SAMS Version 16.1- to update latest policies and correct information. The 2016 signed off “No Fee” schools lists from Provincial Education Department (PEDs) were received from Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal provinces. North West, Free State, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces submitted unsigned lists, Eastern Cape is still outstanding. DBE together with Limpopo Treasury were assigned to support the Limpopo Department of Education to help develop a strategy to assist them to get closer to the targeted minimum threshold amounts for their school allocation.

Physical Planning is conducted through the two grants; ASIDI and the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG). DBE’s first and second tranche of the EIG allocation for 2016/17 has been transferred to provinces on 15 April 2016 and the 30 May 2016. The second transfer was dependent upon the submission of March 2016 Infrastructure reports, National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) assessment forms, and quarterly performance reports on disaster allocations, amongst others. To date, a total of R3.605 billion or 37.5% of R9.614 billion allocated to the sector has been transferred to PEDs.

Under ASIDI, seven schools have been completed at the end of 2nd quarter, bringing it to a total of 170 schools completed since the start of the project. On sanitation provision, 9 schools were completed at the end of 2nd quarter, bringing it to a total of 425 schools provided with sanitation since the start of the project. On water provision, 10 schools were completed at the end of 2nd quarter, bringing it to a total of 615 schools provided with water since the start of the project. No new schools were electrified at the end of 2nd quarter, so the total is 306 schools provided with electricity since the start of the project.

With regard to district level planning and implementation support, a proposed minimum Norms and Standards for Staffing of Districts has been approved by Council of Ministers of Education (CEM) and Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM). DBE worked with 187 Circuit Managers to support 1 684 schools. The process has cascaded and Circuit Managers are working with schools to address the challenges that emerged from the school profiling exercise, as part of their circuit improvement activities.

DBE adopted a proposed 2018 School Calendar, and developed a plan for School Readiness monitoring over the four quarters of the academic year. In preparation for the approval of the 2018 and publication of the 2019 school calendars, the Chief Directorate conducted research to assess the impact of the single calendar on road fatalities between 2006 and 2015. The CEM meeting of 21-22 July 2016 raised a concern that single calendars might have had an effect on the high rate of road crashes and fatalities in the country.

For school readiness, the Department carries out pre-closure assessment supports and assesses schools to prepare for the following year. It conducts assessment visits during the first two weeks of the opening of schools to ensure that all the schools start with teaching and learning on the first week of school and support visits to schools where challenges were identified during the first two visits.

Programme Five: Educational Enrichment Services
There has not been any underperformance in any of the targets, but there are some targets that were partially achieved. Under care and support, for 2016/17, the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) programme provided nutritious meals to all the targeted 19 800 schools nationally. A total of 90 schools have been monitored in 23 districts of eight provinces. This is used to see if schools are feeding, if the meals are compliant. 85% of the schools monitored were found to be compliant.

The SAPS operation on the closure of illegal taverns/shebeens in close proximity to school is in full swing and operations were performed in Limpopo in August 2016 and in the Free State in September 2016. The main aim of the project is to combat alcohol and illegal drug use amongst learners in schools. The National School Safety Framework (NSSF) implementation and provincial orientation workshops were conducted in the Northern Cape. The purpose of the workshops was to provide orientation on the NSSF as well as unpack the monitoring tool for the implementation of the NSSF.

ABC Motsepe Schools Eisteddfod: The National Eisteddfod was successfully held under the theme: “Commemoration of the 1976 Youth Uprisings Through Music”. The Winter Games were successfully held in Durban. All provinces have conducted their Spelling Bee championships. To foster social cohesion, these activities were undertaken: Moot Court national finals were held at Constitutional Hill; iNkosi Albert Luthuli Oral History Programme national finals were held at Freedom Park; Youth Citizens Action Programme national finals took place in Pretoria; and the 60th year commemoration of 1956 Women's March.

Draft protocol on discrimination was developed to guide schools on how to deal with discrimination cases. A visit was made Pretoria Girls High School after the incident of discrimination arose at the school.

Second Quarter Expenditure Report
Ms Ntsetsa Molalekoa, DBE CFO, noted that DBE had spent 52.59% of the budget. Programme 2 showed vast underspending due to activities under this programme taking place later in the year. The printing of Workbooks volume 1 has been completed. DBE receive invoices for the printing and were paid in October 2016. The expenditure on this programme will therefore increase in the third quarter. The Second Chance project is currently at the planning stage for implementation in 2017. The printing of past matric question papers, Mind the Gap study guide, Maths and Science textbooks are currently underway. Other processes for the Digital programme, radio broadcasts, television broadcasts are planned for third and fourth quarter.

For Programme 3, the high spending is mainly due to the transfer of the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme made in the beginning of the financial year to NSFAS. The remaining 10% will be transferred during January 2017 to cover registration fees for the 2017 academic year.

The underspending under compensation of employees is mainly due to earmarked funds for examiners and moderators for the NSC examinations which is yet to be spent.

Payments for capital assets were low which is due to payments for ASIDI projects as explained by the DG. With regard to ANA, the Department appointed examiners that will develop the diagnostic assessment tools. The roll out of the assessment tools will be in January 2017. These assessment tools will be linked to the development of appropriate ICT platforms. The Kha Ri Gude classes will start in 1 November 2016. The payments of stipend to volunteers will influence the spending on projects.

Discussion
The Chairperson highlighted that there are components of the Department that are reliant on donor funding which is a bit troubling.

Mr H Khosa (ANC) asked on Programme 2, which is a core function, where they have highlighted underspending, he asked what were the challenges that resulted in that underspending. He noted that winter schools seem to take priority more than the actual schooling calendar, has the Department noted that? The review of ANA, is there a timeframe of when it will be concluded in 2017, will it be refreshed and done properly? Introducing NAIF as an alternative to ANA, are the labour unions involved with this new development? With regard to the NSNP, which province was left out of the visits?

Mr G Davis (DA) asked about the MOU and MOA with Cuba and South Korea, what was in those memoranda? The technical vocational pilot of the Three Stream Model, when will it begin exactly and where is the pilot taking place, which districts, provinces, schools? Can the Members get briefed on the new model in 2017? When will Kha Ri Gude be phased out? What measures are in place to prevent the fruitless and wasteful expenditure in that programme? The DG mentioned the post provisioning problems and that there was a report conducted on that, could the Committee be furnished with that report? The underspending on ASIDI is a serious concern for everyone, why is the programme failing? There should be a full report back on the programme scheduled for the new year to get Members fully acquainted with the challenges surrounding ASIDI. There is a concept document on the new NAIF system; can the Committee receive a report on this?

Ms Boshoff (DA) asked about the Programme 3 Funza Lushaka bursaries, how many bursary holders finalise their courses? How many fail? Do they reimburse the Department? There has been a final draft report on the Ukufunda Virtual School programme, when can the Committee see that report? How many special needs schools have been built or refurbished? With the 22 draft programmes for Special Needs Schools, how will they be taught without properly trained educators for these schools?

Mr D Mnguni (ANC) asked if there will be funds to sustain the Programme 3 over expenditure. With QMS, what is the progress on the transfer from IQMS to the new system? On ASIDI, when will the programme be introduced in other provinces? Asbestos schools are an issue in Mpumalanga and infrastructure challenges are not just in the Eastern Cape.

Ms N Mokoto (ANC) asked on the monitoring of provinces, how that was happening and how is desk top monitoring conducted. How is the Department planning to track areas that would be problematic before it is too late, there should be a system in place for early detection to assist in that. Has there been an indication from all stakeholders of an agreement to the new NAIF system of assessment? With the ASIDI delays in implementation, they have not only affected delivery, but have robbed people of job opportunities on the ground. How is DBE planning to move forward on this programme and ensure value for money? What are the latest developments on rationalisation?

The Chairperson appreciated the manner in which the DG presented the challenges experienced by the Department. On salary negotiations, the Department may be on the final cycle, what measures are in place to ensure that all educators will be happy with the outcomes come the new negotiation period?

Dr Granville Whittle DDG: Social Mobilisation and Support Service, DBE, responded that the NSNP visit for the ninth province was the Western Cape and that visit was scheduled for the third quarter.

Mr Ramasedi Mafoko, Director: Physical Resources Planning and Rural Schooling, DBE, said that the presentation alluded to some of the challenges experienced under the ASIDI programme. The first issue is around rationalisation where 216 schools in the Eastern Cape are affected by this. There were issues of allocating those projects to Implementing Agents (IAs) because of that. A team was appointed to deal with rationalisation and at present, there are 61 schools that have been allocated to IAs and movement should be experienced before the end of the financial year. The second challenge was underperformance by two IAs, specifically Independent Development Trust (IDT) and CSIR on water and electricity supply. These had to be terminated and the process of getting new IAs has been slow due to the Department’s supply chain processes. Those projects will therefore be completed by the end of the financial year as the IAs are close to being appointed.

The completed Special Needs schools will be provided to Ms Boshoff in the near future as there was a parliamentary question of this nature and the Department is attending to it.

ASIDI has run in other provinces, but to give a clear picture, in the Eastern Cape there have been 126 inappropriate structures eradicated, 21 in the Western Cape; 12 in Free State; three in Limpopo; five in Mpumalanga; two in North West and one in the Northern Cape. There are a total of 170 schools completed. There are projects for the provision of sanitation, electricity and water, and the Department can provide names of schools where the ASIDI projects have been completed. The issue of asbestos schools is being focused on by the DBE and the Department of Environmental Affairs that is dealing with challenges pertaining to these schools especially in North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and parts of Gauteng. The PICC is a coordinating structure within The Presidency, not an implementing agent, they assist in unlocking challenges and blockages.

Ms Palesa Tyobeka, Deputy Director General, Oversight Unit, DBE, replied about school readiness. Once visits are conducted and issues are raised, DBE then looks at the issues that it can assist with. However, schools are primarily managed by provinces, and the Department then asks them to deal with specific problems. In the Department’s monitoring, it goes back to those schools mid-year to see if there have been any changes and the issues have been addressed. There has been progress made in the schools that Members went to see during their oversights in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.

Mr Bheki Mpanza, Chief Director: Information Monitoring and Evaluation, DBE, said that the written report compiled by Deloitte and Touche will be provided to the Committee as requested. There was a request for  the NAIF concept document and this will be provided. The DBE had a structure involving unions through a task team to ensure that all stakeholders are involved and in agreement with the new NAIF system of assessment. The only issues that were raised were around the frequencies of the tests. There were a few operational issues that needed to be finalised, but over all there is consensus among all involved. The process of rationalising small and non-viable schools is a social process as there are communities who are attached to schools due to them being named after chiefs and prominent community members. This process is now being led by Jonathan Gordon whose team has identified 2 077 schools for rationalisation, out of those, 175 were closed independently as parents are moving their learners, due to performance. 1 092 schools in the Eastern Cape were served with Section 33 letters according to the South African Schools Act informing them of the impending mergers and closures. This process is about engagement with the communities and is done in the interest of the learners.

Dr Mamiki Maboya, Deputy Director General: Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring, said that the monitoring of winter classes and the use of monitoring tools is done throughout the year, not just in winter classes. The Annual Performance Plan shows that the Department monitors every quarter. The monitoring process is done by provinces and districts. The technical occupational pathway which is part of the Three Stream Model will be piloted in 2017 in 100 schools throughout the country with most of them being Schools of Skill. DBE is at the stage of finalising the 26 subjects, with the Qualification Framework having been developed and approved by CEM. Once Umalusi has agreed on the framework, it will be registered with the South African Qualifications Authority. DBE will provide a full report on the whole model.

Kha Ri Gude is being phased out and so far 4.2 million beneficiaries have gained from the programme. For 2016/17 there was a initial target of 500 000, but this is now at 100 000 learners who have started classes. The major problems were around the verification of participants, where some were deceased and some were already in the programme. The fruitless expenditure in this programme was due to internal controls that were not in place.

The Ukufunda Virtual School report will be provided to the Committee. With Funza Lushaka, 81% of students are funded through the bursary scheme and all complete under the stipulated four year period. The dropout rate is only at 1%. The agreement is that           if a student fails to complete or adhere to the bursary stipulation, then the bursary becomes a loan and is collected through NSFAS. The IQMS is ineffective as it is unable to obtain its intended objective. It is due to this that the QMS system has been developed to strengthen the lack in the other system. The issue is that the process of consulting unions has taken long and there is not uniform consensus, that it why the Department has opted to request the Minister to make a policy declaration in this regard. The current salary agreement will end on 31 March 2018 and mechanisms will be put in place to negotiate come 1 April 2017 to avoid any issues.

The Chairperson asked if any funds have been collected from Funza Lushaka bursary holders who had failed to complete the programme.

Dr Maboya said she would make those figures available in writing to the Committee.

The CFO said that there are enough funds to carry out Programme 3 and the high expenditure level is due to the Funza Lushaka grant, which is a ring-fenced allocation and 90% of it is transferred at the beginning of the financial year.

The DG reiterated that the salary negotiations will be started as early as 2017 to avoid any national interference come 2018 or 2019 which is an election year. A full report back on ASIDI and rationalisation must be planned for next year so a holistic and comprehensive view of the country can be made. More than 50% of schools in the Eastern Cape should not exist as there are less than 135 learners in them. In the development of NAIF, unions have been engaged and are involved and unanimously support the systemic evaluation. This will be done every three years. What is still under construction are diagnostic assessments and summative assessments as part of Chapter Four of CAPS. On the 26 subjects for learners with Special Needs and the NSC, they are allowed to take up to a maximum of 5 subjects; the fundamentals will be Mathematics, two languages, and any two of the 26. These 26 subjects will be presented when the Department reports on the Three Stream Model as requested by Mr Davis.

The DG said the comprehensive report back on infrastructure must cover ASIDI in all its aspects: planning, delivery, resourcing. The Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) must be looked at and the provincial responsibility to provide infrastructure through the Equitable Share which provinces have neglected since the introduction of the two conditional grants. The MOU and MOA with South Korea and Cuba are about Mathematics and Science, where they will train subject advisors and some teachers. With South Korea, there is agreement on Computer Science; there will be volunteers to work with DBE specialists to give support to teachers.

The Chairperson thanked the DG and the delegation for the presentation and response, she highlighted that the Department has agreed to provide the Department with a number of written reports: the Ukufunda Virtual Schools report, the Deloitte and Touch PPN report and the NAIF concept document. These topics will then be reviewed next year and the Department should provide these reports by the end of next week.

She added that there are few meeting left for the year and that after the Jobs-for-Cash report is tabled, the Committee needs to engage with all mentioned stakeholders in that report. She requested that Members make time for that meeting so they can put this issue to bed this year.

The meeting was adjourned.