Chairperson, all nine provinces provide learner transport programmes in rural areas as a point of focus. Currently, the policies governing the provision of learner transport in terms of subsidies vary from province to province.
The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Transport, is developing a national scholar transport policy. The focus is on improving access to schools and redressing the imbalances of the past, with the emphasis on rural schools. The policy will provide guidelines in the provisioning, funding and management of learner transport. Thank you, Chairperson.
Chairperson, that will do. Thank you. Deputy Minister, am I correct in hearing you say that all provinces provide transport in the rural areas? If that is the case, then I have a problem because in my area there is no such transport. I'm talking about KwaZulu-Natal.
Chairperson, in terms of the policy and the allocations provided to provinces, each province should be providing transport to all learners that live in areas beyond the radius of five kilometres. I would imagine that particularly in areas such as KwaZulu- Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, adequate scholar transport is being provided for.
However, the allocations provinces provide for that particular purpose vary from province to province. Most of the provinces provide for transport for learners through the Department of Education. However, in two of the nine provinces, it's provided for by the Department of Transport.
We are of the view, particularly with regard to issues such as those that you have raised, that everybody is caught within the network and that the Department of Transport should be the service provider so that there should be a uniform base of allocation with regard to subsidies and policy in relation to transport.
This attempt at achieving this unity has resulted in the engagement between the Department of Transport and the Department of Basic Education to ensure that a uniform policy, which will result in guidelines for the various provinces, is provided for. If there are instances where transport is not provided for where it should be, in terms of the existing policy, please draw our attention to it and we will make the appropriate intervention. Thank you very much.
Chairperson, I would like to know something with regard to the funding. We were at a workshop the other day, and Treasury stated that the allocation of school funds for learners was R807 per school learner, and that at some schools only R400 or just over R400 got to them, and the department deducted for books on their own. I would like to know if that is legal, and if the full amount is not supposed to be paid to the school? Thank you, Chairperson.
Chairperson, norms have been set out in terms of the allocation to schools per learner. The allocation has increased. At one stage it was, indeed, less than R500. It increased to R600, R642, and currently, it's more that R800. We are of the view that the minimum threshold for an adequate provision in relation to a learner should be an amount exceeding R800. We would recommend, in terms of our guidelines and norms and standards, that provinces make the appropriate allocations.
However, you are correct. In the past, there were inconsistencies with regard to the allocation of resources to schools. In fact, in provinces such as Limpopo, the amount was much less than R400. This was not because they wanted to deprive the school or the learner, but because of the high poverty levels. Learners that made up quintiles 1, 2, 3 and 4 were far greater in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape than you would find in the Western Cape or in KwaZulu-Natal.
However, what Treasury did was to deal with the matter equitably. The weighting must be such that Limpopo is able to provide for learners on an equitable basis, in other words, on par as would occur in the Western Cape, which is more urbanised and where there is greater affluence, or in Gauteng. This has resulted in a better distribution.
However, there might be some inconsistencies. If you are aware of any, kindly bring it to our attention so that we can raise it with the leadership in the province. Thank you.
Chairperson, I would like to ask the Deputy Minister - I'm not sure if I understood him correctly - does each province have its own guidelines as to how it allocates its budget? The second question is: Is the 5km radius only linked to primary schools or to all schools? Thank you.
Chairperson, with regard to the policies and in terms of our constitutional arrangement, provinces have concurrent competencies. In fact, education falls within the purview of the provinces. As a result, there have been variations. That is why we have norms and standards to guide provinces in terms of the appropriate allocation.
What we are saying is that we provided an environment where there are standardised norms - standards which would guide provinces in terms of the allocation of resources. Such norms and standards did not apply in the past, but do apply now.
The reality, however, is that even though the provinces - the MECs for education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education - agreed to the allocation of resources for a particular purpose, say, transport in a province, the provincial treasurer could allocate those resources which are received globally from the National Treasury and utilise them for other purposes.
The unfortunate reality is that instances do occur, from time to time, where monies that have been allocated for a particular purpose by National Treasury are used for other purposes by the provinces. What we are trying to achieve as a government through our Performance Monitoring and Evaluation unit and the National Planning unit, which is led by the Deputy President, would be to ensure that where monies are allocated for a particular purpose in relation to a particular plan, those resources are spent in a particular way. It might well be that some resources should be spent centrally in order to ensure that it reaches the target. This might very well occur in relation to transport.
With regard to the norms, they apply to primary schools and high schools as well. Certainly, we are more sensitive to ensuring, where little children are concerned, that there should be absolutely strict compliance and adherence to those norms. Thank you very much.
Particulars regarding timeous disbursement of funds for no-fee school system
14. Mr B A Mnguni (ANC) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) With reference to the no-fee school system which was introduced with the intention to address the plight of parents who could not afford to pay their fees, how will she inculcate the culture of learning and teaching when the administration has ground to a halt due to the unavailability or late arrival of funds;
(2) whether she will intervene to ensure that funds are disbursed timeously; if so, what are the relevant details?