Deputy Speaker, I want to thank the hon Mr Gaehler for the question. In terms of the number of schools on our books that are mud structures, we have 344. Of those 344 schools, 343 are in the Eastern Cape and one is in KwaZulu-Natal.
The next question is not about how many schools were built, but how many were opened. Let us rephrase it in that way because some schools are still in the pipeline. Last year, 58 schools were opened and of those 28 were in Gauteng, 12 in Kwazulu-Natal, 4 in North West and 14 in the Western Cape. That makes it 58 schools that were opened in the 2011-12 financial year.
In terms of whether we have a plan to eradicate or get rid of the mud structures, the answer is that we indeed have a plan. It is implemented by the Department of Basic Education with our provincial departments of education through a programme we call the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, Asidi.
We have been allocated R3,2 billion in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and this funding, I must emphasise, is not only for mud structures. It is funding that we have to use to eradicate inappropriate and unsafe structures. These are mud structures, schools built with materials such as wood, zinc or asbestos, and any other unsafe structures.
We have to combine that money with provincial funds. The funding is also meant to electrify about 1 434 schools, provide water to 1 307 schools and provide sanitation to more than 536 schools, as well as water and fencing. So that is what the funding is for.
Deputy Speaker, we thank the Minister for her answer. It is a known fact that it is not the Minister's function to build schools; it is the function of Public Works. However, because there is a lack of capacity within Public Works, the Minister's department has to build its own schools.
Now 50 schools have been built through the programme of Asidi, which is the implementing agency of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA. Of those 50 schools, three contracts went to emerging contractors.
The reason that they were only given three was because of the type of contract that was used, in terms of which these schools were batched. This was to the detriment of the emerging sector.
The hon Minister would be aware that in terms of the Construction Industry Development Board, CIDB, grading, there are about 22 000 emerging contractors in the Eastern Cape. The question then is: Are you prepared to scrap the batching system whereby you combine the projects, which is detrimental to the small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs, and which does not create jobs? The question is: Are you prepared to disband the dangerous schools? [Time expired.]
Deputy Speaker, the fact of the matter is that Public Works has more than 60% of the projects that are run by the department with its agency, the Independent Development Trust, IDT, so we have a lot of work with them.
The amount of work which has to be done is beyond the capacity of Public Works. That is why we are using other agencies, like the DBSA, the Coega Development Corporation and many other agencies that can help us with the different projects.
These include the water projects which have the capacity, the Mvula Trust and all sorts of activities, so it is not as if we do not really recognise Public Works. We work very well with them and that is why, as I have said, more than 60% of our projects are with them.
The hon member is correct in terms of our experience with the Asidi schools. For me it was quite disappointing that with regard to the 50 schools, the big contractors performed dismally. The contractors that performed and finished good-quality schools on time were those with the lower CIDB gradings. They were able to build the schools in the shortest time and gave us the best infrastructure, while using locals.
I do not choose the contractors, but we raised it with the implementing agencies and said small contractors have proven beyond doubt to us that with adequate support they perform much better than the big contractors, which have lots of money, high CIDB gradings and all sorts of things. We even had to terminate the contract of one of the biggest contractors we were using because they were just not coping and were subcontracting small contractors to do the work. So you are quite right; I have raised it with our service providers and told them that they have to look at this again, based on the evidence we obtained from those 50 schools.
Deputy Speaker, of course, the problem of mud schools is a very serious problem. Also, it is well-known that mud schools are not the only problem; there are also half-furnished schools and there is a lack of schools altogether in many areas. Of course, there are the schools under the trees and the "zozo" schools or bus schools, which are a problem throughout the country. There is a major problem.
As a result, there are a number of problems, inter alia the fact that the children of our country occupy the lowest level in respect of passing matric science, etc, at the end of each and every year.
We want to know from the Minister ...
Your time is already up. Have you put your question?
Who manages the building programme in the department, and how is it structured? [Time expired.]
Deputy Speaker, I think the member would be aware that currently building schools is also part of Strategic Integrated Project, Sip 13, and through the Presidential Infrastructure Co- ordinating Commission, PICC, we have been privileged to get more capacity and support from government.
We also have a memorandum with Public Works and Treasury for the current process. We manage the 50 schools with Treasury through the DBSA agency, because it is their agency. So, in the department we have employed people with building skills.
The programme is headed by a qualified engineer; there is a young lady who is a very highly qualified and experienced engineer. We have quantity surveyors, building project managers and all sorts of people like that. We have what we call a project management unit in the department, staffed mainly by people with building skills.
We also have a joint programme with Public Works. They have a similar process in the provinces. There are provinces which have a very strong building programme and some are quite weak. Treasury has allocated money to enable them to build up their capacity. So you are quite right, because of a number of problems that we are currently experiencing as a department the quality is also affected. If one cannot seat one's children on proper chairs in a safe place, we really have difficulties from the start. It is a problem if they do not have access to a library or laboratory.
I think your question was whether we have the capacity. We do have the capacity and we keep on improving it. We have brought building specialists into the department to help us with this project.
Deputy Speaker, through you to the hon Minister, I am glad that your definition of mud schools is broader now and includes inappropriately built structures. That is very good.
However, if we look at the statistics we see that there are 343 mud schools in the Eastern Cape and one in KwaZulu-Natal. That casts doubt on the reliability of the data collected and the way in which it is collected. In fact, during the workshop at Monkey Valley we questioned this figure, and the head of the department from KwaZulu-Natal offered to have another look at these figures.
He could not even tell us where that one mud school in KwaZulu-Natal was situated. I wonder whether the department or head of department in KwaZulu- Natal has brought that report to the hon Minister. Furthermore, has the department reinvestigated these statistics, because we doubt the accuracy of this number? Is there only one mud school? We know there are many, many mud schools in that province. [Time expired.]
I hope that that one mud school isn't there, because what would we found when we inherited those schools after apartheid was that there were thousands of them. It is only the Eastern Cape which had delays in terms of eradicating its mud schools, so I would not be surprised if Natal has dealt with its mud schools. The question you wanted me to answer was about how many mud schools there were. The question is not linked to inappropriate structures, so, there could be other structures that are inappropriate.
Even in terms of the mud schools, there are solid structures that have been built out of mud. If they are safe and solid - I am sure you will agree with me because some of the structures are solid - it does not mean that if it is mud, it must go. It must go if it is unsafe or unsuitable.
I say this because there are good mud schools in other parts of the country. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Natal has dealt with them as they are very efficient. They could even have dealt with this one already and maybe that is where the question about the unreliability of the figures might arise. They have been very efficient in dealing with problems, and maybe it is no longer there. They have not reported that they have eradicated it.
Hon Minister, your department yesterday placed an entirely disingenuous advertisement in the Daily Dispatch. It proudly proclaims that the Department of Basic Education is winning the war of eradicating mud schools.
Now, we know that due to massive underspending on the mud schools project and the "unsafe schools project" - let us put it that way - Minister Gordhan was forced to reallocate R7,2 billion that had been allocated for the Infrastructure Backlog Project.
We know that 346 mud and other unsafe schools that should have been replaced in the outer year of the 2013-14 financial year, will now not be replaced. Your advertisement conveniently omits this important fact. Hon Minister, please use this opportunity to clarify exactly from where you will source the funding to replace the 346 schools you have promised to replace by 2014, and by when they will be replaced.
HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Chair, I choose not to respond to the comment about the disingenuousness of the advert. It is her judgment and I am not sure if I really want to question her judgment. She is free to exercise her judgment.
I think the essence of the question is about the monies, which I did indicate yesterday have been rescheduled for later years as a result of the department's request. It will be given to Higher Education and Arts and Culture, and the money which has been planned for them will be given to us because, as you correctly say, in the year 2013 we are expected to spend R5 billion. I can assure you even in terms of the capacity of the industry, it will not be possible. That is what I said to Treasury. It has been rescheduled at our request. I also do not know where the idea that they have been forced to take money came from, unless the Minister told you that.
In terms of the plan, it was 50 schools first. We have dealt with the 50 schools. In the next year, it will be 100 schools; we are busy with these 100 schools.
Let me share privileged information with you, as an interested member: Even with some of the 345 schools I have argued that there is no point in building all of them because some of them have very low numbers. I do not see why we have to replace a school if it is a mud school with 10 children.
I said to them they have to rationalise, but I can assure you, because the rationalisation plan is on track, we will even be able to deal with this much earlier in terms of that. [Interjections.] Hayi! [No!] Do not take chances. I am responding to this member. [Interjections.]
Order! Order, hon members, please!
So, as an interested member, I can assure you that you can rest assured, it will be done. [Interjections.] The money was not forcibly taken away; it was as at our request. [Interjections.]
In what year will you have completed the eradication of these schools?
Now you want the year of eradication. I am telling you, we have planned 50 schools, we are doing the 100, and we are supposed to do the remainder in the 2014-15 financial year, so what more do you want? [Time expired.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order, please: I would like to remind the hon Minister that there is no province in South Africa called Natal. It is KwaZulu-Natal. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
Okay. It is a province with two surnames. Minister, remember this every time. Thank you. [Laughter.]
Particulars regarding success of catch-up plans for Limpopo and Northern Cape learners
432. Mr Z S Makhubele (ANC) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether she has found that the catch-up plans developed for (a) Limpopo and (b) Northern Cape learners have been implemented successfully; if not, why not in each case; if so, what has been the measure of success in each case? NO4044E
The question is about the catch-up programme in Limpopo and Northern Cape. I can respond by saying yes, indeed, the catch-up plans developed for these provinces were successfully implemented. We had teams from both the national and provincial departments to oversee the programmes.
In Limpopo we developed a catch-up plan only for the Grade 10 learners, and I will give and explain the reason for this to the House. In the Northern Cape we also had a programme which was to deal with the catch-up problem; and again I will explain the difficulties that we encountered.
What we did in Limpopo was that we gave out newspaper supplements, there were radio programmes and face-to-face classes and we monitored the spring catch-up plan. However, hon Makhubele, what actually happened with this catch-up plan is that, as I indicated for Grades 1, 2 and 3, where there were delays in supplying books, we had agreed with the stakeholders that there was no need for a catch-up plan because there were adequate workbooks which were in line with the curriculum.
With regard to Grade 10, the difference between the textbooks that were delayed and those which were already in schools from the previous curriculum was only about 3%; hence we were able to do this quite successfully. So we were able to do that.
However, in the Northern Cape, when we saw that we were running out of time and unable to contain the strike that was going on there, we decided to move the Grade-12 learners to a camp. About 376 learners were taken from their respective schools to the camp. Out of all the learners from the 62 schools that were there, only 20 learners didn't write the matric exams because their parents, in writing, withdrew them.
In terms of the internal grades, as part of our recovery plan, we supported them by letting them write the Annual National Assessment, Ana. I spoke to the MEC and told him that even next year there would be a need for us to monitor quite closely the deficits that would have accumulated over this year and which will need to be made up in the coming year.
However, Mr Makhubele, I can report that in both provinces we did our best to make sure that we could close the gap that had been created by the delays in delivering textbooks in Limpopo and the difficulties that were experienced in the Northern Cape.
Hon Minister, it does seem that your department did what it could under the circumstances. Nonetheless, because this was not anticipated, it left provinces and the Department of Basic Education with a financial burden. Do you think this matter will be addressed, if we take into consideration that provinces are already faced with financial constraints?
Deputy Speaker, I can indicate that Treasury was very generous to us in Limpopo. It gave us the necessary resources to implement the catch-up plan. It paid for the newspaper advertisements and all the additional materials. We also worked much more closely with our unions, which were also willing to teach learners at a flat rate rather than the standard rates to make sure that we kept within our budget. So we were quite pleased that we were able to get support from Treasury and our teacher unions. As far as Limpopo is concerned, we were able to stay within the budget.
I know that Northern Cape also had to stretch its budget as much as it could. However, because the MEC for Education in the Northern Cape is also the Acting Premier, she was able to negotiate from the position of the Acting Premier and MEC in order to get more money for the department. The budget was indeed stretched to the extreme and there were a lot of challenges in terms of funding the catch-up programme.
The hon Tsotetsi is the next speaker.
Deputy Speaker, someone passed by here and pressed the button by mistake.
I see. Hon Dudley, it is your turn.
Deputy Speaker, my question was also about whether provinces had budgeted for the implementation of the catch-up plans that were in place or not, but you have answered that. What other financial challenges were there, and were there any challenges from a social point of view and matters on the ground that needed to be dealt with?
Will these challenges need to be investigated? Are there investigations on- going and what do you see as the needs in terms of those challenges in the provinces?
Deputy Speaker, let me reconfirm what I have said, namely that there were indeed financial difficulties, especially in the Northern Cape. However, fortunately for us nationally Treasury did assist us financially although the programme had not been budgeted for.
Again, hon member Dudley is quite correct that there were difficulties, especially with regard to the camps which we had not planned for. There were some children who were not used to staying away from home. Some of them felt intimidated and there were instances when some of the learners at the camp requested to be released because of threats to burn down their homes.
Therefore, a lot of counselling was needed for learners to cope with the unfamiliar situation of being at the camp. It was quite difficult for the province to deal with children who had just been unceremoniously removed from their homes. Suddenly they found themselves in these camps and we had to run camps which had not been planned.
It was emotionally difficult for both learners and parents and also for the teachers themselves. This was not an easy exercise, particularly in the Northern Cape. However, you are quite correct, we have to deal with this issue. Also, because education is compulsory, parents who refuse to take their children to school are liable and have to be arrested.
That is another issue that I think we need to enforce. If parents refuse to allow their children to go to school and we can prove it, action must be taken. Unfortunately, in the case of the parents who deregistered their children in Grade 12, they cannot be charged because that is not a compulsory phase.
However, for children in the primary phase, which is compulsory, it will be necessary to charge parents who withhold their children from school.
Deputy Speaker, with regard to the flat rate, we hear complaints that teachers in Limpopo have not been paid. What I would like to know is the whether money has already been transferred to the Limpopo province, or is it still in the National kitty?
Deputy Speaker, I did get the reports and I have already communicated with the administrator about the concerns that Mr Dikobo is raising. The explanation that I was given by the administrator is that unlike when you merely wait to receive your salary because you are employed, in this case you have to put in a claim for it.
He said the delay is because of the claims. The money is already with the province; it is in the provincial coffers. The only thing that needs to be done is to sort out the claims that are coming in because payment can only be made against the claims.
I have requested them to fast-track the matter so that by the time teachers go home they already must have received their monies. Yes, I have already acted on those concerns you are raising.
Hon Minister, it is said that we are dealing here with social phenomena in education the results of which are not immediately identifiable, and these phenomena are extended delays and learners missing their lessons, etc.
There is a saying that you cannot fatten a pig on the day of sale and it comes to mind when we see learners rushing to these camps to prepare for their examinations. The question, as it appears on the Question Paper here, is: How successful were these catch-up plans, and what criteria are you using to measure such success?
Hon Mpontshane, I think you will agree with me that the results are the outcomes that will show how successful we have been in the Northern Cape.
However, in terms of attendance, there are some things that indicate success or failure. For instance, of the Grade 12 learners who went to the camps, only 20 didn't write the exams. Therefore, in terms of attendance alone, which is what I could measure immediately, I think it was successful.
The classes at the camp were conducted daily from 8:00 to 18:00, there were no difficulties and the learners wrote their trial exams. These are the inputs which I say are indicators for success.
Whether those additional classes yielded positive results or not, we will only see when the results come out at the end of the year. In terms of the reports on inputs, I can say they were successful.
Immediately after the textbooks saga erupted in Limpopo and there were difficulties, I met with all the principals in Limpopo to discuss with them how we should deal with the situation. I was quite relieved when the majority of them said that because they had been trained in the Caps curriculum, they knew exactly where the variations were and they were able to deal with them in terms of existing materials at the schools.
Therefore, very few schools would have been negatively affected by the delay in delivering books, and I can give you examples. For a subject such as History in Grade 10, for instance, there were no new topics and so there was no reason to panic. The subjects in which there were new topics to be covered only constituted 3%; hence, schools were able to deal with this.
In terms of the time that we had during the spring vacation, we managed to deal with the variations between the old curriculum and the enhanced curriculum. This was an area which was easily manageable, and principals also confirmed that. Some principals even said that they just didn't need it as they had dealt with the challenges and they are fine. Again, I can say they were successful.
There was only one new thing that came up during my meetings with principals, and it came as a surprise. They highlighted areas which were in both the old and new curriculum which teachers had difficulty in teaching.
The catch-up programme was not about solving the problems caused by delays in the delivery of textbooks, rather it was focused on subject areas which teachers did not feel very confident to teach. That was what the programme was focused on. Therefore, I can say it was successful in the sense that it gave us even more information to work on.
Position regarding drafting of national minimum standards for school infrastructure
424. Mrs C Dudley (ACDP) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether she has instructed her department to draft suitable national minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure as recommended by the Auditor-General in August 2011; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NO3941E
Deputy Speaker, the Department of Basic Education developed the guidelines relating to planning for public school infrastructure. These guidelines were published on 15 May 2012.
They emanate from the policy of an equitable provision of an enabling school, a physical teaching and learning environment. Its goal is to provide guidance - guidance, not prescription - on the basic mix of education resources inputs that are required to facilitate functionality in our schools. This also provides the basis for benchmarking school facilities and for the development of a basic mix of education resources inputs that facilitate the minimum to optimum functionality of the school. The aim of the guidelines is to ensure that our learners experience the same educational environment irrespective of where the school is located. These guidelines are aimed at improving access to quality education facilities and towards realising Outcomes 1 and 12 of the Government Plan of Action. These guidelines can be accessed on our website, www.education.gov.za.
Hon Minister, it's our understanding that you've undertaken to gazette deadlines and minimum norms and standards by 15 January 2013, for public comment and to enact the entire policy by 31 March 2013. Perhaps you can just tell us if that is correct or not.
It's no secret that schools have huge problems with infrastructure capacity, but what are the specific challenges for your department with regard to provincial departments doing what is expected of them, such as providing running water, electricity, laboratories, halls, computer rooms, etc at schools.
Will a national plan ensure that provincial departments not only know what to do, but do what is expected of them? Are we correct in saying that it will now become unlawful for provincial departments not to provide this infrastructure by the deadlines?
Deputy Speaker, that is not what I anticipate will come out, but I think we will be guided by what the submissions say. We have said we want to work on basic functionality, and that has been put into an Asidi programme.
This Asidi programme is being worked on by National Treasury, the Department of Basic Education and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA. We have also brought in Public Works. What provinces are dealing with is the normal maintenance as well as new structures, not basic functionality. So, it is a different category. Basic functionality is one of the national issues, and we are quite confident that with the resources allocated, we will be able to meet the deadlines.
What I think is also in the law is that social rights are progressive. If there is no money, there is no way we can say that there will be such facilities as libraries or laboratories in all schools. It would be dishonest to say that to the public.
What we will do, even with these guidelines, is to provide a plan that we think is viable, feasible and within the state's resources so that we can reach those goals. They will have to be incrementally realised. It can't say that when we publish the deadlines it then becomes illegal the next day not to have a laboratory, etc. That is just not feasible, so we would in any case definitely not be able to gazette that.
House Chair, I have to take the Minister on with regard to what she has just said. She said that basic rights are progressively realisable. Now the court has ruled that the right to basic education, section 29 of the Constitution, is immediately realisable. It is not a progressively realisable right.
The content of that right, however, has not been defined and that is what you will be looking at. But the Minister is on very dangerous ground by saying that the right to basic education is a progressively realisable right; it is not.
I am quoting the Minister in a response to a question that I asked of her earlier this year on infrastructure norm and standards. The Minister said, and I quote:
The focus for the 2010-14 strategic plan period will be on all schools that do not meet the basic safety standards, and those constructed from inappropriate material and are a danger to learners and educators ...
Hon member, your time has expired.
Impossible!
Your time has expired.
Hon Chair, is the Minister going to adhere to the commitments that she has already made in the regulations that she has promulgated? [Interjections.]
Hon Minister, you may respond to the comment.
House Chairperson, I am not sure if I really heard what the member was saying. Am I going to do what? Can you give her a chance to repeat the question, because it was rushed and I really didn't get the essence of the question.
Hon member, just ask the question.
Thank you, House Chairperson and hon Minister. The Minister has committed to ... [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Hon member, just put the question.
... replace all the inappropriate schools with schools that are operating at optimum functionality. My question therefore is: When she publishes the regulations, is she going to, at the very least, ensure that she accommodates the commitments that she has already made?
House Chair, there is a big difference between basic functionality and optimal functionality. Basic functionality will constitute, as you say, the unsafe structures, ablution, water, fencing and electricity.
The maximum functionality, which will come in the norms and standards which would be realised progressively, will be things like libraries. So, when we publish them in the Gazette, we will not mislead the public and say we will have libraries overnight. We do not have a magic wand. We have to train librarians to run those libraries. So you have to separate the two.
We can commit government to basic functionality and say government is committed to implementing basic functionality. We have to discriminate between basic and maximum functionality. We will deal with basic functionality, definitely.
House Chairperson, thank you for your response that the Department of Basic Education has developed the guidelines relating to planning for public school infrastructure.
My question is: What is the Minister's commitment to ensuring that the guidelines are implemented? We need action, Minister, because infrastructure is a basic right to quality education.
House Chairperson, I thought I had indicated that as government and as the department, we were very privileged to benefit from Strategic Integrated Project, Sip 13. This means that the entire government, from the Presidency down, is behind us to ensure that we can implement this. So, Finance and everybody is on board. That's what gives us the confidence that we will be able to deliver on the commitments.
Also, earlier I explained the extraordinary measures that we have put in place with Treasury and Public Works to make sure that indeed we can fast- track the process. I think members will know that the pace of delivery - without making any excuses - is sometimes not only reliant on government.
It is also reliant on the people with whom we work, and that's why when we launch the School Improvement Plans, Sips, we are going to engage with our partners, especially the building industry, in order to make sure that even they can confidently begin to invest their resources in education. This is because they claim that they could not invest adequate resources in education infrastructure because it was highly unpredictable and therefore risky.
If you go to the Eastern Cape, one of the things that delayed us, for example, was the unavailability of materials. Contractors had to go for weeks without materials. Some materials had to be imported from Botswana, after we had actually wiped out the entire supply of those materials in the province.
So, now that we have made it public that we are investing in this area, we think entrepreneurs and investors will begin to invest more strongly in the education infrastructure that we need. We are confident that with the signal we have sent out there will be more investment in school infrastructure and therefore there will be more efficiency in that sector.
Hon Minister, according to the Equal Education organisation, the norms and standards for infrastructure must include, inter alia, the building of libraries to promote the idea of a reading nation.
This will call for a multipronged strategy, including Adult Basic Education and Training, Abet, and also life-long learning. The question is: What plans does the Minister have to train more librarians to promote this idea?
Also, when we visited the provinces, those involved in adult centres complained that they have never received their Occupation Specific Dispensation, OSD, to encourage them to promote this idea. Is the Minister going to interact with her colleagues in the provinces to see to it that teachers in these centres are paid the OSD which is owed to them? UNGQONGQOSHE WEZEMFUNDO EYISISEKELO: Sihlalo, uBab'uMpontshane, ngokuzayo ngicela abuze uNgqongqoshe wezeMfundo ePhakeme ngeMfundo yabaDala. Sengizoyishutheka nje kodwa empeleni sikhuluma ngengqalasizinda. I-OSD izophendulwa nguNgqongqoshe wezeMfundo ePhakeme ngoba ayingeni kulesi sihloko esikhuluma ngaso.
Lesi sihloko esikhuluma ngaso simayelana nokuthi kunemali yengqalasizinda esithe abayibeke eceleni, ngoba phela enye imali kuMnyango wezobuCiko namaSiko ukuze basilekelele ngodaba lwemitapoyolwazi. Lokhu uzokwenza ngokuqeqesha abasebenzi bakhona. Okunye esikushoyo ngawo lama-norms and standards, ngoba phela akusho ukuthi isikole ngesikole kufanele sibe nomtapowolwazi egcekeni laso. Isibonelo nje, eGoli banalokhu abakubiza nge- "education precinct". Lokhu kusho izikole ezahlukene zihlanganyele umtapowolwazi owodwa omkhulu kanye nomphakathi. Mhlawumbe kanye nabo o-OSD uma izikole zivaliwe nangemiGqibelo kulabo abazifundela ngabodwana. Okusemqoka wukuthi izingane zikwazi ukufinyelela ezincwadini, lokhu akusho ukuthi izincwadi zibe sezikoleni zonke. Inqobo nje uma bekwazi ukuzithola kalula. Angithi siyafundisa ngehora lesishiyagalombili ekuseni kuya kwelesibili ntambama, emva kwalokho-ke izingane ziye kumtapowolwazi womphakathi. Kwenele lokho. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Chairperson, next time hon Mpontshane must direct questions about adult education to the Minister of Higher Education and Training. I will squeeze it in, but we are talking about the infrastructure. The Minister of Higher Education and Training is going to respond regarding the OSD because it does not fall under the topic of discussion.
We are talking about the funds that we asked to be put aside for the infrastructure, because some of the money came from the Department of Arts and Culture so they can assist us with regard to libraries. They will do this by training the staff who work there. Furthermore, what we are saying about these norms and standards is that it does not mean that every school must have a library within its precinct. For example, in Johannesburg they have what they call the "education precinct". This means that various schools share one big library with the community and maybe the OSDs use the library during school holidays and those who study individually can use the library on Saturdays. What is important is for the children to have access to books. This does not mean that the books have to be in all the schools - as long as they can be easily accessible. We teach from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon; after that the children go to the community library. That is enough.]
That is how most countries, like Finland, run their library services. Their libraries are not necessarily in the schoolyards, but they are accessible to schools. That is what we are working on with the Department of Arts and Culture in terms of creating accessibility to library services for our children.
Injalo nje, kodwa i-OSD ekaNzimande. Ngiyabonga. [It's like that, but the OSD is Mr Nzimande's issue. Thank you.]
Particulars regarding services provided at health care clinic at refurbished presidential residence at Nkandla
465. Mrs D Robinson (DA) asked the Minister of Health:
(1) Whether the health care clinic built at the refurbished presidential residence at Nkandla complies with norms and standards prescribed by his department; if not, which levels of services are not provided at the specified clinic; if so, what are the relevant details;
2) whether the clinic provides services to (a) the staff of the extended residence and (b) surrounding villages; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?