1) No, the Department of Basic Education monitors and evaluates education in terms of Section 8 of the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996. The direct monitoring of schools is the responsibility of provincial education departments (PEDs).
2) The Minister has been informed of the situation at Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School in the Eastern Cape.
3) The Department of Basic Education, through the Directorate: Inclusive Education, undertakes two rounds of provincial oversight visits annually to monitor and support the implementation of inclusive education. A sample of special care centres, special schools, ordinary schools, and full-service schools are included in the monitoring and support visits in four PEDs per year.
4) a) The Eastern Cape Department of Education intervened to address the issues raised in 2018; b) one educator was charged in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, but c) was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.