NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 308
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12/08/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 22/2011)
Mr M J R de Villiers (DA-WC) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
1) Which technical secondary schools do not have the necessary resources to
meet educational requirements in full in each province?
2) Whether her department has any plans to address these shortcomings; if
not, why not; if so, what plans;
(3) Whether she will provide the total cost of addressing these
shortcomings; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
CW376E
Reply:
(1) There are currently 1046 public and independent technical high
schools in the country. 960 of these schools are public schools offering
one or more technology subjects offered in the curriculum in Grades 10-12
(Civil, Electrical, Mechanical Technology and Engineering, Graphics and
Design (EGD)).
In 2009, the Department conducted an audit of 200 public technical
secondary schools to assess the conditions of these schools with the aim
of addressing the shortage of resources. The identified schools are
allocated as follows across all provinces: Eastern Cape (31), Free State
(18), Gauteng (39), KwaZulu-Natal (32), Limpopo (24), Mpumalanga (15),
Northern Cape (10), North West (22), and Western Cape (9).
(2) The introduction of the Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalisation
Conditional Grant forms part of the Departmentâs plan to improve the
conditions of technical schools and modernise them to meet the teaching
requirements of learners in the technical fields. The recapitalisation
process will be achieved through the following activities:
⢠building workshops to support the technical subject
offerings;
⢠refurbishing or re-designing workshops to comply with safety laws and
regulations and to meet minimum industry standards;
⢠buying and installing new machinery and equipment consistent with the
technology subjects that are offered in technical schools; and
⢠training and up-skilling teachers at technical schools to acquire new
trends, practical skills, and developments in their subjects.
It is further planned that Provincial Departments will focus on the
maintenance and top-up of the facilities through their equitable share
allocations once the conditional grant has been completed.
(3) The Department has been allocated the following funding to implement
the recapitalisation process: (2010/11:R80 million, 2011/12: R200
million, 2012/13: R210 million, and 2013/14: R221 million).