Chairperson, if I understand the hon member correctly, what he said was that he was not very clear in terms of how and on what basis we arrive at different quintiles.
There are five quintiles, encompassing the poorest schools to the most affluent schools. Various factors are taken into account when determining a school's quintile rating: whether the school community is urban or rural; whether the community living in the area surrounding the school is affluent or poor; what the school's infrastructure is like; and what resources are available to the school.
So, many factors are considered and weighed in order to establish the quintiles. We have discovered, however - and I think this is a concern of the hon member - that the quintiles that had been established some time ago, have changed.
You might, in certain instances, find that a school has the infrastructure of a quintile 5 school - in other words, of a most affluent school - while the surrounding community or the learner population in that school belongs to quintile 1 - in other words, learners who should actually be exempted from fees. In such a case, it would not be appropriate to place that school in quintile 5.
We thus revise these quintiles annually. In fact, we are going to amend the legislation even further to allow provincial departments and MECs to change the quintiles, from quintile 1 to 2, depending on the variation that occurs within that learning environment.
So, these quintiles are not etched in stone. MECs for education have, in terms of our practice, always had the right to change them. In fact, while the Minister declares no-fee schools, the MECs for education - as the Minister of Health, who was a former MEC for education in Limpopo, would know, and, in fact, when he was, did something quite extraordinary: instead of declaring for just two quintiles, he declared for three quintiles, in terms of poverty alleviation in his particular province - have the right and discretion to increase the allocation and amend the identification of schools in terms of the no-fee school policy.
So, what we are saying then is that the national Minister determines in consultation with the provinces, but the MECs for education do have the right, the authority and the mandate to include or expand on that number, based on changes that may occur within the quintile arrangement of those particular schools.
I hope that has helped the hon member. Thank you.