Thank you, Chairperson. Education's significance in reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth demands that it continues to utilise the largest portion of the national Budget. The ACDP supports Higher Education and Training plans to expand education opportunities for matriculants through an expanded college sector focusing on more teacher training sites, agriculture, nursing and the training of artisans.
We also note the expressed intention of the department to expand the school nutrition programme to high schools, reduce class sizes and increase the access of five-year-old Grade R learners. The ACDP believes that it is going to be important that the portfolio committee monitors progress in these crucial aspects.
One of the major problems with education today is that teachers are not allowed to be teachers. They are inundated with administration, lesson plans for every lesson, marking, assessments and never-ending forms to fill in. Our children are assessed and assessed again but they are not being taught. This rigid control dilutes the unique teaching ability of individual teachers, and our children have become statistics and not learners.
The capping of school fees is a highly contentious issue and should not be entered into lightly. Often interventions that appear to be obvious solutions have severe and damaging unintended consequences. Significant numbers of children between the ages of 7 and 15 have either never attended school or have dropped out for various reasons. Bringing these children into schools will necessitate targeted interventions to deal with varied circumstances.
The plight of our out-of-school children with disabilities is also a concern. The ACDP has serious concerns, particularly with OBE and curriculum deficiencies, and will not be supporting this budget. Thank you.