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PROVINCIAL AND DISTRICT MONITORING AND SUPPORT BRIEFING TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION 18 AUGUST 2015. BACKGROUND.
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PROVINCIAL AND DISTRICT MONITORING AND SUPPORT BRIEFING TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION 18 AUGUST 2015
BACKGROUND • The focus of the system has in the last few years increasingly placed students at the center of all educational endeavours to deliver high-level outcomes across the system; • Focus has moved from an over concentration on the national and provincial levels of education management – to local management through districts and circuits. • The ANC policy conference of 2007 and the National Development Plan (2011) both recognised that districts are key to day-to-day delivery of both administrative and professional education services; • In response the Department of Basic Education developed a Guideline on the Organisation, Roles and Responsibilities of Education Districts in 2011. • In 2013 the Policy on the Organisation, Roles and Responsibilities of Education Districts was gazetted. • The Policyprovides a national framework for the organisation and staffing of education district offices and the delegated authority, roles and responsibilities of district officials for the institutions within their care.
Background • The district level of the education system is very complex as it brings together and processes all policies and programmes adopted at national and provincial level. • National policies and programmes are translated into district-specific programmes for implementation in schools – giving effect to the overriding role of districts to support all education institutions to deliver education of high quality. • The Policy on Districts gazetted in 2013 proposed an organisation of districts to enable all districts to succeed in their mandate comprising the following key units • Curriculum Support Team • Management and Governance Support Team • Learner Support Team • Examinations and Assessment Team and • District Operations team responsible for functions including EMIS, Human Resources and Financial and Supply Chain services.
Monitoring the effectiveness of districts • To succeed in their mandate and provide the necessary guidance and support to schools, districts need capacity which includes • Adequate staffing levels with the appropriate skills and capabilities; • Appropriate delegations for districts to carry out the envisaged functions for districts; • Adequate infrastructure; • Reasonable financial resources and • ICTs. • Monitoring how districts operate the DBE established that • Many inappropriate appointments were made at district, circuit and school leadership level; • Many critical posts remain unfilled for extended periods in some of the provinces; • There was a general lack of essential tools of trade particularly ICTs and connectivity; • Key delegations necessary for the running of districts and support to schools were not given to districts and • Some district offices did not have the physical infrastructure essential for districts – limited and shabby office space, offices that were housed in different locations, inadequate ablution facilities etc.
Ensuring effectiveness in districts • The DBE has since 2012 prioritised support to all districts to meet the country’s expectations of performance in the system. • A Forum of Education District Directors meets with the Minister of Basic Education once every quarter to • Develop a common understanding of sector priorities and programmes; • Plan collectively; • Report on strategies and programmes to improve learning outcomes • Share best practices; and • Jointly discuss and address key challenges. • To strengthen provincial support and focus on districts a HEDCOM Subcommittee on Districts was also established. This is made up of Chief Directors from the various provinces, as well as key stakeholders in the sector.
PROGRESS • Overall, there is huge transformation in the role districts play in supporting schools – there is greater focus on providing support for the effective implementation of the curriculum and improving learning outcomes. • There is a better balance between administrative and professional functions of districts and districts across the system operate through multi-disciplinary teams. • The levels of strategic leadership in the different districts varies immensely and often reflects in the academic performance of the individual districts. The forum of district directors established by Minister Motshekga in 2011 has assisted in establishing a community of professional practice and most of the changed practice in districts and circuits has come about as a result of this Forum. District Directors have learnt from one another’s best practices – and continue to do so. • The landscape still shows uneven movement towards alignment with the Policy around district size, delegations and effective staffing and resourcing but districts continue to improve despite these challenges. • The core thrust of the work of the DBE with districts focuses on making this level of education management a leading hub of strategic educational leadership.
Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme • The Department introduced in 2013 a District-Based Teacher Recruitment Campaign targeting rural and poor communities. • 2000 young people can potentially be awarded the Funza Lushaka bursary to register for a teaching degree. • The district-based recruitment model requires the selection of bursars against the perceived need in the district, with the understanding that applicants supported by the bursary will return to teach in the district upon graduation. • Closed competition between applicants from similar education contexts will allow outstanding learners from that context to compete on an equal footing for the bursary. • Key role players in district based teacher recruitment are schools, education districts and provincial education departments.
Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme Achievements • Number of District based students registered at HEIs:
Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme Achievements • Monitoring processes: • The DBE support district based recruitment briefing sessions. • The DBE participate in selection committees that consider the applications of all applicants to ensure students are registered for the priority subject areas. • HEIs participate in briefing sessions, selection processes and monitor students’ performance. • The DBE is informed if/when FL bursars switch subjects and phases; • Annual briefing sessions are held with final year students at each HEI to remind them of their contractual obligations and to share information regarding placement procedures.
Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme Challenges • Number of students who drop off between recruitment, selection and actual registration at university. • Providing accurate information on projected educator requirements in the priority areas of need for the following year. • Districts have been slow to establish the necessary structures to deal with the recruitment process. • Strengthening identification and selection processes to ensure the best students are recruited and are able to register at universities within the timeframes.
HR Matters-Monitoring and reporting A major HR project implemented in districts is the intensified monitoring of the teacher profiling through the Provincial offices WHY? To maintain stability and efficiency in teacher recruitment, deployment and utilisation thereby ensuring that there is a right teacher, in the right class teaching the right subject. In order to achieve this we need to know: • What teachers are qualified to teach; and • Whether teachers are teaching what they are qualified to teach. • Districts are key to the capturing of this data on PERSAL! • The DBE team met with ALL districts and confirmed Management plans to complete the project by 31 March 2015. The deadline was not met. Currently, DBE is meeting with MEC-PED project teams to unblock the blockages and ensure that the profiles of all teachers are accurately captured by 30 November 2015.
Performance Management - IQMS,PMDS & WSE • Districts have the responsibility to monitor and support the following: • Implementation of the IQMS in the following areas: • Personal Growth Plans • School Improvement Plans • Educator evaluations, including the evaluation of principals • Summative evaluations –approval and finalisation of the IQMS scores of educators • Developmental programmes offered in the Province on the implementation of the IQMS. • School visits are undertaken by provincial officials to oversee IQMS implementation in schools • Implementation of the PMDS in the following areas: • Signing of work plans • Quarterly reviews • Annual Assessments • Developmental programmes offered to office-based educators on identified areas in the Personal Development Plans (PDPs). • Districts are also required to provide structured support to schools after external evaluation has been conducted by WSE supervisory teams from the province.
Improving Exam CredibilityDistrict monitoring of Exams and Assessment • Public examinations in South Africa demand a high level of attention to detail in order to ensure that the 800 000 learners writing the examination are exposed to similar conditions of administration across the 8000 examination centers. (b) The initial focus of the DBE has been the provincial office and its management of the provincial system which limited DBE access to the district office which is the central driver of successful examination implementation. • Approach followed by the DBE in supporting and monitoring districts and provincial offices: • Deq of Norms and Standards for key exam processes • Mediation of Norms and standards with individual districts • Coordination of Exam Processes with the districts • Monitoring and support to Districts - DBE supports the PEDs to ensure compliance to standards and also monitors using instruments that have been mutually agreed upon • Evaluation and feedback to districts and provincial offices.
Impact of ANA on district performance • ANA has placed at the disposal of districts important performance data at primary school level and thus empowered districts to monitor school performance • Using ANA data, districts have been able to identify schools that require specific kinds of support in the teaching of either language or mathematics or both 3. ANA data has also served as a rallying point for parents to engage schools and districts on performance of learners
Monitoring and Evaluation The success of the district-based monitoring approach as evidenced by the evaluation, quarterly and periodic monitoring of grants has enabled the following: • Decentralisation of services to the districts to bring the services closer to the schools (e.g. direct transfers of NSNP funds to schools with districts monitoring use and reporting). 156 School in 21 districts across all 9 provinces were identified on a rotational basis and communicated to PEDs who in turn, conveyed DBE’s visits to schools in concert with district-based programme monitors for their support and interaction. • the involvement of stakeholders in planning and delivery of basic education services to the school communities through meaningful community participation through various mechanisms (e.g. School Recapitalisations Teams in MST Grant, School-Based Support Teams managing care and support programmes in collaboration with district offices to learners and teachers under the HIV/AIDS Life Skills Education Grant). • the creation amongst all officials in the 3 tiers of the administration of a shared need, desire and acceptance of responsibility to create a basic education service that cares for, and is responsive to client needs. This is evidenced by turnaround measures identified and accepted to address challenges by officials from DBE, PEDs with clearly defined responsibilities enunciated for all. By encouraging compliance DBE has been effective in reducing number of PEDs with adverse audit findings.
National Strategy for Learner Attainment • The success of the NSLA is heavily dependant on successful management at district level; • The changes made to the NSLA are indicated under the following headings: • Revised sections of the NSLA to ensure clear accountability; • Detailed Performance Indicators to improve accurate reporting; • Making the framework grade and phase specific with a special focus on Senior Phase aligned to the interventions; • Specific focus on Progressed learners and Retained learners; • Inclusion of the 1+4 Mathematics project; • Including measuring the impact of interventions; and • Differentiated approach to performance and under-performance.
2015 NSLA - FOCUS ON UNDER-PERFORMING DISTRICTS/SCHOOLS/SUBJECTS:
Conclusion • Consistently over the past 4 years districts have begun to show improvement in their NSC performance and have given the system a “good story” to tell; • Around 46% of districts now perform at the average of 80% - even with the slight drop experienced in the NSC 2014 results; • The challenge remains that of Literacy and Numeracy at the GET level but current work with districts has shown that this is not insurmountable. • Making districts a key lever towards improved outcomes is proving to be what the system needs. Through districts – quality learning outcomes will be realised soon.
