Key Outcome One: Quality Basic Education

1. Key Outcome One: Quality Basic Education Presentation to Ad Hoc Committee 03 February 2010 Cape Town

2. Topics to be covered • Challenges in Basic Education • Main causes of the problems • Outline of outputs and targets identified • Key interventions and activities to realise outputs and targets

3. What are the causes of the problems? • High level of consensus that we face a crisis in basic education that require urgent remediation • Need accurate diagnosis of problems and causes of failure if we are to design effective solutions • Failing in primary objective: most schools do not have conditions required for effective attainment of learning outcomes

4. What are the causes of the problems? (continued) • Key factors contributing to system failure: Socio-cultural environment within and outside schools; enabling policy context coupled with capable bureaucracy to support schools effectively; school management and governance; teacher capability and commitment; parental involvement; adequacy of fixed infrastructure; and adequacy of teaching and learning inputs

5. What is to be done? • Past efforts have not been effective - need fundamental shift in how we intervene in the system • Two key dimensions to approach: • Strategic interventions designed to promote effectiveness in the delivery of the basic education mandate – balance short- & long-term interventions • Leveraging accelerated delivery through focus on performance management, accountability and remediation through The Presidency

6. Key outputs and targets for outcome: “Quality Basic Education”

7. > Focussing on outcomes

8. > Focussing on outcomes

9. > Activities that will improve the quality of schooling • Teachers (continued)

10. > Activities that will improve the quality of schooling

11. KEY INTERVENTIONS AND ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE THE OUTPUTS AND TARGETS IDENTIFIED

12. Ensure credible outcomes-focussed planning and accountability system • Necessary condition for effective turnaround • Critical to establish comprehensive and contextually-relevant accountability system • Standardised and credible learner performance assessments in Grades 3, 6 & 9. Ensure parents and other stakeholders use this for school improvement and accountability

13. A basic education sector plan • Key innovation for 2010: Basic Education Sector Plan. • Will contain clear outputs, targets and activities • Will form basis for sector accountability as well as all levels of system down to school level • Will serve to purposefully marshal stakeholder involvement in practical implementation

14. Ensure minimum threshold of school functionality • Single most important factor if one excludes socio-economic factors from equation • Establish – in collaboration with provincial education departments – national education management development academy • Establish adequate capability in districts to effectively support schools – marshal private sector and NGO support

15. Ensure all teacher have required capability, commitment and practice • Too many teachers cannot pass tests that their own learners are expected to pass • Serious problems related to commitment and practice • This despite significant investment in teacher development • Strategy 2 dimensions: • Labour peace and stability • Dedicated teacher development Institute

16. Ensure effective implementation of the curriculum • 2009 review led to important revisions: Streamline learning areas, teacher administrative burden, development and supply of textbooks and other learning and teaching support materials • Focus on numeracy and literacy in early grades plus maths, science and languages in senior grades

17. Ensure effective implementation of the curriculum (continued) • Supply workbooks and other resources that compensate for challenges in teacher capability and school/system functionality • Improved capability at district level to support curriculum implementation • e-Learning strategy

18. Ensure bureaucracies have capability to support school improvement and accountability • Serious weaknesses in this area, especially in provincial and district structures that serve areas catering for high concentrations of poor learners • All education departments need to reconfigure themselves to be more capable of direct support, ensuring accountability and undertaking required interventions • This is a key priority for the basic education sector going forward

19. Improve learner retention • Important issue that has attracted much interest • Gross enrolment is about 88% but only 50% of youths reach Grade 12 and about a third of youths obtain a NSC • We compare favourably to other countries (Brazil, Botswana, Thailand) but clearly situation not ideal • Two-fold strategy: • Quality and pass rate throughout schooling system • More post-school alternative pathways

20. Achieve universal and quality Grade R and ECD • Aim of universal Grade R in 2014 stands. • Serious concerns around the quality of Gr R in many schools – poorly paid and under-qualified teachers in some schools, excessive number of learners per class in others. One intervention currently under way is increase in number of teachers with at least level 4 (Gr 12) training. Further quality improvement strategies will have to be developed • Increase coverage of children in subsidised ECD sites and improve practitioner training

21. Ensure adequate resourcing of schools • Had huge investment, but too many learners continue to experience conditions that are unacceptable. Two main reasons for this: • Below adequate funding and resource inputs • Poor capacity to convert financial resources to required inputs, effective utilisation and maintenance thereof • Research shows No Fee policy working well • Will develop a comprehensive infrastructure development action plan during 2010 to deal with pressing shortcomings

22. Conclusion • Contents of presentation has drawn from discussion in HD Cluster, Council of Education Ministers and with stakeholders • Further development will happen following January 2010 Cabinet Lekgotla and CEM