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This briefing presents the oversight function carried out by the Department of Basic Education, reconfiguration of the Dinaledi Schools Grant, performance highlights of conditional grants, and provincial expenditure and allocations.
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DBE BRIEFING TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION MONITORING AND OVERSIGHT OF CONDITIONAL GRANTS 26 MAY 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS The presentation will mainly focus on: • The oversight function carried out by DBE as defined in the context of concurrency powers and the Division of Revenue Act; • The reconfiguration of the Dinaledi Schools and Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalisation Grant into the Mathematics, Science and Technology Grant. • Performance highlights (achievements and challenges) observed in the six (6) basic education conditional grants in the 2014/15 financial year; • Provincial expenditure per grant in 2014/15 and financial allocations for 2015/16
OVERSIGHT FUNCTION DEFINED • DBE derives its oversight mandate from the Division of Revenue Act (DoRA) which specifically delineates responsibilities for the transferring authority as well as the concurrent obligations of the recipients of grant funding (the Provincial Education Departments). • In carrying out this function, the DBE ensured that the authority of the PEDs is not violated but sought consensus as the bedrock of consultation and joint action in resolving performance challenges where these arose. • To this end oversight is a function granted to the DBE by the DoRA to monitor and oversee all the six (6) conditional grants’ implementation which takes place in the provinces including performance evaluation. • When exercising oversight, DBE focuses on the following areas: • facilitating the implementation of business plans in conformity with conditional grant frameworks; • application of budgets in keeping with the PFMA and other financial policies of government; • strict observance of laws of Parliament and the Constitution in relation to financial and non-financial reporting; and • effective management of conditional grants by mainstreaming best practice observed during monitoring and evaluation.
Reconfiguration of Maths, Science & Technology into the MST Grant • In February 2013 Minister Motshekga appointed a Ministerial Task Team to review the effectiveness of the Dinaledi Schools Grant. • As a plan to holistically intensify the implementation of MST, CEM directed that not only the Dinalediprogramme but both conditional grants (Dinaledi and Technical Secondary Schools) must be reviewed. • The MST grant, like its predecessors, aims to provide support and resources to schools, teachers and learners for the improvement of Mathematics, Sciences and Technology teaching and learning at selected public schools. • The grant further aims to improve the achievement of learner participation and success rates, teacher demand, supply, utilisation, development and support, school resourcing and partnerships, consistent with targets set in the Action Plan 2019 and the National Development Plan. • The grant is utilised on an intervention basis and therefore is not a general roll-out for all schools. Schools’ needs and allocation of funds shall be identified through criteria indicated in the framework in partnership with Provinces and Districts in the preceding financial period. • Procurement through transversal tenders shall be prioritised to improve efficiency and service delivery. The implementation of the grant is on a phased-in or gradual approach to ensure that a substantial number of schools benefit.
Implementation Structure of Reconfigured MST Grant • The grant will support a total of 1000 schools across all provinces, which are based on the previous allocation of the then Dinaledi and Technical Schools grants plus an additional list of primary schools. The participating schools will be changed annually without changing the total number. • The following table indicates the allocated number of schools to participate per province:
Dinaledi Schools Grant Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year For Limpopo Province, due to continued low spending, only the first tranche was transferred, the other 3 tranches were withheld.
Dinaledi ancillary matters Employment status of “Dinaledi” teachers: Teachers appointed on one-year contracts have been paid by the PEDs, not using Dinaledi Conditional Grant (DCG) funds. The impression created in the minds of principals and teachers that they have been paid by the Dinaledi programme. This is not the case. Reasons for low spending by PEDs: Principal reasons for low spending given by PEDs is that they have difficulties with their respective procurement/supply chain departments. The solution proposed by DBE is the use of transversal tenders to be made available through DBE. Limpopo expenditure shows receipt of R2 835 million with a spending quantum of R2 678 million, but the spent % reflects only 23%. Why? The expenditure quantum reported as 23% represents the proportion of allocated funds for the year. Only the first transfer was made, however, since the province did not comply with grant conditions. The total annual allocation was R 11 340 000, hence R 2 678 000 is 23% of the total allocation, not the proportion of funds transferred in the 2014/15 year.
Technical Secondary Schools Recapitalization Grant Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year
Some Grant Outputs as Envisioned in the Conditional Grant Framework • HIV/AIDS education outputs for the 2014/2015 financial year were the following: • 1 100 Master trainers trained in the integration of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and TB programmes into the school curriculum • 19 000 Educators trained to implement SRH and TB programmes for learners to be able protect themselves from HIV and TB and their associated risk factors including alcohol and drug use • 7 100 School Management Teams (SMT) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) trained to develop policy implementation plans ensuring that SRH and TB education is implemented for all learners in schools; and ensuring access to SRH and TB services • Co-curricular activities including a focus on prevention of alcohol and drug use, targeting 248 400 learners • Care and support programmes implemented to reach 163 300 learners and 19 400 educators.
Consolidated National and Provincial Achievements Table 1: Reach of activities on key performance areas
EXPENDITURE OF HIV/AIDS LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION PROGRAMME • The reach of the programme was exceeded in Advocacy and social mobilization activities with school community members. • Table 2: Provincial expenditure on key performance areas
Education Infrastructure Grant Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year
Education Infrastructure Grant Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year • The spending as at end of 2014/15 financial year was R6 994, 665 million or 92% of the adjusted allocation. This spending is 7% less than the 99% spending reported at end of 2013/14 financial year. • The highest spending provinces on the grant are KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape all at 100%. While Mpumalanga has spent the entire budget, it underspent the Equitable Share portion of their infrastructure allocation. • Free State and Eastern Cape were the lowest spending provinces on the grant at 76% and 77% respectively.
HR Capacitation for School Infrastructure Delivery • The education sector has identified lack of appropriate capacity as a impeding factor in school infrastructure delivery. The process of strengthening Infrastructure delivery capacity in the Provincial Education Infrastructure units has been ongoing, with the key objective of recruiting and appointing of built environment and finance personnel for improving school infrastructure delivery in our provinces. A total of 153 vacancies have been filled.
HR Capacitation for School Infrastructure Delivery • Provinces have been provided a maximum of R26 million from the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) in the 2014/15 financial year for the appointment of public servants to their infrastructure units. This funding has been increased to R32.9 million in the 2015/16 financial year for the process to be taken through to district level. The initiatives aimed at capacitating district offices are also being addressed as building operational capacity at these levels as infrastructure needs and progress is monitored at district level. • The sector has continued to engage with the Department of Public Service and Administration in working out market competitive remunerative strategies to ensure that the posts are attractive for the more experienced candidates to take up in all nine provinces.
NSNP Performance for 2014/15 Financial Year • The feeding of learners progressed fairly well in six provinces; i.e. Eastern Cape (EC), Free State (FS), Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga (MP), Northern Cape (NC), and Western Cape (WC) which did not have any reports of food poisoning. In the first quarter of the financial year some schools in Gauteng (GP) experienced cases of non-feeding due to shortage of food stuff delivered by service providers, as a result those schools could not feed all its learners. The challenge was addressed with the PED and feeding in the affected schools resumed in the second quarter. In the third quarter, feeding was disrupted in fifty eight (58) schools in Limpopo (LP) and one (1) in North West (NW) provinces. • There were two incidents of food poisoning in Koster (North West) and in Limpopoin the third quarter. A case of food poisoning was also reported in Gauteng during the fourth quarter.
Food Poisoning in North West and Limpopo • On Friday 24th October 2014, learners at Koster Intermediate School were served samp, sugar beans and apples. The same day most ofthe learners experienced abdominal cramps, vomiting, fever and diarrhea which resulted in 116 being treated at hospitals and local clinics. One learner eventually died. Test revealed the presence of Salmonella Enterica which could have resulted from samp being cooked and left at room temperature and then consumed the next day. • Another incident of food poisoning was mainly reported in Sekhukhune district of Limpopo. A total 58 schools were affected as learners were hospitalized and some admitted and treated at clinics. Broken glass and stones were found in the foodstuffs procured from two service providers. • After all investigations, two affected service providers’ contracts were terminated (but not blacklisted) following a directive by the Minister of Basic Education. A report was submitted to the Minister on developments and towards addressing the challenge. The Department also reported the matter at SAPS and awaits the outcome of the investigations.
Food Poisoning in Gauteng • The media reported extensively on the death of three learners from Emma Primary School, Winterveldt, who died after consuming food suspected of coming from the school’s nutrition programme. • An investigation confirmed that the cause of death was poison. The food that was, however, contaminated with poison (a bottle of juice) was brought to school by one of the affected learners. • Traces of poison were not found in any of the food provided to learners by the school’s feeding scheme. Therefore the cause of death in respect of all three learners was not the food provided to learners by the school feeding scheme. • The matter is currently the subject of a police investigation.
OSD Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year • The conditional grant envisioned that the financial obligation to reach parity in costs of employment for qualifying educators (education therapists) covered by ELRC Collective Agreement 1 of 2012 would be attained through the grant. To this end, qualifying education therapists, counsellors and psychologists covered by ELRC Collective Agreement 1 of 2012 were thus to be adequately compensated over the next two financial years namely, 2014/15 and 2015/16 starting from 1 April 2014. • However, anticipating that some PEDs would have already used equitable share funds to effect the OSD-related salary increases, the allocation criteria of the OSD for Education Sector Therapists made provision for the reimbursement of PEDs for compensation of employee expenses already incurred in the translation of the education therapists to OSD salary bands.
OSD Expenditure Report for 2014/15 Financial Year as at 31 March 2015
OSD • Limpopo Department of Education had no education therapists on their payroll at the time when the collective agreement was signed, hence they do not receive any transfer from the conditional grant • Northern Cape Department of Education did not pay their therapists since they are not receiving an adequate amount of funding through the conditional grant. This mishap was as a result of the Northern Cape Department of Education incorrectly capturing their therapists on the payroll as educators. The therapists would however thus have benefitted from the OSD for educators. • After realising their mistake, the Northern Cape made representations to DBE to request National Treasury to reconsider and revise upwards the Northern Cape allocation for Northern Cape. Bilateral consultations are still ongoing but under the current framework (unless Treasury intervenes) no additional allocation can be made to Northern Cape.
Conclusion Monitoring and Evaluation: Not ad-hoc but institutionalized • The frequency of monitoring of conditional grants is institutionalized with various role-players representing the various tiers of administration carrying out this responsibility. The following illustrate the above: • Expenditure of grant funding is tracked and reported on a monthly basis with the DBE monitoring such expenditure via the Basic Accounting System (BAS). • Quarterly performance reports per grant provide non-financial performance information with quarterly meetings being held between DBE and National Treasury. • Programme-level monitoring is also undertaken by both DBE, Provincial Coordinators as they carry out monitoring and support visits. • The performance of conditional grants is also a standing item on the HEDCOM Subcommittee on Finance agenda. • Turnaround missions undertaken by a team from DBE to PEDs with performance challenges in order to improve spending and enhance conditional grant performance in general. • Optimal performance of grants is also an area of focus during the standard budget exercise meetings that DBE conducts bilaterally with PEDs. All this culminates in the annual performance evaluation which is currently underway with a sample of schools being visited in all 9 Provinces. The Annual Performance Report on Conditional Grants will be released on 31 July 2015.
