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SCHOOLS READINESS MONITORING 2018 ACADEMIC YEAR Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Basic Education February 2018. PRESENTATION OUTLINE. Purpose Introduction Approach to School Readiness Monitoring 2018 Districts and Schools Reached Key Areas of Focus Key Findings
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SCHOOLS READINESS MONITORING 2018 ACADEMIC YEAR Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Basic Education February 2018
PRESENTATION OUTLINE • Purpose • Introduction • Approach to School Readiness Monitoring 2018 • Districts and Schools Reached • Key Areas of Focus • Key Findings • Telephonic Follow-ups • Conclusion
PURPOSE To present to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education the findings of school readiness monitoring for the 2018 academic year.
INTRODUCTION • School readiness in the system over the last five to ten years has improved significantly since monitoring by the DBE and provincial departments of education became one coherent process, focused on issues that have historically presented challenges to an effective start to the academic year. • The declaration of Education as an apex priority as well as emphasis of the view that education is a societal matter has also seen increased focus on key areas that make schools work from both public representatives and community organisations /individuals. • Key areas of challenge over the years have included • Finalised learner admissions and registrations ahead of the new year; • Timeous provision of LTSM for all learners; and • Ensuring the availability of teachers for each class and each subject at all levels of the system.
INTRODUCTION Over time new areas were added to those traditional core areas when they were seen as compromising the effective start of the academic year. The DBE and PEDs worked together to focus attention on these additional areas – in addition to historical areas of focus. A key strategy that has made a huge difference in the system has been the development of sector plans to drive , with a clear indication of responsibility, timelines and reporting requirements. All critical processes within the DBE are now managed within clear sector plans, adopted by all.
2018 monitoring As in past years – DBE guided the sector on key areas to focus on nationally but allowed provinces to strengthen their oversight on issues that may be particularly thorny in individual provinces; Onsite DBE monitoring was organised to complement provincial and district monitoring processes to ensure that, collectively, the sector covered as many schools as possible. Onsite DBE monitoring was conducted by a team of 50 officials.
2018 Monitoring The 2018 assessment was organised as follows: • In-year monitoring of compliance to sector plans and meeting of critical deadlines by DBE branches; • Pre-closure on-site assessment from 20 November to 01 December 2017 by the special DBE team of 50 officials; • Opening of schools on-site monitoringfrom 17 to 26 January 2018; and • Follow-up assessmentsfocusing on issues picked-up both during the pre-closure monitoring and at the beginning of the academic year monitoring: • Telephonic follow-up (21 January to end February 2018) • Follow-up targeted visits(21 May to 01 June 2018)
FOCUS AREAS IN 2018 Learner Admissions and Registration; Undocumented Learners Teacher Provisioning; School Planning Management Learning and Teaching Support Materials; Basic Infrastructure; Incremental Introduction of African Languages (IIAL); Readiness for South African Sign Language (SASL) in Grade 12; and Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements for Technical High Schools (CAPS 2).
LEARNER ADMISSIONS AND REGISTRATION 2018 • The admission of learners is one of the key elements of readiness and informs resourcing of schools. • HEDCOM of 11 April 2017 approved a common admissions period for the sector. This Sector Plan and attendant business processes help the system to operate as one. It also enables Departments to inform parents and their children of their placements reasonably early (by end of October of every year.) • Provincial Departments of Education are required to report on key areas to the DBE monthly, with particular emphasis on the number of unplaced learners.
Key processes and milestones around admissions and registration of learners • Provincial Education Departments are expected to: • Release annual admissions circulars; • Determine the period for admissions; • Establish provincial and district admission teams; • Place admissions information on their websites; and • Conduct admissions advocacy.
SUCCESSES Over the years the following has been achieved: The sector has institutionalised admissions in the year preceding a new academic year; Provinces release circulars guiding admissions procedures annually; Committees are established to adjudicate on admission queries and placement of learners; The use of provincial websites to disseminate information is the norm in most provinces; There are robust admissions advocacy campaigns; There’s reduced tension between provincial education departments and SGBs; and Gauteng (Grade 8 & 9 only) and the Western Cape manage admissions on line.
LEARNER ADMISSIONS FINDINGS 70% of schools visited were ready for the start of the academic year: admission and registration of learners had been finalised in 506 out of 723 schools reached. A limited number of schools (217) had not yet finalised their admissions and this was largely in schools that are known to perform well and those that are in deep rural areas. Historical hot spots (primarily districts in metros and big cities) in all provinces had put in place systems to manage unplaced learners - away from the schools. Challenges that remain relate largely to late applications by parents.
LEARNER ADMISSIONS – COMMON CHALLENGES • Migration of families to metros that are seen as more economically viable creates a situation where learners are more than spaces available in schools; • Lack of documentation which in some cases would require assistance from other sister Departments like the Department of Home Affairs; • Parents whose school of choice is not in line with provincial regulations; • Parents applying and accepting placement in more than one school create an impression that there are still many unplaced learners; • Some parents do not inform schools whether they accept the placement of learners or not and the learner remains on the school list preventing the place to be offered to other learners; • Late registration; and • The actual lack of physical spaces.
LEARNER ADMISSIONS – REMEDIAL ACTION HEDCOM has approved the strategy to addresses the challenge of learners who apply for administration to schools at the beginning of an academic year which include the following: • Referring all late admissions to district offices to direct applicants to identified schools that have vacancies by taking consideration of proximity and curriculum offering. • For Provinces to implement the strategy the following must be in place: • Districts must establish a late Admission Task Team; • Districts must establish a suitable venue within the districts to accommodate the number of envisaged applicants; • Inform schools and communities about the procedure for the registration and the venue where parents can apply.
STRENGTHENING PREPARATIONS FOR 2019 ADMISSIONS HEDCOM and CEM approved uniform timelines for learner admissions are as follows: • Advocacy for the admissions of learners should commence during the first term (February to March) of the school calendar; • Registration should commence on the first day of the second term (April) of the school calendar; • Registration should close at the end of August; • Placement of learners should be completed by the end of September; and • The placement of unplaced learners should be finalised between October and November of each year.
UNDOCUMENTED LEARNERS • Undocumented learners in the education system have decreased immensely due to a collaboration agreement between Department of Home Affairs and DBE agreed to in 2010. • DBE is able to verify learner identity numbers which are provided at school upon admission as per the Admission Policy, by using data from the Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) and matching it against the National Population Register (NPR) of DHA. • DHA assists in retrieving ID numbers from the NPR through a methodology using Name, Surname and Date of Birth match from LURITS, for those learners who are civially registered at DHA, but do not comply with the admission policy by not providing the birth certificate and therefore ID number to schools for capture on the school administration system (i.e. SAMS).
UNDOCUMENTED LEARNERS • Provincial education departments intervene at school level to rectify the ID numbers at source level on the school administration system. • This data also enables Principals to identify learners who possess birth certificates and have not submitted to the school, to start the process of engaging with parents/guardians to comply with the Admission Policy. • The living status of all learners on the LURITS with valid ID numbersis verified against the NPR. • This data-driven initiative has enabled the identification of learners who are potentially undocumented to assist DHA to plan and target documentation of learners via mobile units to the correct schools.
TEACHER PROVISIONING School post establishments were declared in all provinces ahead of the new year. Provinces should be commended for the excellent delivery on this aspect over the last three years. 678 out of 723 schools visited (93.8%) had received their post establishmentsfor 2018, and provision made to have a teacher in front of every class for all subjects and all grades. Substantive posts were filled in most instances. However, this has been an area of concern, as the percentage of schools visited which have vacant posts has been hovering above 30% for the past three years. Provincial education departments have been informed of the ABOVE, and are currently addressing this. Challenges picked up pre-closure of schools have been addressed already.
SCHOOL PLANNING MANAGEMENT 56.4% (180 out of 318) schools monitored had a Self-Evaluation Report for 2017; 71.5% (227 out 318) schools monitored had a 2018 School Improvement Plan (SIP) informed by SSE data; 77.1% (245 out of 318) of schools monitored had teachers that had developed a Personal Growth Plan (PGP) for implementation in 2018. 78% (248 out of 318) schools monitored were ready serve meals for learners on the first day of school. Provinces with challenges were mainly the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and North West. The DBE has already shared this information with PEDs and District Directors, who are supporting the schools to ensure that these challenges are addressed.
LTSM SECTOR PLAN The DBE forwards the LTSM Sector Plan to provinces to provide guidance on timeframes for the procurement and delivery of LTSM for the new academic yearas indicated below: 17
SITUATION DURING MONITORING The majority of schools (i.e. 98%) had received DBE workbooks for all grades. This area has been a beacon of success in the system. All provinces showed significant improvement in the provisioning of textbooks– compared to previous years. Shortages are mostly at secondary school level, but are being addressed. With regards to stationery, 91.1% (659 out of 723) of schools had received their orders. In eight of the nine provinces, less than 10% of schools reported challenges with the delivery of stationery. However, in Eastern Cape, 23% (21 out of 89) schools monitored had not received their orders. EC commenced delivery in November 2017 because of new systems for delivery. Textbooks for all schools were dispatched by 30 January 2018. 100% of schools that ordered centrally had received their stationery orders. The delay is in Section 21 schools that ordered themselves or where parents are required to buy. Over 83% of the schools monitored had an LTSM inventory and textbook retrieval policy. Already, districts have begun to focus on supporting schools on the effective implementation of the policies to ensure maximum retrieval.
WORKBOOKS • The DBE has completed the printing and delivery of Volume 1 and Grade R forthe 2018 school year. • Grade R; • Grades 1 - 6 Home Languages; • Grades 1-6 English First Additional Languages; and • Grades 1 - 9 Mathematics. • A total number of 58 285 270 Grade R -9 Volume 1and 2 workbooks had been delivered to 23 542 schools by 30 January 2018. • As at 30 September, the delivery of Volume 1 was already at 100%. Delivery of Volume 2 commenced on 9 October 2017 (for utilisation from July 2018) 21
IIAL STRATEGY SECTOR PLAN: 2018 - 2029 The IIAL will be implemented incrementally intargeted schools in Grade 1 in 2018 and in subsequent years until Grade 12 in 2029. The implementation will be staggered per phase as follows: 28 40
IIAL TOOLKIT PROVISIONING The IIAL Toolkit comprises: Foundation Phase Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Second Additional Language; Big Books; A set of Conversational Posters; An anthology of stories, songs and poems in all 11 languages; An Audio Compact disk with songs and dialogues in all 11 languages; Lesson Plans which include activities and exemplar informal assessment tasks; and Workbooks for Grades 2 and 3. 30
SAL TOOLKIT PROVISIONING The IIAL SAL Toolkit comprises: Foundation Phase Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Second Additional Language; Big Books; A set of Conversational Posters; An anthology of stories, songs and poems in all 11 languages; An Audio Compact disk with songs and dialogues in all 11 languages; Lesson Plans which include activities and exemplar informal assessment tasks; and Workbooks for Grades 2 and 3. 30
IIAL 64.4% (56 out 87) schools monitored were implementing the Incremental Introduction of African Languages. The majority of schools visited had received the IIAL toolkits. The few that had not received them who were in GP (14) and KZN have since received the Toolkits.. Teacher orientation had not been conducted in some of the IIAL schools monitored in the EC, FS and MP. The DBE is working with provinces to verify this information and ensure that the necessary orientation happens.
SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE The incremental implementation of South African Sign Language Curriculum and Assessment Policy (SASL CAPS) commenced in 42 schools for the Deaf in January 2015. It focused on the Foundation Phase and Grade 9 and continued with the Intermediate Phase and Grade 10 in January 2016. In 2017 the SASL CAPS are implemented in the Senior Phase and Grade 11 and will be implemented in Grade 12 in 2018. Eleven (11) of the seventeen (17) schools for the Deaf that offer Grade 12 will be writing the first NSC in SASL HL in 2018. The catalogue was developed and distributed to schools for them to procure the resources 33
READINESS TO IMPLEMENT CAPS FOR TECHNICAL SUBJECTS IN GRADE 12 37
State of Readiness for Technical Occupational Pilot in 2018 38
BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE Focus on infrastructure was primarily on: safe, clean and usable ablution facilities; fencing; and water supply. All provinces showed relative improvement in this area – compared to previous years. There was significantly more and better toilets for both learners and educators. However, challenges remain in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West, particularly with regards to schools where toilets for learners were either not available and/or unusable. Issues identified around toilets seemed to center largely around Management and Leadership in schools/circuits and districts. The matter has been prioritised for attention at a meeting scheduled for 22nd – 23rd February.
BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE – REMEDIAL STEPS Sanitation and Maintenance: To improve the maintenance of infrastructure, a condition has been set for provincial education departments to allocate at least 20% of the total Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) to maintenance projects. Maintenance Guidelines have been circulated to all provinces for implementation. A meeting with all national district directors has been planned for the 22nd and 23rd February to deal with this issue, amongst others. An incentive allocation on the EIG has been made available to qualifying provincial education departments to assist them to address immediate challenges relating to infrastructure maintenance.
BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE – REMEDIAL STEPS Storm Damage: The DBE, National Treasury and the National Disaster Management Centre are collaborating in improving the process flow and turn around periodfor the rehabilitation of facilities affected by natural disasters. Learner Transport: Movement has been recorded in this area however a fair number of learners are still not benefitting. This is to a large measure also a consequence of financial constraints. A review of the learner transport programme is currently being undertaken. This review is led by the Department of Planning & Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and includes the DBE, National Treasury and the Department of Transport (DoT). The intention of the review is to provide long-term solutions to the planning, provision and funding of the programme.
