1. Early Childhood Development Delivery – one year later
Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Education
13 May 2003
Marie-Louise Samuels
Director: Early Childhood Development

2. Overview of Presentation
INTRODUCTION
KEY ELEMENTS OF WHITE PAPER 5
FIRST PHASE IN IMPLEMENTING WP5
Conditional Grant progress
Policy, Curriculum, Systems and Coordination of the sector
TARGETS SET FOR NEXT PHASE
Expansion of Grade R in schools
Integrated service delivery for pre Grade R
AREAS THAT NEED ATTENTION
Collaboration
Capacity to deliver
SUMMARY

3. Introduction Project summary 100% of funds transferred to provinces
90% of target reached for payment of subsidies
84% of tenders have been awarded
50% of equipment delivered to three provinces
Monitoring and Support system developed and tested
Advocacy and Information Plan developed
Rigorous management of the process at national and provincial level

4. Key elements of White Paper 5
Grade R – phased in until 2010
Poverty targeted
Provision for birth-4 year olds
Curriculum for children
Practitioner development and career pathing
Norms and standards for all providers
Special programmes for young learners
HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases
Poor
Rural
Special educational needs

5. First Phase in implementation
Conditional Grant
National programme
R195 million over 3 years
2003/2004 – final year
Target 4,500 sites with 135, 000 learners
Components of the grant
Funding to sites
Training of practitioners
Supply of basic equipment
Monitoring and support system
Advocacy and information
Funding has been allocated using the Equitable Shares Formulae.
Grant has been allocated for a three year period and there is no indication that this will be extended.
It took us at least a year to develop the necessary systems to transfer funds to sites, to award all the necessary tenders at provincial and national level.
We are now in our final year of implementation.
The grant was awarded in order to kick-start the process on the understanding that the provinces would budget for expansion after the three years.

6. Funding to Sites Compliance with DoRA
Framework document – conditions
Approval of business plan
Transfer payment to provinces
Reporting monthly, quarterly, annually
Spending trends for last two years
Challenges
Management systems at provincial and site level to account for funding
DIVISION OF REVENUE ACT
In order to comply with the regulations stipulated in the Division of Revenue Act the following steps need to be taken:
Each province needs to develop a detailed business plan using the national framework document as a guide.
There are conditions that apply to the use of the funding e.g. it can only be used for the purpose as stipulated in the framework document.
Once the business plans have been approved by the Director-General; provincial allocations are transferred to the provinces.
If a province has not complied, the Department needs to inform Treasury of the possibility of withholding of the funds and the province has a month to rectify the problem and resubmit a signed business plan or indications of how they will solve the problem as indicated.
TRANSFER OF PAYMENTS
The situation this year is that we transferred payment to the following provinces:
Free State
Gauteng
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West
Western Cape
Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal needed to make changes to their budgets in order to allow for the transfer of payments. KZN is requesting an additional R500, for implementation which we currently are not able to do. This has been forwarded to the CFO for advise.
SPENDING TRENDS:
Delays in the awarding of tenders caused a further delay in implementation in all the provinces. The tenders are managed and awarded by the Department of Education.
There is a significant difference between expenditure for Year One and Year Two due to the fact that subsidies were paid to sites as well as the appointment of Provincial coordinators to manage implementation at provincial level.
As five of the six tenders have been awarded this will contribute to ensuring that the programme meets its set objectives.
CHALLENGES:
Lack of Management systems at provincial and site level to account for funding
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are no systems in place
We are developing the monitoring and support system to ensure that there is a method of gathering information and evidence as well as the impact of the provision at site level at least 4 times a year. Reports will be accurate

7. Training Outline of the tender Progress to date Scale of the training
Registered level 4 qualification
Accreditation of training institutions
Scale of the training
Way forward

8. Basic Kits of Educational Equipment
3 tenders awarded
List of equipment provided
Delivery of equipment to sites
Challenges

9. Monitoring and Support System
Tender awarded - Khulisa Management Services
Purpose of the tender
Outline of the plan
Progress
Challenges

10. Advocacy and Information Campaign
Tender awarded – Vuleka productions
Purpose of the tender
Outline of the plan
Progress to date
Challenges

11. Policy, Curriculum, Systems, Coordination
Norms and Standards for funding Grade R
Curriculum
Rollout of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (Grade R as part of Foundation Phase)
Takalani Sesame

12. Policy, Curriculum, Systems, Coordination
Audit of all Grade R classes
Inclusion in EMIS collection of statistics on 10th day
Coordination
Coordinating Committee for ECD

13. Targets set for next phase
Implementation plans for expansion of Grade R
Strategic plans for next 3 years reflecting expansion of Grade R at schools
Maintenance of delivery to Grade R classes at community based sites
Ensuring funding is secured in provinces for expansion
Secure funds for expansion plans
Integrated service delivery plan for children birth to 4 years
Collaborative strategy developed to ensure integrated service delivery for children birth to 4 years.

14. Areas that need attention
Additional year to consolidate gains made
Capacity at National,Provincial and District levels
Compliance of DoRA
Secure funding for the expansion of the programme
On-going collaboration with state departments
Collaboration with Non-Governmental organisations

15. Summary
On-track in relation to targets set for Grade R in community based sites
On-track in relation to targets set for Grade R in schools
Dedication and Commitment of personnel at all levels