1. PROGRESS ON DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES
Portfolio Committee on Education
19 June 2007

2. CONTENTS Legislative framework Overall Resourcing and Financing Trends
Initiatives and Progress
No fee schools and fee exemptions
Qids-up
Infrastructure
Progress in 2006/07
National Education Infrastructure Management System
Policy development and capital investment strategy
IDIP
Eradication of water and sanitation backlog

3. Legislative framework for school resourcing
National Education Policy Act and South African Schools Act the overall framework to
“fund public schools …on an equitable basis …to ensure the proper exercise of the rights of learners to education and the redress of past inequalities in educational provision”
South African Schools Act
MEC to provide sufficient learning places
Education Laws Amendment Bill, 2007
Section 5A – Norms and standards for basic infrastructure and capacity in public schools (mandates the minister to prescribe national norms and standards)
School funding norms regulate
More equitable allocation of non-personnel expenditure (pro-poor allocation)
Managing of school allocations (cost centres) & greater autonomy where appropriate (S21 Schools)
Removing barriers to learning through no fee schools and regulating fee exemptions

4. Overall Resourcing & Financing Trends – Provincial Edcuation (1)
Increasing real spending
Strong growth in real spending since late 80’s, early 90’s
Some reversal between 1997 and 2000
Upward trend resumed after 2000
Doubling in total real spending between 1987 and 2008
Trend continues over medium term

5. Provincial Education Financing – Total Budgets
Nominal values (not inflation adjusted)
Source: Provincial Budget Statements

6. Provincial Education Financing – Growth
Substantial real growth over medium term (5.1% per year)
Note demarcation effect especially on Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West and Limpopo
R13 billion real (2007 rand) added to sector over the MTEF

7. Broad Financing Trends (2)
Change in composition of spending
Very rapid growth in G&S, transfers & capital but slows down over MTEF; Compensation accelerates somewhat
Significant change in composition:
Personnel from 83.1% in 2003/04 to 76.6% in 2009/10
G&S from 8.6% to 12.2%
Capital from 3.8% to 4.8%

8. Provincial Education Financing – Composition
Nominal Figures
Source: Provincial Budget Statements

9. Provincial Education Financing – Change in Composition of Spending

10. Provincial Education Financing – By Programme
POS remains dominant & grow in real terms (5%+)
ECD continues to grow very rapidly off low base – universal by 2010?
FET growth slows down after recap
Strong deceleration in inclusive education

11. Broad Financing Trends (3)
Significant achievement in funding equalisation
Between provinces and between schools
(Concentration index for public schooling from 0.35 to 0.02 –negligible – Gustafsson & Patel 2006)
75% increase in in public spending per African learner between 1991 and 2005 (Gustafsson 2007)
Gap continues to close over MTEF but remaining inequalities
However, School fees included, still more being spent on learners in quintile 1

12. Provincial Education Spending – per learner
Also upward trend
Gap closing between provinces
Significant remaining inequalities

13. Broad Financing Trends (4)
Shrinking share of government expenditure and GDP (with regard to public spending)
Recent trends somewhat erratic but continues downward
Longer term comparisons & for all education spending tells the same story:
From comfortably above 6% in mid 90’s to close to 5% by 08/09 (just above 4.5% for provincial spending)
No sign of reversal
4.50%
4.52%
4.54%
4.56%
4.58%
4.60%
4.62%
4.64%
4.66%
4.68%
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
Prov Education Spend as % of GDP

14. No fee schools

15. Allocations per learner

16. Way forward on no fee schools
Implementation issues: communication & adequacy; timing of transfers; flexibility in use of allocation; school ranking
Poor learners in schools outside q1 and q2
Fee exemptions regulations
Options for ensuring access
Implementation for 2008 proceeding - critical decisions about way forward:
Increasing no fee schools?
Focus on increasing allocations across quintiles?
Monitoring of implementation/compliance & impact critical; moving ahead with sample survey of schools
Received positively

17. Qids-up: Key Focus
Adequate resourcing for effective curriculum implementation;
Support to schools for improved numeracy and literacy levels;
Improving leadership, management and governance;
Strengthening monitoring and evaluation of learner performance

18. Qids-up targeting
3 500 “no fee” primary schools serving over 1.2 million learners in 14 districts identified for targeted intervention
Districts selected on a combination of criteria including being a presidential node, concentration of Q1-3/ ‘no fee’ schools, persistent unsatisfactory performance in Grade 12, and provincial advice.

19. Qids-up Progress to date
Baseline data on learner achievement that will be used as yardstick to measure the impact of the project has been collected in all schools with grade 3 learners in two districts
Instruments to evaluate impact of the programme on learner progress in reading - Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) developed in 6 languages;
Basic Resource package costing between R and R determined to ensure effective curriculum implementation

20. Qids-up Progress to date
The following resources have been delivered to the schools:
Three sets of 100 story books to all Q1 schools, for the Foundation Phase; All Q2 and 3 schools to receive at the beginning of 2008 academic year;
Mobile library services provided to four districts where learners have very limited access to reading materials;
Personal books and bags provided to new Grade R and 1 learners in three districts as part of “Drop all and Read” campaign, to inculcate love for reading;
Reading Toolkit/guidelines also developed for teachers, to be in schools in 14 districts by May 2007.

21. Qids-up: Planned Outputs in 2007/08
Baseline data on learner performance in Numeracy and Literacy in 11 districts not yet assessed;
Providing all reading teachers with and training them in the use of EGRA to help them monitor reading progress in own classrooms;
Providing all targeted schools with Basic Resource pack, according to school needs;
Developing and providing key protocols to all school managers to improve running and management of schools.

22. Infrastructure funding overview
After very rapid growth to 2006/07 in all provinces, leveling off. Declining in some provinces (Western Cape; North West)
Spending peformance much increased: 74% by February 2007; around 80% in most provinces with exception of Free State and Western Cape
Significant delivery in terms of classrooms, water & sanitation:
However provincial targets will not eradicate backlogs; capacity & funding constraints

23. Infrastructure needs - toilets

24. Infrastructure needs - Water

25. Infrastructure needs - electricity
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY BY PROVINCE (Data for 2006 and prior not adjusted for redemarcation)
Province
1996
2004
Monthly March 2006
Monthly March 2007
Eastern Cape
4,563
1,924
1,888
1,172
Free State
1,670
588
522
191
Gauteng
297 3
KwaZulu-Natal
3,221
275
184
109
Limpopo
3,272
1,600
995
263
Mpumalanga
923
642
240
236
Northern Cape
101 50 44 8
North West
1,312
151
160 82
Western Cape
201
National
15,560
5,233
4,036
2,064

26. Infrastructure needs – Inappropriate Structures
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN INAPPROPRIATED STRUCTURES BY PROVINCE (note that demarcation will have impact on the number of schools these are mud schools and other structures used)
Province
1996
2004
Monthly March 2006
Monthly March 2007
Eastern Cape
1,230
572
223
206
Free State 59 61 36 21
Gauteng 35 10 4 3
KwaZulu-Natal
224
201 19
Limpopo 33
336
417 89
Mpumalanga
140
666 56
Northern Cape 25 1
North West 26 2
156
129
Western Cape 5 28
National
1,762
1,901
942
524

27. Infrastructure progress

28. NEIMS: Improved Information & tools
Deliverables
SQL Server Database (“Property Register”) & condition assessment
Site infrastructure & related information on 30,405 sites
Executive summary & detailed report
Provinces accessing through service provider for individual reports & for planning
Utilisation: web access to school reports; provincial copies of database for management purposes; centrally maintained
Infrastructure Management Query Station (IMQS)
Software data interrogation & reporting tool, GIS enabled
(E.g. identify relevant sites through query, map report & can then go to individual site reports through the map)
Utilisation: managers for queries, drawing of planning information and reporting
Costing model
Compare current state by institution to set of norms and cost
Space gap
Standard gap
Condition gap
Cost the gap per institution and aggregate
National Assessment Report
Key information by province and total; comparison to SRN 1996 & 2000 where possible
Nine Provincial Assessment Report
Queries as per national report, by district municipality
Process ahead:
Provincial data verification & analysis of report
Reporting to Cabinet
Utilisation for planning in provinces and other Government Departments
General release
Operationalisation

31. Other infrastructure processes
Infrastructure Delivery Improvement Programme and cooperation with DPW
Assessment of obstacles to deliver
Technical capacity (PTAT Teams)
Alignment of infrastructure planning and budgeting cycles
Significantly improved spending patterns
Eradication of water and sanitation backlog
Additional allocation to DWAF for schools and clinics (R665m)
Clinics prioritised in 2007/08
DWAF to implement in coordination with DoE and PEDs
Implementing agents being appointed
Development of policy framework, norms and standards & capital investment strategy – work progressing with support of the World Bank

32. Overall resourcing Positive trends but key remaining gaps:
Management and system improvement will require capacity:
Initiatives on principals, district and school support not fully funded
Information management and infrastructure planning will require additional resources
Start on teacher supply and quality but significant challenges on teacher training, also in specific areas (Grade R, inclusive education)
NEIMS confirm progress but remaining lack of adequate facilities: water & sanitation, laboratories, libraries, large class sizes, security (fences); ICT challenge very large to catch up to 21st century
Per learner allocation in poor schools not yet at target levels in majority of provinces, many backlogs
Efficiencies to be improved in key areas:
Teacher utilisation
Management & systems for npnc & infrastructure

33. Conclusions
Strides in terms of equity and positive developments in terms of funding
Quality will not automatically follow
Range of initiatives that need to be funded adequately in order to impact

34. THANK YOU