TUESDAY, 29 MAY 2001 __

          PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
                                ____

The Council met at 14:07.

The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Mrs E N LUBIDLA: Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move at the next sitting of the Council:

That the Council -

(1) notes with concern the devastating effects of alcohol abuse and drug addiction on family life by precipitating domestic violence and sexual abuse in this country;

(2) further notes that the broad spread of alcohol abuse and drug addiction within a community provides negative role models for young people growing up in those communities;

(3) also notes that this state of affairs is assuming serious proportions in all the provinces and that every member of the Council has a responsibility to mobilise against alcohol and drug abuse; and

(4) therefore resolves to debate the matter as a matter of urgency.

Mrs J N VILAKAZI: Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move at the next sitting of the Council:

That the Council -

(1) notes with appreciation the promotion of AmaZulu Football Club to the Premier Soccer League with effect from the next season; (2) applauds AmaZulu for a job well done;

(3) reminds AmaZulu that on their shoulders rest the hopes of thousands of their supporters who become disappointed each time they are relegated; and

(4) warns AmaZulu never again to let down their supporters and the soccer fraternity in general by succumbing to relegation.

[Applause.]

Mr K D S DURR: Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move at the next sitting of the Council:

That the Council -

(1) notes that over 250 children have recently called in on the Gambling Helpline to implore that psychological help be given to their parents, who are problem gamblers;

(2) acknowledges that the problems associated with gambling include drug abuse, divorce, suicide and other social problems; and

(3) calls upon the Minister of Trade and Industry, in the light of the above and other new hard evidence, to stop issuing new gambling licences until the situation can be properly assessed.

         INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION OF SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr J L THERON: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) congratulates certain companies in the South African business sector which are improving their profitability and expanding their operations internationally despite tough international economic conditions;

(2) notes examples such as - (a) Pick ‘n Pay, which acquired 80 grocery stores in Australia for R500 million;

   (b)  Old Mutual, which increased its international operations in the
       USA by acquiring various businesses; and


   (c)  Investec, which did three large takeovers in the USA; and

(3) is of the opinion that it is very encouraging to note that South African companies can do so well in the global economy.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

       LAND REFORM AND REDISTRIBUTION PROGRAMMES AND POLICIES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr M A SULLIMAN: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council - (1) recognises the initiative taken by the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs in respect of integrated agricultural and land development programmes;

(2) supports the Government’s policies on land reform and redistribution;

(3) notes that these programmes occur within the framework of the Constitution and the laws and policies of our democratic Parliament; and

(4) supports the initiative of the ANC-led Government and its commitment in recognising the rule of law in respect of land reform.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

REMUNERATION OF NEW ZEALAND STRATEGY MANAGEMENT PARTNERSHIP (SMP) FOR WORK DONE FOR THE SA POST OFFICE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr P A MATTHEE: Voorsitter, ek stel voor sonder kennisgewing:

Dat die Raad -

(1) kennis neem van mediaberigte dat -

   (a)  terwyl die Suid-Afrikaanse Poskantoor verliese gely het van tot
       R720 miljoen in sy vorige boekjaar, sy Nieu-Seelandse Strategy
       Management Partnership (SMP) vennote 'n wins van sowat R50,4
       miljoen gemaak het uit hul bedrywighede in Suid-Afrika;


   (b)  byna al die lede van die New Zealand Post International and
       Royal Mail wat in Suid-Afrika is - en dit sluit lynoperateurs
       soos rekenaartegnici in - meer verdien as President Thabo Mbeki
       en ander hoë uitvoerende bestuurders in Suid-Afrika;


   (c)  hul maandelikse pakkette wissel van R180 000 vir 'n junior
       stelseltegnikus tot R480 000 vir uitvoerende hoofde - dit sluit
       nie ander voordele soos R12 000 vir huisvesting, motortoelaes
       van R8 500 en onthaal- en voedseltoelaes van R10 000 per maand
       in nie;


   (d)  senior verteenwoordigers tot R8 500 per uur kry;


   (e)  plaaslike bestuurders deur die SMP gefrustreer en uitgeskuif
       voel en dat Suid-Afrika oor mense beskik wat dieselfde werk as
       die Nieu-Seelanders kan doen; en

(2) die Minister van Openbare Ondernemings versoek om die Raad dringend te voorsien van ‘n volledige verslag ten opsigte van die bedrywighede van die SMP in Suid-Afrika en van ‘n volledige uiteensetting van al die vergoeding en ander voordele wat deur al die voormelde Nieu- Seelanders ontvang is en steeds ontvang word, hoe lank hulle nog in Suid-Afrika bedrywig gaan wees, wat die totale koste vir die SA Poskantoor is ten opsigte van die SMP en enige ander relevante besonderhede. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Mr P A MATTHEE: Chairperson, I move without notice: That the Council -

(1) notes media reports that -

   (a)  while the South African Post Office suffered losses of up to
       R720 million in its previous financial year, its New Zealand
       Strategy Management Partnership (SMP) partners made a profit of
       about R50,4 million from their activities in South Africa;


   (b)  nearly all the members of the New Zealand Post International and
       Royal Mail present in South Africa - including line operators
       such as computer technicians - earn more than President Thabo
       Mbeki and other senior executive managers in South Africa;


   (c)  their monthly packages vary between R180 000 for a junior
       systems technician and R480 000 for executive heads - which does
       not include other benefits such as R12 000 for accommodation,
       car allowances of R8 500 and food and entertainment allowances
       of R10 000 per month;
   (d)  senior representatives are paid up to R8 500 per hour; and


   (e)  the SMP has left local managers feeling frustrated and
       sidelined, while South Africa has people who can do the same job
       as the New Zealanders; and

(2) urgently requests the Minister of Public Enterprises to provide the Council with a full report on the activities of the SMP in South Africa and a complete statement of all the remuneration and other benefits received by all the above-mentioned New Zealanders in the past and at present, how long they are still going to be active in South Africa, the total cost to the SA Post Office in respect of the SMP, and any other relevant details.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Is there any objection to that motion? [Interjections.] There is an objection. The motion will therefore become notice of a motion.

   INTRODUCTION OF QUALITY LEARNING PROJECT IN NORTH WEST PROVINCE
                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr P D N MALOYI: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that the North West Department of Education, under the leadership of MEC Zachariah Tolo, has released an innovative plan, the Quality Learning Project, to improve education in the province;

(2) further notes that this plan will involve 65 of the province’s schools in the areas of Mafikeng and Zeerust;

(3) is of the opinion that the Quality Learning Project will assist the province in ensuring better functioning schools and will improve school management and administration as well as teaching and learning; and

(4) commends the provincial department on the initiative it has taken.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

                        ERADICATION OF RACISM

                         (Draft Resolution)

Moruti M CHABAKU: Mme Monnasetilo, ke tshikinya ntle le kitsiso gore:

Khansele e -

(1) lemoge gore -

   (a)  bomorafe ke bothata jo bo iponagatsa ka mekgwa e le mentsi e e
       farologaneng;


   (b)  le fa Molaotheo wa rona mo Aforika Borwa o kaya fa go sena re
       sena pharologano magareng ga banna le basadi kgotsa magareng ga
       merafe e e farologaneng, go santse go na le matshwao a a
       bontshang gore bomorafe e santse e le bothata, mme go na le
       batho ba ba santseng ba sa dumele gore bomorafe bo santse bo le
       teng;
   (c)  lefatshe ka bophara le ne la swetsa gore tlhaolele ke bosula jo
       bo leng kgatlhanong le botho; le gore


   (d)  lefatshe le lebeletse gore Aforika Borwa e nne matlhagola-tsela
       mo phedisong ya bomorafe le mo tsweletsong ya poelano;

(2) dumele gore Ntlo eno e amogele gore e na le bokgoni jwa go ka thusa mo twantshong ya bomorafe;

(3) swetse gore go nne le dipuisano tse di lebisitsweng kwa go ruteng setshaba ka ga ditlamorago tsa bomorafe, mme e rotloetse diporofense go tshwara dipuisano tse di jalo; le gore e

(4) amogele gore rotlhe re bana ba Modimo, mme re tshwanetse go tshwana le menwana mo letsogong le le lengwe e e sekitlang e lwantshana ka boyona. (Translation of Tswana draft resolution follows.)

[Rev M CHABAKU: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council - (1) notes that -

   (a)  racism is a global problem which manifests itself in various
       forms;


   (b)  despite the fact that South Africa has a nonsexist, nonracial,
       democratic Constitution, there are disturbing signs that racism
       still persists in our society and that there are people who
       still deny its existence;


   (c)  throughout the world, apartheid was declared a crime against
       humanity; and


   (d)  the world is looking towards South Africa for guidance in order
       to eradicate racism and achieve reconciliation;

(2) believes that it has the potential of making a special contribution in the eradication of racism;

(3) therefore resolves to have a debate with a view to educating the general public about the effects of racism, and encourages the provincial legislatures to have similar debates; and

(4) believes that we are all God’s children and we need to be like fingers on one hand that never put each other down or fight each other.]

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

             WHITE PAPER ON EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms C NKUNA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that around seven million mainly black children between the ages of 0 and 6 do not have access to early childhood development programmes;

(2) further notes that the absence of early childhood development initiatives has been proved to negatively affect the ability of children to acquire the concepts, skills and attitudes such as language, numeracy and problem-solving proficiencies that lay the basis for lifelong learning;

(3) welcomes the release of the White Paper on Early Childhood Development by the Minister of Education;

(4) believes that the White Paper will improve access to and participation in early childhood development programmes by the millions of our children who have previously been denied this opportunity by apartheid; and

(5) further believes that its release underscores the commitment by the ANC to the children of our country and international conventions on children’s rights and development.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN BY PAEDIATRICS INSTITUTE AT RED CROSS CHILDREN'S
                              HOSPITAL
                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr J HORNE: Voorsitter, ek stel voor sonder kennisgewing:

Dat die Raad -

(1) kennis neem van die navorsing wat gedoen word deur die Instituut vir Kindergeneeskunde by die Rooikruis Kinderhospitaal met die knoffelbolplant wat daarop dui dat dit verligting kan bring vir kinders wat aan MIV/Vigs en sekondêre infeksies ly; en

(2) die Instituut gelukwens met die vordering wat gemaak is en ook sterkte toewens met verdere navorsing. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

Mr J HORNE: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes the research being done on the garlic bulbous plant by the Paediatrics Institute at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital which indicates that it can bring relief to children suffering from HIV/Aids and secondary infections; and

(2) congratulates the Institute on the progress made and also wishes it well in its further research.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

CHILD SLAVERY AND ENFORCED PROSTITUTION IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr L G LEVER: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes with shock and horror the report in Die Burger dated 28 May 2001 that, according to the research of Malawian academics, child slavery and enforced prostitution are on the increase in Eastern and Southern Africa; and

(2) resolves to request the Minister of Foreign Affairs to place this issue on the agendas of both SADC and the African Union.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

         CONGRATULATIONS TO ANC ON VICTORIES IN BY-ELECTIONS

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr M I MAKOELA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that ten municipal by-elections were held in four provinces over the weekend;

(2) further notes that the ANC achieved victories in seven of the by- elections;

(3) congratulates the ANC on this magnificent performance; and

(4) believes that its victories once again confirm the faith which the majority of South Africans have in the ANC as the only vehicle through which fundamental change can be accelerated.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Is there any objection to the motion? [Interjections.] Order! There is an objection. The motion will therefore become notice of a motion.

    MOTHER-TONGUE INSTRUCTION AND MULTILINGUALISM AT SCHOOL LEVEL

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) expresses its gratitude towards the Minister of Education for the announcement that mother-tongue education will be introduced for the first four school years of pupils, as it is accepted that mother- tongue education is of the utmost importance for the cognitive development of children;

(2) applauds the intentions to promote multilingualism at school level, for the knowledge of languages can serve as a bridge builder and thus an instrument to enhance nation-building and the African Renaissance; and

(3) calls on the Minister of Education to fast-track this process, not by forfeiting quality instruction but especially by empowering our people in the teaching profession to make a success of the good intentions.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DEPUTY PRESIDENT ON RECEIVING HONORARY DOCTORATES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mrs E N LUBIDLA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) congratulates the Deputy President on his achievement in receiving an honorary doctorate from the Universities of Fort Hare and Medunsa;

(2) notes that the Deputy President was one of the millions of South Africans who were brutally denied their basic right to a decent education by the apartheid system;

(3) recognises that the honours conferred are fitting and appropriate in the context of his leadership and his commitment to social development; and

(4) believes that the honour bestowed on the Deputy President is a fitting tribute to a person who strongly believes in the concept of lifelong learning.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

                         APPROPRIATION BILL
                           (Policy debate)

Vote No 14 - Education:

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! We would like to welcome Mr Asmal. He has received a number of accolades today and I hope that the debate will continue in the same spirit.

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chairperson, delegates, members of the executive council, representatives of the provinces and comrades, it is always a pleasure to come to the NCOP. When I spoke about this Budget Vote last week in the National Assembly, I focused on education in general and went through all the challenges that we face in education.

My approach to this House is different, because it is in the provinces where nearly all the implementation of education policy has to take place. So my emphasis today will be much more oriented to the situation in the provinces, the relationship within provinces and the implementation of national policy as befits the nature of the NCOP.

In the National Assembly debate last week, I spoke about two schools, Mogomotsi High School in the Northern Cape and Rutasetjhaba Secondary School in Evaton, in order to compare and contrast them. Today I want to focus on one school, one that is described very aptly by Mzi Mahola, in his poem, The Farm School. Members should remember that there are 6 000 farm schools in South Africa, and 18% of our children go to farm schools. I would like to read extracts from that poem, because it will allow us to capture both the achievements that we have made in the past seven years and the many challenges that lie ahead. The poem reads as follows:

As in a dream I came to a farm school Waiting in vain For wisdom My heart bled. In a dusty classroom They gathered Praying for wisdom To swell their shrunken heads, To raise them above the dust Of country seclusion, Its snares and futility.

And then he ends:

After so many moons Things seem to have grown Monumentally worse. The sun was peeping through the roof, Wind rattling papered window frames, I don’t know what happens on rainy days. And I thought, out of this group Maybe one will make it. Maybe none.

I have chosen this picture to highlight that we will always need to remember that we are actually debating the plight, opportunities and expectations of real people in real situations, like the farm schoolchildren described in this poem. We must never forget that our duty is to reflect from time to time on the impact that we are making to change the lives of children who learn in less than ideal conditions.

Today I want to refer to what we have done as a Government to better the lives of these children through education. Let me hasten to add that we may still have a long way to go before we reach all of them, but I am sure that in the past seven years we brought hope to millions, hope that things will get better for them too. The hopelessness with which the poem I have read ends, is changing to hopefulness that maybe, not just one, but all of them, will make it.

The children are beginning to see their schools as places where they will find, and I quote, ``wisdom to raise them above the dust of country seclusion, its snares and futility’’. They have begun to have confidence in public education as something that plays a redemptive role in their lives, as a vehicle that really does assist them to realise their dreams and frees the potential, as our Constitution so beautifully says, not just of some people who happen to have a particular kind of skin and who live largely in urban areas, but of all people, regardless of where they come from and no matter how badly stacked the odds are against them when they first enter their school gates.

The hope that comes in the first instance is from the reassurances and assurances provided in our Constitution, which guarantees the right to dignity and basic education for everybody, and which began to bring hope that these children and their parents may finally end their wait for wisdom, and that their thirst for education may finally be quenched.

To enable us to translate these constitutional guarantees into reality, the Government had to spend the first five years mainly focusing on creating frameworks for change and transformation. One of the major challenges in this regard - and I want to remind those members who have just joined the Council of this - was the creation of a single national Department of Education from 18 racially divided education departments and then the insertion of nine provincial departments.

I think that this has never been paralleled in the restructuring of government anywhere in history. For the past seven years, we have developed mechanisms for the national department to work together with the nine provincial departments to deliver education in this country.

All members in this House know, and therefore should not write to me about specific matters, that the national Ministry is largely responsible for the creation of norms and standards, and for monitoring the implementation of those norms by the provinces. The provinces are directly responsible. Then, of course, we are responsible for higher education. The provinces are responsible for the implementation of national policy, to fix the budgets themselves, to allocate the different programmes, and for those elements of provincial policy which do not relate to matters that need to be regulated nationally.

One of the first challenges we had to deal with was, through co-operative governance, the question of how we would reduce and, eventually, eliminate the vast inequalities of the past. In 1994, the predemocratic government was spending five times as much per white learner as opposed to, for example, a black learner in the Eastern Cape.

The new provinces that were created in 1994 inherited those inequalities, which resulted in the Western Cape budget being almost three times higher than that of the Eastern Cape. We have been able to make significant strides in redressing those inequalities. Since 1994 the differential between provinces has been reduced by more than 50%, which is an enormously difficult process.

Our Constitution requires that we provide certain minimum standards in the field of education. But that does not mean that we should simply strive for only those minimum standards to be achieved. We should not be complacent and lapse into mediocrity, but, rather, we should be striving to provide the best possible service we can, given our resources and financial constraints that may apply.

Bearing in mind our constitutional obligations, we must remain aware of the charge for the provision of education within our areas of jurisdiction. This requires not that we investigate the origin of every child, but rather that we go out of our way to provide for every student that comes within the education institutions with the desire to learn without fear of rejection and discrimination. This is a country where internal migration is no longer constrained by racial or provincial and municipal boundaries. We must, therefore, avoid falling into pitfalls of a new form of influx control, whether deliberate or by sleight of hand. I had to reprove a member in the National Assembly who referred to this influx of people from one province to another. Of course, regrettably, one premier said 18 months ago, nogal, that there was a flood of foreigners coming into the Western Cape.

Now, this is rather an extraordinary statement in a year in which we are going to host the international conference against xenophobia and racism. There is a right to basic education, and it must be provided, as a matter of course, to all children - regardless of the origin - who come within a jurisdiction of a province.

We must remember this, because the Constitution does not say that there is a right to basic education for those born in a province or in South Africa. That is why it is very important that our national education legislation overrides the immigration Act. We must provide for basic education and even for foreigners within our jurisdiction. This is a very important principle.

So, given that there is still a significant variation in spending on education between provinces, notwithstanding that this variation has been reduced, we cannot enter into interprovincial discussion about which students come from which provinces. This would be a cynical exercise. The question of whether the funds are available is a different matter for the province to determine and should not impact, either consciously or otherwise, on the admission of students into our schools and all other places of learning.

We have been successful in bringing the number of learners per educator down to an average of 34 nationally. Our rationalisation process has been extremely successful and has now come to an end. Over 30 000 teachers have been moved to new posts in schools where they were most needed, without a single forced retrenchment.

The school funding norms and standards policy, which took effect in 1999, mandates a poverty-targeted approach to budgeting for nonpersonnel expenditure by the provinces. This means that the poorest schools get an average of seven times more funding than the richest ones, and this is part of the corrective action that started in 1994. Incidentally, I should say that the leader of the DP claimed in Paris that this was part of his policy. I will bear this with all the fortitude I can generate because this is part of the implementation of national Government policy which the Government began. There is still a long way to go in achieving equity in our schooling system. The national department is examining closely what the next steps should be on our journey towards the attainment of this goal. We shall review the norms and standards to ensure that the appalling disparities that existed in 1994 are, in the space of a few years, removed.

The greatest challenge we face is of ensuring that provinces take even further steps to achieve interprovincial equity, within a province. Provinces will take visible steps to redress imbalances of the past within themselves. The children of the farm school we were talking about can see their environment changing from being a snare to one which brings the fruits of freedom right to their own door.

So many times I have heard people lapsing into the old apartheid syndrome of blaming the victim for the failures of the system. This I hear especially when schools that have very poor infrastructure give us reasons to celebrate, as they outperform even those with the best facilities.

Many of us then begin to argue that if such schools can do it, and others too in the same situation, they must do it. We must not forget that the schools that do so are really giving us a bonus by going the extra mile. In terms of investment of resources, we must remember where we have come from, and correct that.

We must recognise that the problems of the schooling system do not only exist in townships and rural areas. There are shools in urban areas, and I have visited some of them, which remain all-white and authoritarian and embrace values that are at odds with those of a democratic South Africa.

After seven years of freedom we cannot tolerate a situation in which these schools enjoy extraordinary public provision, while less than two kilometres away there are children learning in crowded township secondary schools. Provinces, over the next year, are enjoined to bring about greater integration in these schools. This also means enforcing our language in education policy, to assist with that integration, and to look at the composition of the teaching staff.

It is important that we align provincial and national policies, for if we do not, how else is co-operative governance to work? I believe that through the Council on Higher Education, Ministers will make significant progress in ensuring this alignment happens. However, too often I get the feeling that, in some structures, this is done grudgingly or as an afterthought. This we must correct.

It is only through dynamic interaction between national policy and provincial implementation that we will succeed in providing an education system in South Africa that is free of bias and which we can all be proud of. I refer not to the 30% of schools which function very well, but to all our schools.

One of the greatest challenges facing us in Education is the provision of infrastructure. In 1996 the Department of Education undertook the first ever school infrastructure survey. I will, shortly, release the results of the school register of needs 2000 survey, which affords us the very important opportunity to assess progress in the period from 1996 to 2000.

In terms of the progress, I mark a very few significant aspects. There has been, first of all, a decline in the average number of students to a classroom, from 43 to 35. The percentage of students without access to proper toilet facilities has declined dramatically, from 55% in 1996 to 16% in 2000, which translates into a decline from 6 million students to 1,9 million students.

Schools without telephones have decreased from 59% to 34%. The percentage of schools without access to running water has declined from 40% to 34%.

Access to electricity has improved from 40% to 53% in all schools, with the Eastern Cape showing a very useful increase of 25%. Finally, the number of schools with computers has increased, from 2 241 to 6 481. In Gauteng only 16% of the schools are now without computers, and they are going to spend between R500 million and R700 million in the course of this year to bring computers to schools.

But the backlog is still huge, and the differentiation between rich and poor schools within the public system is still unacceptable. Of major assistance in this regard will be the bonanza - I beg your pardon, I am not Trevor Manuel - of R1,5 billion in additional funds that Education has received under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework as a conditional grant for physical infrastructure. I hope the journalists will take this into account.

At the same time, I should echo a word of caution. We cannot allow funds to go unspent at the end of a financial year, because it is virtually impossible to ask for a greater contribution to Education if the funds are rolled over. We borrow money to roll over the funds which have not been spent. Also, we cannot spend money willy-nilly at the end of the year simply to spend the funds. Where we have insufficient capacity in the provinces, we must ensure that we create the necessary resources to support our system. This is enormously important in the administrative framework.

I should also add, again as a sign of progress, that three years ago we could not spend R200 million on learner support materials, whilst this year, for the first time, we will be spending approximately R1 billion, due, in large part, to having put in place the improved processes, which also ensured that in the main the delivery of materials occurred on time. I regret to say in that in two provinces - KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape

• they did not deliver on time for two different reasons, as far as learner resource material was concerned.

I will raise two matters related to infrastructure. Firstly, I want to correct the impression given in the media, as a result of the unfortunate recent release of the Auditor-General report, on the state of the infrastructure in the provinces. The report of the Auditor-General covers the period 1997-98 when the expenditure of the departments fell in the provinces because of overspending, hon members will recall, and the enormous cutbacks. That was a financial year. This was very close to our 1996 schools register of needs, which is much more comprehensive and covers all nine provinces, unlike the Auditor-General’s report that only covers seven provinces.

The year 2000 results of our survey indicate that the pathologies referred to in the Auditor-General’s report are being addressed, something which the vagaries of the reporting system used by the Auditor-General are unable to take account of. Unquestionably, the situation does require some urgent action in many cases, especially where the structures are mud structures. One in four schools in the Eastern Cape is made of mud. Of course this has to be corrected, as they have not been found to be suitable for education.

However, we need to be careful about comparisons and benchmarking. We have no basis for comparison of our situation. No other country has faced the racial division of a school system that we faced in 1994. There is no other country we can compare ourselves to. So the point of comparison will be what improvements we made here. If one reads, of course, the educational supplements from overseas one will see enormous backlogs in other countries, which have been free for 50, 60 or 100 years.

The progress we will make is to be judged by our own determination and our own passion to bring about change here. We have had to deal with transforming our educational system. There is no template or comparison; ours will be the first of its kind.

Secondly, I believe this House has the responsibility to assist me in ensuring that provinces prioritise infrastructure in their budgets, including ensuring that such funds are ring-fenced and used efficiently. I know there is a tendency for some members of Parliament only to be interested in getting the schools in their constituencies attended to, sometimes even at the expense of the priority lists in their own provinces.

However, I think we have a larger responsibility to ensure that we systematically eliminate infrastructure backlogs in our system. That is why to help with that our initiative was to adjourn a meeting with the Minister of Public Works, the MECs of Public Works and the MECs for education. The MECs who were present will know that it was a very fruitful meeting, because important decisions were taken to ensure that provincial MECs in education are empowered to determine policies and priorities about the spending of infrastructure funds in provinces, and that these are not to be established by the MEC for Public Works. Of course, this includes the balance between new construction and refurbishment requirements, because we have postponed refurbishment. Those in the business know that deterioration costs are much more than those of building a new school.

We have often spoken about alignment within the provinces to ensure that we provide the best possible service through our network of districts. We need particularly to examine how best we can relate to other structures of government, especially local government, and to consider whether there should be any realignment to local government boundaries in the case of district and regional offices to ensure greater efficiency and co- ordination of services.

At the same time, I should add, I am concerned about the general state of the administration of education in many provinces. I know this because I receive numerous complaints that should have been speedily handled within the provinces about the standard of service, the lack of responsiveness and frustrations with unnecessary bureaucratic obstructions. We owe better than this to the public of South Africa. Worse still, there appears to be insufficient will to deal with problems of sexual abuse, initiation ceremonies, the continued use of corporal punishment and other forms of violence in schools. I hope that the efforts in the provinces will be redoubled to deal with these scourges.

I am aware that the pace of signing agreements with farmers about the operation of farm schools has been very slow on the whole. Apart from one province, only about 30% of agreements have been entered into in the other eight provinces. This is an important exercise, given that farm schools are a peculiarly South African creation. No other country that I am aware of has them, because they are part of Verwoerdian system of cheap labour. I urge the provincial departments to speed up this process and I know that in my report to the President every three months I will help to do so. This report will be delivered to the President today and will therefore be available to members in the library. Members who want a copy of the report should get it from the department. We encourage the provinces particularly to deal with the farm schools.

Another area that I believe will assist the children of the farm schools we are talking about today and give them hope that their dreams will be realised is the area of early childhood development. I greet my sister delegates who will refer to it. The provision of Grade R therefore is not only a completion of the Government’s policy commitment of 10 years’ compulsory education, but also a means of extending quality and success to those who have been marginalised for decades.

Yesterday I launched our ECD White Paper. It is not a policy paper. It is an implementation paper and, through our comprehensive early childhood development programme outlined in that paper, we will bring into the public education system, on a compulsory basis over the next seven years, beginning with the poorest of the poor in the Government’s 18 nodal points, an additional one million five-year-old learners, thus freeing many mothers from child care to the economy, reducing the gap between those who can afford to pay for early childhood development and those who cannot and therefore reducing poverty. The result of this development is that downstream all five-year-old and six-year-old learners will receive a high- quality poverty-targeted subsidised reception year and Grade 1 schooling.

We are also reviewing the school feeding system, which costs us R550 million, to see whether in fact the nutritional value is right and the administrative arrangements are in order.

Perhaps the most high profile and far-reaching of all programmes which the provinces are largely, in the end, responsible for implementing, in ensuring that it will bring quality education to all, has been the review and the streamlining of Curriculum 2005. There is at present a team of working groups finalising national curriculum statements for the eight new learning areas for the general education and training band. These statements will be completed by July for field testing in 2002, refining in 2003 and implementation in 2004. This time we are going to be very frank and systematic with this exercise.

I am also encouraged by the work and ideas that have come out of the curriculum review process, in which young university students, teachers - we do not like the word ``experts’’ - and largely young people have been involved. There should be a sense of ownership of the new national curriculum statement. There will be very clear and easily comprehensible guidelines for teachers on learning outcomes, content and assessment, which I hope even Ministers will be able to understand this time. There will also be more learning time for literacy and numeracy training.

I am referring to these two areas, namely ECD and Curriculum 2005, one after the other, because they represent the most important instruments to ensure the redistribution of quality learning in our system. Curriculum 2005, if successfully implemented, represents the most liberating element of our education system, which indeed will enable all children, regardless of their background, to realise their potential fully. I urge the members of this House who come from the provinces to make sure that these programmes reach the poorest areas, and are successfully implemented in every part of the country. They should be the eyes and the ears for the proper and full implementation of Curriculum 2005.

The budget we are debating today comprises a large number in transfer payments to universities and technikons. It is therefore important for me address this sector in order to show that the investments we are making there are yielding some results.

Let me turn very briefly to higher education. Although it does not come within the competency of the NCOP directly, I believe everything comes within the competence of the NCOP. We are investing over R7 billion in higher education this financial year, which puts us in the top 25 countries in the world. About 14% of our expenditure goes into higher education. Our expectations of higher education are equally substantial. Our implementation agenda is set out in the watershed National Plan for Higher Education, which I presented to Parliament last month. We will build a learning society for all our people, particularly in the context of the Government’s human resource development policy adopted in April 2001. This will give everybody an opportunity to develop and enhance themselves, both intellectually and materially.

This morning I received a letter from a 45-year-old man whom the universities would not admit, even after undergoing tests. One of the central things in the plan is mature age entry into higher education. We will use that national plan to ensure lifelong learning becomes a reality rather than the fanciful myth which is in existence at present. The Cabinet has adopted this human resource development policy, which I commend to the House also.

The House will be glad to know that the implementation of the plan is well on track, including the fact that - and I am proud to announce it - the Government has said that the two provinces which have had no higher education institutions, but the ragtag and bobtail of satellite colleges and distance learning, the Northern Province and Mpumalanga, will now have national institutes of higher education too. These are exciting developments which, we hope, will shape the future provision of quality higher education in our country. Both these developments are taking place with the enthusiastic support of the MECs for the two provinces affected. Representatives from those two provinces are now allowed to clap.

On Thursday and Friday Parliament will be holding discussions on the subject of International Children’s Day, which will be celebrated worldwide on Friday 1 June. We cannot and never should subject children to any discrimination on the basis of social class, and even their social origin. This is more important in a country which is still largely characterised by vast inequalities.

Our policies are all based on the assumption that children need to be protected, at all costs, from exclusion from school because their parents cannot pay their fees. I get more letters on fee payment than any other issue. They must be protected. They should never be punished as a result of the perceived or real sins of their fathers and mothers. This is especially important.

We also have the responsibility to protect our children against any kind of violence, and particularly the violence that comes from premature participation in adult activities. I mention particularly the whole question which we are embarking on with the agreement of the provinces on sexuality education. It is vital to present this openly and fairly and to protect ourselves from HIV/Aids in particular.

I will finish with my poem. I will give members a voice that speaks to all of us:

Dear Teacher I am a survivor of the concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness: Gas chambers built by learned engineers Children poisoned by educated physicians Infants killed by trained nurses Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates So I am suspicious of education. My request is: help your students become human Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

This is addressed to our farm schools and to all our schools in South Africa. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr D M KGWARE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon colleagues and hon members of the department, let me take this opportunity to thank the Minister and the department for the number of programmes that have already been put in place. However, lest we forget, there are certain things that we need to remind ourselves of: where we come from and where we are going.

Education, at its core, is not just about teaching our young the skills that are needed for a job, however important they are. Education is also about passing on to each new generation the values that serve as the foundation and cornerstone of our free democratic society.

These values are captured in both the preamble to and the founding provisions of our Constitution, and include human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms, and the advancement of social justice, nonracialism and nonsexism. To these I want to add values such as patriotism, loyalty, faithfulness, courage and the ability to make crucial moral distinctions between right and wrong.

The history of the values and morals in our education system follows closely our social and political history. During the fifties, when apartheid was beginning to be implemented, two different systems of educational values were developed: one applicable to white education and the other applicable to black education. White children were exhorted to be prompt, neat, polite, to work hard, to succeed, and to respect their parents. These same values and morals, however, were not taught to black children. Instead, they were told that they were inferior to white children.

The periods of the sixties and the seventies were periods of intense political mobilisation. As the political consciousness of our black youth grew, they started to question the values and the morals they were taught. The harder the apartheid regime tried to impose its values and morals on children in the black education system, the fiercer the resistance against these attempts became, leading to the total rejection of the black education system in June 1976.

During the eighties an alternative education system, based on the new values and morals, was beginning to develop in our townships. The popular slogan, ``Power to the People,’’ led to communities assuming greater decision-making power and control over the kind of education which our children were taught. Traditional values, such as respect for elders and helping others in need, were reasserted.

In the new millennium, our concern for values and morality is back again. This concern is spurred by an increase in the use of drugs by schoolgoing children; children involved in crime; gangsterism; schools becoming battlefields for opposing gangs; the disintegration of the family; teenage pregnancies; teenage suicide; and sexual violence against schoolgirls. Sexual violence against schoolchildren is of particular concern, and we need to focus sharply on ways to combat this. We welcome the initiatives already taken in this regard by the Department of Education, such as the amendments to the Employment of Educators Act which make it illegal for teachers to commit acts of sexual assault on students or to have a relationship with a student. The problem, however, is that many schools are reluctant to take action against teachers or students accused of sexual violence against girls, because of the negative publicity this will attract to the school. This reluctance of schools to take action against sexual abusers underlies a bigger problem, which relates to the kind of value and moral systems dominant in our society today and which have filtered down into our education system. These values are a hangover from our apartheid history of violent racial and gender discrimination. They are also values that have been imported from other societies through increasing interaction between South Africa and other countries.

It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies of our democratic transformation that the openness and greater freedom experienced by South Africans may lie at the root of many of the evils I have mentioned above. The greater openness and freedom has allowed our youth to adopt new attitudes and to experiment with human sexuality, religion, career options, lifestyles and personal values. Although these kinds of negative behaviour are not what we would have liked, they are a natural consequence of democracy for people to enjoy their new-found freedom and to do the things they want to do. The challenge before us, therefore, is how we allow our youth to enjoy freedom and democracy, yet ensure that the enjoyment of their democratic rights is done in a responsible way. Although there is no easy answer to this question, our education system can play a crucial role in helping us channel the excitement and energies of our youth in a positive direction, away from all the negative stereotypes attributed to our young ones.

For this to succeed, we need our education system to actively promote desirable qualities of character, such as honesty, integrity, tolerance, diligence, responsibility, compassion and respect. These values and morals should be inculcated from early childhood to primary schools, high schools and tertiary education level.

Our teachers should be encouraged to help students clarify their own values, learn higher levels of moral reasoning and learn the skills of value analysis. Teachers must avoid imposing their own values and morals on their students. Instead, they should help young people learn the skills of moral reasoning and responsible decision-making that would enable them to lead more personally satisfying and socially constructive lives. We must take a sophisticated approach to the inculcation of values and morality by developing programmes and curricula to help students understand, internalise and act on such traditional values as respect, caring, friendship and co-operation.

Before we can do this, it is important that we start with ourselves as adults, as parents, as responsible citizens of South Africa, and that we should be clear on our values, state them unequivocally and set up a system of reward and punishment to reinforce the good values and extinguish the bad ones.

As parents we should look to ourselves as role models. This would serve as a guide for young people on productive and moral behaviour. We should get our students engaged in activities, and allow them to experience and internalise desired values, for example being kind to female students; or, through visiting senior citizens, young people can actually experience the satisfaction that comes from performing acts of caring for these groups.

The Department of Education has already initiated steps towards introducing a new value and moral system in our schools through its appointment of a commission to evaluate existing values and morals.

Lastly, the report, which emanates from this inquiry, will no doubt lay the basis for us to move forward speedily in introducing a new set of education values and morals, which will guide our children towards leading more personally satisfying and socially constructive lives. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! There is a small meeting at the back there. If hon members could stop it.

Ms O H ZILLE (Western Cape): Mhlalingaphambili, [Chairperson, I am going to speak English now.]

Chairperson, the hon the Minister knows that the implementation of education policy happens in the provinces. I would like to address a particular aspect of implementation that I believe has not had enough attention. The Minister did mention it in passing and the hon member Kgware also addressed it. This is the question of child abuse.

Yesterday saw the start of South Africa’s child protection week, the highlight of which will be the International Day of the Child, on 1 June, as the Minister mentioned. During the national focus on child protection many departments, agencies and organisations will seek to continue the development of a multidisciplinary response to address the growing problem of child abuse. At the same time each individual, provincial and national department must examine precisely what its role is in the collective effort and make sure it is filling it optimally.

Young people spend a great deal of their time in educational institutions. They should be able to take it for granted that they will be safe in their schools. What is more, they should be able to see their school, and especially a sympathetic teacher, as a refuge if their safety is threatened in any other areas of their lives.

It is therefore my view that educators form the most important part of the child protection system. In fact, educators, together with social workers and health workers, are obliged by law to report suspected child abuse, and it is our duty to help them do so.

To ensure that our schools can play this role, the Western Cape Education Department today launched major new policy protocols on identifying and dealing effectively with child abuse. These protocols are spelt out in a document titled Abuse no More - Dealing Effectively With Child Abuse. This document is the result of more than two years of development work by departmental officials in consultation with other departments, organisations and specialists in the field.

The protocols will enable teachers and other employees at schools to identify child abuse where it occurs, to manage suspected abuse properly, to facilitate and manage the very difficult process of disclosure, and to intervene appropriately to help and support the child, drawing in other support networks as appropriate.

It is also tragically true that abuse is not uncommon in educational institutions. A single case of child abuse in a school is one too many. I therefore welcome the recent amendments to the Employment of Educators Act, which requires that an educator be dismissed if she or he is found guilty of any form of sexual assault or having a sexual relationship with a learner. Unfortunately we receive regular reports of sexual and other forms of abuse in our schools, and the protocols are also designed to combat this scourge. They are also designed to enable the vast majority of educators, who care greatly for their learners, to identify possible abuse by other parties and take the action that they are required by law to take.

We want to make awareness of child safety and protection the norm in all of our schools. We are actively and consciously part of a multidisciplinary approach, working towards a situation where all institutions, in partnership with the community, ensure a safe environment for our children.

The document we have produced containing the protocols is accompanied by a training video which will be used to train all educators in all our schools, and school managers, over a stipulated period.

The department has also published full-colour posters for schools that encourage abused children to report abuse to their teachers, principals or the Western Cape Education Department’s Safe Schools call centre. I was there this morning: It a very active line. There are outstanding and well- trained facilitators receiving those calls, and we hope that this will go a long way to help children feel confident enough to report abuse. The number will be prominently displayed in all of our schools.

Abuse, as the Minister mentioned, is not only sexual. It includes neglect and emotional and physical abuse, as well as the full range of actions that constitute sexual harassment, from insulting language to rape. The next protocol on the cards that is going to come out soon is one on sexual harassment between peers: between educators in our schools, which is another very serious problem that we have to deal with.

When one considers the wide ambit of abuse, it is impossible to estimate the full extent of this scourge in South Africa, because of a lack of systematic interdisciplinary research into this problem. We all know about the moratorium on crime statistics. However, in 1998, which is the last year in which statistics were made available, child protection units of the SA Police Service and specialised individual officers reported dealing with 37 352 cases of crime against children, an increase of almost 58% since 1994.

According to SAPS figures, reported cases of child rape rose from 7 559 to 15 732 during the same period. The SAPS recorded 8 683 cases of reported rape of girls during the first six months of 1999, an average of two per hour.

The SA National Council for Child and Family Welfare has reported that affiliated child welfare societies dealt with 14 872 new cases of abuse and neglect and 2 907 newly abandoned babies during the financial year of 1998-

1. There is therefore no doubt that child abuse is a major social problem in our country and that our schools have a decisive role in dealing with it.

The origins of the Western Cape initiative date back to 1995, when the Department of Social Development established the National Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, chaired by Dr Rose September of the University of the Western Cape, who, I must report to this House, has done an outstanding job.

The NCCAN developed a national strategy on child abuse and neglect, which included encouraging provincial departments to develop their own child abuse protocols, and that is what we have done. The Western Cape provincial plan of action for children soon followed, driven by the provincial department of welfare - and we owe them a great debt of gratitude in this regard.

In 1999 the Western Cape Education Department developed protocols for managing child abuse in conjunction with the Departments of Health, Welfare, Justice, the SA Police Service and the NGOs. So it was a genuinely multidisciplinary approach. The department issued the guide to all WCED schools in January 2000.

However, during last year it became very clear to me on my visit to schools that they needed additional practical procedures, based on relevant legislation, to deal with child abuse effectively and efficiently. As a result, we have worked very closely with various role-players, including the women’s legal centre, on producing the new policy protocols and the accompanying training video.

The main aims of the new guidelines include protecting the rights of learners to personal safety and an effective learning environment free from abuse. The protocols offer practical guidelines on the prevention of child abuse, how to ensure timely intervention - I am glad the member finds this funny - confidentiality issues, support and the appropriate management of child abuse cases.

The guidelines emphasise confidentiality and provide a strategy to ensure that children feel safe and secure when disclosing information. The guidelines place a very strong emphasis on effective management by identifying school employees who are responsible for dealing with cases and creating structures for effective reporting, investigation and intervention, and for developing a system of joint accountability of the relevant Western Cape Education Department structures.

The document, which is very user-friendly, also includes diagrams and notes designed to ensure that the guidelines are as easy to follow as possible, as well as the contact details of all the relevant people in the department and in support organisations.

Today was a watershed for us in protecting children from abuse, through mobilising our schools to this end. We look forward to working with all the other provinces and all the other departments, national and provincial, to promote this cause throughout South Africa. [Applause.]

Ms Q D MAHLANGU: Mr Chairperson, Gauteng is not run by protocols. I think we run it by good programmes and stuff like that. [Interjections.] Mr Chairperson, Minister Kader Asmal and members of this august House, Minister Kader Asmal’s budget speech depicted both the progress and the challenges that continue to face education in our country. Throughout this country, blacks, particularly Africans, continue to face major challenges in their quest to advance their educational ambitions and careers. In our efforts to assist our communities to achieve, we in Gauteng have coined a slogan, which goes: ``We shall not compromise, postpone or negotiate the education of an African child’’.

This represents our attitude to those who have intentions of stifling progress in our education system. This type of attitude has seen us progress immensely on a number of fronts in our education system. We all witnessed improvements in the year 2000. The Premier of Gauteng, Comrade Mbhazima Shilowa, has repaid the efforts of the learners of Gauteng by announcing a R500 million information, communication and technology programme that will ensure that by the end of 2006 all the learners and educators in Gauteng will have access to the Internet and e-mail. This ICT programme is called Gautengonline.com.

This will ensure that a learner in a rural school in eastern Gauteng and one in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg have equal access to information that will enable them to advance their dreams and hopes. [Interjections.] These learners will have an equal chance of being global citizens and competing with their counterparts in the whole world. Under apartheid, they would never have been allowed to govern. [Interjections.] Shut up! Shut up! [Interjections.]

We have also targeted a number of schools in the next Gauteng Budget Vote that will focus on maths, science, history and technology. These schools of focus will ensure that learners’ talents and energies are harnessed towards building a better and brighter future for themselves and our country, because we need these skills.

The MEC for education in Gauteng will pronounce a further R20 million, complementing the programme called the Social Plan. The Social Plan will ensure that our education system produces complete learners with the skills, knowledge, values and morals of a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa, unlike what apartheid did to all of us combined here. The Social Plan will further enhance the sports, arts and cultural needs of our learners. It will ensure that there are proper facilities on our school grounds for sporting activities, as opposed to what there was in the previous system.

The national Education Minister’s Budget Vote speech indeed made those of us committed to building an education system for the 21st century very proud, I would like to say to the Minister. However, there is one issue which other members have touched on - the sexual harassment in schools by learners and teachers of the girl child. I think this issue needs to be attended to very seriously. We also accept that there is a piece of legislation to this effect. However, more attention should be given to it because it affects young people very seriously, in particular young women.

Tswela pele ka mesebetsi ya hao e metle, Ntate Kader Asmal. [Mahofi.] [Proceed with your good work, hon Kader Asmal. (Applause.]]

Mr B J MKHALIPHI: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and, equally, hon members, the commitment to attaining freedom, democracy and self-determination by the majority, black people, in this country was practically demonstrated by, amongst other things, the school uprisings of 1976.

Despite the possibilities of arrest, exile or assassination, the student population resolved to reject the system of Bantu Education, which took them nowhere except to a life of subservience and hardship. Since then, the call for mother-tongue communication has gained such momentum that we now have a body like PanSALB, the Pan South African Language Board, to ensure that there is always equity in the use of the main languages of the rainbow nation. Indeed, the doors of learning and culture are continually being opened. [Interjections.] The hon member quoted me correctly.

The Department of Education in the democratic order, led by the ANC, operates transparently by clinching consensus and partnerships with the community at large. The White Paper process clearly states the Government’s mission and vision, and thus accords stakeholders the opportunity to give input to these processes with less and less suspicion and conflict. This open-door policy has facilitated the establishment of several education management bodies being finalised smoothly. Here we refer to bodies such as school governing bodies, the SA Council for Educators, and the National Council on Higher Education. If the Colts and Tirisano initiatives were the sole creation of Government, they would not have been used so broadly to gauge the functionality of schools in the country. The belated ``Masifunde Sonke’’ campaign goes a long way towards boosting the Abet centres, which will enable the adult learner to be more competitive in the marketplace.

The department has concluded, to some extent, lease agreements with landowners to ensure that the rural learner’s education is also readily available. The provision of transport and feeding schemes to rural scholars is a very welcome gesture, which should be broadened as far as resources will allow. However, I must stress that the mooted provision of bicycles as a mode of transport should be preceded by a vigorous road safety campaign.

Educators, as human beings, are fallible and thus a need exists to monitor their conduct and have a system in place in order to act in cases of misconduct. The democratic Government demonstrated its commitment to partnership with stakeholders by facilitating the formation of the SA Council for Educators, which is now a fully fledged watchdog for the ethical conduct of educators in this country.

The fact that the teaching of history in our schools needed to be looked at could only be recognised by a proactive and dedicated education sector. Indeed, the history books, which hail people like Jan van Riebeek and his gang as pioneers, are, in my opinion, misleading. One could voice a concern about the interim report of the history and archeology panel. On reading the report, one is struck by the absence of the input of the wise old people of villages and townships.

The reason I am raising this concern is that there might be a lack of documentation of stories of Lobengula, Sekhukhune, Mbandzeni, Hintsa and other African leaders. What credence, then, are we giving to our education system when only academics are involved in the rewriting of our history and our wise old people are left out and sometimes sidelined? [Applause.]

Mev J WITBOOI: Mnr die Voorsitter, agb Minister en agb lede, ek wil vandag fokus op die gebruik van drank en dwelms deur leerders in ons skole.

Een van die euwels in ons samelewing waarvoor daar nie kitskure tot genesing bestaan nie, is groepdruk. Dit is al báie lank met ons en dit kom deesdae in só ‘n mate in die verwysingsraamwerk van ons jeug voor dat dit monsteragtige afmetings aangeneem het. Ons jongmense, en veral ons leerders, het bonatuurlike krag nodig om hierdie siekte die hoof te bied. Om cool'' te wees, is in, omway-out’’ te wees, is in, en om ``in’’ te wees, is in. Gesprekke wat ek met leerders van Graad 8 tot Graad 12 gehad het, het my weer eens die erns van groepdruk laat besef en ‘n diepe jammerte het in my hart opgekom vir die leerders wat te swak is om hierdie druk te weerstaan.

Volgens ‘n radioprogram is dit vandag hoogmode in Suid-Afrikaanse skole om gekys te wees met die coolste'' outjie of meisie in die skool. Om deel te wees van 'n sosiale groep moet ons leerders meedoen aan dieway-out’’ manier van dinge doen. Slegs klere van sekere handelsmerke is aanvaarbaar, en cool'',way-out’’ en ``in’’ leerders is in baie gevalle dié wat geen geheim daarvan maak dat hulle dwelm- of drankgebruikers en/of -verspreiders is nie.

Die Minister, die departement en ons provinsiale parlemente het prysenswaardige planne gereed om van ons skole veilige instellings te maak, maar hoe veilig is ons skole regtig? Hoeveel van ons staatsgesubsidieerde busdienste vir leerders word nie vandag as afsetpunte en vervoerroetes deur dwelmsindikate gebruik nie? Hoeveel leerders sit nie soms op ons skoolbanke met pakkies dagga of ander harde dwelms by hulle nie? Hoeveel pakkies toebroodjies, soos ons dit ken, het vandag plek gemaak vir pakkies drank en dwelms?

Ons kan vandag die vraagstuk omseil deur armoede die skuld vir dié dodelike neiging te gee, maar die feit is hierdie euwel ken geen klas, status of herkoms nie. Potlode, penne en liniale het plek gemaak vir gevaarlike wapens, ‘n regstreekse uitvloeisel van drank- en dwelmverslawing. Daar bestaan ‘n wekroep daarbuite.

Meer as 80% van die jongmense in Suid-Afrikaanse tronke vandag is leerders wat onder groepdruk geswig het, en deel was van die cool''-,way-out’’- en ``in’‘-groep. Hulle het hulself so toegeweef in die wêreld van die misdadiger dat die uiteinde die eensame tronksel geword het.

Miljoene rande aan belastingbetalersgeld is voorheen in die skool aan hulle bestee, en miljoene rande uit dieselfde bron word nou, in die grootmenswêreld, in die tronke aan hulle bestee - voorwaar ‘n bose kringloop. Wat doen ons daaraan?

In watter mate word in die kurrikulum voorsiening gemaak spesifiek vir die hantering van groepdruk? Dit wil voorkom asof ons ouers en onderwysers géén raad het nie. Mag ek vandag vir al ons leerders in Suid-Afrika sê dit maak nie saak of jou langbroek, bloese, romp of skoene nie uit ‘n sekere reeks handelsmerke kom nie. Die gebruik van drank of dwelms maak ook van geen leerder ‘n cool-'',way-out-‘’ of ``in-‘’ mens nie.

Mag ek vandag vir diegene wat ons skole en leerders gebruik om hul beurse te vul, en al die pad bank toe lag, vra om terug te kyk na die slagoffers van hul sug na rykdom, en vra of hulle ‘n bydrae lewer tot die belastingkas om te help dat die skoolbankwrakke, baie keer ánder mense se kinders, weer heelgemaak kan word. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mrs J WITBOOI: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, I would like to focus on the use of alcohol and drugs by learners in our schools.

One of the evils in our society for which there is no quick fix is peer pressure. It has been with us for a long time and these days it occurs to such an extent within the frame of reference of our youth that it has assumed monstrous proportions. Our youth, and our learners in particular, need supernatural power to combat this illness. To be cool'' is in, to be way-out’’ is in, and to be in''is in. Conversations I have had with learners from Grade 8 to Grade 12 have once again caused me to realise the seriousness of peer pressure and a deep pity arose in my heart for the learners who are too weak to resist this pressure. According to a radio programme today it is the fashion in South African schools to be involved with thecoolest’’ boy or girl in school. In order to be part of a social group our learners have to participate in the way- out'' way of doing things. Only clothes with certain brand names are acceptable, andcool’’, way-out'' andin’’ learners are in many cases those who make no secret of the fact that they are drug or alcohol users and/distributors.

The Minister, the department and our provincial parliaments have praiseworthy plans ready to make our schools safe institutions, but how safe are our schools really? How many of our state-subsidised bus services for learners are not today being used as distribution points and transport routes for drug syndicates? How many of our pupils do not sometimes sit at their school desks with packets of dagga or other hard drugs on them? How many packets of sandwiches, as we knew it, have today made way for packets of alcohol and drugs?

Today we could avoid the issue by giving poverty the blame for this deadly trend, but the fact is that this evil knows no class, status or origin. Pencils, pens and rulers have made way for dangerous weapons, a direct consequence of alcohol and drug addiction. A clarion call exists out there.

More than 80% of the young people in South African prisons today are learners who yielded to peer pressure, and were part of the cool'',way- out’’ and ``in’’ group. They cocooned themselves in the world of the criminal to such an extent that the end result is a lonely prison cell.

Millions of rands of taxpayers’ money had previously been spent on them in school, and millions of rands from the same source is now being spent on them in the prisons, in the adult world - truly a vicious cycle. What are we doing about it?

To what extent is provision made in the curriculum specifically for the handling of peer pressure? It would appear that our parents and teachers are at their wits’ end. Allow me to tell all our learners in South Africa today that it does not matter if your trousers, blouse, skirt or shoes are not from a certain range of trademarks. The use of alcohol or drugs also makes no learner a cool'',way-out’’ or ``in’’ person.

Allow me today to ask those who use our schools and learners to line their pockets, and laugh all the way to the bank, to look back at the victims of their appetite for wealth, and ask whether they are making a contribution to the tax coffers to assist so that the school desk wrecks, often other people’s children, can once again be made whole. [Applause]]

Mr M MTHIMKHULU (KwaZulu-Natal): Sihlalo ohloniphekile kuyintokozo enkulu kimina ukuba ngizomela isifundazwe sethu sakwaZulu-Natali kule nkulumo mpikiswano. Okokuqala nje kufanele simbonge uNgqongqoshe ngalesi sabelo sezemfundo yesizwe sakithi lapha eNingizimu Afrika. [Chairperson, it is a pleasure for me to come and represent my province, KwaZulu-Natal, in this debate. Firstly, we applaud the hon the Minister regarding the education budget for our South African nation.]

Surely, we would all agree that education remains the spinal cord of any nation, let alone a developing nation like ours. If the nuts and bolts of our education are not tight enough, we will not be able to face the challenges of the new century. This is our greatest challenge, given the sad history of the education system in this country. We come from a past in which education was designed in such a way that the majority of the populace received an inferior type of education. We need to thank the daughters and sons of this soil who chose to pay the maximum price in order to abolish the apartheid system of education.

Uma ngibuyela kule nkulumo mpikiswano yanamhlanje, ngithanda ukuthi thina kwaZulu-Natali siyasemukela lesi sabelo umhlonishwa uNgqongqoshe asethulile sezimali. Sinethemba lokuthi lesi sabelo sizohamba ibanga elide ukubhekana nezinselele esinazo emfundweni yethu. [To return to today’s debate, I would like to say that we in KwaZulu-Natal accept this budget that has been presented by the hon the Minister. We hope that it will go a long way in facing the challenges that we have in our education.]

There are some areas that we, as KwaZulu-Natal, would like to mention. History tells us that the erstwhile NP regime underfunded the then Natal province when compared to, for example, the then Cape Province. The reason was that Natal had fewer whites when compared to the three other provinces that existed then, namely the Orange Free State, Transvaal and Cape Province. Seemingly, KwaZulu-Natal is still suffering from that legacy. Our provincial education department is funded at less than 40% of the provincial budget. This has far-reaching implications. To be specific, education in KwaZulu-Natal gets 38%, whilst the national norm stands at 40%. As a result of this anomaly, 92% of this present allocation is spent on personnel costs, as against the national norm of 85%. Surely this does not augur well for delivery in education.

A further implication of the mentioned underfunding is that the educator- learner ratio in KwaZulu-Natal is theoretically 1:38, compared to the national ratio guideline of 1:35. Members will have noticed that I have used the word ``theoretically’’, precisely because in most of our KwaZulu- Natal schools the educator-learner ratio is far above 1:38. It is safe to say that former Model C schools are in the region of this ratio. Schools from historically deprived communities have an educator-learner ratio of even above 1:50.

This then speaks for itself in that these children do not receive good quality education. If this anomaly around funding of education in KwaZulu- Natal could receive the special attention of the hon the Minister, surely our province would go a long way in solving the aforesaid burning issues?

Ngiyethemba ukuthi lokhu kuzokwenzeka ngokushesha, kwazise phela ukuthi uMqondisi-Jikelele weMfundo kuleli zwe wakhiqizwa yiKwaZulu-Natali. [Ubuwelewele] [I hope that this will happen quickly since the director- general of this department was born in KwaZulu-Natal. [Interjections.]]

In conclusion, allow me once more to congratulate the hon Minister and his entire team on the draft policy, announced yesterday, on early childhood development, which will see a reception grade put into practice in primary schools for five- year-olds. I have reason to say that we, in KwaZulu- Natal, are confident that South Africa is going in the right direction in producing an education system that will ensure a better life for all.

Siyabonga-ke kumfo ka-Asmal nomfo kaMseleku nethimba labo. Sithi mabaqhubeke ekwakheni imfundo engcono yesizwe sakithi. [Ihlombe] [We thank hon Minister Asmal, Mr Mseleku and their team. We say they should continue improving education in our country. [Applause.]]

Mr I SEGALO (Free State): Chairperson, in support of the budget in front of us this afternoon, I would like to start by quoting the words of our education MEC in the province. At one of his addresses to our legislature recently he said: ``The sole purpose of the existence of the Department of Education is to create true lovers of knowledge.’’ This statement is a far cry from the kind of graduates which were created before, though most of us took the challenge by the horns and refused to be relegated to being parrots in the workplace and in society.

Some of our people were happy only to get food and a roof over their heads. How they got that did not matter. They were too afraid to question or make analyses of the situation they found themselves in. Today we are interested in the creation of a Free Stater with an analytical and enquiring mind. We are aware that to create our true lovers of knowledge, we must ensure that we create conducive environments in which our learners will learn.

We have, since 1994, reduced the number of platoon schools from 63 to 46, and built 47 schools with 1 013 classrooms. We have also added classrooms to existing schools in the Free State during this period. To enable schools to access the new technology and utilise it maximally, we have embarked on an electrification programme with stakeholders such as Eskom. This is in contrast to the previous unfortunate state of affairs, in which only schools in urban areas had electricity. The installation of electricity has seen the improvement of security and a culture of learning and teaching in our rural schools.

In contrast to the time when learner-support material and stationery took the whole year to be delivered to schools, today we distribute stationery to schools before they close for December recess. We finalised the distribution of learner-support material in the first two months of the year. With this and other efforts at improving the culture of learning and teaching, such as educator development, our overall performance of Grade 12s improved tremendously. Last year’s 10,6% increase in the overall pass rate was a result of a well-planned strategy, commitment and loyalty of the employees of the department, as well as the participation of our stakeholders. It was therefore no fluke at all.

This year we are building greater momentum on the gains of 2000. This means that we are not moving back to when colleges of education and technical colleges mushroomed all over the place to serve the selfish political needs of the government of the day. Today, our actions are informed by the needs of our stakeholders. We are geared towards giving our learners a better opportunity to acquire skills. We are therefore transforming our technical colleges, technical high schools and the four teacher colleges, which were not incorporated into universities, into responsive and vibrant further education and training institutions.

Some of these institutions are already being used to develop rural and poverty-stricken communities through agricultural learnerships, namely small, medium and macro enterprise learnerships.

A further development in the reskilling process is the merging of colleges and their declaration as FET institutions. As we move towards this objective, colleges have been grouped into Bloemfontein, eastern Free State, northeastern Free State and Welkom clusters. Staff affected by these mergers are being absorbed into mainstream high schools and district offices as well as universities, as lecturers for pipeline students. By pipeline students we mean those that have not yet completed their studies at particular colleges of education.

In contrast to when adult education was not known in our country, we can today proudly announce that an Abet centre has been established in every town. Out of 174 such centres, five are on the farms. Our challenge is to ensure that even more adults and out-of-school youths register with these centres. This year, being the year of the reader, we need to ensure that learners at Abet centres also join hands with us in the creation of a nation of readers.

Adult learners are not our only target. We have also prioritised early child development. Preparations continue for the inclusion of Grade R as the tenth year of compulsory schooling. As a step in this direction, an ECD council is being launched today in Maputha Ditshaba, Qwaqwa. This council is an advisory body to the MEC for education. It will advise him on the phasing in of Grade R, its maintenance and advocacy. [Interjections.]

We already have an ECD pilot project in the Free State targeting 84 sites, whose practitioners are being trained by resource-trainee agencies. This project was supposed to fold in September this year, but, given its importance, we ensured that it will go beyond its initial completion date. [Interjections.]

The importance of ECD cannot be debated. It is clear that a well-formulated foundation in this sector will ensure that our education system creates the true lovers of knowledge we talked about earlier. A foundation for Grade 12 results is built into this sector.

As we bring about these improvements to our education, we are not leaving farm schools behind. We are signing agreements with farmers to ensure that we have ownership of the schools on the farms. We will be embarking on a programme to renovate all farm schools where farmers have signed agreements with us. Out of approximately 1 500 farmers, 156 are reluctant to sign these agreements. We are currently investigating the possibility of merging some of these schools and relocating some of the learners to schools that have hostels. These children will be transported home every weekend and picked up on Sundays to go back to school. This will stop the dangers these children face every day when they walk long distances, sometimes in bad weather, to receive education.

In conclusion, we still have a long way to go, but looking back, even with binoculars, we cannot see signs of pre-1994. In the Free State we are aware that education holds the key to economic improvement. In our endeavour to create true lovers of knowledge, we shall not fail. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! I do not want to call names, and I hope the Rev Chabaku will give attention to each and every speaker.

Mntw B Z ZULU: Sihlalo, Ngqongqoshe wezeMfundo, uMkhandlu weZigele, izinselele ezisemqoka ezibhekene noMzansi Afrika emfundweni yabancane zisemi njengoba zibekiwe enqubeni mgomo yoMnyango. Ukubhekana nokungalingani emfundweni okwadalwa isikhathi sobandlululo kufanele: kuguqulwe imfundo yabancane ukuze ikwazi ukuhlangabezana nezidingo zokuthuthukiswa kwezwe lethu, ukuba imfundo yabancane ibe impendulo yokufinyelelisa intsha yethu ekusaseni eliqhakazileyo.

Uhlelo lwemfundo lwakhelwe phezu kwesisekelo solwazi esihle esiyizithelo zempumelelo namathuba alinganayo kukho konke. Ukufeza lo mgomo wemfundo yabancane, kuhle sigudluze izingqinamba zonke ezabekwa phambi kwethu inqubo yobandlululo ngesikhathi esidlule ngokuba sizinikele ekusebenzeni kanzima.

Uhlelo lwemfundo lwakhiwe ngendlela yokwesekela intando yeningi nokukhuthaza umoya wobumbano kanye namalungelo esintu. Lolu hlelo siyolwenza luphumelele ngokubekezelelana ezimeni ezibucayi, ukucabanga okwakhayo, usiko lokubekezelelana nokuba sibambelele emgomeni owodwa ongenalo ubandlululo ngokobulili. Inhloso yokuba wonke umfundi aqhubekele phambili nolwazi olunzulu ekuqondeni lezo zinto ezingamaqiniso, abengasoze azazi ngaphandle kwemfundo, ukuba akwazi ukuzixazulula yena izinkinga eziyinselelo abhekene nazo.

Lezi zinselelo ziyakuqondakala kuphela ngokuba abafundi ezingeni eliphansi babe nolwazi lwezinguquko ezenzekayo emhlabeni. Ukungena kwethu enkulungwaneni yamashumi amabili ananye yeminyaka, kulethe uguquko emhlabeni, empilweni kanye nasemnothweni wezwe. Uguquko kwezobuchwepheshe besayensi nokuxhumana nomhlaba jikelele. Leli zinga lobuchwepheshe besayensi likhule ladlondlobala kusukela enkulungwaneni yeshumi nesishiyagalombili leminyaka kuza esikhathini esiphila kuso.

Kuliqiniso elingephikwe ukuthi esikhathini esiphila kuso, ulwazi lokwenzeka kwezinto yilona oluyisihluthulelo samandla ekwakhiweni komnotho, intuthuko kanye nenhlalakahle yomphakathi. Imizamo yoMnyango yokwenza ngcono ikusasa lemfundo iyancomeka kakhulu. Kepha kusenesidingo esikhulu sokuba uMnyango unikezele ngezinsiza kufundisa ezindaweni zasemakhaya. Kuselukhuni kakhulu emakhaya lapho umfundi esafunda khona kungekho ngisho indlu yomtapo wezincwadi ukumelekelela ukwandisa ulwazi lwakhe.

Abafundi bafundiswa ubuchwepheshe besayensi ingekho i-laboratory. Abafundi basemakhaya abanye babo bafunda baze bayoqeda ibanga leshumi bengayazi ikhompiyutha ngamehlo kanti emadolobheni baqala ukufundiswa ngekhompiyutha besesema-creche. Yingakho kunofuduko olukhulu kangaka, abafundi beshiya izikole ezindaweni abazakheleyo beyofunda emadolobheni lapho kunezidingo ezanele zokufundisa. Siyayincoma kakhulu imizamo kaHulumeni lapho ememezele khona ukuthi uzosebenzisa imali eyizigidi eziyi-R155 emfundweni yezingane ezisaqala ezikoleni kule minyaka emithathu ezayo.

Izinselele ezibhekene noHulumeni emfundweni yabancane: ububha, ukuhlukunyezwa kwabo kanye nesifo sengculaza esesishiye izinkulungwane zezintindili. UHulumeni ubhekene nokuguqula isimo sezingane ezibalelwa ezigidini eziyisikhombisa, ikakhulukazi ezabantu abamnyama ezingenamathuba okufinyelela ema-creche, ezingaphansi kweminyaka eyisithupha. Lokhu kuzincisha ithuba lokuthi zithole ubuhlakani nokuthi zibe sesimeni sokuthi zikwazi ukuzixazulela izinkinga ezincane.

Ukuncisheka kwezingane zethu leli thuba lokuthola imfundo kuleyo minyaka, kuzenza ukuba zingakwazi ukuncintisana nezingane zezinye izinhlanga ezingeni elifanayo. Isimo ezifundela kuso izingane kwezinye izikole ezincane zasemakhaya siyadabukisa. Ngike ngahambela ezinye izikole esifundeni saKwaZulu-Natal ngamaholidi. Ngifike eNkombabantu Lower Primary School izivalo zifile, amawindi afile amaningi awo, phansi kunemigodi, amathanki amanzi awekho, amakhabethe okufaka izincwadi zothisha aphukile kanti nesikole asibiyelwe.

Isimo esinjena siyawuqeda umdlandla nothando lokufunda enganeni. Iphuma ekhaya ekuseni ifudumele, ifike esikoleni igodole usuku lonke. Ngisho othisha abafundisa khona uyababona nabo ukuthi isimo abafundisela kuso sibenza bangabi nalo uthando emsebenzini wabo. Bathi sebebhale baze bakhathala izincwadi bebhalela uMnyango kodwa usizo bengalutholi. Isidingo sokuba izikole zilungiswe ukuze zibe sezingeni elifanayo sikhulu. Isidingo sokwakhiwa kwezikole ezintsha naso sikhulu.

Abazali abekho esimeni sokuhlangabezana nezimali zokwakha izikole ngenxa yokuthi abaningi babo abasebenzi. Siyacela ukuba uMnyango uxhase lezo zinhlangano zama-NGO ezazelekelela nakuqala ekwakhiweni kwezikole. Izinselele ezibhekene noMnyango ziningi kepha siyakukhuthaza mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe ukuba igxathu ohamba ngalo nentshisekelo onayo ngekusasa lemfundo uqhubeke ngalo. Imizamo yakho yokukhuphula izinga lemfundo yobuchwepheshe besayensi ezikoleni zemiphakathi eyayicindezelwe siyayesekela kakhulu. [Ihlombe]. (Translation of Zulu speech follows.)

[Prince B Z ZULU: Chairperson, hon Minister of Education, members of the NCOP, challenges that are facing South Africa regarding the education of our young people are still standing as they are stipulated in the education policy of the department. To redress the imbalances created by apartheid in the education sector, we need to change the school education so that it could be able to meet the needs to improve our country. The School education should be the answer in our attempt to transform our young people so that they could have a better future.

The education programme is built on good knowledge, which is the fruit of success and equal opportunity in all areas of life. To make this programme on school education a success, we need to remove all obstacles that were created by apartheid in the past. We can do this by working hard. The education programme is created in a way that supports democracy and encourages the spirit of oneness and human rights. We can make this programme a success by cultivating a culture of tolerance among ourselves especially in difficult circumstances. Creative thinking, a culture of tolerance and adherence to non-discriminatory policy are the most important things. The aim is to keep going and to discover deep knowledge about real things in life. This is important for students who would never have been aware of this knowledge if they had not been to school. The main aim is to be able to solve problems that are challenging them.

We will be able to face these challenges by making sure that students at school level do understand what is happening around the world. The fact that we are in the year 2001 has brought change in health and in the economy of the world. There is change in scientific technology and communication of the world. The scientific technology has increased greatly since the 18th century. It is true that nowadays the knowledge of how things are done is the key in building wealth, development and the wellbeing of society. We applaud the attempts by the Department of Education to improve the future of our education. There is still a need for the department to provide rural schools with learning aids. It is still difficult in the rural areas, where students do not even have a library that will help them to expand their knowledge.

Students are taught science while they have no laboratory to see what they are learning. Rural students study until they finish matric without having seen a computer with their own eyes, while urban students start using computers when they are at crèche level. That is why there is so much migration; students leave their local schools for urban schools that have all the learning facilities. We applaud the Government’s efforts as it has announced that it is going to spend R155 million on education in pre- primary schools.

The challenges that the Government is facing regarding school education are poverty, child abuse and Aids, which has turned thousands of children into orphans. The Government has to change the situation of about 7 million children, especially black children which are under 6 years old and who cannot afford to attend crèche. This deprives them of the opportunity to become wise and to be in the position to solve their small problems.

The fact that our children did not have that opportunity to be educated has deprived them the opportunity to compete with their peers at the same level. The conditions under which small children in other areas study are very saddening. During the holidays I visited some of the schools in KwaZulu-Natal. At Khombabantu Primary School there were no doors. Windows were broken. There were ditches in the floor. There were no water tanks. Cupboards for teachers’ books were broken and the school had no fence.

Such a situation kills a child’s inspiration to learn. A child is warm when he leaves home and he freezes when he is at school. Even teachers are affected. The conditions under which they work destroy the courage to love their work. They say they have written thousands of letters to their department, but to no avail. They are tired now. There is a need to improve schools so that they will all be at an equal level.

Parents are not in a situation to pay for the building of schools since most of them are not working. We appeal to the department to sponsor those NGOs which built schools in the past. The department of Education is facing numerous challenges. However we encourage the hon the Minister to continue with the speed at which he is going and the interest he has shown regarding the future of the country’s education. We support his attempts to empower education, especially in the area of scientific technology in disadvantaged schools. [Applause.]]

Mr N M RAJU: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon special delegates and hon colleagues, in July 1999 the hon Minister of Education, Prof Asmal, issued a clarion call for the revitalisation of South Africa’s educational system and emphasised the importance of turning schools into centres of community life. His vision, shared by all South Africans, was that our schools would be free from violence, crime and sexual harassment.

Today we cannot help sharing some of the hon the Minister’s sense of despair at the calamitous situations existing in some schools. Criminal acts of violence, shootings and stabbings, drugs and sexual abuse and violence seem to go on unabated. Schools are supposed to be havens of peace and security for the most vulnerable in our society, our children. Instead, these children have to run the gauntlet of miscreant and criminal teachers and delinquent pupils. The paedocentric theory states that in the school situation, ``the child is the centre of the universe’’. Everything else and everyone else - the teacher, the principal, the SGB is subservient to the child’s interests and welfare.

At the launch of the Saamtrek: Values, Education and Democracy in the 21st Century initiative held at Kirstenbosch in February 2001, the hon the Minister referred to the problems of present-day teachers. Some 78% of them felt that children’s rights were counterproductive and that they hankered after old-style authoritarianism, discipline and corporal punishment. At the same function, the Minister stated categorically that child-centred learning must prevail in our schools. The child must not remain on the periphery of school affairs. The DP implores the hon the Minister to reposition the status of the school-going child to be the centre of gravity in schools.

The disturbing report by the Auditor-General with regard to the parlous situation in which some schools find themselves - no running water, no electricity, no classrooms, no libraries, no laboratories, even no qualified teachers, apart from those who frequently absent themselves - is a sobering reminder that we are quite some way away from the ideals set out by the Tirisano document.

Children surviving the travails of such deprivation and impoverishment from these dysfunctional schools cannot be expected to play their rightful roles in advancing the cause of the African Renaissance, which, of course, is the onerous responsibility that rests on their shoulders when they leave the coldness of the classrooms and enter the heat and passion of the adult world outside.

I hasten to assure the hon the Minister that I concede that it is a seemingly gargantuan task to bring about equity to such impoverished schools. As the Minister himself acknowledged in his opening remarks, it is a long-term project. But the DP does expect the hon the Minister to inject a sense of urgency and immediacy into grappling with the problems of undisciplined teachers and learners who indulge in unprofessional conduct, such as absenteeism and indulging in illicit sex with their female charges.

I note with gratification, however, that only this week the hon the Minister appointed Mr Glen Abrahams as chairperson of the SA Council for Educators. At the ceremony, the hon the Minister called for whistle-blowing by teachers to weed out the chaff from the teaching profession who indulge in various forms of indefensible misdemeanours. Quoting the Human Rights Watch, the hon the Minister referred to ``the horrific and unacceptable practices which include sexual abuse of girls at our schools.’’ This is an intolerable situation indeed!

In a recent briefing on sexual violence in schools, the director-general and the legal adviser in the Ministry gave us some indication of the problems that arise when attempts are made to apprehend and convict perpetrators, the most problematic area being the providing of evidence, which is often not forthcoming quickly enough.

We now have the requisite legislation and code of conduct in place, and the conviction and suspension of offenders must be swift. There is a tendency for some school principals and school governing bodies to employ dilatory tactics, even subterranean ones, before teachers and pupils are brought to book. They collude with each other to ward off the inevitable stigma that may follow. Such manufactured delays only tend to diminish the enormity of the offences committed. We expect the authorities to ensure that practitioners of such reprehensible conduct feel the full brunt of the law.

A matter requiring the Ministry’s immediate and urgent attention is the arena of relationships between school principals and school governing bodies. The involvement of communities in the effective management of schools is an innovation in South Africa, particularly in the black communities. Proper guidelines are called for to ensure that co-operation between the principal, the school governing bodies and educational authorities is cordial and conducive to creating a wholesome environment in the schools concerned.

One of the disturbing findings by the Auditor-General, Shauket Fakie, refers to the poor qualifications of teachers. How do we explain the paucity of professionally qualified teachers in our schools? [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr J O TLHAGALE: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and honourable House, the implementation of Tirisano, which means ``working together’’, initiated by the hon the Minister last year, and the concurrent campaigns and pastoral visitations to poor performing schools have paid good dividends. That process has made our schools effective delivery points.

The province of the North West, which I am particularly focusing on, registered a 58,3% pass rate in the matric results last year, compared to 52,1% in the previous year. These results are also partly due to the strict discipline that is advocated by the department and the principle of no work, no pay that is being applied.

However, a close examination of the results still indicates the inherent disparities between the advantaged and the disadvantaged schools in our setup. Most of our schools in the rural areas lack the necessary equipment and other facilities to enable them to compete on an equal basis with their counterparts in the urban areas. Learners also travel long distances on foot, and fatigue places them at a disadvantage.

There are isolated cases in the province of educators who are doing voluntary and nonremunerative teaching work at some schools. Whilst this issue may be regarded as patriotic on their part, we, in the UCDP, say that the necessary funding should be a matter of urgency, so that these educators do not offer their services free for longer than three months.

I need to report that a certain farmer, Mr Lourie van Reenen of Christina, built a school for his farmworkers and learners, as well as teachers’ quarters, all with his own money. He further purchased an insurance policy for the learners. The secondary school section is offering technical subjects, and learners from the township and elsewhere travel all the way to enrol themselves at that school. I have not met this Mr Lourie van Reenen personally, but I feel his warmth in my heart. I hope hon members do too. All this is a living testimony of the efforts towards reconciliation and nation-building that are constantly being preached by the President.

We, as parents and grandparents, are concerned about the level of violence against and abuse of our girls in the schools. Very often these acts are perpetrated by people in positions of trust. However, we find comfort in the knowledge that last year this honourable House passed the Employment of Educators Act, as amended, with appropriate provisions to deal with any acts of violence against and/or abuse of our children.

In conclusion, the UCDP wishes to congratulate the hon the Minister on his energetic approach to his work. We support this Budget Vote. [Applause.]

Mr S B NGIDI (KwaZulu-Natal): I do not know whether this is another Deputy Chairperson, or is it the Chair of Committees? Hon Minister, hon members, I, like the hon Minister of Education, always finds joy when I come to the NCOP even though I do not come as often as the Minister does.

I was made to wake up early this morning, at four o’clock, to leave KwaZulu- Natal and come to this debate, which I thought was scheduled for nine o’clock, only to find that it was scheduled for two o’clock. Because I woke up early, I thought I should first talk about early childhood because being early and early childhood are synonymous with me. [Interjections.]

I am referring to this because this came up in the Minister’s speech. I know that the Constitution of this land stipulates that we must provide compulsory education for 10 school years, from Grade R up to Grade 9.

Because I came early, I also visited the Portfolio Committee on Education this morning. One of the things they were discussing there was the issue around early childhood. They were discussing the department’s thinking with regard to this particular matter.

I got excited when they started talking about children aged between two and five years. Their thinking is that we are going towards a situation where we could provide some early childhood programmes for two-year-old children to do something, and for four-year olds to do something for two and a half to three hours. This would release parents from taking care of these particular children and they would, do some other profitable economic activities, which would actually be of benefit to the country as a whole.

The thinking behind that is really exciting. It means that the Department of Education is serious when it says that it wants to take the education of the people of the country into the 21st century. So there is that dynamic thinking around early childhood education.

I also know that this department has its funding targeting poverty through various measures, some of which include early childhood development. I also know that it also targets alleviating poverty through the norms and standards funding, which stipulates that 60% of the budget goes to 40% of the poorest schools. It is very encouraging that we are moving in this particular direction, which is a complete reversal of what used to happen in the previous, apartheid times.

Education is the cornerstone for the development of any nation. Funding for education is thus a prerequisite for that development. It is in the light of this consideration that governments throughout history, always grapple with the vexatious question of what is equitable in terms of this funding.

It is a fact that allocation in any education system will not be enough to satisfy the different interests of all the people. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to note that we are gradually increasing our funding to education for the people of the land. It is further encouraging that we are beginning to look very seriously at the early childhood side of education. I never went to any childhood centre, but somehow when I turned seven I was made to go to school. I would not like my kids to be deprived in that particular manner. Not that my parents did not want to take me somewhere, it is just that there was no provision for early childhood development when I was growing up.

It is in this context that I acknowledge the increase in funding for this Vote. I could also admit at the same time that it is not enough, but I also know that it would never be enough, even if they were to double it.

At this juncture it might interesting to note that there are still differences in the amounts that provinces allocate to education. Take my friend Mthimkhulu here. He spoke of what is happening in our province, Kwazulu-Natal. There might be varied reasons for the differences. Some provinces may argue that they have not yet received their equitable allocation … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Mr H T Sogoni …

An HON MEMBER: Maiden speech! [Interjections.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: I am the only Chair. Today Mr Sogoni will make his maiden speech. Shall we all listen to him? [Interjections.] Mr H T SOGONI: Chairperson, hon Minister, departmental officials and members, the UDM notes with appreciation the important increases in expenditure trends in most of the seven programmes in the current budget. In particular, the significant rise between 2000 and 2004 in the planning and monitoring programme is most welcome.

Provision is made for important items such as poverty relief and rural school building projects. HIV/Aids, early childhood development and adult basic education programmes have also received substantial amount over the medium term.

In examining the budget, special care has been taken to assess the extent to which the budget speaks to the demands of the implementation plan for Tirisano, a strategic plan set to drive the entire education and training system in the country. To do real justice to all projects in the current financial year, the feeling of the UDM is that the budget may not be adequate to realise, to satisfaction, the immediate intended goal of eradicating the huge past imbalances.

Let me make some observations on two issues in the budget, which I believe are very close to our hearts as they directly affect the majority of South Africans in the most negative way.

Firstly, with regard to HIV/Aids the UDM fully supports the department for listing it as one of the five priority core programme areas, hence the projected increase in spending on general education in the next three years. The department, however, is earnestly encouraged to monitor and supervise very closely all HIV/Aids projects. Millions of rands are involved in the programme and one would therefore, like to see every cent of the funds going into all the HIV/Aids activities to fight the terrible scourge that continues to ravage our communities.

Let us all work together to reduce the rate at which HIV/Aids kills our people and destroys the economy of the country. We must stop making HIV/Aids a subject of academic or intellectual point-scoring.

Secondly, the department has also set itself specific goals to attain school effectiveness and educator professionalism. The programme outlines projects, all equally important to help the department fulfil the constitutional obligation set in section 29 of Chapter 2 of the Constitution. The objectives of the programme broadly include, among others, developing a school system that functions effectively and ensuring improved learner performance and attainment.

While I agree, and urge that we accept, that these objectives are very important and that the department needs our support to pursue them, the question may still be asked: Are these objectives achievable within the financial year or in the near future, in view of the apparently cash- strapped education departments in other provinces?

A case in question is a recent report that the MEC for education in the Eastern Cape announced that there are over 4 000 vacant teaching posts in critical subjects. These posts also include 265 posts for principals and 2 111 for heads of department. The total costs for the posts amount to R204 million, while the province has only R147 million.

It is now almost the middle of the year, and we expect learners to improve their performance and attainment. The Eastern Cape matric results showed some improvement in 2000. How then do we achieve this under such circumstances this year? Another case relates to the reported closing, albeit temporarily, of two schools for the disabled in the Eastern Cape owing to funding problems … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! I think the provincial Whips should examine the question of special delegates who never have the decency to listen to the Minister’s reply. The House looks empty now.

Mrs C NKUNA: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and honourable House, I rise on behalf of the MEC for education in the Northern Province, the hon Joyce Mashamba, who, owing to unforeseen circumstances, could not make it to the House. I would like to say to the hon member of the UCDP that when one does voluntary work, it is voluntary. One is doing it out of one’s own free will. [Interjections.] One is contributing towards developing one’s community, and that need not be followed by immediate payment.

Let me take this opportunity to express my profound appreciation for having been afforded this opportunity to share with the House the Northern Province’s perspective on identified aspects pertaining to education. The Northern Province department has a guideline amount of R6,8 billion, allocated within eight programmes. This amount is ring-fenced for education financial management from the national Department of Education. It is through this budget that our department hopes to fast-track the development of human resources of the Northern Province, as mandated by the Constitution and various legislative frameworks regulating the provision of education in the country.

The salvation of our province from the abyss of ignorance, poverty and knowledgelessness and its resuscitation from decades of neglect and underfunding by successive pre-democracy regimes depends, to a large extent, on the intervention strategies which the Department of Education will have to put in place.

Regarding basic educational infrastructure provisioning, when the democratic dispensation dawned in 1994, the whole country had a backlog of 60 000 classrooms. Out of this total, the Northern Province alone accounted for 35 000 - that is, more than 50% of the 60 000 backlog was found in the Northern Province alone. It is pleasing to note that we have so far built more than 20 000 classrooms from 1994 to date. The backlog now stands at 15 000, thanks to RDP classroom-building programmes and public-private partnerships.

Our annual capital project budget stands at a meagre R55 million, and 400 classrooms are constructed from this budget. At this rate, it will take us 20 years to completely obliterate this backlog. It is for this reason that our department will ask for more funding in this direction. For our part, we are prioritising those schools which do not have buildings at all and communities where our children study under trees.

In the Northern Province we have important trees, important in the sense that they cater for education. They have got names, for instance, in Bochum we have a tree called Rasegale where education is taking place. When it is windy and when it is raining, the situation is not conducive to learning, so education cannot take place. [Laughter.] The majority of such schools are in deep-lying rural areas of our province. This fits squarely with the Government’s integrated rural development strategy, referred to by President Mbeki early this year.

As regards capacity-building programmes, undoubtedly the success of every educational institution depends largely on the quality of its management and governance structures, as well as on the level of participation of the community in the life of that institution. Our department has identified education management development and SGB capacity-building as critical areas that need special focus if we are serious about turning dysfunctional schools into centres of academic excellence.

Our analysis of the Grade 12 examination results in particular, and well- performing schools in general, has revealed that good school management and governance practices are directly proportional to effective and efficient school management and the resultantly high learner performances. It is against this background that a substantial proportion of our budget allocation, augmented by the conditional grants set aside for our province, will be utilised in the development of our managers and SGBs. Indeed, show me a good school, and I will show you a good principal and a functional school governing body.

With regard to improved matric results, one of our major success stories worth mentioning is our improved Grade 12 examination results in the year 2000, as compared to those of 1999 in particular, and previous years in general. The province recorded a 51,5% pass rate, indicating a 14% improvement from 37,5% in 1999. It should be noted that there has been a gradual improvement in our Grade 12 results from 1997 to 2000. In 1997 the figure stand at 31,9%; in 1998 it was 35,2%; in 1999 it was 37%; and in the year 2000 it became 51,5%.

The improvements have not only been quantitative but also qualitative, in that in 1999 only 7,5% passed with exemption, whereas in 2000, 11,7% passed with exemption. In 1999, 2 521 candidates earned distinctions in one or more subjects, whereas in 2000, 2 976 candidates earned distinctions. In 1999, 257 of our schools recorded a pass rate between 0% and 20%, and in 2000, only 102 schools were found in this pass rate bracket, indicating that 155 schools have improved their performance in this bracket. Some of the schools, which showed a marked improvement in their matric pass rate, recorded remarkable increases. For example, the Ntsindza High School in Tzaneen moved from 12% to 72% - an improvement of 60%.

We are therefore convinced that the intervention strategies that we put in place are effective. They include the common examination from Grades 9 to 11; the preparatory/trial examination for Grade 12, which is also set provincially; the learner performance improvement strategy; and the winter enrichment classes. We might not be there yet. We might not have been able to see the tunnel then, but at least the coast is getting clearer. We can now see the tunnel and also the light at the end of the tunnel. [Interjections.]

We are continually striving for excellence within the whole framework of Tirisano - working together for a better life for all of our people - through quality education.

Tomorrow I will continue with outcomes-based education. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chair of Chairs, I have been stimulated by the debate. I am sorry that some of the people who raised very important questions are no longer with us. But I will still reply to them for the record, and they might look up the replies in Hansard.

Can I begin with some general impressions. First of all, regarding the issues that were raised, if I cannot reply to them today I will reply to the member in person. However, regarding the provincial reports I have received, I shall scrutinise them very carefully when they come up in Hansard and compare them to the information that we have. The three-monthly report that we make to the President, which I am publishing today, looks at, for example, the extraordinary change in school registration.

We have one of the highest figures of school registration anywhere in the world. In fact, the highest number of girls registering in schools puts us at the top of the world league. Now, that is an extraordinary thing, because compulsory education for Africans only started in 1996. It is only a five-year record.

Secondly, schools are now functioning. We do not see children with school uniforms, as we did two years ago, walking about at 11 o’clock in the morning. Now, teachers are teaching for 196 days a year, and for seven hours a day. This is because there has been a change of climate.

Mr Raju should therefore not use words like ``calamitous’’ regarding the position in some schools, because they demobilise people. What he should hold out is the hope of change, improvement and growth. One can only do that if one works with them, rather than being against them or, in fact, saying that they are outside the loop.

I shall look very carefully at these provincial reports to compare them with what we think is actually happening in these provinces. I think it is important.

The second point is that the quality of the debate has shown, once again, and I said this in the National Assembly, that, in fact, we are giving up the silly partisanship. Obviously, education is a political matter, in the sense that policies have to be applied, and policies are determined by political parties and by governments according to their own beliefs and the mandate they get. Everything we do is a mandate we received from 66% of the population of South Africa. We do not look into our own hearts and decide on that.

But we have given up the silly partisanship and point-scoring that used to happen in debates on education, because I used to sit next to the Minister of Education for five years, and I realised the tortuousness of the debate. So, I that think that we must refrain from using words like ``calamitous’’ because good things are happening.

One should go to primary schools and there is hope for South Africa. There are primary schools without resources and capacity, particularly women teachers and principals. The eyes of the children shine when one arrives there, as I learned last night when we launched the early childhood programme. There were little toddlers, five-year olds, from three Government early childhood schools. They were dancing to the rhythm and have the sense of ownership. One school was racially mixed. There was a sense of ownership of where we were. It was extraordinary.

Therefore, material things are important, but the will and determination must be there. I am sorry that Mr Ngidi and Mr Mthimkhulu are not here. I went to a school in Maphumulo last week. I had not been there for 55 years. That area was the centre of extraordinary internecine fighting, up to two years ago. The school played a central role in bringing about peace and bringing the parties together. In fact, they have great pride there. The school was built 39 years ago. This is not an Irish story, but they asked me officially to open it 39 years later, because they wanted us there. Of course, they were very pressing. I do not have any money to buy them computers. I am a national Minister laying down policy, but such was the extraordinary drive that the director-general and I made sure that the following week our very small director-general will carry this computer to Maphumulo and the school at Thring’s Post [Applause.] [Laughter.]

Therefore all members must give credit in one way or another. That is why each member’s role is so important, because if the provinces do not reply to their letters, as other members have said, the fact remains that their role as public representatives is to publicise this.

Mr Mthimkhulu is not here. He raised the matter of funding in education. I want to remind this council, again, how this happens. Each province gets a block grant. That is our constitutional arrangement from the central exchequer. They get a slice. I forget how much, but I think it is about 58% or 60%. They get a slice that each province allocates to education - my reference to the block grant. Some provinces allocate 48% or 45%. If they allocate 48% of their block grant, then they will have better payment to teachers, time, etc.

Each province decides on the balance between personnel costs and nonpersonnel costs. We are aiming, as a national policy, to move to 85% personnel costs. They have come down. When I became Minister, the personnel costs were 92% nationally. It is about 88% now. We want to move it to 85%.

If KwaZulu-Natal still maintains its 1992 grants, then, of course, we must look at its policies, because it is its prerogative to decide its priorities. If education accounts for 48% according to the national block grant, 41% of the block grant should go to education. KwaZulu-Natal has allocated 38% to education. That is their own political decision. They may wish to spend an additional 3% on traditional affairs. It is their own decision to do so.

Finally, I noticed in the newspapers, and I will take it up, that R200 million of the education budget was not used at the end of the year. It is part of the mythology that some provinces are being, in fact, suppressed because of the inadequacy on the ground. It is the province’s own decision as to how much they will spend for a particular purpose. If they want to spend more money on roads, that is their decision. Frankly, I would rather have potholes on the roads than broken heads in schools. The choice is a political one as to which one chooses.

I am very pleased that there has been such an enormous emphasis on sexual harassment. South Africans are only beginning to speak about this now. My own view is that there has been sexual abuse within families and schools since time immemorial. One of the wonderful prizes and benefits of democracy is that we can now talk openly about it. Part of the real oxygen of publicity is that one can then start dealing with it. What we are dealing with here, and I compliment the absent MEC on her policy of abuse no more, will fit in very well with our own Signposts of Life schools project, which I am launching with the Minister of Safety and Security. I have to behave myself, because he is so much bigger than I am. We are identifying signposts aimed at developing school-based programmes to combat school-based violence. The signpost project also provides guidelines for the SA Police Service on how to deal with school-based violence. So, there is movement.

Secondly, I have written to the DPP, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and informed him that there must be early prosecutions of those accused of sexual abuse and sexual violence, because the time gap demobilises the communities. We know that from Mpumalanga’s case of five teachers who took three years to be found. So we are doing that. Yesterday I told the SA Council of Educators the same thing. I told them to give priority to sexual abuse, and that their findings of guilt or innocence must be made public, like the attorneys in Western Cape. It was the newspapers that disclosed the attorneys in the Western Cape who had not, in fact, got their accounts right and were, therefore, deregistered.

The SA Council of Educators is very important. If one wants it to work, then one should make representation to it about cases that one knows. They can identify and try cases on their own initiative. One should report things to the SA Council of Educators and support whistle-blowers. We must support whistle- blowers. It is vital that we should do so. Therefore, we must give real impetus to SACE in its work. Then, of course, we have the reality of schools which are full of sexual abuse. The Employment of Educators Act should be used. It asks for instant dismissal. Of course, there must be short hearings and dismissals.

Therefore, the fourth arm is the need to train our provincial administrators, district officers and regional officers to be sensitive about what is happening in the school. Regarding the barbarism of some of the initiation ceremonies that took place in some of the ex-Model C schools, the provincial authorities did not know about it, and we owe it to the newspapers that brought it to our attention. It must be part of the efficiency audit of provincial administrators. That is why we are spending a lot of money on training provincial administrators who are no longer the old-style apartheid inspectors, but a new-style people. But the whole school development that we are pushing ahead with will, in fact, look very carefully at what happens in the schools.

No longer can we have a closed system in schools, a kind of arrangement by which everything that happens to the school is not open to public invigilation. There is a word for this for policemen, it is called ``the canteen culture’’ - where no one is allowed to rat on anyone. It is interesting that somebody ratted on our cricketers on Friday night in the West Indies, otherwise we would not have known about it.

In relation to Mrs Witbooi’s point about ``being cool’’, I think it is a misunderstanding, and we must try to reach out to our children. It is not poverty only that results in drugs and abuse, but there are other social factors.

There is a lack of parental involvement. All the studies I have read say that there is lack of parental involvement. Parents do not know what their children are doing. There may be fairly good reasons for that. This is not because women are working, by the way. That is a masculine or male approach, because women should be there and in attendance. There are more fundamental reasons why.

Mrs Witbooi did not mention one kind of enormous matter and that is precocious sexual activity taking place at schools - real precocious sexual activity, with enormous implications for their own growth and development. Precocity of this kind is harmful to their growth.

I always support the idea of the genuine right to innocence of children, that extraordinary period from about seven to 17 in which one grows and develop according to the biblical injunction of the stages of one’s life. I think that precocious activity of this kind particularly, whether its drugs or bullying at schools - and there is an enormous amount of bullying at schools, by the way, which we have to speak about - means that, in fact, our children are losing, prematurely, that enormous innocence. This does not mean that they are innocent abroad, but that inner innocence that is necessary for growth and development. So I am with Mrs Witbooi on that.

I think we have to analyse what is happening, in the same way as this question of random testing for drugs in school. I got wonderful senior counsel opinion, at his request, from a very distinguished senior counsel who has children in private schools and state schools. This opinion says that the matter is much more complicated than the expensive approach of testing randomly. This is because there are all kinds of other social, legal and political issues involved if one tests. And, of course, one can only test at schools that can afford testing.

Therefore we will have two systems. My principle here is that we will do everything necessary about drugs in schools that will assist parents to deal with their childrens’ problems. The police cannot deal with this issue. Detoxification centres cannot deal with them. There is the extraordinary arrangement they had somewhere where a young man who was chained and manacled to bars committed suicide. That will not help us either. Those are instant solutions. The community and, in particular, the parents have to be involved in that. These are some aspects in which our teacher development is very important.

We obtained a legacy of nearly one third of our teachers being undertrained and possibly 20% more having no training. We are starting teacher development, as a critical part of our strategy in Tirisano, to improve quality and performance in schools.

Let me announce, therefore, for the first time here that at the beginning of this year 10 000 underqualified teachers will undergo, for each of the next three years, professional deployment through the national professional diploma in education. So we will dramatically reduce the number of underqualified and unqualified teachers. This is an extraordinary thing. The money will come from the education labour relations section. It is a lot of money - about R90 million.

Secondly, under way at present is a maths and science professional development programme aimed at Grade 4 to Grade 9 teachers. A total of 3 500 teachers will participate in this programme between 2001 and 2002.

Let me explain why the Northern Province’s maths result improved. It is because the teachers and provincial authorities - but, I regret to say, not the universities - intervened at weekends to provide special training to clusters of schools. A little bit of special intervention resulted in an improvement of 9%

Nobody has mentioned the Cuban trainers. This morning I met the Cuban ambassador. There are trainers who will be coming here. They will train people in clusters, because we do not have people who are going to live in the bundu, as 500 Cuban doctors have been doing. So there is no ideological position there. We will not have to pay these trainers, by the way, as we have just learnt. They are coming here as an act of international solidarity, and we will choose them.

They will come here and go to the most rural parts of South Africa and do that kind of intervention over a whole year. Then one must wait for the matric results. Then one will see how many students will enter maths and science. The number of students entering maths and science is falling across all the racial barriers and not only among Africans. That is, in fact, a very bad development.

I say to the House, therefore, that there are many things I have looked at. I have small disagreements with my comrade here. Of course, we must get a lobengula. We must get the history of our people in there. But these were not professionals. We had teachers and trade unionists there. One of the most important recommendations is the role of oral history. All history will play a very important part in the evolution of the teaching of history.

Mr Raju asked for me to show great urgency and immediacy. He should ask my departmental officials on Monday morning what happens about urgency and immediacy. There is a limit beyond which I cannot try their own patience. Can I therefore say that there are other issues I have not looked at. I would like to say to Mr Tlhagale that voluntarism is very important, and this has been answered. We want to bring back the tradition of voluntary activity.

When I was a school teacher I used to go home at 7 o’clock in the evening, but I do not want to generalise on the basis of my own experience. We had a wonderful tradition of teachers who, as an act of citizenship, did things, and also of parents who came to the school. Mr Raju knows that - parents who came to the school and taught us chess and other things, such as soccer and football without facilities. All my teachers were unqualified. There was no laboratory. I learnt biology from a book which my teacher read, by the way, page by page. I call this the spit factor - you know, you participate and you turn the page and you get paid for that. [Laughter.] The spit factor was very important, because that is what kept us going. We had no libraries.

We have figures now which show that 60% of schools in South Africa have no library facilities. Therefore, this needs public involvement. Of course, I tell my brother from the UDM that R51 billion is spent on education. That is 21% of the Budget. It is very hard to say to any Minister of finance, Please sir,'' like Oliver Twist,can we have some more?’’. This is because the provinces did not spend the money last year, which we got for administrative training capacity. They got R250 million, and barely 40% of that was spent.

Regarding the school building project, the provinces did not spend the money. Now, you see, you go to Trevor Manuel and make a strong case. The Government has given priority to early childhood education; that is why we got the money. The human resources development document says that human resource development begins at the earliest stage in school, not when one is going to technical colleges.

Can I say, therefore, that what we are doing is unfolding the final stages of a democratic educational system. The only outstanding matter is special needs education,'' which we call disabled people. Butspecial needs’’ is much greater than disabled people.

Tomorrow our White Paper will finally go to the Cabinet. Cabinet committees have agreed to that with enthusiasm. Tomorrow we get authorisation to publish. It is not a policy White Paper, but an implementable White Paper. The area that nobody has mentioned here, which is central to poor Afrikaners, to blacks, to poor Indians, is the technical college sector. By July, with the association on national business initiative - that is, the business relationship and we have a close relationship with business - will look at the reforming of 150-odd technical colleges.

This will be to make them more viable and vital, and with a more relevant syllabus, with things like technology education, tourism training and hotel management at a much higher level. So we will bring education away from the very formal education that they have, very academic education at the technical colleges. We want to combine both the academic and the practical.

The funny thing is, there is a technical college that teaches bricklaying without any bricks and cement. That is the situation we have and that is what we inherited. So, of course, one cannot have a situation like that. [Laughter.] One does learn things as Minister of Education, as they come around. The reform of the technical colleges, which will entail reform of the teaching, the style and the investment, will mean that we bring education more to the rural areas. This is because I gave a promise - although there may be about 60 technical colleges, larger ones - that no site of teaching will be closed down. This is so that rural areas will still have technical colleges, but doing certain particular things necessary in a rural area.

So there we are. With those two things, we can then talk about consolidation, change and development. The ghost of apartheid will finally be laid to rest, without a poltergeist, simply through political will and determination.

It has been a very moving experience for me to share the last few things with the members of this Council this afternoon. I thank them very much for their intervention, but urge them to keep at it. In a democracy, struggle is still necessary. As the principal at Maphumulo showed, struggle is still necessary. Struggle takes peaceful forms, through political representation. It is very important to remember that. All hon members should be part of the struggle, so that we have an educational system fit for all our children and for South Africa as we enter the 21st century. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The Council adjourned at 17:51. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

                       WEDNESDAY, 23 MAY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 23 May 2001 in terms of
     Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bills as section 75
     Bills:


     (i)           Pension Funds Amendment Bill [B 22 - 2001] (National
              Assembly - sec 75).


     (ii)    Patents Amendment Bill [B 24 - 2001] (National Assembly -
              sec 75).


 (2)    On 23 May 2001 the following Bill, at the request of the
     Minister of Trade and Industry, was introduced in the National
     Council of Provinces by the Select Committee on Economic Affairs.
     It has been referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for
     classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Consumer Affairs (Unfair Business Practices) Amendment
          Bill [B 28 - 2001] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76)
          [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
          introduction published in Government Gazette No 22249 of 24
          April 2001.]


     The Bill has also been referred to the Select Committee on
     Economic Affairs of the National Council of Provinces.

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Justice and Constitutional Development and to the Select Committee
     on Security and Constitutional Affairs for consideration and
     report:


     Documents in terms of section 9(1) of the Promotion of National
     Unity and Reconciliation Act, 1995 regarding the remuneration,
     allowances and other employment benefits of the staff of the Truth
     and Reconciliation Commission.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Labour and to the Select Committee
     on Labour and Public Enterprises for information:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Unemployment Insurance Fund for 1999 [RP 42-2001].


 (3)    The following report is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Minerals and Energy and to the Select Committee on Economic
     Affairs. The Report of the Auditor-General contained in the
     following report is referred to the Standing Committee on Public
     Accounts for consideration and report:


     Report and Financial Statements of the Council for Geoscience for
     1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
     Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


 (4)    The following report is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Agriculture and Land Affairs and to the Select Committee on Land
     and Environmental Affairs:


     Consolidated Statements, and Generally Accepted Accounting
     Practice, of the Assets and Liabilities and the Profit and Loss
     Account of the Land Bank and its Subsidiaries- the South African
     Mortgage and Insurance Company Limited for 2000, tabled in terms
     of section 65(2) of the Land Bank Act, 1944 (Act No 13 of 1944).

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson:

 The following papers have been tabled and are referred to the Select
 Committee on Finance:


 (1)    Report of the Auditor-General on Border Post Control [RP 43-
     2001].


 (2)    Report of the Auditor-General on Selected Internal Control
     Measures over Taxation Process administered by the South African
     Revenue Service [RP 44-2001].


 (3)    Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique concerning
     Natural Gas Trade between South Africa and Mozambique, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Copnstitution, 1996.


 (4)    Explanatory Memorandum to the Agreement.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (a)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority for 1999-
     2000 [RP 47-2001].


 (b)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Independent Broadcasting Authority for 1999-2000 [RP 49-2001].


 (c)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Summarised Findings of
     Performance Audits conducted at certain Provincial Departments of
     Education [RP 45-2001].

1. The Minister of Public Enterprises:

 Report and Financial Statements of Eskom for 2000.

1. The Minister of Health:

 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and
 the Government of the Republic of Cuba on Cooperation in the field of
 Health, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.

                        THURSDAY, 24 MAY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bill was introduced by the Minister of Public
     Enterprises in the National Assembly on 24 May 2001 and referred
     to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms
     of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Alexkor Limited Amendment Bill [B 29 - 2001] (National
          Assembly - sec 75) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior
          notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette No
          22255 of 4 Mei 2001.]


     The Bill has also been referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Public Enterprises of the National Assembly.

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson:

 Message from National Assembly to National Council of Provinces:


 Bills passed by National Assembly on 24 May 2001 and transmitted for
 concurrence:


 (i)    Export Credit and Foreign Investment Re-insurance Amendment Bill
       [B 19B - 2001] (National Assembly - sec 75).


       The Bill has been referred to the Select Committee on Economic
       Affairs of the National Council of Provinces.




 (ii)   Cultural Laws Amendment Bill [B 45B - 2000] (National Assembly -
       sec 75).


       The Bill has been referred to the Select Committee on Education
       and Recreation of the National Council of Provinces.




 (iii)  Cultural Laws Second Amendment Bill [B 46B - 2000] (National
       Assembly - sec 75).


       The Bill has been referred to the Select Committee on Education
       and Recreation of the National Council of Provinces.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (a)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     South African Wool Board for the period 1 July 1997 to 30 June
     1999 [RP 38-2001].


 (b)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     National Agricultural Marketing Council for 1999-2000 [RP 64-
     2001].

1. The Minister of Education:

 Education in South Africa - Achievements since 1994.

1. The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry:

 Report and Financial Statements of the Goudveld Water for 1999-2000.

                         MONDAY, 28 MAY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson: The following papers were tabled and are now referred to the relevant committees as mentioned below:

 (1)    The following papers are referred to the Select Committee on
     Labour and Public Enterprises:


     (a)     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
          of the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
          for 1999-2000 [RP 47-2001].


     (b)     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
          of the Independent Broadcasting Authority for 1999-2000 [RP 49-
          2001].


     (c)     Report and Financial Statements of Eskom for 2000.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Select Committee on
     Education and Recreation for consideration and report:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Summarised Findings of
     Performance Audits conducted at certain Provincial Departments of
     Education [RP 45-2001].


 (3)    The following report is referred to the Select Committee on
     Social Services:


     Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Republic of Cuba on Cooperation in the
     field of Health, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Sport and Recreation:

 Report of the Department of Sport and Recreation for 1999-2000.

                        TUESDAY, 29 MAY 2001

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote 13 -
 Foreign Affairs for 1999-2000 [RP 122-2000].

National Council of Provinces:

The Chairperson:

Bills:

1. The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry:

 (1)    Wysigingswetsontwerp op Nasionale Bos- en Brandwette [W 14 -
     2001].
     The National Forest and Fire Laws Amendment Bill [B 14 - 2001]
     (National Council of Provinces - sec 76) was introduced in the
     National Council of Provinces on 9 March 2001 and referred to the
     Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Council of Provinces:

1. Report of the Select Committee on Economic Affairs on the Export Credit and Foreign Investments Re-insurance Amendment Bill [B 19B - 2001] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 29 May 2001:

   The Select Committee on Economic Affairs, having considered the subject of the Export Credit and Foreign Investments Re-insurance Amendment Bill [B 19B - 2001] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it, reports that it has agreed to the Bill.

2. Report of the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs on the National Forest and Fire Laws Amendment Bill [B 14 - 2001] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), dated 28 May 2001:

   The Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs, having considered the subject of the National Forest and Fire Laws Amendment Bill [B 14 - 2001] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), referred to it, reports the Bill with amendments [B 14A - 2001].