By the end of 2008/09 financial year in March, 540 of the poorest primary schools and 113 secondary schools in the Western Cape would have benefited from the Quality improvement, Development, Support and Upliftment Programme (QIDS-UP).

QIDS-UP is the national government's response to the education and skills development challenge described in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), and is aimed at achieving high levels of literacy and numeracy in the lowest grades.

The programme will run until 2011 and focuses on improving the delivery of quality of education amongst educators, creating a classroom atmosphere conducive to teaching and learning, and providing equal opportunities through a programme of redress.

QIDS-UP is an "affirmative action" programme which through a structured process endeavours to bring poor schools on par with other adequately resourced schools by providing basic resources such as equipment, consumable items, infrastructure repairs, library material and curriculum support resources to the poorest schools.

The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of learning and teaching.

The WCED has earmarked R386,875-million for QIDS-UP over the medium-term expenditure framework period.

An audit of the human, material and physical resources in 405 of the poorest schools commissioned by the WCED found that inadequate conditions and space at schools, a shortage of teachers in key areas, a shortage of libraries, a shortage of laboratories for science, technology and Information and Communication Technology, a lack of Learning and Teaching Support Material specifically tailored to the National Curriculum Statement, a myriad of social problems (e.g. poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, gangsterism) and health problems (e.g. T.B, foetal alcohol syndrome, poor eyesight, poor hearing) militate against academic achievement.

The audit also found that secondary schools with high failure rates are invariably surrounded by primary schools that lack the resources to provide effective schooling and the majority of the poorest schools in the rural areas are in urgent need of maintenance and possessed few resources.

To address these problems, QIDS UP was used in 2007 to amongst others install fenced-off jungle gyms at public primary schools offering Grade R, do maintenance and repair work at schools in the lowest quintiles, establish school libraries or revive old ones at all primary and secondary schools in quintiles 1 and 2.

According to principals and teachers at the schools that benefited from QIDS-UO, the investment has already started paying dividends because learners are more enthusiastic about coming to school and the resources have improved teaching and learning.