1. 

Statement of policy and commitment by the MEC

Our vision for education in the Western Cape remains “Effective education for all”. This is no easy task, given the challenges that face us in education in this province and the country as a whole.

Our strategic plan for 2003/04 describes how we plan to meet these challenges through the work of the Western Cape Education Department.

The WCED has worked hard on developing this plan, which will go a long way towards ensuring, as effectively and as equitably as possible, a better future for all our learners.

We are also cooperating with our colleagues on a national level, through the Department of Education and colleagues in other provinces to ensure that we work together in laying the foundations for an education system we can all be proud of in this country.

We have taken the national Tirisano principles for education development to heart. These form an integral part of our strategic goals and objectives, along with those challenges we have identified in the Western Cape for special attention.

Once again, I would like to reiterate key factors that we must pay attention to if we are to achieve our vision. These include ensuring stability in our system, discipline and diligence, teacher training, good management at all levels, and ensuring that we create and maintain a general educational environment in which learners can learn and teachers can teach.

Our special challenges include transforming education with extremely limited resources. Our limited budget is forcing us to make tough choices, which means that we cannot fund all of our projects and programmes, as we would like to.

In the end, our priorities must always remain the learner and the teacher in the classroom. Learners are our most important clients, and teachers are our most important resource. We will do everything possible to ensure that, in spite of our financial constraints, they will both have the resources they need to learn and to teach effectively.

2003 and 2004 will be particularly important years in the development of education in South Africa, as we prepare to introduce the revised curriculum for Grades R to 9, starting with Grade R in 2004.

The year 2003 has been declared the “Year of FET” in order to raise awareness of changes taking place in further education and training in schools, FET colleges and community learning centres. At the same time, we will continue to do all we can to further the cause of early childhood development and adult basic education and training.

We are entering an important period of change and development within stringent financial constraints. I call on all those involved in education to walk this road together so that, together we can progress to a better future.

André Hurtley Gaum
MINISTER OF EDUCATION
12 March 2003

2. 

Overview by the accounting officer

Education is the foundation on which we build the future of our society by ensuring that our children and adult learners acquire the skills, knowledge and values they need in order to be able to lead fulfilling lives and to contribute to the development of the province and the country.

South Africa is a society in transition. Given our role in preparing the country for the future, we must be at the cutting edge of change directed towards achieving the society to which we aspire. Linked as it is to national education strategies, our strategic plan seeks to contribute to the process of education transformation across the country as we participate in the process of building this young democracy.

While we have much to be proud of, I am also very much aware of the challenges which we still have to meet if we are to be satisfied with the quality of education offered in every corner of the province. The Department as a whole, i.e. the provincial office, education management development centres and our learning sites, are all co-responsible for achieving this goal.

Our many challenges include the promotion of the principles of access, redress and equity; ensuring effective teaching and learning; improving numeracy and literacy skills; ensuring effective school management; and providing safe environments that are conducive to effective teaching and learning. In addition, we will strive to provide the best possible service and support to our educational institutions, and to be fully responsive to their needs.

Our many highlights this past year included the launching of the Cape Teaching Institute for in-service teacher development; our contribution to the revised national curriculum; and many special interventions to improve learner performance, especially in numeracy and literacy. Through various initiatives, we are making important progress in our efforts to introduce the latest in education technology. Our Telecommunications Project and the Khanya Project, for example, will bring the Internet to every school, but, more importantly, will assist in the e-management of our schools and begin the process of introducing e-learning into the furthest reaches of our province.

Our main challenges in 2003 include the following:

• Preparing the ground for the introduction of the revised national curriculum from 2004

• The continued development of the Further Education and Training band in schools, FET colleges and community learning centres

• Continued endeavours to support Early Childhood Development, Adult Education and Training, and Education for Learners with Special Education Needs

• Ongoing efforts to apply scarce resources as effectively and as equitably as possible

Through the provincial strategy for economic development, iKapa Elihlumayo, the WCED will contribute to the development of human and intellectual capital by providing focused programmes of high-level skills development, primarily through the FET colleges sector. This sub-strategy of the WCED will ensure full access to basic services, increased participation in the economy, and improvements in systemic efficiency by improving the "flow-through rate” of learners and the quality of education as a whole over time.

Implementing the revised curriculum and other policies will be a learning process for all concerned. However, we must expect that transformation of the system will be difficult. All of us are required to make sacrifices in the short term. We have several choices at our disposal: maintain the status quo; initiate and lead the process of change in our own areas of influence; or have change and transformation thrust upon us by external pressures. The best option is to initiate and lead change ourselves, knowing that we can always call for support when we require it. In the long run, we will all benefit from a transformed system that envisages a better future for all our learners.

Ron B Swartz
Head: Education
12 March 2003

3. 

Vision

Effective education for all

4. 

Mission

To ensure that all learners of the Western Cape acquire the knowledge, skills and values they need to lead fulfilling lives, and to contribute to the development of the province and the country.

5. 

Strategic goals

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6. 

Strategic objectives

1.   To ensure access to quality basic education for all children living in the province:

• To ensure the success of active learning through outcomes-based education

• To develop the intellectual, emotional and physical potential of learners

• To provide spaces for learners in primary and secondary education, in line with policy

• To improve access to education for learners from previously marginalised groups

• To promote early childhood development, particularly in Grade R

• To increase the number of learners successfully completing their education in the GET and FET bands

• To improve learner performance in the GET and FET bands, with a special focus on numeracy and literacy skills

• To promote effective and inclusive education for learners with special education needs

• To create a vibrant FET system to equip youths and adults to meet the social and economic needs of the 21st century

• To improve access to ABET and adult skills development, in line with policy

2.   To equip educators in their efforts to provide effective education:

• To ensure that the province employs sufficient numbers of appropriately trained educators

• To support efforts to recruit student teachers to pre-service training institutions

• To develop the professional quality of the teaching force, through in-service training and curriculum support

• To develop the potential of media and technology (e-education and ICT) so as to enhance teaching and learning and to provide curriculum support

• To ensure effective curriculum development, delivery and support

• To improve efficiency in the education system and to improve the pass-through rate of pupils and the quality of education as a whole over time

• To provide educators with training and support in learner assessment

• To provide educators with ongoing professional support

3.   To ensure effective management and governance in all the learning sites and support structures:

• To develop more efficient and effective mechanisms for the management and administration of learner assessment

• To ensure effective management and governance at all levels of the system

• To bring management and governance support and development closer to schools through the work of the EMDCs and other professional services

• To achieve an optimal and equitable distribution of financial, physical and human resources across the system

• To improve financial management and quality enhancement at all levels in line with provincial policy and the legislative framework

4.   To ensure safe school environments required for effective teaching and learning:

• To promote a safe school environment

• To end conditions of physical degradation of learning sites

5.   To promote accountability on all levels, in line with the legislative framework:

• To promote co-operative governance

• To align policy and practice to the government’s strategic objectives and the legislative mandate

• To promote effective evaluation and quality assurance management systems

• To encourage awareness of the rights and responsibilities of all role-players in education, including learners, parents, educators, school management, school governing bodies and WCED officials at all levels

• To encourage communities to look after their schools

• To foster a culture of teaching and learning in schools and colleges, and a commitment to life-long learning in society

• To play an active role in meeting the broader needs of the country, especially in dealing urgently and purposefully with the issue of HIV/AIDS

7. 

Legislative and other mandates

These core objectives are based on the following constitutional and other legislative mandates, functional mandates and service delivery improvement programme:

7.1 

Constitutional and legislative mandates

7.2 

Service delivery improvement plan/programme

In its quest to deliver exemplary service to all clients - both internal and external - the WCED, like all other departments within the public sector, is required to have a Service Delivery Improvement Plan/Programme (SDIP) in terms of Part III C of the Public Service Regulations of 2001. The primary aim is to inculcate the Batho Pele principles and the implementation thereof within the organisation.

During 2002 the groundwork for the SDIP was completed, with the Strategic Objectives of the WCED as a starting point. It is envisaged that the process of developing the plan - which includes the setting of service targets - will begin in February 2003. This will lead to the approval of the SDIP by the MEC in June 2003. From this date the implementation of the WCED plans will be monitored to ensure that the service standards and targets, which are set out in the plan, are met.

It is mandated through the Employment Equity Act, 1998 and Part III D2 of the Public Service Regulations 2001 that each employer or department has an Employment Equity Plan and an Affirmative Action Plan. The WCED submitted its plan (EE and AA) - approved by the MEC - to the Department of Labour on 30 August 2002. This five-year plan was officially launched on 12 November 2002. The top management of the Department has since approved implementation guidelines. Since January 2003 the Employment Equity Consultative Forum have been monitoring the implementation of the plan and will report to the Head of Education once per school term on progress being made towards achieving the WCED’s employment equity targets.

8. 

Description of status quo

The overall pass rate in the 2002 Senior Certificate Examinations was 86,5%, which is an increase of 3,8% on the 2001 results. A wide range of interventions designed to improve results in high schools; especially results in mathematics and science have been implemented. These interventions included the Learning Schools Project in schools that obtained pass rates of less than 60% in the Senior Certificate examinations of 2000 as well as other interventions at the Education Management and Development Centres (EMDCs). As a result of these interventions, the number of schools in the Western Cape with matric pass rates of less than 60% dropped from 47 in 2001 to 28 in 2002. 45 of these 47 schools improved their matric pass rates. At present, no public ordinary school in the Western Cape now has a matric pass rate of less than 35%.

The number of matriculants in the Western Cape is also increasing. The number of learners passing matric has grown from 31 049 in 2001 to 32 985 in 2002. This is the highest number of matriculants since 1994. The number of candidates passing Mathematics on the Higher Grade has increased from 3 461 in 2001 to 3 679 in 2002. The pass rate in Mathematics on the Higher Grade in 2002 was 89,3%. The number of candidates who passed Physical Science on the Higher Grade increased from 3 487 in 2001 to 3 670 in 2002. 88,2% of the candidates who wrote Physical Science on the Higher Grade passed this examination in 2002.

The spending per learner in the Western Cape was previously the highest of all provinces, but has since been reduced. The spending per learner of two other provinces is currently higher than that of the Western Cape. The monetary allocations to schools in terms of the Norms and Standards for the Funding of Schools was increased by 55% from R129 million for the 2001 school year to R200 million for the 2002 school year and to R217 million for the 2003 school year. Much the same formulae and criteria were used as for previous years as they were found to be reasonable and practical. Per learner, the poorest schools receive seven times the funding of the richest schools.

Educator numbers in WCED institutions have decreased from over 34 000 in 1997 to approximately 29 500 by 31 March 2002. This was the result of the real decrease in available funds for the WCED over the past few years as well as an attempt to correct the educator : learner ratio. Procedures are in place to prevent an increase in the number of supernumerary educators. However, this depends largely on agreements reached on the post-provisioning model.

The number of learner support educator posts (LSEN posts) for ordinary schools has been increased from 308 to 400 posts. Most of these posts have been allocated to previously disadvantaged schools and are currently being filled. The educators work in certain instances in more than one school so as to spread assistance as widely as possible.

Learner numbers amounted to approximately 922 396 in 1 467 public ordinary schools, 75 schools for learners with special education needs and 6 further education and training institutions. The Department subsidises 301 community learning sites for adults and 446 pre-primary schools.

During 2002 the WCED enrolled 15 280 FET learners and 10 618 ABET learners (or a total of 25 898 learners) at community learning centres. These adult learners enrolled for a total of 7 723 subjects and 1 797 learners entered the ABET Level 4 Assessments during 2002 (compared to 1 586 learners during 2001). 4 264 subjects were written and 1 163 learners (918 during 2001) wrote the examinations. 2 255 of these learners (or 53%) passed. 4 750 adult learners entered the 2002 Senior Certificate examination, 2 106 wrote the examination and 678 were successful.

The number of Section 21 schools increased from 560 for 2001 to 702 for 2003, which represents 48% of all public ordinary schools in the Western Cape. The EMDCs will be responsible for capacity building in financial management and administration and will also evaluate financial management in all learning institutions. This will be supplemented by audits performed by the WCED’s Head Office as well as the province’s Internal Audit and Forensic Audit components.

To date, Khanya has had an involvement with 155 schools, where either a computer lab has been provided, or computers placed in different classrooms. In total, over 3 800 PC's have been provided. Educators in these schools have received basic computer training and through a team of contract facilitators, ongoing facilitation is taking place to ensure that educators come to grips with the use of information technology in education. Over 120 000 learners are currently benefiting from the technology provided to the schools. A further 150 schools have been identified for the next wave of implementation.

Since the inception of the WCED during 1995, 71 new schools and 109 extension projects have been completed, resulting in an additional 2 415 classrooms, 37 toilet blocks and 11 forums. Prefab projects at 18 locations are under construction and these will add a further 101 classrooms and 7 toilet blocks. At present 7 new schools are still under construction and these will contribute an additional 228 classrooms. Planning has just begun for another 7 schools (204 classrooms). Considerable progress has also been made with the provision of electricity and water to schools. All schools now have a water supply and by 2004/05 all schools will have electricity.

During March 1997, the WCED approved a strategic plan for developing technical colleges in the Western Cape. Two key priorities were to streamline institutions and to strengthen the programmes offered. After four years of consultations, the Provincial Cabinet endorsed the streamlining process during 2001. During February 2002, the 13 technical colleges in the province were declared further education and training institutions (FETIs).

WCED activities - scope and scale

Learners*	922 396
Public ordinary schools*	1 467
Districts	7
Schools for learners with special needs*	75
Further Education and Training Institutions (technical colleges)*	13
Adult community learning centres	112 (301 sites)
Subsidised pre-primary schools	446
Educators*	29 488
Public service staff	8 883

* Source - 2002 Annual Survey

8.1 

Summary of service delivery environment and challenges

One of the most important techniques to achieve the objective of the concept of iKapa elihlumayo (meaning growing and developing the Cape) is to eradicate poverty through education. The WCED’s many challenges include ensuring stability in the education system, discipline and diligence, teacher training, effective learning and teaching in well-managed and well-governed institutions, improving numeracy and literacy levels and ensuring a safe school environment in which all learners can learn and all teachers can teach.

The main challenges in 2003, in striving to achieve the objectives of iKapa elihlumayo, are the following:

• Preparing the ground for the introduction of the revised national curriculum from 2004

• Continuing to develop the Further Education and Training band in schools and FET colleges

• Supporting early childhood development, adult basic education and training and education for learners with special education needs

• Developing appropriate and effective learner assessment practices in the GET and FETC Bands

• Applying scarce resources as effectively and as equitably as possible.

Further challenges facing the Department are improvements of efficiency in the education system, the pass-through rate of pupils and the quality of education as a whole over time.

8.2 

Summary of organisational environment and challenges

In its efforts to provide effective education for all, the WCED reached a major milestone on 1 July 2001 when it opened education management and development centres (EMDCs) in each of seven new education districts in the province. Four of the EMDCs are in the metropolitan region of Cape Town, and three are in rural areas.

The aim of the EMDCs is to bring development support closer to schools and other education institutions across the province, and to assist them as they strive to become self-governing, well-managed and effective centres of teaching and learning.

The EMDCs provide specialised support for schools, by way of multi-functional teams, in areas such as curriculum implementation and support for schools, specialised education, educator development, institutional management and governance, and administrative services. The EMDCs also promote parental involvement in schools, and a culture of teaching and learning in schools and local communities.

The opening of the EMDCs marked the culmination of nearly four years of research and development towards a model for education management and support that would best meet the needs of all learning sites.

The WCED also restructured the Head Office, which is responsible for meeting the legislative mandate for education in the province, as well as overall policy development, co-ordination and management. The main components of the Head Office structure are Operational Education Management, Education Planning and Development as well as Corporate Management.

The challenge is to make the organisational structure work for education to ensure the effective delivery of education to all.

9. 

Description of strategic planning process

The strategic planning process in the department involved a range of role-players. For the 2002/03 financial year the strategic planning process was aimed at amending appropriately the existing strategic plan based on the resource base and information. The format being used for the 2003/04 financial year is the generic format prescribed by the National Treasury for all provincial departments of education. The WCED was somewhat restricted in what it could or could not add to the document, especially as regards the measurable objectives and performance measures.

Strategic planning sessions were held to include all representatives of the education sector to consider the challenges facing the WCED. The deliberations of these sessions have all been accommodated in this Strategic Plan document.