Programme Director
Members of the Media
People of the Province
Senior Management of the Department
Learners
Parents
Communities
Stakeholders in the education sector
Ladies and gentlemen

Good Morning

Let me take this opportunity to greet you all this morning. We have decided to convene this media briefing today as part of sharing information regarding the status quo on the schooling system in the province.

You will recall ladies and gentlemen that the mandate of the Department is to ensure that the right of access to basic education, as enshrined in section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, is protected.

As the EC Department of Education, we are duty bound to ensure that this right
is indeed protected by providing quality basic education for all learners, ensuring that education is transformed and democratised in accordance with the values of human dignity, equality, human rights and freedom, non-racialism and non-sexism as clearly stated in our strategic documents.

Programme Director, for us to be able to deliver optimally on our mandate, there are key programmes that must be implemented in the education space. One of those is the School Rationalization and Re-alignment Programme.

In terms of the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Standards for Public Schools signed by the National Minister in 2013, there are only two types of schools, a primary school that offers Grades R – 7 and a secondary school offering Grades 8 – 12.

The norms further state that for a primary school to be functional it must at least have a minimum of 135 learners for it to be deemed a viable school. Similarly, a
secondary school should at least have 200 learners.

Programme Director, the Eastern Cape Department of Education School Rationalization Project is the foundation process of a larger process to reform the institutional landscape of education in the Eastern Cape. The mission therefore is to rationalise and re-align the small, unviable and nonconforming schools in order to efficiently re-organise, utilise and equitably allocate the financial and human resources.

Let me hasten to indicate that the EC Province has been lagging behind in the implementation of this programme and of course there are a number of reasons that could be attributed to that slow pace.

However, the Department has now turned the corner and we are determined not to look back but forge ahead for the betterment of the livelihoods of the EC people.

This is the reason why on the 5th of July 2021, a gazette (Gazette no. 4586) was promulgated giving notice of one thousand one hundred and forty-two (1142) small and non-viable schools to be closed, in terms of section 33 of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996.

All relevant parties were given thirty (30) days to submit representations or objections to the closure of these schools failing which the Department will forge ahead to finalise closure of these schools and repurpose their use going forward, depending on the state of infrastructure of the closed schools. For example, some may be converted into hostels and sites for decant.

Those of us who are charged with a responsibility by virtue of occupying the
positions that we are in, should be able and be prepared to take decisions
that will put the province in a better pedestal and education should take a
centre stage in the transformation and economic development agenda of
this Province.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the same gazette there were 390 schools that were listed for purposes of re-alignment, in terms of section 5 of the SA School’s Act. These schools have to be in line with the norms and standards alluded to earlier on.

The issue of re-organizing our schooling system cannot be postponed any further. As the Department battles with budget cuts that are imposed by Covid – 19 Pandemic, it is imperative that we move with speed in tackling all bottlenecks that hinder us from obtaining our goals.

Programme Director let me indicate that indeed, the Department received
feedback from the affected communities in response to our call to close
some of our schools.

We can confirm that 1122 schools have been closed, 20 have reported to be still operational. What becomes even more critical is the implementation of the post closure processes for a smooth transition of the process.

For an example, the Department is working hard through the School Financial Management Services and Accounting Services to obtain the banking details for the 1142 schools in an effort of ensuring that any money that was transferred to such accounts, is returned to the Department.

It is also critical to ensure that Norms and Standards funding as well as the School Nutrition Programme funds follow the learners to the receiving schools.

Most importantly ladies and gentlemen, it is imperative that the Infrastructure Unit conducts its own assessment of the closed schools to prepare for the transfer of the immovable assets to the Department of Public Works.

The grade 12 class of 2021 continues to operate under difficult conditions due to the current pandemic faced by the country. You will remember that these learners already have content gap due to lost teaching time and the trimming of curriculum in 2020.

The Department is working very hard in ensuring that learners are given all the necessary support in preparing for the final examinations.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me indicate that as a department we ready to administer the Grade 12 NSC 2021 trial examinations from 30 August 2021 to 23 September 2021. These examinations will be based on the Risk Adjusted Examination timetable.

A total of 98 035 candidates from 947 full-time centres have been registered for the examinations. There are 6 subjects such as Accounting, History, Life Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics which will be provided with bilingual question papers for the candidates from Quintile 1, 2 and 3.

Guidelines for the writing of CAT and IT practical examinations under COVID-19 conditions as well guidelines on the administration of examinations entirely will be sent to all schools.

It is important to highlight the fact that as the EC Department of Education,
we managed to develop and implement a model that is now being adopted
by the whole country. We continue to administer examinations in a credible and excellent manner.

One of the key elements that define education performance is learner outcomes. Improved learner attainment is symbolic by both quantitative and qualitative results recorded by learners.

In terms of SASA, section 58 (b) schools that perform below an acceptable threshold in achieving learner results, are deemed to be under-performing.

Currently, schools must achieve 65% and above to be considered performing.

As a Province we have 452 schools that fall within this category.

The Department has taken a conscious decision to support these schools and ensure that they develop Academic Performance Improvement Plans with clear areas of support by the system.

This process is led by the Head of Department and the plan is to visit all 12 Districts within this category of schools before the trial examinations commence. This is a process of enhancing accountability by all.

Over the past 7 days, the province has recorded 11 615 cases of COVID19 across the 8 districts of the general public. This is a significant increase in cases compared to the numbers reported in the previous week. There are 13 808 active cases and our provincial recovery rate is now at 89,3%.

We are very concerned about the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases over the past 7 days. There are 5 districts which reported a doubling of new cases over the past 7 days.

These districts are Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Buffalo city Metro, Chris Hani and joe Gqabi. The Nelson Mandela Metro, OR Tambo and Sarah Baartman district reported lesser number of new cases compared to the other 5 districts.

The number of deaths has also continued to rise across the province with 226 new death reported in the past 7 days. This is a 27,7% increase from the previous 7 days where we recorded 177 deaths.

The province has put up a strong response team and mobilized additional resources to support district that are recording an increase in cases of COVID19 infection over the past few weeks.

Some of the local municipalities have consistently been recording a high incidence rate, these include Mbhashe in Amathole, East London in Buffalo City Metro, Enoch Mgijima in Chris Hani, Walter Sisulu in Joe Gqabi, and King Sabatha Dalindyebo in OR Tambo.

The provincial government has activated the local municipality and district municipality JOC to assist in the management of the resurgence of cases in these districts. The need to enforce compliance with alert level 4 regulations and the compliance with the non- harmaceutical interventions remains the core of the provincial response.

The increase in COVID-19 cases has also been observed with the number of learners testing positive for COVID-19 at schools around the province.

The province has 308 schools that have a learner that tested positive for COVID19 infection. There are 2 773 learners that tested positive for COVID19 since the beginning of the month of August 2021.

In addition, there are 158 educators that tested positive for COVID-19. There is one learner that passed on following complications related to COVID-19 infection, and 2 educators that also demised after complications. May their souls rest in eternal peace.

The department of health and the department of education have continued to co-operate to response to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the province’s schools.

The department of health has tested more than 10 000 learners in the past few weeks and provided isolation and quarantine for those that tested positive and or are at risk of Covid19 infection.

The Department of Education has put in place various measures to contain the spread of infections in our schools.

These include the development of a management plan to mitigate the effects of Covid – 19 pandemic that includes reviewal of the Standard Operating Procedures
for COVID-19 that clearly spell out the role played by our schools in responding to COVID-19 and the steps taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in a particular school. This is an endeavour to ensure that there is an integrated approach implemented by all schools.

Furthermore, a capacity building programme has also been implemented to capacitate staff in our independent schools and schools with hostels which seem to
be mostly affected.

The Department has also developed an online COVID19 data collection tool that will enable real data collation for timeous reporting and the determination of any intervention required.

The social worker interns from Employee Wellness Services and Integrated School Health will continue to work tirelessly in providing psycho-social support in our schools.

There is no child in hospital under critical care from COVID19 infection.

The Collaboration between the two Departments i.e. Department of Health and Education has yielded positive results in the vaccination programme for education staff.

The Department of Public Service and Administration has nominated the ECDoE for an award on the sterling work done in the vaccination programme.

As the country is starting to roll-out vaccination programme for 18-yearolds and upwards from 20 August – 30 September 2021, the Department has to ensure that all eligible learners in the 925 high schools are informed and encouraged to register for this programme.

Schools are encouraged to give all the necessary support to all learners falling within this category so that they do not miss the opportunity presented before them.

A strong communication plan has also been developed for advocacy in our schools as well as the society at large regarding this programme. We will continue to work collaboratively with the Department of Health in this regard.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, President Cyril Ramaphosa in his 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA) directed that the responsibility for Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres be migrated from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to the Department of Basic Education (DBE). This will see the country proceeding towards two years of compulsory pre-school for all children before they enter Grade 1.

The signed Proclamation enabled the Department of Basic Education and the
Department of Social Development to kick-start the planning processes,
with the aim of ensuring that the function is implemented with effect from
01 April 2022.

The provincial DSD and DoE departments began engaging in this process at the start of the 2021 year through the establishment of a Provincial Project Management Team. This led to the signing of the Provincial Proclamation by the Premier in July 2021. The process will see a total number of 2556 ECD Centres migrating from DSD to DOE.

I am happy to announce that a process of engagement of all affected stakeholders,
be it internal or external, had already begun as per the Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy developed and approved for this purpose. What becomes critical is to ensure buy-in and support by all involved.

The two Departments are working together to convene a virtual summit in the first week of September with all stakeholders as an endeavour to continue sharing information with all stakeholders.

As I conclude, let me take this opportunity to thank the senior leadership of the department for the commitment and dedication shown to provide quality education in the province. A special gratitude goes to all educators, who work under difficult conditions building the future of our learners.

Lastly, our leaners, who endure the strain of living under COVID-19 but are not deterred to the fruits that they will reap at the end of the day. There is light at the end of the tunnel, hang in there.

Let continue to be safe and adhere to the strict health and safety protocols
that have been put in place for our safety as well as the safety of others around us. Observe social distance, wear your mask and wash your hands with soap or sanitize regularly.

I thank you