Cape Town - The national basic education department has encountered much resistance to its intervention plans to turn around the troubled Eastern Cape education department, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday.
"It's a major problem. If the truth be told we have major, major problems in intervening in the Eastern Cape," she told a media briefing at Parliament.
"To the extent that I had, as the minister, to go back to the president and say we are [encountering] resistance from the leadership of the Eastern Cape in terms of Section 100 (b) [of the Constitution]," she said.
The Eastern Cape had not legally contested this section, but had "created a state of paralysis by just not co-operating with the national department" on the section.
"Had it not been because of the president's very busy diary, we were going to go there Friday to meet the whole executive of the Eastern Cape to find out exactly what their issues are," she said.
Myriad problems
The national government announced an intervention in the province in March after a myriad of problems surfaced.
These included the termination of temporary educators' contracts, suspension of scholar transport, non-delivery of textbooks and stationery, poor implementation of the school nutrition programme, and overall poor management of systems.
Also, a strategic leadership vacuum in the province, the organisation's structure and culture, poor financial management systems and a lack of monitoring and evaluation.
After visiting the Eastern Cape in June to assess the state of education, President Jacob Zuma appointed a joint task team in July to help strengthen education in the province.
The team included the ministers of basic education, Motshekga; finance, Pravin Gordhan; justice and constitutional development, Jeff Radebe; higher education, Blade Nzimande; and public service and administration, Richard Baloyi.
It also included MECs for provincial planning and finance, Phumulo Masualle; sport, recreation, arts and culture, Xoliswa Tom; economic development, environmental affairs and tourism, Mcebisi Jonas; local government and traditional affairs, Mlibo Qhoboshiyane; and education, Mandla Makupula.
‘We’re stuck’
Motshekga said she had to go back to Zuma and say "we are stuck with the Eastern Cape, we are not able to do the things we are supposed to be doing in the Eastern Cape, and actually, it has created a very serious problem of parallel structures which in a way is creating some form of parallel systems in the province".
Zuma had to travel abroad on Friday, but it had been agreed that as soon as he returned, "as early as next week we will have to go back to the province to resolve the impasse, but we have an impasse with them in terms of our understandings of Section 100 (b)".
It seemed the province believed Section 100 (b) and 100 (a) "are the same".
"We'll do the same things that we have done in the past. We work with them, produce documents, we leave, they shelve the documents and life continues. We say it can't happen the way it's been happening."
‘Rot goes deep’
For example, a senior official had been sent to the Eastern Cape for almost two years to develop a human resources plan for them. But, after he left, the plan was not implemented.
"... [W]e can't do the same thing the same way and expect to get results, and that's why we want know to send teams into the province, and as I say, we have an impasse with them," Motshekga said.
Section 100 (b) allows the national government to assume full responsibility for the provincial department.
Motshekga said the intervention had revealed "the rot goes deep".
"It's not only in terms of fraud around the supply chain. The 10 schools that we just assessed in the province... we found that... there are schools that have inflated numbers [of pupils].
"So it's not only the principal's salary that gets inflated, it's the money that gets sent to the school. "This school in particular, it means it got R1m extra for kids that are not there.
"Because of the impasse we've not [yet] been able to do anything, we just have the information..." However, the turnaround plan included a school-by-school and teacher-by -teacher head-count to establish the real situation.
"The rot is not only at head office, it's deep up to school level and we have developed a framework and a plan to be able to begin to clean up the system from schools to Bisho," she said.
"It's a major problem. If the truth be told we have major, major problems in intervening in the Eastern Cape," she told a media briefing at Parliament.
"To the extent that I had, as the minister, to go back to the president and say we are [encountering] resistance from the leadership of the Eastern Cape in terms of Section 100 (b) [of the Constitution]," she said.
The Eastern Cape had not legally contested this section, but had "created a state of paralysis by just not co-operating with the national department" on the section.
"Had it not been because of the president's very busy diary, we were going to go there Friday to meet the whole executive of the Eastern Cape to find out exactly what their issues are," she said.
Myriad problems
The national government announced an intervention in the province in March after a myriad of problems surfaced.
These included the termination of temporary educators' contracts, suspension of scholar transport, non-delivery of textbooks and stationery, poor implementation of the school nutrition programme, and overall poor management of systems.
Also, a strategic leadership vacuum in the province, the organisation's structure and culture, poor financial management systems and a lack of monitoring and evaluation.
After visiting the Eastern Cape in June to assess the state of education, President Jacob Zuma appointed a joint task team in July to help strengthen education in the province.
The team included the ministers of basic education, Motshekga; finance, Pravin Gordhan; justice and constitutional development, Jeff Radebe; higher education, Blade Nzimande; and public service and administration, Richard Baloyi.
It also included MECs for provincial planning and finance, Phumulo Masualle; sport, recreation, arts and culture, Xoliswa Tom; economic development, environmental affairs and tourism, Mcebisi Jonas; local government and traditional affairs, Mlibo Qhoboshiyane; and education, Mandla Makupula.
‘We’re stuck’
Motshekga said she had to go back to Zuma and say "we are stuck with the Eastern Cape, we are not able to do the things we are supposed to be doing in the Eastern Cape, and actually, it has created a very serious problem of parallel structures which in a way is creating some form of parallel systems in the province".
Zuma had to travel abroad on Friday, but it had been agreed that as soon as he returned, "as early as next week we will have to go back to the province to resolve the impasse, but we have an impasse with them in terms of our understandings of Section 100 (b)".
It seemed the province believed Section 100 (b) and 100 (a) "are the same".
"We'll do the same things that we have done in the past. We work with them, produce documents, we leave, they shelve the documents and life continues. We say it can't happen the way it's been happening."
‘Rot goes deep’
For example, a senior official had been sent to the Eastern Cape for almost two years to develop a human resources plan for them. But, after he left, the plan was not implemented.
"... [W]e can't do the same thing the same way and expect to get results, and that's why we want know to send teams into the province, and as I say, we have an impasse with them," Motshekga said.
Section 100 (b) allows the national government to assume full responsibility for the provincial department.
Motshekga said the intervention had revealed "the rot goes deep".
"It's not only in terms of fraud around the supply chain. The 10 schools that we just assessed in the province... we found that... there are schools that have inflated numbers [of pupils].
"So it's not only the principal's salary that gets inflated, it's the money that gets sent to the school. "This school in particular, it means it got R1m extra for kids that are not there.
"Because of the impasse we've not [yet] been able to do anything, we just have the information..." However, the turnaround plan included a school-by-school and teacher-by -teacher head-count to establish the real situation.
"The rot is not only at head office, it's deep up to school level and we have developed a framework and a plan to be able to begin to clean up the system from schools to Bisho," she said.
- SAPA
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Eastern-Cape-education-rot-goes-deep-20110823
