Title: PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE PRESENTATION
1PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE PRESENTATION
- ENSURING QUALITY THROUGH EDUCATION DISTRICTS
- by
- Palesa T. Tyobeka
- Deputy Director-General General Education and
Training - 09 November 2007
2The place of Districts in the Education System
- Education districts are the link between
education sites and provincial education
departments in the pursuit of quality education. - They play a pivotal role in ensuring that
education needs are understood and addressed and
that national learning objectives are achieved. - Districts have to date been organized according
to provincial preferences/needs. - Education district nomenclature and structures
also differ from province to province. - The intensity and quality of service delivery
varies considerably from district to district
across the country.
3Education district services pre1994
Ex Depart. Per capita expenditure Services provided Teacher/learner ratio
HoA R300 Curriculum, HR, Finances, Psych. Services 120
HoD R200 Same as above 130
HoR R150 Curriculum, HR, Finances 150
DET etc R50 As above 165
4Current profile of services
- Services still affected by pre 1994 provisioning
- Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng top three
provinces and also able to provide more district
services - Rest of provinces offering more limited basket of
services in line with resources inherited from
huge homeland administrations.
5The legal position
- An education district has no precise legal
definition in South Africa - Education districts have no original powers or
functions prescribed by law - In each province, districts are demarcated and
named, and their staff complements established by
the MEC for Education in terms of the Public
Service Act of 1994.
6The changes that must be made
- District offices
- Must be established and defined in law
- as centers of support for quality learning,
appropriately staffed for the purpose - become centres of real authority and
- have the capacity to give professional support of
high quality to educators and leaders in schools/
education sites.
7Towards a policy framework
- Policy Development process started that
- Expresses a national vision for education
districts in the transformation of education
system, - Determines standardized roles, powers and
responsibilities - Provides a normative framework for their
management and operation including support to
educational sites.
8Scope of the policy framework cont
- It will ensure a common understanding of
- The concept of an education district and related
responsibilities - The powers delegated to district managers
- The structural components of an education
district office, represented in an organogram
9Basket of services delivered by districts
- A district office is responsible for delivering a
basket of services to education institutions - Such services have one overriding purpose to
advance the implementation of quality education
and improved service delivery in all education
institutions
10Basket of services delivered by districts cont
- A districts basket of services comprises
- Planning and co-ordinating the roles, support and
functions of Circuit Managers and
multi-functional teams of educators and officials - Co-ordinating, implementing and monitoring
curriculum and development support services - Co-ordinating and implementing institutional
development, management and support services - Facilitating and co-ordinating education services
and programmes, including social and specialized
functions - Rendering financial and supply chain management
services - Planning, co-ordinating and implementing school
psychological, guidance, life skills, social,
remedial and therapeutic services for all learners
11Towards a policy framework for districts
- Policy development process advanced to ensure
- Uniformity of districts nationally in terms of
roles and responsibilities and relationship to
school management and governance - Standardization of terminology, systems and
structures, staffing, and operations of districts
across the education system as detailed in the
proposed Education Management Service manual - An organogram that details the purpose and
function of the various components that make up a
district office and the number of posts that are
required there
12Broad time-frames
- Final draft being discussed with Provincial HoDs
on 13th November 2007 - Approval by CEM January 2008
- Costing of implementation needs and phasing in by
January 2009