Annual Performance Plan 2013/14 - Department of Education

Annual Performance Plan 2013/14
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Appendix A: New Strategic Goal Statements
STRATEGIC GOAL 1
GOAL STATEMENT Equitable access to education and resources
JUSTIFICATION Education is central to the development and transformation of the Eastern Cape Province by providing the required human resources and skills for the economic
development of the Province and addressing the high levels of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy prevalent in the Eastern Cape. Statistics South Africa’s General
Household Survey (2008) indicates that they are 1, 647, 048 children aged between 6 and 15 years in the Province. Of these 1, 478, 519 area attending school which
represents 90% of the population of children of school going age. The illiteracy level of the Province remains high in comparison to other provinces in the country. The
Statistic South Africa’s General Household Survey estimate that about 7.14% of the adult population (20 years and above) are still not able to read and write. This status
quo demands that the reach be expanded of the School Nutrition Programme, Learner Transport Programme, No-fee-school policy, school building and AET programme
all of which are the Department’s programmes for providing and sustaining access to education. The current efforts to rationalise schools, realign the school phases and
recapitalisation of FET Colleges are also critical in ensure optimal configuration of the school system to balance access to education and efficiency. When 6 departments
were merged in 1996 the new Department inherited a legacy of under-funding/resourcing. In addition, the baseline has not been adjusted upwards to level the playing
field with better-off provinces.
LINKS The goal of access to education can be traced back to the Constitution which states that “Everyone has the right to: - (a) a basic education, including adult basic
education; and (b) further education, which the state through reasonable measures must make progressively available and accessible.
Other international agreements worth noting with regards to access to education include the Children’s Charter of South Africa (Article 8) which states that “All children
have the right to free and equal, non-racial, non-sexist and compulsory education within one department as education is a right not a privilege.”
Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) Priority 4 speaks directly to Education: “Strengthen the skills and human resource base”. Recognising the importance of
skills and education to enable every member of society to realise her/his potential and participate in social and economic life – and thus contribute to the reduction of
poverty, inequality and unemployment – the objective is to focus our skills and education system towards the delivery of quality outcomes.
In addition, this Strategic Goal is in line with the MTSF Strategic Priorities: Speeding up growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and
sustainable livelihoods
This goal is also linked to the MTSF Strategic Priority: Sustainable Resource Management and use. The current global economic crisis has led to the dwindling of
income or revenue for Government, which means that all departments have to make do with less funding and be cost effective in service delivery.