Pretoria - Almost six million books have been delivered in Limpopo, and the province expects to conclude the delivery of textbooks by mid-November for the 2014 academic year.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga made the announcement after meeting with the provincial Education MEC, top management as well as district officials on Friday.
The minister visited the province as part of the implementation of section 100 (1b) general monitoring by the national Department of Basic Education. She came to the province to evaluate the progress made since the implementation of the intervention, and also to interact with education stakeholders.
Motshekga was given status reports mainly on matters pertaining to educational infrastructure; the provision of learning, teaching support material (LTSM); financial matters; curriculum delivery and human resources matters.
Motshekga said the province continues to make progress in managing its human resources budget, which in the main led to the challenges that the province has been facing.
She, however, voiced her disappointment with the outcome of the Auditor General’s report, which gave the province a disclaimer.
“In my meeting with the Auditor General, the reason for the disclaimer was mainly due to the inability to resolve issues raised in previous years, mainly due to capacity constraints.
“We've already started working on the issues identified by the Auditor General and we are hopeful that by the time we conclude this intervention in the province, we will leave it with a healthy financial report,” Motshekga said after the meeting.
Infrastructure remains a challenge
Motshekga noted that infrastructure remained an area of great concern. She has requested both the province and the national department to attend to this issue immediately.
“A team from the national office, consisting of built environment experts, will also assist with those schools that are completed but still face challenges with forming collaborations with other departments, such as the Department of Correctional Services, who will assist the department in supplying and refurbishing school furniture infrastructure.”
The minister’s meeting also reflected on the province’s readiness for the upcoming National Senior Certificate examinations. Motshekga said she remained hopeful that the province will continue with its steady improvement in results in the forthcoming exams.
“We are also ready and excited for the 2014 school year,” she added. – SAnews.gov.za
