The DA has written (view here) to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Education portfolio committee Chairperson, PATN Buthelezi amid concerns that some officials are obstructing the committee’s oversight agenda.
The move comes as the committee embarks on a series of province-wide oversight inspections to evaluate the status of National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations which are currently underway.
The DA has raised its concerns regarding the over reliance on education officials to direct Legislature Members’ oversight agenda after visiting two schools in the Zululand District on Tuesday.
The schools – Mbhekwa High School and Pongola Akademia – were chosen by officials for oversights despite performing satisfactorily in the 2023 NSC examinations.
The DA has questioned the selection criteria used, given that there are more than a dozen schools in the same district that performed dismally last year and in the preceding years which would benefit from an official visit by the portfolio committee.
Instead, the schools selected and visited by the portfolio committee gave the appearance that the Zululand District is performing satisfactorily and that there are no real issues – which is far from the case.
In October the DA conducted its own NSC state of readiness tour across the province. We informed the education portfolio committee that KZN had 16 schools that achieved less than a 45% pass rate and 10 that have not achieved above 45% during the last three years.
The sentiments expressed by the DA during the oversight were supported by IFP, EFF and MK representatives, all of whom were all present for the joint initiative. This was the first time that all parties had agreed on something fundamental as members of the portfolio committee.
The response given by education officials is that the criteria only stipulate that schools from both an urban and rural setting are visited and does not specify that school performance be in question.
The DA is vehemently opposed to this approach. Oversight inspections such as this cost taxpayers’ vast sums given that transport, accommodation and catering are involved.
They should have tangible outcomes, such as turn-around strategies for underperforming schools. Taking the committee to well-functioning schools is not an effective utilisation of time and the resources of KZN’s already severely strained finances.
The correspondence between the DA and Chairperson Buthelezi calls for the involvement of Members of the Legislature when oversight programmes are drafted to allow inputs and assess effectiveness and needs.
This approach will allow for real issues to be addressed and a far better utilisation of our provinces resources when oversights are conducted. Under KZN’s government of provincial unity (GPU) public money can no longer be wasted on pointless exercises.