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Today, at a meeting of the Council of Education Minister, it was my pleasure to announce that the Cabinet has approved an additional R718 million for school education in the 1995/96 financial year.

This amount will be in addition to the guideline amount that is under consideration for the total education budget in 1995/96.

Of the additional funds, an amount of R518 million will be allocated to the provincial education departments on a pro rata basis to assist with the introduction of free and compulsory education. This basis was agreed to by provincial MECs for education when budgetary allocations for 1995/96 were under discussion.

The balance of R200 million will be earmarked for such policy initiatives as adult basic education.

I am very pleased that the Cabinet has responded favourably to my urgent appeal for additional funds to augment the education budget.

Cabinets decision to make available additional funds show the government's clear commitment to the improvement of education and training.

At the meeting I also announced that a task team has been created to facilitate the process of provincialisation. The task team will arrange for agency services to be provided as and when requested by the provinces.

The task team's brief is to-

advise the Minister of Education, the Director-general of Education and the respective MECs for Education and their heads of department or management teams on the status of provincialisation in each province, and to suggest steps to facilitate progress;
develop processes which will legitimise procedures and mechanisms for orderly administration of provincialisation;
identify and prioritise performance areas that are critical to successful provincialisation;
develop criteria to ensure the integrity of the process;
liaise, where necessary, with state departments responsible for transverse functions;
act as a nodal point for the relinquishing departments in providing access to provincial education structures and for the purposes of the functions assigned to the task team;
consult each province on possible interim needs for human resources for assistance in planning and implementing aspect of provincialisation on which agreements have been reached and to co-ordinate the availability of such staff;
provide a support service to the Interim Committee of Heads of Education Departments to facilitate the process of provincialisation; and
plan and monitor "mopping up" actions once provincialisation has been completed.

The Council of Education Ministers has also accepted a recommendation of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education for the establishment of a committee to review the organisation, governance and funding of schools as early as is possible in the new year.

The task of the review committee will be to recommend to the Minister of Education the categories of schools which should be recognised in-law, the national norms for school governance and funding which should be established, and the process by which these matters should be negotiated in terms of the Constitution.

Issued on behalf of the Minister of Education
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