Textbook crisis deepens: Minister must take charge

An investigation by the DA has revealed that the school textbook crisis is deepening and now includes three provinces. This is despite assurances by the Department of Basic Education (DBE).

Today we will be writing to Minister Angie Motshekga to demand urgent intervention in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. Failure to intervene now will stunt the educational development of learners in these provinces.

We have reliably learnt through discussions with the Publisher's Association of South Africa (PASA) and meetings with provincial departments that:

• The Limpopo Education Department has still not placed any orders for textbooks. Publishers have not been briefed on the Limpopo situation and have no idea when this order will come.
• Books are only likely to be delivered to learners in Limpopo between 2-6 weeks after an order is placed. Learners could wait for books even longer if publishers are not adequately prepared for the order.
• Mpumalanga has abandoned the new curriculum altogether and has failed to order any textbooks to address major shortages.
• Section 21 schools in the Eastern Cape (schools purchasing textbooks directly from publishers) have so far spent just R104 million out of a R607 million budget allocated by the provincial department.

Yesterday a spokesperson for the DBE, Panyaza Losufi, stated that the situation is under control in these three provinces, with books to be delivered to learners shortly.

We don't believe this to be the case. Only workbooks that are merely supplementary to the core curriculum textbooks will be delivered in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. While books will arrive for some schools in the Eastern Cape in the next 1-2 weeks, learners in the majority of the over 3,000 Section 21 schools in the province are going to experience major textbook shortages.

The DA demands that:

• Immediate steps be taken to stabilise the management of the Limpopo Department and to begin the procurement process;
• Interventions be made in Mpumalanga to ensure that top-up orders are placed for textbooks;
• Urgent meetings be held with publishers to offer guarantees so that preparations for orders can take place;
• Education Development Officers be dispatched to schools in all three provinces to monitor the situation and ensure that books are received.

The majority of schools in Limpopo rely on the provincial department to order and deliver textbooks. It is clear that both the provincial department and its national administrators have failed learners. In Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, inadequate accountability on the part of provincial departments and schools has caused the crisis. In fact, the only province able to fully deliver was the one where the DA governs.

Through strong management, the Western Cape Education Department was able to overcome any initial problems created by the national department's delay in finalising the new catalogue for textbooks. Indeed, it delivered almost all of the books last year in November and December, with only a few brand new schools having to receive them in January because there was no one to receive them last year. Responsibilities to learners were taken seriously so that textbooks would reach schools on time.

Statement issued by Dr Wilmot James MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, January 13 2012

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