Pretoria - The Gauteng Education Department is steadily fulfilling the promise of quality education, says Education MEC Barbara Creecy.
Speaking on Thursday at a briefing to expand on the department's plans for the year following the State of the Province Address, Creecy said they would continue with their interventions in all the phases of the education system , although particular focus will be given to 1 228 underperforming schools.
"This year for the first time we are expanding our range of interventions in secondary schools to target the transition from primary to high school, the Intermediate (Grade 4-7) and Senior (Grade 8 and 9) Phase," she said.
A catch-up programme - which will be infused with normal teaching and learning - has been developed for Grade 8s to ensure that learners are at the required level of development for English and Mathematics.
"It includes a programme for class reading and group reading in English and daily 10-minute catch-up activities for mathematics," she said.
The primary school language and literacy intervention is also being expanded to include numeracy.
This year 460 coaches will be recruited to support literacy and numeracy in primary schools. The coaches support teachers in preparing for class, work with them in class to ensure they deliver lessons, and give them professional feedback.
With regards to school safety and security, Creecy said 4 636 patrollers had now been deployed to 1 602 schools.
"We will in April train all patrollers in grade C and D security qualification through the SASETA... By end of this week we will complete the verification of all patrollers' details to enable us to process their stipends regularly," she said.
All districts have also completed phase one of linking schools with their local police stations and have verified specific data to ensure that they have safety committees and plans of action in place.
Progress was being made in reaching the target of 5 000 Grade R sites by 2014. There are 3 359 sites in Gauteng and 312 new sites have been registered for 2012. Approximately 307 Grade R prefabricated classrooms have been delivered and are already occupied, she said.
"We currently have 107 000 learners attending ECD sites, nearly two-thirds of the 2014 target of 150 000, Creecy noted.
On the issue of no fee schools, Creecy said her department had increased access to no fee schools by extending the programme to learners in 46 secondary schools and 118 primary schools in the province.
"A total of 164...schools were declared no fee paying schools and a total of 12 new schools have applied for 2012 financial year," she added.
The department also received 249 applications for school fee exemption by 30 July 2011. By 15 November 2011, it had paid R11 562 746 to 223 schools to assist them with fee exemptions and will pay an additional R1 189 262 to 21 schools by end of March.
Creecy said 15 new schools had already opened this year, with 17 more expected to open its doors in March and four in April.
