Madam Deputy Speaker, the Department of Basic Education received a staggering R32 billion in its budget. It is taxpayers who ultimately paid for this amount, but, are they receiving value for their money? We submit not, given the low rates of literacy, the low rates of numeracy, and given the fact that many stakeholders in the sector echoed the ACDP’s call for major reform during what, we believe, is the flawed BELA law-making process.
The ACDP believes we are punishing hardworking parents, as well as independent businesses in the education sector with over-regulation rather than promoting and encouraging free enterprise in education which can assist with public sector education which, as we know, is severely struggling.
Deputy Speaker, the ACDP further calls for improved real-time reporting that will aggressively cut poor-performing programmes in education, such as the much vaunted Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme. Over 98,000 teens and pre-teens gave birth in 2024, showing how this programme, which cost many millions of rands, has dismally failed.
The ACDP welcomes the report’s recommendation in this regard—that the department is to provide a comprehensive report on sexual assault and statutory rape at schools, and that such a report must include statistics from SAPS as these two crimes are very prevalent. No child should be left behind and no child should be sexually assaulted or raped in our schools.
The ACDP will support this report.
I thank you.
