This represents a review of the planning framework of the department of basic education (DBE), to reflect changes in functional areas, institutional structures, and plans and programmes at the national level; and allow for the coverage of issues pertaining to provinces in provincial programmes and plans. The areas of focus for the five-year sectoral strategic plan include the provision of learning and teaching support materials (LTSM), support for rural and small schools, and recruitment and deployment of educators.

The purposes for which the report was developed include: to record the progress that has been made at a national and provincial level in the implementation processes; to track progress on priorities outlined in the National Inclusive Education Strategy of 2011; to highlight models of good practice at the provincial level and areas of need for additional resources, and to make recommendations on norms and standards as well as amendments required to ensure that South Africa meets its national and international educational obligations on inclusive education.

The full version of the action plan is directed at a broad range of stakeholders for the education sector, ranging from parents, teachers, school principals, and officials at the district, to foreign investors looking to invest in the development of the sector. It highlights the 27 goals of the action plans and specific delineations. The plan provides continuity, as it follows from the basic structure of the 2011 action. It guides the ten education departments dealing with basic education (the national Department of Basic Education and the nine provincial departments).

The WPRPD applies to duty-bearers, oversight institutions, government institutions, the judiciary, the private sector, the media, law and policy makers, public servants, frontline staff, as well as representative organisations of persons with disabilities (inclusive of parents’ organisations) and non-governmental organisations. The main beneficiaries of the successful implementation of the WPRPD will be persons with disabilities and their families as rights-holders. Among others, the WPRPD provides a course to mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities through the development of targeted interventions that remove barriers and apply the principles of universal design.

The strategic policy framework on disability for the post-school education and training (PSET) system intends to create an inclusive PSET system for people with disabilities, guide PSET institutions in the creation of an enabling environment for people with disabilities, and provide the department of higher education and training with a monitoring and evaluation instrument to ensure that disability compliance is mainstreamed in all PSET institutions.

The strategic plan of the department of higher education and training (DHET) follows from the second national priority of the national development plan (NDP); education, skills, and health. It charts the course of the DHET for the five years under covered by the plan. The focus of the DHET is on the development of the post-school education and training (PSET) system.

The amended regulations operate under the plant breeders’ rights act of 1976. The table detailing fees payable with respect to plant breeders’ rights is substituted.

Amendment of regulation 4 of the regulations; regarding the timeline for submission of pollution prevention plans.

The statutory measure provides a statutory mechanism for producers, brokers, traders or wool buyers, processors, importers and exporters to register with Cape Wools SA. Along with the statutory measure for records and returns, a national wool database capturing the details of stakeholders along the value chain will be created. Cape Wools SA’s mandate is to facilitate access to the wool market for industry participants. The statutory measure applies to wool.

The amendment of the scheme, under the plant improvement act of 1976. There is an alteration of the tables on common host plants of bacterial wilt disease, and the maximum percentage of potato tuber necrotic ringspot disease permissible in seed potatoes.

The entire Southwest Indian Seamount marine protected area consists of two offshore restricted zones, which are determined using the World Geodetic System (WGS) of 1984. The regulations stipulate that no scientific research within the protected area shall be carried out except with a research permit issued by the Minister. It lists out the general restrictions within the protected area.

The interim policy is in recognition of the critical importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) as a fundamental pillar of the foundation for lifelong learning. The government aims to incorporate ECD into the components of the policy framework for education and training in South Africa. It seeks to leverage programmes and strategies to help families and communities meet the needs of children from birth to at least nine years of age. The policy will “holistically cover the development of the young child and ensure an environment characterised by safety, protection, anti-bias and cultural fairness, to ensure that attitudinal and psychological healing, reconciliation and the start of nation-building can take place at a young age”.

This represents the white paper on special needs education in South Africa, towards building an inclusive education and training system. It highlights the resolve of the national government to audit special schools, develop investment plans to improve their quality of education and accommodate learners with severe disabilities. It overhauls the process of admitting learners, and it makes provisions for structures acknowledging the central role played by specified stakeholders, as a form of replacement. The white paper, together with the white paper on early childhood development (ECD), serves as the completion of seven years of post-apartheid policy development and policy-making on education and training.

This policy is developed to guide the provision of a comprehensive, integrated school health programme which is provided as part of the PHC package within the Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) framework. Its specific objectives include providing preventive and promotive services that address the health needs of school-going children and youth with regard to both their immediate and future health; supporting and facilitating learning through identifying and addressing health barriers to learning, and supporting the school community in creating a safe and secure environment for teaching and learning.

The 2007-2011 strategic plan represents the department of education’s reaffirmation and commitment towards the transformation of the education system in South Africa. The 4-year plan focuses on improving support to schools, educators, and district offices. The strategic plan is anchored to the broad priorities of the department: dealing with poverty, skills development, quality improvement, health and education, and institutional development.

The statement of policy and commitment by the department of education. The statement highlights the achievement in the education sector, as the country celebrates its first decade of freedom. The department pushes to build on the achievements; it seeks to enhance the professional status of teaching, and address infrastructural inadequacies in the education sector.

The amendment operates under the South African Schools Act of 2006. It sets out the national norms and standards for school funding, it deals with the procedures to be adopted by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) in determining resource allocations to schools, and it replaces all previous school funding norms issued in terms of sections of the South African Schools Act. The norms and standards deal with the public funding of public schools, the exemption of parents who are unable to pay school fees, and public subsidies to independent schools. They apply uniformly in all provinces.

The Strategy forms part of the implementation of education white paper 6 – Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. The strategy allows children facing educational barriers to exercise their basic education rights, and access to support services. It introduces new roles, and responsibilities for the
education support system in the country: the district-based support teams, special school resource centers, full-service schools, and the institution-level support teams.

The equitable policy sets out to address the persisting inequality challenges and inadequacies in allocation and access to basic school infrastructure services; laboratories, computers, and classrooms. The policy seeks to fill the gap of the lack of specific national and provincial policies. It serves as a framework to guide the development of physical teaching and learning environment.

The national reading strategy has the vision to ensure every South African learner becomes a fluent reader who reads to learn and reads for enjoyment and enrichment. It underpins South Africa’s participation in United Nations development campaigns, including; the UNESCO Literacy Decade 2003-2013, and the Education for All (EFA) campaign, which aims to increase literacy rates by 50% by the year 2015.