This policy applies to home education and all Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). The objectives of this policy are to: protect, promote and ensure the rights of learners to basic education; recognize parents’ prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children; and provide uniform and manageable procedures for home education in provinces.

The purpose of the protocol for the management and reporting of sexual abuse and harassment is to provide schools, districts and provinces with standard operating procedures for addressing allegations, and to specifically detail how schools must respond to reports of sexual abuse and harassment perpetrated against learners, educators and other school staff. It emphasizes that schools are mandated to assist victims of sexual abuse and harassment by following standard reporting procedures and through the provision of appropriate support to learners.

This document provides a policy framework for the management of school assessment, school assessment records and basic requirements for learner profiles, teacher files, report cards, record sheets and schedules for grades 1 – 12. It focuses on assessment policy for both internal assessments comprising School-Based Assessment and Practical Assessment Tasks where applicable and the end-of-year examinations.

The policy stipulated in this document applies to public ordinary and special schools and those independent schools that offer the national curriculum statement grades R – 12, which comprise: curriculum and assessment policy statements for all approved subjects listed in this document; national policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the national curriculum statement grades R – 12; and national protocol for assessment grades R – 12.

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 curriculum assessment policy statement outlining the guidelines for responding to learner diversity in the classroom. The guidelines are intended to provide teachers, principals, subject advisors, administrators, school governors and other personnel, parameters and strategies on how to respond to learner diversity in the classrooms through the curriculum. They are intended for school based teacher development by the Institution level support teams and district based support teams.

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 strategic plan outlines the building blocks necessary to ensure a strong foundation for the educational system. It strives to ensure that the skills needed to drive South Africa’s economic growth and social development are delivered at an increasing rate for both young people and adults.

The third skills development strategy is subsequent on the integration of programmes to create the department of higher education and training. It hopes to promote partnerships between employers, public education institutions, private training providers, and sector education and training authorities. The strategy seeks to prioritise solidifying the relationship among specified stakeholders.

The strategic plan aims to improve access to learning while combating the dual challenge of equity and development. It strives to ensure that the skills needed to drive South Africa’s economic growth and social development are delivered at an increasing rate for both young people and adults.

The policy emphasises the important role of parents and primary caregivers in providing care, support and upbringing of their children. The national policy focuses on providing comprehensive, universally available and equitable early childhood development services. The Policy covers the period from conception until the year before children enter formal school or, in the case of children with developmental difficulties and disabilities, until the year before the calendar year they turn seven (7), which marks the age of compulsory schooling or special education.

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 centres, full-service schools, and the institution-level support teams.

This represents the first distinct and independent strategic plan of the Department of Basic Education. The strategic plan sets out the three-year objectives and activities of the department, with emphasis on implementation and performance monitoring of the basic education system. The key objectives include; streamlining of the curriculum; development of strategies on the assessment of learners; recognition of the critical role played by teachers in delivering quality teaching and learning, and the role played by principals in management of schools; distribution of learning materials; and promotion of e-education strategies.

This serves as the first distinct policy of the ministry of higher education and training (MHET) dedicated to the use of distance education in higher education programmes. The MHET seeks to use the framework to chart a course towards the development of South African distance higher education as an indispensable and integral component of the nation’s higher education system. The policy is formulated as a result of the increasing growth of the distance education component of higher education in the country.

Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025 (Summary)

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 delivery agreement is long-term and applies to the whole government. It provides detail to the outputs, targets, indicators and key activities to achieve outcome 1; Improved quality of basic education. The agreement identifies the required inputs and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the various delivery partners. It should be read alongside the Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realization of Schooling 2025.

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 intended for managers responsible for implementation, and people responsible for monitoring the success of implementation. It highlights the 27 goals of the action plans and specific delineations. The plan is South Africa’s foremost comprehensive long-term sector plan for schools; and it guides the ten education departments dealing with basic education (the national Department of Basic Education and the nine provincial departments).

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).