ORGANIZATIONAL TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES: LTSM
Strategic Goals and Mandates: Goal plan 19
The current position with regards to access of Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) in South African schools reflects our apartheid past. Government in addressing and eliminating these inequalities of the past has invested hugely in equal provisioning of textbooks and other essential LTSM resources. The key objective as per Goal 19, as stated in the Vision 2030 document, is to ensure that each learner has access to quality learning and teaching material to meet the requirements of the curriculum and improve learner performance.
The Northern Cape Department of Education has rolled out the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) to all schools in the province as follows:
Foundation phase and grade 10- 2012 Academic year
Intermediate phase and grade 11 – 2013 Academic year and
Senior phase and grade 12 – 2014 Academic year
The Department has also introduced an online textbook tracking and monitoring system where schools are able to place their orders and also have access to view their placed orders and delivery status. This system is the first in the country and has improved service that the Department renders to schools. The system is currently adopted and used by the Limpopo Department of Education with a possibility of being rolled out to all the other provinces, by the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
Our success in the implementation of CAPS could also be aligned to the good relationship the Department has build with publishers over the years but most importantly, by using the South African Post Office (SAPO), as a distribution agent for the delivery of textbooks to schools.
Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM)
The Department has put systems in place to raise accountability with regard to managing this valuable resource. Retention and Retrieval of textbooks remain a challenge, which ultimately results in high annual top up needs, which the Department cannot afford.
The current retrieval rate of 84.6%, needs to be improved upon. Managing this resource is critical since non-retrieval impacts on universal coverage which aims to ensure all learners have the required textbooks per subject.
The Department, through its training interventions, capacitated ALL 545 public ordinary schools on managing LTSM and improving retrieval strategies in 2017. It must be stressed that Retrieval is a societal issue and that parents and the community at large have a critical role to play in ensuring that ALL textbooks and LTSM provided to learners are returned in a good condition.
Our annual Retrieval campaign will be strengthened and will call on all role players to advocate 100% retrieval.
100% Retrieval of Textbooks
The Northern Cape Department of Education (NCDOE) strives to ensure that learning and teaching takes place from day one when schools reopen in January. Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) is an integral and vital part of every education system and the effective management, utilisation and maintenance of this valuable resource will ensure access and support to the delivery of quality education.
As the 2022 school year speedily draw to a close, the NCDOE wants to call on all role players and the community at large to join the 100% Retrieval of Textbooks campaign and would like to remind all learners to return textbooks for the benefit of other learners in the Province.
The provision of textbooks for every learner in the schooling system is one o the priorities of the Government and millions of Rands are spent annually on LTSM. The Department has committed that every learner must have a core textbook for every subject in Grade. If this resource is not protected and valued, money which otherwise could have been used for new innovative LTSM has to be used to replace books which are lying in homes not being utilised.
Parents are requested to honour their parental responsibility in ensuring that their children act responsibly and ensure that All textbooks loaned to their child is returned before the end of the academic year.
Principals of schools are required to ensure that maximum retention of textbooks is achieved. That calls for effective textbook retrieval system at every school in the province.
Schools are however reminded not to withhold learner’s reports/results as a result of failure to retrieve textbooks even though a strong culture of returning textbooks is emphasized.
This campaign is aimed at all citizens, those in and out of school. This is a societal issue. Let’s ensure 100% retrieval of textbooks in the Northern Cape
Attachments
Provincial Policy for the Provision and Management of LTSM
2018 NCDOE Sector Management Plan for the Development, Printing, Procurement, Delivery and Utilisation LTSM
Roles and Responsibilities for Procurement and Delivery of LTSM
Circular No 45 of 2020: 2020 Retrieval Campaign, 100% Retrieval of Textbooks
100% Retrieval Campaign Poster