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Department: Educationdivide, particularly in rural areas, and ensure equitable access to e-learning platforms and ICT-driven educational tools. A total Wi-Fi deployment during the period benefitted about 800 schools in eight education districts, consisting of Amathole (156 sites), Alfred Nzo (193), Buffalo City (42), Chris Hani (179), Joe Gqabi (18), Nelson Mandela Bay (25), OR Tambo (128) and Sarah Baartman (59 sites). In respect to Broadband Connectivity, the State Information Communication Technology (SITA) has connected and handed over 1 375 however, as at end of December 2024 and 755 remain not utilised. The primary challenge for Education is the absence of LAN infrastructure, preventing full utilization of the connectivity. Infrastructure Development Education continued to provide infrastructure that is conducive to the delivery of quality teaching and learning the implementation of several school infrastructure projects from Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG), amidst enormous challenges faced by department. This programme provided a boarding facility currently at its final stages and is expected to be completed by end March 2025. There were also two (2) additional specialist learning rooms were built e.g., laboratory and library centre. Other significant infrastructure achievements include the provision of water services to fortynine (49) schools, electricity for four (4) schools and sanitation services to seven (7) facilities, fortyone (41) schools that were provided with fencing and other general maintenance activities undertaken in different schools. 2.2 Key challenges Amidst the delivery of the above key services, the department was confronted with enormous challenges in the system, which include amongst others: %u25cf Continuous rise in violence and crime in schools has reached alarming levels and panic. This ranges from vandalism of school property to theft and burglary, posing a threat to safety of both teachers and learners in schools, whilst also impacting negatively on the resources that are provided to schools. In September 2024, the department organised a School Safety Summit in Nelson Mandela Bay. The summit aimed to inspire community involvement in enhancing safety for schools and children. Research indicates that collaboration among parents, communities, and government officials can lead to secure school environments. %u25cf The slow pace of School Rationalisation and Re-alignment Programme (SRRP) remains problematic and has necessitated collaboration with intergovernmental structures for quicker resolution. %u25cf Payment of municipal bail outs for schools that keep defaulting on their municipal service charges has constrained the departmental budget on key service delivery areas. %u25cf Non-availability of connectivity in schools remains a maijor problem and the department has set aside a budget for school and district ICT infrastructure to purchase routers for those schools that have not yet benefitted from broadband services. %u25cf Appointment and retaining therapeutic staff (Therapists / Specialists) in public schools since most of these professionals opt for Private Sector employment. %u25cf A number of unfunded mandates continue to put strain on the already constrained fiscal envelope, thus making it difficult to ensure smooth implementation of key programmes. These include but not limited to; Three Streams Model, Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education, Reading Strategy, General Education Certificate; Coding and Robotics etc. %u25cf Delays in the implementation of infrastructural school projects leading to underperformance. 334