Public Service Commission to Assess Service Delivery of
Northern Province Education Department against the Batho
Pele Policy
07 March 2000
On March 13 2000, the Public Service Commission (PSC) will
dispatch a team led by resident Commissioner Koko Mokgalong
to visit schools in the Northern Province. The visit is
keeping with the function of the PSC to promote efficient
and effective service delivery. This team from the regional
office of the PSC is tasked with having to determine and
assess the scope, level and quality of service delivered by
some schools in both rural and urban areas of the province,
within the framework of transformation of the public service
as provided by the Batho Pele policy.
The March visit to Northern Province schools marks a second
of on-site visits made to the Province by the PSC. The first
provincial visit was made to Magistrates' Courts in December
last year. The evaluation of these schools is part of a
broader project of the Public Service Commission to
benchmark all public service departments against the
requirements of the Batho Pele White Paper.
The PSC launched this evaluation programme in late 1999 to
determine adherence to the Batho Pele policy by national and
provincial departments. This PSC project is in line with
government's commitment to building a public service that is
capable of effectively and efficiently delivering services
to the citizens of South Africa.
The launch departments exemplify the first phase of the
programme, and include Home Affairs, SAPS, Health, as well
as others identified for pilots in the Batho Pele policy.
While it is a broad-based initiative, the PSC's evaluation
exercise has led to several projects that are to be
conducted in phases. After completion of the first phase the
PSC will table a report in Parliament and Provincial
Legislatures that will inform on how well departments have
fared in improving their services to people.
As a transformation guideline, the Batho Pele, or "people
first" policy, emphasises the public as primary recipients
of customer service delivered by government. This government
policy stipulates certain principles which departments are
required to observe, among them, that:
- All citizens should have equal access to services to
which they are entitled;
- Citizens should be treated with courtesy and
consideration; and
- Citizens should be given full, accurate information
about the services they are entitled to receive.
The overall aims of the PSC Evaluation project are to:
- Evaluate the extent to which all departments have
implemented the requirements of the Batho Pele policy;
- Evaluate all departments with regard to the extent
to which they have implemented the requirements of the
Batho Pele policy;
- Benchmark departments against key requirements of
the Batho Pele policy;
- Evaluate service delivery at grass roots level (at
the service delivery points);
- Solicit views on constraints/problems experienced by
departments in implementing the policy;
- Obtain baseline information on service delivery
issues; and
- Make recommendations on service delivery
improvement.
The schools visits are part of in loco inspections the
PSC conducts in departments' service delivery points, and
reflects the importance the PSC places on evaluating the
effectiveness and efficiency of public servants' interaction
with the 'customer' (public') at these service delivery
points. It also demonstrates the Public Service Commission's
commitment to ensuring that the Batho Pele policy does not
end up as just plans to improve service delivery but is
carried out in practice.
Issued by the Public Service Commission
For more information refer to:
Resident Commissioner Ms Koko Mokgalong 082 490-5012 or
Communications Contact: Yvonne Mogadime 082-448-2385 or
(012) 352-1196
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