The current report forms part of a larger project examining problems and solutions in the collection and use of data in provincial education systems in South Africa. This report focusses on Western Cape’s schooling system, a system often considered exemplary in terms of its information systems and processes in the national context.

The current report forms part of a larger project examining problems and solutions in the collection and use of data in provincial education systems in South Africa. This report focusses on KwaZulu-Natal’s schooling system. It accompanies a similar report dealing with Western Cape.

These reports are part of the National Treasury’s Financial Management Improvement Programme (FMIP) III, funded by the European Union.This current report forms part of a larger project examining problems and solutions in the collection and use of data in provincial education systems in South Africa. This report focusses on ways in which the Grade 12 examinations data could be utilised in better ways to gauge performance and progress at the level of the school. It also presents a proposed school report card.

The current report presents what is largely the result of desktop analysis to inform a broader project examining the use of data in two South African provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, to strengthen service delivery in schools. The inception report for the project provides details on the project design. The project is titled ‘Assessment of education department data use in provinces and the formulation of recommendations aimed at improving systems and service delivery outcomes’. The scope of the project can be described as ‘data generation and use’, where ‘data’ means databases, and not, for instance, digital materials used in the classroom for teaching and learning.

The current summary report forms part of a larger project examining problems and solutions in the collection and use of data in provincial education systems in South Africa. This report draws from a number of other reports, in particular a literature review, two province specific reports covering Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and a report focussing on optimal Grade 12 performance indicators.