As a department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, we would like to congratulate Premier elect, Senzo Mchunu, for being elected as the premier of the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
In the education sector, Mchunu played an invaluable role as the most grounded and experienced member of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). Mchunu played a major role in advising the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motsekga, in shaping the policy direction of the entire basic education sector in the country.
As the MEC of the largest education province in the country, his success became the success of the entire education sector and that record speaks volume about the kind of a leader Senzo Mchunu is. He achieved all that has been achieved in the province, in spite of all the challenges that the education sector in the province is faced with.
When Mchunu took over the department in 2009, there were many education MECs who had been there before him, but his tenure from 2009 was characterised by visible improvement from 67% in the NSC results in 2009 to 75% in 2012.
The attainment of 75% in 2012 is significant in that 75% is the target the education sector in country has set itself for 2015. This means under the leadership of Senzo Mchunu, the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, reached the target of 2015 in 2012.
His motto which is “a classroom is a centre piece of everything we do” defines his philosophical approach to education. He made our more than 110 000 officials including educators and office based staff to understand that if what they do does not affect the classroom positively, it means they are irrelevant.
This forward looking approach from MEC Mchunu changed the education for the better in the province even the improvement in the ANA results speaks of the kind of a leader Senzo Mchunu is.
As a chairperson of the Social Cluster in the province, Mchunu’s leadership bore many fruits. The most import achievement in this regard is the Ndumo project which will be launched in October this year. This “elusive” project which started to be discussed during the times of Dr Lionel Mtshali, was only realised during the tenure of Senzo Mchunu as the chairperson of the Social Cluster.
As a result of his foresight, the Ndumo project, which is a zone for economic development, is now going to take place in all the districts in the province. All these achievements speak of the leadership traits of Premier Senzo Mchunu.
As the Operation Sukuma Sakhe Uthungulu champion, he made people appreciate the significance of OSS both in Uthungulu and Umkhanyakude where he worked closely with MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu. His lasting legacy in the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal will be his programme of the Transformation of the Schooling System.
This flagship programme which includes sub-programmes like school name changes, consolidation of small and non-viable schools and many other sub-programme, has seen education on the trajectory of its improvement in this province. We promise Mchunu that we will implement this programme to the fullest.
Lastly, we would like to congratulate the people of KwaZulu-Natal for having the best possible premier who is going to ensure better life for all the people of KwaZulu-Natal and we wish him well in his new portfolio.
May his star continue to shine.
