Deputy Minister
MEC’s & HoDs
Director-General
DBE Senior Management
Thank you for coming to attend our second Council of Education Ministers (CEM) meeting for this 2016 academic year.
We open today’s CEM on a sad note. We learned with sadness about the tragic death of six learners who perished following a motor vehicle accident in the Eastern Cape a day before yesterday. All the departed were learners at the Zwelivumile Senior Secondary School, at Ngcobo District in the Eastern Cape.
These learners were coming back from Soccer and Netball matches at Ngcongolo Senior Secondary School (formerly known as Nomaheya SSS) in the Ngcobo District.
We wish the seven children who survived, but suffered a variety of injuries, speedy recovery.
On behalf of this collective, I wish to say to the families of the dearly departed that they must know - we all share in their pain and loss of loved ones.
May the souls of the dearly departed rest in peace!
Moment of silence!!!!
Let me firstly thank all the MEC's and their HoD's who have made it to this important meeting. We received a few apologies that we have accepted. MEC Nkonyeni is delivering her Budget Speech today.
At our last CEM meeting we noted progress with regard to the start of 2016 academic year where only a few glitches were reported.
Our focus immediately shifted to addressing the perennial issues that emerged from the National Senior Certificate Examinations Diagnostic Report.
Provincial Visits
During our provincial visits we re-established the paramount importance of our “Back to the Basics” approach – (a) the appointment of the right teacher for the right class, teaching the right subject; (b) time on task – teachers teaching the requisite number of the lessons at a predetermined timeframe, managers managing at least in terms of their Operational Plans; (c) Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSMs) must have been delivered by the end of the first term.
Sadly, it was frustrating to hear that in some of the provinces - LTSM had not been delivered, and yet I had been informed otherwise. I want to stress that reports made to me as the Executive Authority must inherently be true and honest, because on the basis of these reports, I account to the Cabinet and National Assembly. We all know the consequences of misleading the National Assembly thus appearing as a liar to the nation.
Nonetheless, I am happy to report to Council that we have managed to visit the three provinces i.e. KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo who contributed just over 25 percent to the overall failure rate. We have had robust and frank discussions on the range of issues.
It is gratifying to note that over and above our visits, certain provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Free State have had their own provincial summits/Indabas to tackle their own unique set of challenges head-on. I had had the honour to be invited to these meetings. I must say our visits and provincial summits prove beyond any reasonable doubt that we are in this together. I am confident to say, we are indeed a nation at work.
I thank the provinces that we have visited for their cooperation, and in particular Premiers in these provinces who have displayed exemplary leadership by taking a keen interest in the matters of basic education.
In the same vein we would want to stress to provinces, the importance of heightened implementation of all plans agreed to during our visits and provincial summits/Indabas.
Underperforming Schools Reporting Season
We are about to reach the deadline for reporting on the plans to manage underperforming schools. The deadline is 31 March every year. This is the requirement of the South African Schools Act (SASA) 84 of 1996. The relevant Section 58b (7) directs that Members of the Executive Council (MECs) must report to the Minister of Basic Education within three months after the end of the school year on the action taken by the Head of Department (HOD) with regards to managing underperforming schools in the province. I await eagerly reports in this area because it is critical in our quest to improve the overall health of the system.
ICT Workshop
Last week, together with MECs Schaeffer and Lesufi, we attended an Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Workshop in Education, organised by the ICT Ministerial Task Team and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT). The workshop received progress report on 10 Operation Phakisa specific initiatives that are in progress to deliver on the NDP vision for ICT in education. I must say, the lessons learnt at this workshop are invaluable, and give us hope that we will soon be on our way to migrate to full ICTs in basic education.
China Connection
I want to touch a bit on the China-South Africa Cooperation Agreement in the area of basic education. I know there has been a misconception in the public domain that this Cooperation Agreement was lopsided meant only to benefit China through the introduction of Mandarin in our schools.
This public perception has a tenuous acquaintance with the truth. I am glad to report to Council that just last week, I had the honour to address the official launch of the Planetarium. The Planetarium was shipped to South Africa from China. The China Educational Instrument and Equipment Corporation (CEIEC) donated this Planetarium to South Africa as part of our Cooperation Agreement. The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre was identified as a strategic site to house this Planetarium.
Other areas of Cooperation Agreement where progress is being made include:
- Curriculum Development and Implementation;
- Mathematics, Science and Technology Education;
- Teacher Training and Development;
- Vocational Education and Training;
- Research and Development to improve training.
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education
In conclusion, we have received and accepted an invite from the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to attend a three-day Strategic Planning Workshop to be held on 22 – 24 March 2016. I encourage all Council Members to attend. Public accountability is the heartbeat of our constitutional democracy.
We must present a united front before our lawmakers, renew trust in the basic education sector, and prove that we are on top of all challenges plaguing the sector.
I will pause here DM, and allow the meeting to proceed.
I thank you.
