The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga has concluded her Provincial visit to the Eastern Cape in line with her responsibility to oversee and support provinces and also as part of the commitment to meet with provinces that recorded a high percentage drop in the 2015 NSC results.
The two day visit to the Eastern Cape comprised of meetings with the Provincial Education Department's MEC and Senior Management, District Directors, and Principals.
Progress was reported in a number of areas including the rationalisation of education districts from 23 to 12 and the rationalisation of unviable small schools. A number of challenges were identified in the meetings including the finalisation of Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) delivery, under spending on the school infrastructure budget and general challenges around the areas of supply chain management, human resources and financial management.
The Department of Basic Education also used these meetings to share information with District Directors and Principals on the resolutions of the National Education Lekgotla held in 21-22nd January 2016 at St George's Hotel in Centurion.
Resolutions taken at this Lekgotla include strengthening national, provincial and district plans aligned to the directives and mandates of the National department and decisions taken at CEM and HEDCOM:
- Identifying challenges and gaps towards the achievement of the NDP and Sector Plan goals and
- Strategies to address these challenges; measures to remedy weaknesses and strengthen Assessment systems,
- Consolidating the National Strategy for Learner Attainment, Evidence Based Report Framework and Provincial plans for 2016 in place; establishing the extent to which the sector has met the skills targets.
The Minister and the MEC agreed to form a joint team to work together to address identified challenges as a matter of extreme urgency to cooperate around to deal with the on-going challenges.
The team would prioritize ensuring that the basics are addressed to enable the department to focus on its core business of teaching and learning.
Enquiries:
Elijah Mhlanga
Cell: 083 580 8275
Troy Martens
Cell: 079 899 3070
