8 February 2006
The Free State Department of Education (FSDoE) will on 13 to 16 February,
host its first Provincial Education Conference that will be held at Ilanga
Estate, in Bloemfontein.
Background
As the provincial Education Department continued from year to year to
implement identified departmental programmes, it became clear that there are
areas that need further broader consultation and collective effort for
successful implementation.
In 2005 various summits for Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET), Early
Childhood Development (ECD) and Further Education and Training (FET) were
planned to sharpen implementation. As the programme for 2005 became more
congested it became clear that it would not be feasible to hold three separate
summits in one year. It is for this reason that the three summits were
collapsed into one comprehensive education conference. The conference will
further focus on Governance and Governance Councils as well as Professional and
Teacher Development.
The conference is expected to emerge with focused implementable resolutions
that will assist the FSDoE to improve service delivery in the five areas
identified for discussion.
The Conference hopes to achieve amongst others;
* That having clarified the focus of ABET in the province the department will
be able to design and implement programme offerings that will attract increased
number of adult learners that will lead to accelerated eradication of adult
literacy,
* That the recapitalisation of FET Colleges must lead to revised and improved
programmes that will attract the majority of high school students,
* That the ECD programmes must be rapidly expanded to the poorest of
communities and to reach a stage where Grade R is formalised in schools,
* To institutionalise the training of SGBs in order to empower the parent
community to assist meaningfully in the governance of schools, and to establish
effective governance structures in all schools,
* To develop a model for teacher development and support that will enable all
teachers to be more confident and capable in the delivery of the National
Curriculum Statement; just to mention a few.
The conference is expected to be addressed by Minister Naledi Pandor, the
Premier of the Free State Ms Beatrice Marshoff, MEC for Education Ms Ouma Tsopo
and a list of distinguished experts in the identified fields.
Details regarding the conference: Gala Dinner
Date: 13 February
Time: 18h00 for 18h30
Conference
Date: 14 â 16 February 2006
Venue: Ilanga Estate
Time: 09h00 to 16h00 daily
The media is cordially invited.
Journalists who will be attending the Conference should forward their
particulars to: Ms Palesa Mpuru
Tel: (051) 404 8105
E-mail: mpurup@edu.fs.gov.za on or
before Friday, 10 February 2006
Enquiries: Solly RN Magalefa
Tel: (051) 404 8314
Fax: (051) 404 8082
Cell: 082 573 3404
E-mail: magalefasr@edu.fs.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education, Free State Provincial Government
8 February 2006
Source: Free State Department of Education (http://www.fsdoe.fs.gov.za/)
