education in Gauteng
15 May 2007
The Gauteng MEC for Education Angie Motshekga and education stakeholders in
the province engaged in earnest reform talks that were mainly focused on
improving the education of the African Child. The third Gauteng Regional
Education Summit took place at the Soweto College on Saturday, 12 May 2007.
The Gauteng Department of Education has committed itself to identifying and
dealing with the root causes of under-performance in the province especially in
schools that are based in previously disadvantaged communities, by hosting
regional education summits.
The summits make provision for active participation of education
stakeholders including learners and teachers. The learners are given an
opportunity to raise issues and concerns that contribute to the
under-performance of schools. These concerns are then opened for discussion and
solutions are proposed and discussed.
The MEC encouraged stakeholders to dispel the myth that schools located in
poor areas are justified to under-perform. "This can not be used as a hide-out
forever by those who do not want to manage schools effectively," said
Motshekga. The MEC blamed some principals for having a 'do not care attitude'
towards their work. "Principals in most cases do not have a clue of which
learners are potential failures and what methods are used by teachers and Head
of Departments (HODs) to address learner barriers to success."
"They do not attend workshops dealing with the content and management of the
new curriculum so as to familiarise themselves with the latest curriculum
imperatives for effective and efficient management and leadership in their
schools," she said.
Motshekga said she will not stand by in silence or be intimidated into
submission while the future of an African child is destroyed, particularly when
there is sufficient evidence that African educational thought-processes are
effective and efficient if applied with discipline and commitment. The MEC
identified lack of resources as one of the problems faced by the department,
but also said a lack of a disciplined work ethic from some teachers, learners
and school managers played a role.
"If a school performs below 60% for seven years and yet their annual salary
bill is R1 million, how do we explain this to the tax payers, particularly the
poor because the only hope and weapon they have against poverty is education,"
added Motshekga.
For more information contact:
Kate Bapela
Tel: 011 355 0524
Cell: 083 447 6505
Issued by: Department of Education, Gauteng Provincial Government
15 May 2007
