The education of the African child should be what all stakeholders should be concerned about - to instil the culture of learning within the black community, said Public Enterprises Minister, Malusi Gigaba, today.
Visiting two schools in the Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga as part of the 2012 back-to-school programme, Minister Gigaba told the parents committee, school governing bodies and teachers that the education of the African child is a societal issue that needs the participation of all stakeholders, particularly the parents of learners.
The Minister first visited Nyamande Secondary School in Thulamahashe, where he lamented the lack of unity between the stakeholders who are supposed to be concerned about the learner.
“All of us have an important task of ensuring that we leave a legacy that ensures that the African child receives the best education standard possible. We therefore need to stop politicising education as the only political issue we need to be concerned about is the learner in the classroom,” said Minister Gigaba.
The Minister undertook to make time and to come back to engage all stakeholders at Nyamande in an effort to improve the pass rate of matriculants.
The back-to-school programme is a national programme where public representatives from national, provincial and local government are encouraged to visit schools and check on their state of readiness, which includes the state of infrastructure and the delivery of learner material.
Minister Gigaba was joined by Ms Patricia Ngobeni from the provincial legislature, officials from the Education Department, members of the school governing body, the educators forum, and local councillors.
The delegation then proceeded to Hlavathi Primary School, which despite their challenges of being under-staffed, are able to get on with the business of educating the African child.
Mr EH Mona from the Education Department said that the visits to the schools should not be seen as "witch-hunts" but rather in the context as a valuable process to improve the quality of education in the country.
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Minister Malusi Gigaba visits schools in Mpumalanga as part of back-to-school programme
