25 South African school principals arrive in China on study tour and School Administration Seminar
Twenty five school principals from South Africa and 4 officials from the Department of Basic Education have arrived in Shanghai, China, to participate in the Seminar on Education Policy and Management of Basic Education.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of South Africa has sponsored a delegation of 25 the school principals to participate in the seminar and also attend the International Confederation of Principals (ICP) Conference to be held in Shanghai.
The two programmes will be conducted from 12 to 27 October 2019.
The 25 principals have been selected from the leadership of the South African Principals’ Association which is an affiliate to the ICP and also due to the DBE’s commitment to support professional associations in the field of leadership and management in line with the National Development Plan (NDP).
All provinces are represented in the delegation.
The Seminar on Education Policy and Management of Basic Education is being hosted by the International Centre for Teacher Education at the East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai. Seven lectures have been organised to make presentations and lead discussions during the 14 day programme.
There will be visits to six schools and the ECNU campus itself as part of the study tour aimed at showcasing good practices that the South African delegation can learn from.
The background to this programme is that the Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga, MP has signed a Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Basic Education on 26 March 2013. Its implementation plan was signed during the Minister's visit to China from 17 to 22 October 2013.
The Minister met with the Ambassador of China on 6 March 2014 where one of the commitments made included sending of 25 school principals to China each year for the next five years for training, as part of incentivising their contribution to the sector.
The delegation is lead by James Ndlebe who is responsible for education management and governance in schools at the Department of Basic Education.
“It is important to expose our school principals to opportunities that can help them grow and develop for the benefit of their colleagues and indeed the learners. We cannot adequately prepare our learners to participate in the global economy as global citizens unless we ourselves become the compass to show them the direction by being global citizens ourselves. We need to start seeing what other countries are doing so we can learn and improve our situation. We need to expand our knowledge through the professional learning communities that we are establishing through this exercise,” he said.
The programme kicks off in earnest on Monday morning with a packed set of activities planned for the delegation.
Media Enquiries:
Elijah Mhlanga
Cell: 083 580 8275
