The Eastern Cape Education Department is moving fast to stand firm in their aspirations of improving the 2010 grade 12 results.
With only 44 days before the final examinations commence, MEC said he was sympathetic to the immense challenge placed on learners by the industrial strike action.
"I support the right of teachers to strike, but this has meant that our young people have to experience considerable anxiety about their capacity to cope and we want to assist them with revision through various intervention measures, hence the call to parents, teachers and the general public to come together for the sake of our children's futures," he said.
Over 50 days have gone by with learners not having been part of the normal classroom environment due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and now industrial strike.
While assistive measures were offered to learners, particularly grade twelve's, throughout the province in the form of extra classes; a considerable number of matriculants feel that they will have to be assisted further in their capacity before the final examinations in October.
As the impact of the teachers' strike added to the matriculants' efforts to cope with the upcoming examinations, MEC Mahlubandile Qwase is steadfast that "with the right support", the Eastern Cape learners will do better once more at the end of the year.
He called upon all teachers in the province to once again "commit in our province by going the extra mile in the realisation of the education enterprise".
The province last year recorded a 0.4 percent improvement in its final matriculation results from 50.6 percent in 2008 to 51.1 percent in 2009.
During his announcement of the 2009 matric results in January, MEC Qwase said more would be done to raise the pass rate scale of the provincial education "past the expected national average".
"It is heartening that we can at least reflect on positive developments in the department that seems to suggest that the tide is gradually turning and that we are finally grappling with these requisite areas that will enable us to realise the key pillars of the learner attainment and improvement strategy (LAIS)," he had said.
As MEC Qwase calls for the various stakeholders to come together to devise means of support to the learners who will be facing the final hurdle of their school careers, it is envisaged that:
- Parents will offer supervisory assistance by opening up their homes to the learners who need monitoring in areas where they (parents may have expertise of)
- Teachers to assist with the revision which is part of the catch-up measures as well as extra classes in areas of necessity
- Business community to offer advice and other necessary assistance as derived by the discussions.
The MEC would like to remind all education stakeholders during this difficult period of recovering lost teaching and learning time to double their efforts with the primary focus being mentoring, guiding and supporting grade 12 learners.
"The commitment, dedication and sacrifice of all education stakeholders is both anticipated and appreciated, and together let's help our learner in preparing for their future," concluded Qwase.
Source: Department of Education, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
