dysfunctional schools"
18 January 2007
The Department of Education (DoE) noted with some interest a press
conference by Mr George Boinamo regarding his party's plan in the above regard.
Regrettably, the only concrete suggestion made in the plan is to "set up a task
team to visit the schools and recommend how to overcome the shortcomings." With
respect, this hardly qualifies as a plan.
As a Member of Parliament, Mr Boinamo would have heard the Minister of
Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, refer to a National Education Evaluation and
Development (NEED) Unit in her speeches to the House, which would serve
precisely such a purpose. He would also, as a member of the Education Portfolio
Committee of the National Assembly, have attended the presentation by the
Department on 16 August 2006, which outlined the establishment and functioning
of such a unit. And he may also be aware of the Minister's political will in
this matter, which allowed her to raise this matter in her address to the 2006
South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Congress.
So the DA Plan is no more than a disappointing re-statement of the plans of
the Department of Education, without any of the content or detail that the
Department has developed. As its name implies, the NEED Unit, as an "arms
length" authority, would use reports from the Integrated Quality Management
System (IQMS) and Whole School Evaluation processes, as well as other
indicators (like the Systemic Evaluation and matric results) to identify
schools in need of support, to evaluate the situation, and provide the
necessary development interventions. It would do so on a systematic basis, at
both primary and secondary levels, rather than as a knee-jerk, political
response to the matric results of 2006.
To be a constructive opposition in educational matters, the DA needs to do
better than this.
Issued by: Department of Education
18 January 2007
