Learning and teaching is up and running in Mpumalanga province
The new chapter of the academic journey has begun with the reopening of schools in Mpumalanga.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, spent two days in the province from 15-16 January 2015 to evaluate the state of school readiness in terms of availability of learning material, resources, state of teacher capacity and school infrastructure. The Minister was impressed that all schools pledged their commitment to quality learning and teaching in 2015. Schools in coastal provinces such as the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal will reopen on 21 January 2015.
Mpumalanga achieved 79 percent, up by 1.4 percent from 77.6 percent in 2013. Mpumalanga also needs to be congratulated for sustaining the improvement during the past few years in the 2014 National Senior Certificates Examinations (NSC). This is a result of 'The race to the top initiative', aimed at strengthening the underperforming districts to reach greater heights. Through this initiative, Minister Motshkega met with various districts on a quarterly basis to share the best practices in class while creating a platform for underperforming districts to learn from others.
Addressing education stakeholders in each school, the Minister said that the mobilisation of communities to support education remain the most import step to drive schools to perform better. Minister Motshekga encouraged principals and teachers to work very hard in ensuring that no learner quit the schooling system without a National Senior Certificate. “Let’s invest our energy and efforts in our children to achieve success in life,” Minister Motshekga advised.
During the school visits, Minister Motshekga interacted with principals in different schools around the province and advised them to strive for quality and efficiency in managing schools. The Minister told those who were present that the dropout rate in the education sector is a serious issue because some of those learners who dropped out from school ended up on the streets, taking drugs.
Minister Motshekga said that teachers should spent quality time teaching to cover all the syllabuses timeously. The Minister further emphasised that Information Communication and Technology (ICT) should be strengthened in all public schools to equip learners with computer skills. The Minister told principals that government will support schools to promote the implementation of African languages. “The promotion of African languages in schools will be continued this year to assist learners to know at least three of 11 official languages in the country,” remarked Minister Motshekga.
Minister Motshekga pleaded with the education stakeholders to prohibit absenteeism and to promote punctuality in all schools. The Minister asked principals to motivate parents to play their role and encourage their children to attend school daily. Principals should ensure that quality learning and teaching is strengthened in the Foundation Phase. “Thorough teaching and monitoring should be invested in the Intermediate Phase to prepare learners for the Senior Phase. If learners have access to quality education in the first five years of schooling at primary level, it becomes easier to perform better in the senior phase,” said Minister Motshekga.
