In a proactive bid to unify public and private efforts towards enhancing education in South Africa, Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, convened a breakfast event at the Wanderers Club in Illovo, Johannesburg.
The gathering brought together over 100 business leaders and community stakeholders who are pivotal in shaping the nation’s education landscape.
During the event, Minister Gwarube elucidated her vision for the 7th administration, spotlighting five key priorities designed to uplift educational standards and tackle pressing challenges facing educators and learners alike.
With more than 13 million learners under her purview, Gwarube emphasised the importance of quality education, including boosting literacy and numeracy across all phases of schooling.
“The first one is making sure that quality early childhood learning is injected into the system and that it forms part of a strong foundation because then we will be able to fix literacy and numeracy problems,” she stated, highlighting the necessity of early intervention in educational frameworks.
A pivotal theme of the discussions was the need to simultaneously support educators in their professional development.
Gwarube remarked: “We cannot leave our teachers behind; if we are not making sure that we are developing the teachers, we are not going to achieve what we want.”
The minister underscored that a focus solely on learners, without concurrent investment in teacher training, would hinder progress in rendering South Africa’s education ready for the digital age.
Among the notable issues raised during the event was the expansion of the curriculum for special needs schools, a move aimed at inclusivity and better preparation for the diverse needs of all learners.
Gwarube’s commitment to building sustainable relationships with private sector partners signals a shift towards collaborative solutions that address both educational access and quality.
Participants, including Nozizwe Vundla from the Sanlam Foundation, articulated the need for systematic programmes focused on literacy and numeracy.
Vundla stressed the imperative for accountability and effective monitoring of educational interventions to avoid superficial engagements that fail to create meaningful impact.
“More than any time, children need to be empowered through skills in 4IR. For us, this is not a question of coordination but a question of measuring and having the right kind of metrics to hold ourselves and our interventions accountable. We must hold ourselves accountable for the impact we make through the implementation of monitoring and evaluation of our evaluation programme so we know which interventions we focus on,” she said.
Responding to the crowd’s inquiries, the Director-General of the department, Mathanzima Mweli, shed light on the reorientation towards technical education.
He pointed out that the global trend favours technical training over academic routes, with only 40% engaged in academic pursuits in successful economies compared to 60% in South Africa.
“We welcome suggestions brought forward by everyone including that of ensuring we hold ourselves accountable. Also, I think we need to do more to educate our children and parents on the issue of academics vs technical training.
“Most of the working and advanced economies, their technical training accounts for 60% against 40% academic training, while in South Africa, the emphasis is on 60% academic training against less than 40% technical skill training because a plumber can earn more than a doctor or a lawyer,” Mweli said.
The Star