Lerato Mbhiza

THE Portfolio Committee members on Basic Education will this week visit schools to assess their state of readiness for the 2024 academic year.

Schools opened last Wednesday, and unlike previous years, all public schools in South Africa will resume academic programmes on the same day.

The  chairperson of the committee Rajaa Azzakani said the visit to schools is part of the committee’s programme to assess the readiness of the schools for the 2024 academic year.

“As part of the committee’s draft programme, committee members will engage stakeholders in the education sector to discuss the state of schooling for 2024”.

Azzakani  said the focus of the visit will include, among other things, assessing infrastructure; ablution facilities in schools, including pit-latrines eradication in the Eastern Cape; flood-damaged schools, especially school infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal after the floods; monitoring Grade R and early childhood development sites; the delivery of learner-teacher study material; school nutrition; learner transport and special schools support.

“The delegation will be in the North West until tomorrow. Later in the week, they will visit schools in the Eastern Cape. A second delegation of the committee is visiting Limpopo for the next two days and later  in the week will move to KwaZulu-Natal. Committee members are divided into two groups to ensure that they reach as many schools as possible in several provinces”.

She added that after they visit the schools, the delegation will also meet with the North West Department of Education, the National Department of Basic Education, including the Office of the MEC, HOD, Senior and District Officials, members of the Portfolio Committee on Education in the North West Provincial Legislature, Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, Student Governing Bodies Associations, Organised Labour and the South African Principals Association.

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Inside Education Reporter

While last year’s matriculants have ended a journey, it’s just the beginning of a new adventure, said St Martin’s School Headmaster, Warren Venter.

He said that hope is the most powerful armour that students must be equipped with.

“We face a very uncertain world,” said Venter, “and the underlying fear of joblessness in a country where almost 40% of the population is unemployed, and nearly half of the nation is under 35. It can spell confidence disaster for any school leaver.”

This year St Martin’s expects to list several top achievers on the national results hit parade.

“Academic achievement is key to gain university entrance, to position yourself firmly in the starting blocks for the rest of your life,” said Venter. But he added that with diminishing prospects because of the current local and global climate, may dampen anyone’s spirit. “Yet, what South Africa needs more than anything is a new generation of leaders, of business people that can contribute positively to economic growth, that can help to heal our country in the many places that it has become unfastened.”

Hope, he said, and sharing ideals, resilience or strength or resolve with our youth is so important.

This year’s poll, the before and aftermath, the potential of South Africa amidst its challenges must be distilled and instilled.

“It is our responsibility as educators and as parents to remain positive, to engender a measure of idealism and dreams for the future. This is how we can ignite our youth, because after school, there is a long road ahead in adulthood, and it should be a journey they embark on with enthusiasm.”

Hope inspires students to set goals and work towards achieving them, even in the face of challenges. It nurtures a positive outlook, essential for mental and emotional well-being.

This positive mindset enables school leavers to navigate uncertainties and seize opportunities, contributing to personal growth and success.

“Hope is a driving force that encourages continuous learning and adaptability, key attributes in a rapidly evolving world,” said Venter.

To nurture hope in children, it’s important for teachers and parents to encourage realistic goal setting and to collaborate in establishing meaningful objectives said Venter.

“We must help students cope with setbacks, promote a positive outlook and support their interests and passions. After all, we are role models and demonstrating hope in our own lives allows us to lead by example,” he said.

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Inside Education Reporter

THE Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Prof Blade Nzimande said in a statement that he has become aware of the circulation of yet another set of false and ill-informed suggestions that he may have influenced the awarding of a NSFAS tender to Tilson Manyoni.

Firstly, Tilson Manyoni is not and has never been an advisor to the Minister, as erroneously suggested by some media houses, the statement said.

“The names of the advisors of the Minister are matters of public record and discoverable with little or no difficulty. Secondly, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and applicable Treasury Regulations, Ministers are defined outside the value chain of procurement matters precisely to guarantee the integrity of such processes. Therefore, Minister Nzimande had absoluetly no role in the awarding of a NSFAS tender to Mr Manyoni or any other individual or company. These allegations are therefore both false and malicious.”

Thirdly, the statement added that the Minister is the Executive Authority and not the accounting officer of the Department of Higher Education and Training.

“Therefore, any queries relating to procurement procesess at NSFAS should rightfully be directed to the Chief Executive Officer or Board of NSFAS. It is both unfair and mischievous to expect the Minister to answer questions relating to the procurement detail of entites, when such entities have their own accounting officers, executives and boards.

“The Minister views the latest set of false allegations as part of the continuing attempts to tarnish his name and distract the Department from the important task of ensuring a smooth start to the 2024 academic year. The Minister wishes to reassure the public that, together with the executive of the Department and the leadership of the Department’s various entities, he stands firm on his commitment to ensuring that the country experiences a smooth start to the 2024 academic year.”

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Sports Reporter

South Africa has a new champion.

The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa has congratulated mixed martial artist Dricus du Plessis on winning the United Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title.

On Sunday, 21 January 2024, du Plessis defeated American Sean Strickland to make history as South Africa’s first UFC champion.

Remarking on du Plessis’s record-breaking win, Minister Kodwa says, “Dricus du Plessis has flown the South African flag high with his performances in the United Fighting Championship. I congratulate him on the remarkable achievement of being the first South African to be crowned UFC Champion.”

“It has been particularly special to see South Africans unite in their diversity to support their own, as du Plessis made history. This once again shows the power of South Africans when uniting and supporting their own. Let us carry this spirit, as South Africans continue to make history on global platforms in Sport, Arts and Culture,” said Kodwa.

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Lerato Mbhiza

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Thursday evening that the matric class of 2023 achieved a pass rate of 82.9%, as the Free State led the way as a province with the highest pass rate of 89.03%.

Last year the Free State also led with the highest pass rate at 88.5%.

The national matric pass rate overall is up by 2.8% points from the 80.1% in 2022.

A total of 715 719 full time and 182 056 part time candidates registered to sit for the 2023 NSC examinations.

The number of bachelor passes increased, to 40.9% in 2023 up from 38.4% in 2022.

Gauteng clinched second spot, getting 86.36% from 83.0% in 2022.

KwaZulu-Natal continued its impressive streak, overtaking Western Cape to become the province with the most distinctions, the province jumped from 6% to 8.3%, the Western Cape came in second while Gauteng took third place.

The province was also among three whose districts achieved 80% and above as the other two were Gauteng and Free State.

This was revealed in the technical briefing report by Basic Education director-general Mathanzima Mweli.

“To just give you a glimpse, out of 10 pupils, four pupils presented with bachelors, in terms of the 900,000 candidates who enrolled for the NSC in 2023, which means it has increased from last year,” Mzweli said.

Motshekga said the results highlighted a significant shift in South Africa’s educational landscape, challenging the notion that quality education is exclusive to urban areas.

It should be noted that while the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams in number is the second highest in the history of the NSC exams; when expressed as a percentage, the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams, is the highest in the history of the NSC so far.

Similarly, Bachelor passes as well as passes with distinction produced by the Class of 2023, stand out at the highest in the history of NSC exams, Motshekga said.

Provincial level performance percentage per province

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Lerato Mbhiza

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says every child must attend an Early Childhood Development phase of education and there must be no child left out just because they are poor.

Lesufi was speaking at the 2023 Gauteng  Matric Awards held at the Microsoft headquarters in Bryanston, Sandton, where the Gauteng Provincial Government celebrated the top matric learners who helped the province reach an 85.4% matric pass rate in the 2023 matric results.

Lesufi said: “There must be no child who cannot attend ECD because they can’t afford it. We want ECD to be exactly like Grade 1, all children must attend. If we don’t sign the law, we will be defeating the purpose of the BELA Bill on grounds of language. 

“Let our children go to school rather than spend time playing with bricks at informal settlements. As Gauteng, we are ready, we will unveil the crèche of the future, there will be no chalk, they will use the latest gadgets. 

“This is the foundation for the future. If we can’t get it right, we will fail. Mr President we are ready, sign the bill into law,” he said and added that education authorities are ready to meet those who oppose the BELA Bill in court. 

The National Assembly passed the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill  also known as the BELAl Bill  last year setting up a legal showdown with the Democratic Alliance and AfriForum who have vowed to fight it all the way to the Constitutional Court.

Lesufi had  earlier this week suggested on his X account that matriculants should write the same examinations instead of two separate exams – the Independent Examination Board (IEB) written by private institutions and the National Senior Certificate (NSC) for public schools. 

“I want to enter into this debate not influenced by emotions but to give practical examples. In 1995 the national matric results or pass rate was 53.4% and in 2023 the national matric results pass rate was 82%,” Lesufi said on Friday. 

He applauded the improvement in the results, where more than 57 000 learners in Gauteng passed with the Bachelors which allows them to study in a university or any tertiary institution .

“We want the best teachers to be where our learners are, what can we do when our best teachers produce 100% and they are recruited by the likes of Curro?” Asked Lesufi.

“It is within that context that we believe all our children should be treated equally and fairly and write one examination across the country to determine who is the best learner in our country.” 

He said there cannot be a situation where some children are perceived to have poor quality education and others quality education. 

“All these children are South African children. All these children are going to the same universities. All these children deserve quality if there is quality,” he said.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chilone said the GDE is one of the largest matric examination subsystems of the national system. “We pride ourselves that Gauteng produces some of the highest overall pass rates and bachelor pass rates in the country . 

“The class of 2023 achieved a pass rate of 85.4%. This is a 0.95% improvement over the 2022 achievement of 84.4%. Congratulations to the class of 2023. Your hard work and resilience has been justly rewarded”.

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