By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed efforts by the Basic Education Department to strengthen technical and vocational pathways to high school pupils.
Writing in his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa acknowledged that the technical and vocational pathways were a solid path to employment and entrepreneurship.
The president said much needed to be done in improving the education system and for the past 30 years since the dawn of democracy, the government has been grappling with this matter.
He said one of the damaging effects of Bantu education during the apartheid regime was the deliberate neglect of black children and this was revealed in a study published in 1992 that found that only 6% of black children had access to early child development compared to one third of all white children.
“We have spent the last 30 years trying to correct this. This effort has now received greater impetus with the passage of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act. This Act makes Grade R, the reception year before Grade 1, compulsory.
”Children who attend quality pre-primary programmes tend to have larger vocabularies, better number awareness, stronger perceptual skills, improved social skills and greater curiosity,” he said.
The president said quality early childhood development (ECD) promoted social equality and children from poor families benefited the most from access to ECD.
“As the learning journey progresses, quality ECD is also linked to better transitions into high school, lower repetition and dropout rates, and better academic performance overall,” he wrote.
The president said these were some of the issues that were discussed during the Basic Education Sector Lekgotla. which also touched on how best to realign the existing education curriculum to strengthen foundational learning.
Ramaphosa said it was widely recognised that investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education was key to economic growth, job creation, productivity and economic competitiveness.
“Such education prepares young people for a diverse range of occupations that are most needed by a growing economy,” he said.
He pointed out that last year, the Class of 2024 recorded an 87% pass rate, which was a welcome sign that efforts to transform the education system were bearing fruit.
However, he wrote that too many learners dropped out of school before writing matric and others struggled to get good marks, in part because they did not get the foundation they needed in early learning years.
INSIDE EDUCATION
