Angie Motshekga is not up to the task of managing and turning around the education system
Though the bar is admittedly low, basic education minister Angie Motshekga has been one of the best performers in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet. In office since 2009, she appears to genuinely care about basic education, seems to be on top of her brief and has not been involved in corruption scandals.
However, these attempts at reform have since either been withdrawn or diluted. Needu is not the independent arms-length evaluation body originally envisaged, and after an initial report exposing corruption in rural schools it has been sidelined. The assessments were cancelled in 2015, largely as a result of opposition from the SA Democratic Teachers Union .
An independent ministerial task team set up by Motshekga found in 2016 that not only was there widespread corruption in securing positions for educators but — most shockingly — that “Sadtu is in de facto charge of the management, administration and priorities of education” in “six and possibly more of the nine provinces”. In 2015 Motshekga expressed concern about what she called Sadtu’s “stranglehold” on basic education.
The department’s 2020 Action Plan lacks specific proposals to address systemic shortcomings. For example, it does not deal with how teachers could be held accountable for their performance, an essential priority for reform. Even when the correct priorities are identified — for example, enhancing the powers of principals as recommended by the 2012 National Development Plan — no credible steps are articulated for how or by when the priority areas will be reformed.
SA needs to recognise the depth and true causes of our failing schools. We need leaders with experience in turning around and managing a complex, vast system: 23,000 schools, 320,000 teachers, 13-million pupils. We need the very best people we can find — in SA or South Africans abroad — with these skills and determination.
Raise accountability by bringing back universal standardised tests for grades 1 to 9, reinvigorating Needu, guaranteeing its independence, and implementing NDP recommendations to give principals more power over the appointment and management of teachers in their schools.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ann Bernstein | The forgotten story of school state capture | City PressAnn Bernstein | The forgotten story of school state capture: Principal and deputy principal positions were routinely sold for between R30 000 and R45 000
Read more »
ANN CROTTY: It’s a news service, not a public pilloryRCL’s shocking Sens attack on Albie Cilliers seems to be an unwarranted breach of JSE rules.
Read more »
Ann Bernstein | The forgotten story of school state capture | City PressAnn Bernstein | The forgotten story of school state capture: Principal and deputy principal positions were routinely sold for between R30 000 and R45 000
Read more »
DA federal congress | Delegates vote for new leadersIt's D-day for the Democratic Alliance. Party delegates are casting votes for their new leadership.
Read more »
Only 6 000 new personal income taxpayers contributed tax last year | BusinessAlthough SA produces around 200 000 new graduates yearly, only 6 127 new taxpayers contributed to personal income tax last year. | News24_Business
Read more »