Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Limpopo government on Thursday convened an education indaba to deal with the declining quality of learning and teaching, which was again reflected in the poor matric results in 2021.
Limpopo performed the worst of the nine provinces in the 2021 matric results, with a 66.7% pass rate.
A total of 142 160 candidates wrote the matric exams.
At the indaba, Education MEC Polly Boshielo painted a picture of a sector bedevilled by a myriad of challenges.
Find your Matric results on News24
She said the challenges started at the foundation phase, with some communities not interested in the schooling of their children.
Boshielo pointed out that the province may experience a crisis in the near future because of aging teachers and education specialists, as most were over 50.
“It means if we don’t deal with this (challenge), we are going to have a crisis at some stage,” Boshielo said.
The statistics she presented showed that only one person – a school principal – and nine education specialists were in the 20-29 age category.
She spoke of learners who constantly bunk schools, particularly in the Sekhukhune region.
“They (learners) know that, in terms of our policy, they will be promoted or progressed.
“The participation of parents in rural areas is close to zero. They only come to school when the learner is in trouble. But, under normal circumstances, when we call them to schools, they are nowhere to be found,” Boshielo said.
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University of Limpopo’s Professor Abbey Ngoepe did not mince his words when he warned of leadership and management instability – referring to the continuous changing of MECs and senior officials.
He said the continuous changing of leadership was one factor that led to the decline of quality education in the province.
“In Gauteng, the current MEC (Panyaza Lesufi) is the third MEC (since 1994). The current HOD (head of department) is the fourth, but, in Limpopo, I can’t even count how many MECs there have been,” Ngoepe said, adding:
He identified lack of accountability and consequence management as factors negatively impacting quality education in the province.
The indaba is expected to develop a master plan, which includes the implementation of instructional leadership in schools and the provision of learner support services.
The indaba started on a low note when Boshielo was interrupted by a deaf delegate, who required the services of an interpreter. The interpreter was brought in long after the start of the proceedings.
Premier Stan Mathabatha expressed his anger at this at the beginning of his keynote address: “I apologise to our deaf community for this saga. It must never be repeated in this province. I hope those who organised this event are listening very carefully.”
The DA’s Katlego Phala told the media the MEC “has yet to prove that her department can provide dignified and quality education to learners with special needs”.
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