Ahead of World Teachers Day this week, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has acknowledged the education system was experiencing severe challenges of backlogs in infrastructure development, overcrowding and shortage of other educational resources with teachers bearing the brunt.
According to the department, 2 871 schools have been provided with sanitation facilities through the Safe programme and 511 schools are at various stages of implementation, with plans to provide them with sanitation facilities by the end of March next year.
“The department has developed detailed tracking tools, and monitoring is taking place daily to ensure that implementing agents deliver as expected. We are doing all that we can to ensure that we provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning in all our schools.
“We are very cognisant of the fact that teachers in the country work under extremely difficult circumstances and they are the centre that holds the system together. So in the midst of the lack of other educational resources, our teachers continue to remain the only available and most critical resource,” said Motshekga.
She also stated that the Western Cape Education Department was keeping her abreast about schools that had to be closed due to the recent inclement weather and plans to ensure learners were not left behind.
Motshekga was speaking at a media briefing on key developments in the basic education sector.
World Teachers Day will be celebrated on Thursday under the theme “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage.”
In South Africa, the department will be hosting the National Teaching Awards in Pretoria, with President Cyril Ramaphosa expected to attend.
“Unesco repeatedly stated that the quality of any education system is as good as the quality of its teachers.
The continuous improvements that we have experienced within our education system broadly and in our schooling in particular is largely due to the efforts and sacrifices of our teachers.
The awards will honour teachers who have demonstrated exceptional performance and commitment in different areas of their work,” said Motshekga.
Regarding the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI), the minister stated she could not speak with confidence as they have concluded with their plans but was awaiting the National Treasury amid budget constraints.
“We suspect it will be affected but doubt that it will be completely eradicated.”
Meanwhile, Kerry Mauchline, the spokesperson for Education MEC David Maynier, said that as of Friday, 13 schools remained closed.
“The majority of these closures were due to access problems (damaged roads) or a lack of water and electricity in the area, not damage to the school buildings themselves. The school holiday will give us a bit of time to address these challenges and continue with our contingency plans.”
Cape Times