Perform or else, Masualle says
Matric results must improve, premier warns Bhisho officials
PERFORM or jump was the message from Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle to education officials yesterday, when he wished more than 90 000 matriculants well with their examinations.
The premier said there would be serious consequences for education officials who he had earlier in the year urged to do their bit to improve the matric pass rate from last year. The province failed dismally to achieve the 70% pass rate target set, which instead plummeted from 65.4% in 2014 to 56.8% last year – a drop of 8.6%.
Masualle said in Bhisho yesterday: “I have demanded from the department of education nothing below an improvement in what we have and everything has to be done to show us moving up again. Therefore I am not expecting a decline. I am not.
“I am expecting an improvement (in matric results) and that is what I have asked for. If I don’t get what I have asked for someone is going to be dealt with.”
Masualle said it would take up to three years to achieve the targeted 70% pass rate and a sevenpoint plan to achieve this had already been drafted. He said the plan was already in progress.
It included infrastructure development, filling of vacant teacher posts, providing adequate learner support materials, ensuring school functionality, integrating schools with fewer pupils and rearrangement of school districts by creating viable centres to support and oversee schooling.
“All these interventions have been put in place already,” Masualle said.
He said a lot had already been done to stabilise the department to ensure there was good leadership in place.
He said gone were the days where officials would underperform and get away with it.
“Consequence management has been one of the things in education that has not been adhered to,” he said.
Masualle said these addressing these issues were some of the things he was hoping would have an impact and result in changing performance outcomes of the department in a positive way. He wished the Class of 2016 well. “We wish all our matriculants and all our learners success in the examinations. We are mindful of the anxiety that might be engulfing them at the moment but, certainly, we hope they are in a condition to be able to write their exams, and that they are able to deliver on what they have learnt through the year,” Masualle said.
“On the part of government every effort has been made to ensure that such comfort is in existence.” — zwangam@dispatch.co.za