Disciplinary action promised against education officials

EASTERN CAPE premier Phumulo Masualle yesterday conceded he was “not happy” with the province’s matric results and that some education officials would face disciplinary action.

He said having the lowest pass rate for seven years straight was “an embarrassment”.

However, Masualle revealed he would not sack education MEC Mandla Makupula despite mounting calls from education stakeholders for him to be axed.

He said: “Sometimes in a football match, fans will call upon the coach to replace a No 9 [striker] who is failing to score goals.

“But what happens if that No 9 – while they are calling for his replacement – manages to score a winning goal? Will they change their tune?”

Masualle said there were a number of factors behind the debacle.

These included the department’s inability to replace educators timeously, and failure to procure much-needed infrastructure and learning material on time.

Addressing media at his Bhisho State House yesterday, the premier said disciplinary measures were being taken against various departmental officials who had contributed to the province’s recent failure.

He said action was being taken against officials from human resources management, supply chain management and finance units.

The province slightly improved its results by 2.5 percentage points from 56.8% in 2015, to 59.3%.

He had aimed for a 70% pass rate, but the Eastern Cape was the only province to fall below the the 60% mark, 13 percentage points below the national average of 72%.

“We welcome the slight improvement. However, I will be the last person to suggest we are happy with where we are.

“Hence there are some officials facing serious consequences for letting us down and causing this embarrassment to the province,” he said.

On a lighter note, Masualle said he was expecting much improvement from the class of 2017, as his government had stepped on the gas to create a conducive learning environment.

Plans in place to improve the state of education in the province, were guaranteed to provide an improvement in this year’s matric pass rate.

“We can’t celebrate any failure, but I can assure you that by this time in 2018, we will be talking of an improvement,” he said.

Asked if he would axe Makupula in the wake of these results, Masualle said “sometimes you look at the totality of factors before you actually say I am plugging out a person”.

“We need to make sure that there is stability at leadership level. The axis of the executing authority and accounting officer consists of leadership.

“If for any reason, you let it be unstable, there won’t likely be continuity that will secure you the progress you need,” he said.

The premier added: “In the public sector, whenever there is a new face, everything becomes new, people start everything afresh from scratch”.

“This is what has delayed and frustrated progress. This is our unfortunate experience of the past 22 years in terms of leadership.”

He said he was pleased about the political and administration stability brought to the department since Makupula took over in 2010.

“It really feels very bad and hurts to find ourselves in this position, but we cannot just wish for progress, we need to work hard for such progress,” an emotional Masualle said.

The premier also revealed that the provincial government will “persuade” all those who had been bankrolled for their tertiary education studies, to return and plough their expertise back into the province. — asandan@dispatch.co.za