School system is ‘Irish coffee’

Gauteng MEC of education Panyaza Lesufi yesterday said teacher development and the transformation of education needed to be prioritised in order for South Africa to move forward.

Speaking during the Education Lekgotla in Boksburg, Lesufi said: “We must have the best teachers and the best facilities.”

He said the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) lacked the financial muscle to eliminate certain challenges that they were facing, but that nonracialism was nonnegotiable.

“The education system can not go back to what it was during apartheid.”

Lesufi said that schools that refused to sing the national anthem and insisted on being single medium schools hurt him.

“We will pursue, I want to remove historical problems so we can focus on education.”

Lesufi described and compared the education system in South Africa to an Irish coffee, black at the bottom and white at the top, with chocolate sprinkles.

“Until we get it to a South African coffee, we are in trouble.”

Lesufi said the poor found education as a gateway out of poverty, which was the reason why quality education was vital to all pupils.

He added that the country was buying from other countries because skills weren’t given to locals.

“Township education is facing challenges and the sooner that changes, the better,” Lesufi said.

Later, GDE director-general Mathanzima Mweli said that efficiency and quality were the key areas where the education system was failing.

“The dropout rate in the world is 1% and in South Africa it’s between 14% and 16%.”

He said these were the key things the department needed to focus on and improve by 2030.

Gauteng has about 25 000 schools and accommodates about 12 million pupils, while independent schools catered for about 590 000 pupils in their 1 855 facilities around the province. – ANA