Call to principals
Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, Director-General for Basic Education, told school principals to do their jobs properly if the education standard was to be improved.
Mweli was talking during a meeting with all Eastern Cape School principals at the Settlers Monument in Grahamstown on Wednesday.
He said if the principals were serious about quality in education, they needed to raise the bar.
He said the reason that they had the gathering was because they were carrying out an instruction of the Council of Education Ministers.
Mweli said the second reason was that the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa had instructed them at the department to go out and build an intelligent and capable state.
“For us at the department, that has to do with principals. Those are people who are placed in very strategic positions. We had a meeting this morning with districts officials and we shared more or less the same message with them.
“The other task that was given to us by the deputy president was that we needed to start implementing the National Development Plan (NDP) as early as 2011; it’s not a slip of the tongue because the NDP was approved in 2011.
“The deputy president said we need to start reporting on the implementation of the NDP.
“We are here to strengthen your arm in what we call the last push towards the end of our school calendar year.
“You are expected to deliver an education service that is inclusive with equitable quality and which promotes life long opportunities,” said Mweli.
Mweli said they have already started doing something in ensuring that right people were employed as principals.
He said not all principals who are in their positions meet the requirements. He said the principals were very important because they represent the department from Bhisho to Pretoria.
The DG mentioned that there is currently a need to eliminate the influence in the appointment of principals and school management teams.
“The truth is that we have allowed this to happen. When I was called upon to respond in the portfolio committee I said I would not put the blame on to unions because the law and the policy is very clear.
“Unions play an observer’s status role, they sit there and observe. That’s all that they do, but unfortunately we have allowed them to do what the policy and law does not afford them to do.
“Even in the appointment of teachers and other officials we have allowed this to happen. Now I’m here to bring a special plea that I hope that from today all of us we need to turn in to a new page,” said Mweli.
He said a National Planning Commission says that principals must be afforded more powers. The DG said people should remember that the more authority they are afforded, the higher the bar of accountability they have.
Mweli said government continues to invest huge sums of money in education but the only problem was that the learning outcomes did not match what the tax payer is putting in to education. He said tax payers’ money has not been used well.
Director of Education Management, Governance and Development James Ndlebe said lack of leadership was a main problem that contributed to under-performance and disfunctionality in schools.
He said one thing that should be not left behind is ensuring that principals were taking the role of being curriculum managers seriously. Ndlebe said that was in the principals’ job descriptions. He said principals needed to be reminded of their job descriptions.
He further said that presence of teachers in classes was playing a huge role towards achievement of good results at the end of the year.
“If you keep a teacher in a classroom, arriving on time and leaving on time every day for the whole year, even if that teacher is not teaching well then the results are bound to improve at the end of the year.
“I said we would like you to become curriculum managers, that is a powerful statement,” said Ndlebe.