Following peaceful and fair elections, President Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated for a second term at the Union Buildings in Tshwane on 19 June 2024.
In his inaugural speech, President Ramaphosa said that, “The voters of South Africa have expressed their appreciation of the progress made in many areas of their lives over the past 30 years of democracy. The formation of a government of national unity is a moment of profound significance. It is the beginning of a new era.” He added that Government has affirmed its resolute quest to build a growing and inclusive economy that offers opportunities and livelihoods to all people and to rededicate ourselves to the task of democratic renewal and social and economic transformation so that no one is left behind. “The parties have made a commitment to invest in South Africa’s people through quality education and health care.”
Government, and the Department of Basic Education has therefore identified six priority areas for intensified focus during the 7th Administration.
The implementation of the 2030 Strategy for ECD Programmes and the Mass Registration Drive will improve the quality of Early Childhood Development (ECD) delivery in South Africa. The Strategy provides a framework to bring together the endeavours of social sector partners with Government’s efforts to create a Social Compact for ECD that is a powerful engine to ensure that all children in South Africa have access to quality ECD.
The National Reading Literacy Strategy and the Mother Tongue based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) Strategy is an umbrella for languaging. The key objective is to strengthen the National Reading Literacy Strategy and to align provincial and district reading strategies and implementation plans, improved reading, writing and numeracy outcomes. The DBE’s National Language Unit (NLU), together with PEDs, are poised to introduce the MTbBE in South Africa during the 2025 School Calendar in promoting and facilitating the use of African languages as Languages of Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LOLTA) beyond Grade 3, allowing learners to trans-language for meaning.
The DBE has prioritised establishing an inclusive education system, a critical undertaking for maximising access to education for learners, especially those with special needs to ensure that no child is left behind. Early screening, identification and assessment will be provided for dedicated support, along with the adaption or modification of assessment methods norms and standards for funding and resourcing to improve access to ensure that all children of school-going age who experience barriers to learning have access to quality basic education.
The introduction of the Three Streams Model (TSM) was intended to diversify the school curriculum by offering learners greater choices in the selection of learning pathways within the academic, vocational and occupational schooling streams. In addition, the TSM seeks to strengthen vocational and occupational offerings in public ordinary schools, focus schools and in Schools of Skill (SoS), for learners with special educational needs for creating multiple learning pathways for 21st Century employability to curb unemployment.
The DBE has developed a ten-year strategy for Mathematics improvement, the National Mathematics Improvement Plan (NMIP) for implementation in 2025 to improve participation, performance and quality passes. To expedite the implementation of the NMIP, a collaboration of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT), the DBE and several actor groups proposed a macro level support initiative aimed at enhancing Mathematics teaching and learning.
The DBE pledges its continued commitment to ensuring quality education as we embrace the new administration.