Continued engagement between the Basic Education Ministry and Members of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) remains critical towards the promotion of uniformity in the Basic Education Sector. Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, joined by Deputy Minister Dr Reginah Mhaule, this week, met with education MECs from across all nine provinces to assess the state of national and provincial strategies aimed at accelerating education reform in South Africa. This bimonthly meeting seeks to explore solutions to persistent challenges compromising the delivery of quality education, as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP). The CEM meeting took place at Sun City in the North West Province on 26 May 2025.
The CEM meeting was an opportunity to realign provincial focus areas in terms of education priority deliverables of the 7th Administration. These include improving access and quality of Early Childhood Development (ECD); inclusive education; training and professional development opportunities available to school management teams and teachers; improving literacy and numeracy skills across all phases of schooling; and the safety and quality of schooling environments. Key issues tabled for discussion during the meeting included the acceleration of provision and maintenance of school infrastructure; strengthening of vocational and occupational streams; effective implementation of teacher development programmes; improving the performance of the sector in terms of national and international assessments; and the promotion of mass participation in Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
Briefing CEM on the Three Stream Model (TSM), Dr Barney Mthembu, Deputy Director-General for Curriculum, said that it was befitting for the Basic Education Sector to institutionalise the TSM as another way to increase access to various career pathways for young people post-secondary education: “The diversification of learning pathways requires alignment with other education programmes and qualifications to manage learners’ transition from schooling into post school opportunities and articulate to different future career pathways including the world of work”.
Prof Martin Gustafsson, DBE researcher, indicated that the DBE’s Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) have played a crucial role in stabilising the sector, saying that CAPS was still relevant in preparing learners for 21st Century education. Prof Gustafsson further urged the Basic Education Sector to work towards strengthening early learning to ensure that learners exit General Education and Training (GET) having mastered literacy and numeracy skills required in Further Education and Training (FET).
In her address, Minister Gwarube maintained that the improvement of literacy and numeracy skills was a key lever to improve learning outcomes in GET and FET: “Both the DBE and Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) should share a common goal in terms of broadening access to ECD in South African communities. I acknowledge all efforts made by PEDS in supporting the DBE in its quest towards accelerating the ECD Mass Registration Drive, which is currently underway across all nine provinces. The registration of ECD centres is a fundamental process towards the realisation of quality early learning in children. Through the CEM, we should share best practice for our schooling system to function more effectively”.