The Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr Reginah Mhaule, has been meeting with officials from Mpumalanga education districts whose performance in the 2024 NSC examinations was below the provincial target.
Dr Mhaule visited Bushbuckridge on 13 May 2025, for an outreach engagement with Bohlabela Education District officials, including subject advisors and circuit managers. The Executive Mayor of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Cllr Lydia Moroane, the MMC for Social Development, Cllr Sylvia Mathebula, and MMC for Arts, Culture and Sports, Cllr Malamule Prince Gumede, joined the Deputy Minister during the engagement.
The engagement kicked off with Dr Khathutshelo Khomola, Acting District Director, supported by Mr Sipho Sibeko and Mr Paspas Dlamini, presenting the analysis of the results of assessments in the General Education and Training and the Further Education and Training bands for the nine circuits in attendance. The insights gleaned from the analysis showed the subjects that each circuit had challenges with, and the district committed to ramping up the support provided to these schools.
After the presentation, the Deputy Minister addressed the 221 school principals and their School Governing Body (SGB) Chairpersons from the district’s secondary schools and their respective feeder primary schools who attended this critical engagement. “I am so humbled that you responded to my call for this engagement. Although it may be uncomfortable because you need to account for your schools’ performance, I hope that it will still be fruitful for all of us. We have a collective duty towards the development of the nation’s children; we cannot let anything derail us from ensuring that we provide the highest quality of education to all our learners, regardless of their socio-economic status,” said Dr Mhaule.
The engagement ended with pledges from the principals and SGB members committing towards specific learner performance targets – all above 85%, and working on realistic plans of action detailing how these targets will be attained.