The Director-General of the Department of Basic Education, Mr Mathanzima Mweli, has called for subject advisors across the education phases to work together in ensuring that learners’ performance is scaffolded as they progress throughout the grades. This has been one of his messages in the 56 learner support engagements he has had so far with education district officials, inclusive of circuit managers, across the country.

During his engagement with the Gert Sibande Education District, hosted at Hoërskool Evander in Evander, Mpumalanga, on 14 May 2025, DG Mweli said the purpose of these engagements is not only to assess the state of education and identify weaknesses, but also to assist the district to identify their blind spots and share observations from the other districts engagements. “Today, we are not here to check you out, but rather to engage on how, together, we can best improve the learning outcomes in our schools, especially in the early phases of education. For far too long our focus has been on the performance of Grade 12 learners. Learners in Grade R to 7 are the most vulnerable in terms of acquiring quality learning; we need subject advisors and circuits to offer more support and monitoring in these phases, even to those schools located in remote, hard-to-reach areas,” said the DG.

In presenting the state of the education system of the Nkangala Education District, in the meeting held at Phanama Secondary School on 15 May 2025, the District Director, Mr DM Maja, and his District Management Team, shared a few challenges affecting learning outcomes in their schools. With almost all the circuits performing poorly in home languages in the General Education and Training band (Grade R-9), and with learners in Grade R-7 leading in terms of poor learning outcomes, the DG surmised from the presentation that the issue could be the disjuncture between the home language offered and the ill-advised usage of English as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT). Urging the officials to assist schools to curb this incorrect practice, Mr Mweli said: “In almost all the districts we have been to, reports have indicated challenges with the performance of Grade R - 10 learners in their respective home languages. It seems like schools are bowing to societal and parental pressure to use English as an unofficial LoLT in the foundation phase, to the detriment of learners.”

Ms Mataole Ramohapi, Director for Intergovernmental and Technical Support, shared best practice and strategies from other districts on how they have addressed some of the common challenges reported by the district. She also urged circuits to monitor and guide schools on the correct subject-choice combinations offered to learners entering the FET phase as incorrect choices may potentially limit learners’ career choices. She further advised districts to expand the subject offerings in schools to include those subjects needed in the future world of work. “I encourage you to look into introducing other subjects in your schools; there is no reason you can’t offer Maritime Economics as proximity to the sea is not a requirement to offer the subject. Even Computer Applications Technology, Information Technology and Music; we are putting our rural and peri-urban learners at a disadvantage by not offering these subjects, they are not reserved for urban schools,” she said.

Both engagements concluded with visits to various schools for motivational sessions with the Matric Class of 2025: 11 schools in Secunda, Embhalenhle and Ermelo, and 14 schools in Mhluzi, Middelburg and Hendrina; during which the DG shared his now famous five nuggets for academic success. To the delight of the school principals, in his closing remarks the DG corroborated their regular advice to the learners by quoting the saying, “The warmer the blanket, the colder the future!”