Day two of Minister Angie Motshekga’s oversight visit to schools in the Limpopo Province on 31 January 2017 focussed on Sethwethwa Secondary School in the Lebowakgomo District. The school obtained a 100% pass rate during the 2016 NSC Examinations. The Minister then proceeded to Eureka Full Service School and was impressed with the quality education provided to learners with special education needs.

Minister Motshekga, together with the MEC for the Limpopo Provincial Education Department, Mr Ishmael Ketjepe, also met with school principals from the Lebowakgomo District to share best practice in improving the functionality of the District ahead of the 2017 NSC Examinations. Minister Motshekga mentioned that the purpose of the school visit was to monitor the state of school readiness for the 2017 academic year, whilst mobilising community members, civil society, parents and teachers to work together in improving quality learning and teaching in schools.

The Minister informed the principals about the requirements of the National Development Plan (NDP) goals, saying that the education stakeholders will have to work hard to realise these. The Minister appealed for mechanisms to address repetition and dropout rates in order to improve efficiency in schools as these contribute to social ills such as drug abuse, alcoholism and criminality in society: “The NDP requires us to account for learner retention and dropout rates in the schooling system. We have to find ways to motivate learners to remain in schools and progress academically”. All principals were therefore urged to strive towards achieving the NDP goals.

In her address, Minister Motshekga also stated that principals were the key role players in turning schools into centres of excellence and urged principals to become more responsible and accountable in making sure that teachers spend quality time teaching: “We have to collaborate in order to afford our children the quality education that they deserve”.