The first Ministerial meeting with District Directors took place virtually on 3 April 2025, chaired by Ms Simoné Geyer, DDG for Delivery and Support.
In her opening address, Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, welcomed Senior DBE managers, Chief Directors responsible for District Coordination in the various provinces and the District Directors: “It is always a pleasure meeting with the dedicated team of District Directors as you are at the coalface of education, directly responsible for the implementation of Departmental programmes. The 2025 academic year has commenced on a high note with the excellent performance during the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination, with only two districts performing below 80%, demonstrating an upward trajectory and your continued commitment toward performance excellence. We are exceptionally pleased by this performance, you have made us proud”.
Deputy Minister Mhaule added that, “we are looking forward to the updates on your provincial plans to sustain top perfor ming circuits, performing at 80% and above, and improve bottom circuits performing below 70%. The safety of our learners remain paramount, especially the safety of our girl learners and their pursuit of vocational training and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, which can open up better career opportunities. It is essential that we eradicate GBV from our schools to ensure conducive learning environments”.
In her address, Minister Gwarube said: “As this is our first meeting for 2025, congratulations are in order for obtaining the highest pass rate in the history of the NSC examination as this would not have been possible without your hard work and dedication. We have also managed to improve the quality of passes with 50% of candidates obtaining Bachelor passes. This would not have been possible without your hard frontline work and dedication under challenging situations and times; we expressed our appreciation during the National Education Excellence Awards. Now, we have to build on this achievement with a specific focus on our areas of emphasis as we continue with the strategic reorientation of the education system”.
The Minister added that the recent ECD 2030 Bana Pele Roadmap Leadership Summit highlighted the importance of Foundational Learning and Early Childhood Development (ECD). She called on District Directors to support the mass registration drive to cover even more provinces. Post the budget allocations, we are looking forward to the upgrading of the Child Grant of R17 a day and securing the salaries of our teachers to improve the teacher-learner ratio to ensure that we have a teacher teaching in every classroom.
“We need your assistance to increase our coverage of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE); to remain resolute to health promotion, social cohesion and inclusive education, and the percentage of learners with access to learning programmes for learners with disabilities should increase to 92%; feeding 9.7 million learners through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP); safe and dignified infrastructure delivery; and learner transport. Our Vocational and Occupational Curriculum Framework has been developed and approved by Umalusi and will be made available through our schools of skills. I look forward to the implementation of the School Safety Framework as the safety of our learners should be paramount. We will also be welcoming Grade R formally to the sector and are in the process of developing the Funding Norms. In conclusion, I am keen to listen to District Directors and their suggestions towards improving the NSC pass rates and I wish you the very best for the 2025 academic year for continued improvement,” the Minister concluded.