Basic Education Director-General, Mr Mathanzima Mweli, held a courtesy meeting with Mr Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), at the DBE offices in Pretoria on 22 August 2024. The meeting underscored the ongoing cooperation between South Africa and the OECD, guided by the Joint Work Programme (JWP) signed by National Treasury in 2023.
The JWP aims to align OECD support with South African priorities outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP) to foster economic growth. The OECD’s engagement with the DBE focuses on skills development and building a capable workforce. Key areas of collaboration include reviewing the Evaluation and Assessment Framework for South African School Education; developing policy recommendations for early childhood education; and implementing the Entrepreneurship in Schools Initiative.
During his visit, Mr Schleicher also contributed to the CEM Workshop, presenting on global education trends, opportunities and challenges. In his presentation, Mr Schleicher said, “Data from OECD’s PISA assessments show that the social and economic returns to quality education far exceed the necessary investments. And yet, governments need to make careful choices when spending scarce public resources, particularly in a tight fiscal environment such as in South Africa. South Africa’s focus on early childhood education and care is important, both because investing early has the highest impact for children and because many of the knowledge, skills and values that matter most in the 21st Century is best learned at the youngest ages. When it comes to spending choices, evidence from the most rapidly improving education systems shows that the quality of teachers and teaching is far more important than the size of classes, and that giving teachers adequate time to support the academic and social development of individual students is the best guarantee for a productive, disciplined, and safe school environment. Aligning resources with needs is also key and South Africa needs to do better to attract the most talented teachers to the most challenging classrooms. Teachers also need better support to get ahead of technology. AI will not replace teachers, because learning is not a transactional business but a social and relational experience. But teachers good at using AI may replace teachers who struggle with the transition towards digitalisation.”
Mr Schleicher met with senior managers responsible for the activities in the JWP as well as the senior managers responsible for the G20, led by Mr Padayachee, Deputy Director-General for Business Intelligence and the DBE Chair of the G20 Education Working Group Task Team on 23 August 2024. His visit will conclude with a meeting with Minister Gwarube on 26 August, providing an overview of South Africa’s cooperation with the OECD, as well as discussing South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Education Working Group.