The first Interprovincial Meeting for Social Cohesion and Equity in Education for Provincial Coordinators for 2022, took place at the KARA Heritage Institute in Pretoria from 19 to 20 July 2022. The Kara Heritage Institute was established in 1982, under the leadership of Executive Director, Dr Mathole Motshekga, for restoring the African cultural heritage and building a nation of sustainable and empowered African communities. It was therefore, befitting to host the Meeting at the KARA Heritage Institute.

Dr Granville Whittle, Deputy Director-General for Educational Enrichment Services, addressed Task Team members saying, “As the Branch leads the Department on the transformational agenda of the basic education sector, a more coordinated, agile and flexible approach towards collaboration will be required to realise its vision. In the attainment of Priority Six of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2019-2024 on Social Cohesion and Nation Building, the planning and alignment of activities should be uniformly facilitated at national, provincial and district levels to better impact schools. In addition, Gender-Based Violence is one of the key drivers of social degeneration, which needs to be addressed through social cohesion and nation building efforts”.

Along with the National Schools Moot Court Programme as the main contribution for the Branch, the following issues were highlighted by Dr Patricia Watson, Chief Director for Social Inclusion and Partnerships in Education: “Given the increase of violence and bullying in schools, the Interprovincial Task Team for Social Cohesion and Equity needs to partner with the School Safety Directorate for a more concerted effort in addressing the scourge. The values we seek to promote amongst learners are not limited to literacy on constitutional values; we need to promote and inculcate personalised values of good citizenry and the establishment of social compacts for the greater good. We need to collaborate so that we can identify intersectionalities for pooling resources. An opportunity has already been opened for Social Cohesion to find expression in the former Global Fund Adolescent Girls and Young Women Programme (AGYW), now the Adolescent and Youth Programme (AYP). Two new areas of focus for Social Cohesion and Youth Development, which will need to find expression in provincial plans, include the promotion of youth leadership and agency and education for sustainable development and climate change. In addition, the menstrual health programme remains an important gender-focused area”.

The coordination of Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) has migrated to the Directorate: Social Cohesion and Equity. The key purpose of the Care and Support Branch is to mobilise all sectors of society and develop innovative social programming to support quality basic education. This is achieved by using schools as vehicles for promoting learners’ access to a range of public services such as health, poverty alleviation, child protection, social cohesion, sport, arts and culture for the holistic development and wellbeing of learners.