Key education stakeholders in the Gauteng Province intend to raise the overall performance from 87.2% achieved in 2019 to a target average of 90% in 2020. During his visit to the Gauteng Province this week, Mr Mweli alluded to the fact that the Sector is on the rise. He, however, urged provincial officials and school principals to identify factors surrounding declining subjects such as Mathematics, Home Languages and Technical subjects. Mr Mweli visited various districts in the Gauteng Province to monitor intervention support programmes and strategies designed for improving learning outcomes.

During his presentations, Mr Mweli said that Provincial Engagements continue to empower Provincial Education Department (PEDs) in improving the throughput rate in schools. “Although the province has made progress in terms of overall results, the performance of Technical subjects, Mathematics as well Home Languages remain areas of concern”. Mr Mweli further applauded the province for its outstanding intervention support programme, targeted at progressed and gifted learners. “It is recommended that you maintain a balance in supporting all categories of learners. If you concentrate only on progressed learners and pay less attention to gifted learners, there are high chances that your results might decline. It is advisable to use data in profiling learners according to their grade, subject and age. District Directors and school principals should be data driven”.

DG Mweli added that the school holiday programmes (Autumn, Winter and Spring Camps) are significant interventions for improving district and school performance. “Gauteng is the only province which has intensified school holiday camps to assist learners in revising challenging topics throughout the year. I therefore encourage you to continue with these camps as they assist schools in producing quality results. Another area that we need to strengthen is teacher development and recruitment. Vacant posts should be filled with qualified teachers, especially in Mathematics and Home Languages,” concluded Mr Mweli.