Basic Education Minister, Mrs Angie Motshekga, presented the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s) response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA) during a joint sitting of Parliament in Cape Town on 18 February 2020. The Minister said that the 2014 to 2019 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) was mainly to improve the quality of, and expand access to education and training for all South African citizens. The combined and common mandate for the 2019 to 2024 MTSF, is to close the skills gap and increase employment opportunities for young people.
The Minister therefore reported that, in addressing skills for a changing world, the DBE has completed the development of the Coding and Robotics Curriculum for Grade R to 9 which is being piloted in Grades R to 3 for implementation in the Foundation Phase by 2022. The DBE was also making progress in respect of the Three-Stream Curriculum Model, heralding a shift in focus towards vocational and technical education.
Responding to the President’s statement that “a youthful population has more access to education than ever before with 2.4 million children in early childhood development and pre-school,” the Minister said that attendance in Early Childhood Development (ECD) among 0 to 4-year-olds, has increased significantly. “We are in the process of declaring the two years prior to Grade 1, as compulsory through the Basic Education Amendment Bill, which will be tabled in Parliament during 2020”.
In response to the President’s announcement that “learners must read with meaning on the year they turn ten years of age,” Minister Motshekga reported that the DBE has developed an Integrated Reading Sector Plan, which is driven through the Primary School Reading Intervention Programme (PSRIP) to improve learning outcomes.
In response to the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative, launched by the President during 2018, Minister Motshekga said that, “for the 2019/20 financial year, National Treasury made available R700 million for the first phase of the SAFE Initiative”.
In conclusion, the Minister appealed to South Africans to rally behind Government to address the social ills facing learners and institutions. “Education is a societal issue and we must always remind ourselves that it takes a village to raise a child and that South Africans have a responsibility towards the well-being of our children”.