IFP: Focus on the basics in order to improve the quality of education

11 June 2019

The IFP has responded with disbelief to the news that the department of Education in the province of KwaZulu-Natal wants to introduce a pilot project in order to bolster literacy and numeracy in primary schools.

“It was discovered ages ago that pupils in South Africa are poor in literacy and numeracy. That is why the Annual national assessment programme (ANA) was introduced but later crashed,” said Mntomuhle Khawula, IFP member of the provincial legislature in KwaZulu-Natal.

“The people of KwaZulu Natal do not need pilot projects anymore in order to improve education.” “What government needs to do is to put the basics right. Too many pilot projects have been undertaken and later abandoned,” said Khawula.

The IFP urges government to live up to its promise of formalising Grade R and attaching it to primary schooling years so that every first grade of schooling for every learner in the country is grade R.

We need to improve and upgrade infrastructure in schools especially in rural and township schools. We need to ensure proper and effective management of education from school level right up to circuit, district and provincial levels.

We need to have learners and educators arriving and starting the schooling day on time. We need to ensure that the allocation of norms and standards given to schools every year does not end up in waste or in the pockets of certain individuals. We need to ensure proper and timeous supply of equipment and stationery.

“These are the basics that need to be focused on and not pilot projects,” concluded Khawula.

Issued by Mntomuhle Khawula, IFP MPL, 11 June 2019