Tag Archives: principals

Motsumi Attends 20th National Basic Education Indaba

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By AGISANANG SCUFF  

25 August 2025- The North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi has joined the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, provincial MECs, Heads of Departments, teacher unions, academia, School Governing Bodies, principals, and quality assurance bodies such as Umalusi at the G20 National Basic Education Indaba held in Cape Town’s Century City Conference Centre on 25 August 2025.

Motsumi said held under the theme: “Taking the G20 to the People”, the Indaba is a critical platform to consolidate actions and intentions that will take the education sector forward and create a lasting impact in shaping foundational learning, professional teacher development, and an inclusive system that serves every learner and teacher.

“Delegates engaged in robust, thought-provoking conversations on revisiting and realigning teacher training and development to empower teachers in the Early Childhood Development, GET, and FET phases with the tools and knowledge required for modern classrooms.

“Redesigning pedagogy for South Africa’s multicultural and multilingual context moving beyond English as the sole language of instruction. Equality in education to address challenges of rural and under-resourced schools where there is an absence and whether or not it translates to cognitive poverty,” she said.

Motsumi further said this includes future-focused education that explores the role of Artificial Intelligence, integration of e-assessment tools, and equipping teachers and learners to respond to climate change and a fast-changing global environment.

She added that she welcomes the platform as an opportunity to strengthen the province’s education priorities.

“I am pleased that we are advancing to conversations that shape both the teacher and learner at a national level. From a provincial level, as the North West province we will continue aligning our strategies to national priorities while ensuring that the unique challenges of learners and teachers in the province are addressed.

“I am pleased that the discourse has also moved toward the robust inclusion of technology in our pedagogy where the gap is bridged between learners in urban and rural areas for both the teacher and the learner in the classroom,” said Motsumi.

She said the 20th Indaba reaffirms the collective commitment of national and provincial education leaders and stakeholders to work collaboratively towards an education system that is resilient, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of the 21st century.

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Northern Cape Department of Education’s alleged financial mismanagement affects learners

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By OBAKENG MAJE

20 January 2025- The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Northern Cape said learners, parents, educators and local businesses are paying the price for the Northern Cape Department of Education’s alleged financial mismanagement. The DA’s Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) in Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, Priscilla Isaacs said the oversight they conducted confirmed that learners, parents, educators, principals, and local businesses are paying the price for financial mismanagement and poor prioritisation by the Northern Cape Department of Education.

Isaacs said parents and guardians taking their children to school this week were met with unprecedented requests for stationery, cleaning materials, and other items as the department failed since 2024, to pay funding for learning and teaching support materials, maintenance, food schemes, and other essentials.

She said while the department admitted its failure, it only committed to partial payment of outstanding monies.

“School communities are left scrambling to cover unexpected costs. As the department only paid 27% of schools’ funds for learning and teaching support materials, classes are left without stationery.

“Grade 12 learners at a Kimberley-based high school have been sitting on their hands since the academic year started, because the school lacks textbooks and cannot afford paper to make copies. Schools also receive only 35% of their hostel subsidies for two quarters, creating serious financial shortfalls at very short notice,” said Isaacs.

She further said one hostel near Calvinia resorted to sending learners home over the weekends, because the school cannot afford to pay staff and provide food for two non-school days. Isaacs added that not all parents can afford additional transport costs.

“Educators are under immense pressure to keep classes afloat from their own pockets. Yet without funding, schools are not necessarily able to pay educators their salaries.

“A school in Daniëlskuil was forced to use funding intended for salaries in 2025, to pay operational costs in 2024. Without funding, schools cannot provide the security needed to prevent vandalism and theft. Schools in Ritchie attest to the frequency of break-ins and vandalism after hours and during school holidays,” said Isaacs.

She said most schools visited by the DA representatives are unable to pay municipal accounts timeously. Isaacs said a school in Keimoes also struggles to afford prepaid electricity.

“Without electricity, the school’s pumps cannot draw sufficient water from the reservoir for hostel learners. While the department urges schools to engage with service providers, prioritise critical needs and plan conservatively, some schools have already been turned away by local businesses due to high debt levels and will find it impossible to make alternative arrangements without sufficient funding.

“It is also unrealistic to expect local businesses to subsidise schools indefinitely. I know of one business that hasn’t been paid for six months for school printing services. Why must it pay for the department’s failures?” she asked.

Isaacs said the department could easily find the funds to cover essential education services if it improved its abysmal financial management. She said in the last financial year, the department frittered away over R647 million in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

“While one school in Ritchie only had enough supplies to feed children from an impoverished community for two days, the department upped its spending on its own catering for officials by 50%.

“And while schools are left without pens and paper, the department splashed out on gifts worth more than R3.5 million. We question the wisdom behind lavish gala events to celebrate the lowest matric pass rate in the country for the second consecutive year,” she said.

Isaacs said surely this funding could have been used to assist schools in impoverished communities, where parents cannot afford to feed their families, let alone afford to carry schools on their unemployed backs.

Meanwhile, the Northern Cape Department of Education response will be incorporated in the article when received.

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SGB members urged to give necessary support

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Picture: SGB members and principals during interactive session in Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng/Supplied

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi urged School Governing Bodies (SGBs) across the province to give principals necessary support in quest to improve the results of learners. Motsumi held a successful interactive session with SGBs, principals, and education stakeholders at Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng on Thursday.

She further said the event brings together school principals, SGBs, secretaries, Representatives Council of Learners (RCL) and various education stakeholders from across the province. Motsumi added that commitment is vital to ensure excellence, integrity and a strong dedication to learner success in the governance of schools.

“As the 2024-2026 SGB term of office begins, we express our heartfelt gratitude to all SGB members for accepting this significant responsibility. I’m thankful to the parents who took the role of being invested in their children’s school governance.

“It is important to clearly understand the task ahead. Your term of office is three years, a relatively short period in which you are expected to leave a lasting legacy. Clean governance is not just a goal, but it is a necessity,” she said.

Motsumi said they must strive to be transparent, ethical, and accountable in all our actions. She said the session focused on several critical areas, including the smooth transition and handover processes, stressing the importance of finalising the handover processes from the previous term to ensure a seamless transition into the new administration.

“We also outlined the legal framework within, which SGBs and school governance operate to promote accountability to stakeholders – parents, teachers and the broader community. We emphasised the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration and cohesion within schools to create environments where learners can thrive.

“We also addressed respect and vandalism in schools. It is about time we bring back respect and discipline to our schools. Learners should be taught respect and gone are the days where teachers are held at ransom by our learners,” said Motsumi.

She said vandalism will also be a thing of the past and as SGBs and school governance, they need to put their foot down in the socials they see creeping into their schools. Motsumi said stakeholders and RCL raised concerns focused on expediting school infrastructure, inclusion of RCLs in the school management, and prioritisation of learner transport.

“These kinds of engagement sessions will be held annually to enhance the quality of education in the province,” she said.

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