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Education Policy

200 000 more children into school

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:22

The government has identified getting 200 000 more children into school as a key national priority. Reporting back on the bi-annual Cabinet Lekgotla President Zuma outlined a series of actions to improve delivery of education including ensuring that teachers are in school and teaching, as well as expanding school feeding schemes.

"In order to achieve the outcome of improved quality of basic education, there will be a focus on improving the quality of teaching so that results improve, as measured by internationally benchmarked tests," explained President Zuma.

The govement has set targets for improved results at various grades and we will be providing all schools with appropriate learner and teacher support materials like lesson plans, workbooks and textbooks, to help teachers give proper coverage to all areas of the curriculum.

"To promote universal access, we must get 200 000 children between the ages of 7 and 15 into school, before 2014," declared Zuma.

"Some children live far away from school. Others need special education and local schools may not offer this, and many are from poor homes".

The government committed to maintaining the number of no-fee schools available and to increasing feeding schemes to assist children from poor families.

"There will also be a drive to ensure that teachers are in class, teaching, for the allocated school time. The Delivery Agreement has been negotiated with all the key stakeholders, including provincial education departments and the trade unions".

The President also declared a particular focus on the challenge of youth unemployment and skills, and outlined a number of proposed initiatives were discussed in this regard.

These included increasing access to post-school education and training to give young people who have not completed their senior secondary education an opportunity to attain an equivalent qualification.

He added that those who have completed matric but could not access universities will be provided with access to programmes that are occupationally directed such as the artisans training.