MEC Lesufi doesn’t know how many qualified Maths and Science teachers GP has

21 June 2017

Despite the National Development Plan (NDP), which the ANC speaks about without implementing, committing the country to increasing the number of learners who qualify to study towards Maths and Science orientated degrees, Gauteng MEC for Education, MEC Panyza Lesufi, cannot account for the number of teachers who teach these subjects in Grades 11 and 12.

In a reply to a written question posed to the MEC, he stated that “The Department is not in a position to indicate the number of teachers who are qualified to teach these subjects and currently teaching them in Grade 11 and 12 respectively.”

This is completely unacceptable, given the already dire state of the education system, which is held to ransom by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), which protects its members, who are sometimes unqualified or underqualified to teach their assigned subjects.

It is for the purpose of improving the quality of education and ensuring that teachers are qualified that the Democratic Alliance has proposed the introduction of a National Education Inspectorate and the reintroduction of Teacher Training Colleges. These two proposals have been rejected by both the ANC and SADTU who have no interest in bettering the quality of education and the advancement of the youth, especially the poor.

It is a well-established fact that education remains one of the most effective weapons in the fight against high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty, but the ANC government continues to dilute pass marks and hold onto underperforming teachers.

MEC Lesufi must conduct a skills audit to ensure that teachers are teaching subjects they are qualified to teach and drive a campaign to attract more qualified Science and Maths teachers.

The DA believes that all learners deserve quality education and must be taught by skilled and qualified teachers. This will contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty.

The DA will continue to advance policies that work to improve the quality of the country’s education system and stand up against those who sabotage this project, because to neglect education is to neglect the project of building a better country and an inclusive economy.

Issued by Khume Ramulifho, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, 21 June 2017