Not one Principal fired for poor performance in last five years

08 March 2016

Minister Angie Motshekga has revealed in a reply to a DA parliamentary question that not one Principal has been dismissed as a result of poor performance in the last five years.

This exposes the core problem at the heart of South Africa’s basic education system: those in charge are not held accountable when they fail our children.

There are many excellent school Principals all over South Africa who produce excellent results despite the challenges they face. But there are also Principals who are failing to provide leadership in our most disadvantaged schools, consigning poor children to a lifetime of poverty.

How else can one explain the fact that, in 22 schools last year, not a single matric learner passed with a National Senior Certificate? And how else can one explain the precipitous decline in performance in some provinces in the 2015 matric examinations?

The time has come to begin holding Principals to account who fail to deliver a quality education to our learners. This cannot be done on an ad hoc and emotive basis, it needs to be based on a solid system of performance management for Principals.

Minister Motshekga mooted performance contracts for Principals back in 2011, but the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) rejected this and the proposal never materialised. In 2014, Minister Motshekga announced in Parliament that she would introduce performance contracts for Principals, and that all 25,000 Principals would have signed the performance contracts by 2019.

Again, this proposal to introduce performance contracts has not materialised, no doubt as a result of pressure from SADTU. It should be noted that, to our knowledge, the proposal to introduce Principal performance contracts is supported by the other major unions. 

I have today written to the Chairperson of the Basic Education Portfolio Committee, Nomalungelo Gina MP, to request a briefing from Minister Motshekga on the progress to implement performance contracts for Principals.

We cannot allow SADTU to stop us from ensuring a quality education for all our children, and especially those in disadvantaged communities. The time has come to break SADTU’s stranglehold on our basic education system.

Text of reply:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION 180

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 11/02/2016

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 01/2016

180. Mr G R Davis (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

(a) How many principals were dismissed from their posts in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012, (iii) 2013, (iv) 2014 and (v) 2015 and (b) in respect of each specified case (i) what is the name of the school from which each specified principal was dismissed and (ii) how many principals were dismissed as a result of (aa) poor performance, (bb) disciplinary action and (cc) any other grounds? NW180E

REPLY

The information on the above question is held by the Provincial Education Departments. All the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) were requested to provide the DBE with information, however, only five (5) PEDs out of nine (9) responded.  The responses are outlined below:

(a) 51 principals were dismissed in five (5) Provinces from 2011 until 2015. (i) In 2011, 7 principals were dismissed; (ii) 12 in 2012; (iii) 16 in 2013; (iv) 6 in 2014 and (v) 10 in 2015.

(b)

ENDS

Statement issued by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 8 March 2016