Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education head Nkosinathi Ngcobo emphasised the importance of the province’s performance in matric exams during the last leg of the monitoring of academic improvement plans and district support programme at Bright Future Special School in Newlands East.
The initiative is targeted at schools that continue to record poor matric pass rate.
Ngcobo said that the programme is vital since KZN has the highest number of matric candidates in the country with Umlazi and Pinetown districts making up most of them.
“Eighty-three percent was the highest we have ever achieved as a province and we are therefore correct in comparing the previous class with the class of 2023.
“If for example we find that the class of 2023 is performing above the performance of the class of 2022 in the first term last year, we will have comfort that if we continue in that manner our results would have improved,” said Ngcobo.
He said that the purpose of the visits was to monitor the progress in the implementation of the academic improvement plan as well as to offer support to districts, circuits and schools.
“Districts extended manco, subject advisers and principals of schools with large enrolment that attained below 75% and those schools that performed below 40% in the 2022 National Senior Certificate Results (NSC), formed part of the districts delegation to present before the top management of the department,” said Ngcobo.
He said that as part of these support visits, district directors were expected to prepare presentations on interventions following the term one results analysis, general state of readiness and plans regarding winter and spring vacation classes.
Meanwhile in September last year, The KZN legislature said it had set to monitor the functioning of schools across the province through its portfolio committee.
This came as its members were conducting oversight over the Department of Education.
The legislature used a programme called the School Functionality Monitoring tool to assess service delivery in various areas in schools.
Legislature spokesperson Wesley Canham said that during the visits, recommendations to improve teaching and learning were generated.
“These are based on two areas, namely, those that are at the level of schools, and those that require either the district or the department at head office levels to implement,” said Canham.
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