08 Sep 2015

After Junior Certificate (JC) students will either follow the academic route or the vocational and technical route, says Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Moiseraele Goya.

The assistant minister told a kgotla meeting in Mmashoro that poor performing students at JC would be allowed to follow the vocational and technical route while best performers would continue with the academic route. Mr Goya said this was a result of the five year education and training sector strategic plan.

The assistant minister said the government has set out its priority to have an improved sector wide planning leading to improved education performance over the next five years.

However, he informed residents that students who were willing to change routes would be granted their wish.

Mr Goya told the meeting that under the five year plan, the ministry would prioritise accessible quality education that was relevant to the demands of the market. He explained that the education they were striving for was equitable while at the same promoting life-long learning.

The assistant minister challenged parents and guardians to become active players in education matters, adding that there were some caregivers who have resigned their responsibilities to teachers.

“How much are you doing as a parent before and after class to ensure that a learner is always prepared for class?” 

Mr Goya urged parents to grant learners enough time to study against home chores. He said private schools were performing better than public schools because parents at private schools participated in the education of their children and ensured they performed well.    

He opined that at public schools parents and guardians do not pay huge amounts of school fees hence they do not yearn for a return on their investment. He noted that 59 000 students failed last year and asked what stakeholders were doing about it. He said the general certificate in secondary education, over 19 000 students out of 25 186 did not perform well. 

At junior certificate, over 26 000 of the 40 559 students obtained below A, B, or C while 13 000 of the over 42 000 who sat for primary school leaving examination performed poorly.

However, Mr Goya conceded that some public schools were overwhelmed by the number of students against available classrooms. He also admitted that transporting learners in open trucks was risky, but noted that trucks would be covered by tents. Mr Goya also told Mmashoro residents that temporary teachers would make way for permanent staff. Ends