Shortly after the release of national matric results, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi announced his intention to fire the principals of the province’s worst-performing schools.
During a briefing on the results and pass rate in Randburg yesterday, Lesufi announced that the principals of the four Gauteng schools which turned out the worst results “have kissed their principalship goodbye”.
Officials who had been responsible for the schools would also be dismissed, he said. “If the schools have not performed, then these officials have also not performed.”
The schools themselves were not named; however, the province’s Crawford Sandton and Crawford Lonehill schools have been noted to have attained second and third place in the country’s Top 3 Independent Schools category.
Gauteng province boasted the second-highest matric pass rate of 84.2%, coming in just behind the Western Cape’s 84.7%.
Lesufi spoke highly of the province’s performance, asserting that Sedibeng East, with its pass rate of 90.4%, was the top-performing province in the country.
More than 38,000 of Gauteng’s matriculants qualified for a Bachelor Pass (in contrast to 2014’s 22,000). 17,000 of them, Lesufi said, came from township schools, which he claimed was assisting in closing the gap between rich and poor students. “Until we get quality education for the poor close to their homes, we will not rest” he said. “The only way to break the shackles of poverty is through education.”
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi
Underperforming pupils would not be left out in the cold either, he asserted; all matrics who failed would be given internships in provincial government. “We don’t have a dustbin for failures in this province”, he said. He also pledged the province’s commitment toward improving Johannesburg Central district, which turned out the province’s worst results.
However, Lesufi’s threats to fire underperforming principals drew criticism from several teachers’ unions.
“We do not think that we should be able to hold one individual accountable for the failure of the school” said the South African Democratic Teachers Union’s Mugwena Maluleke, who asserted that investigations should be conducted to examine the root causes of the high failure rates.
SADTU’s Gauteng secretary Tseliso Ledimo echoed his sentiments, stating that accountability needed to extend to all those involved in education.
Anthea Cereseto of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA, meanwhile, while praising Gauteng’s high performance in education, stated that Lesufi could not fire the principals, since, as the schools were independent, they were not his employees.
Following the briefing, an award ceremony was held for the province’s top matric achievers.