‘Schools should not be graveyards’

Edwin Naidu

Mindful that her hands are full, given the enormity of the challenges, the new Democratic Alliance Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has pledged to eliminate pit toilets in rural schools because, thirty years into democracy, “schools should not be graveyards”.

“It is a crime. It’s letting down the most vulnerable because everybody else can unionise and organise, right? But learners and children can’t, so it’s incumbent on leaders in society to say, this is a crime; we cannot have this in our schools,” Gwarube, the former DA Chip Whip in the National Assembly, told Inside Education.

“I will certainly be working day and night to make sure that that is no longer a reality for many learners who essentially are poor, black pupils, subjected to these conditions because of the inequality that we experience in South Africa.”

In her first media interview 24 hours after being sworn in as Minister of Basic Education, replacing the long-serving Angie Motshekga, Gwarube said she was concerned about low literacy and numeracy levels as South Africa has fallen behind its peers globally and on the continent.

She said it was alarming that Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning since it was an advanced level of the foundation phase.

“That worries me because we are in trouble if we don’t correct the foundation. The second one is children are dying prematurely and unnecessarily because of unsafe infrastructure. Schools should not be graveyards. They should be places of opportunity and learning. And these two priorities are incredibly close to my heart,” she said.

“When one looks at the existence of pit latrines in South Africa, that there are still children in our democracy who die in these toilets, that is something that I am dedicating myself to working with other Cabinet colleagues, to say we want to eradicate the pit toilets as soon as possible. And we want to ensure that there are enough students and learners in our system who can read and read for meaning and are ready for an economy of the future.”

Regarding the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill, Gwarube said it was essential to separate the politics of the Government of National Unity from her work.

“We will have robust political engagement in the Government of National Unity. There will be policy discussions and disagreements. But when it comes to my work in the department, I do not want politics playing itself out.

“I want to assure anybody in the department or a stakeholder that the department’s work must be completely apolitical. We must ensure that we implement what is best for the system, not necessarily the interests of a political party.

“Regarding the opposition to the Bela Bill by the Democratic Alliance that is now in my current capacity, I’d have to look at this in its entirety. It’s important not to throw out the entire bill with the bathwater. The objectives of the Bela Bill are important and commendable – however, some sections concern stakeholders regarding the erosion of the powers of School Governing Bodies.

“I want to have an honest conversation with the President and use my Cabinet seat to say, look, Mr President, there’s an opportunity here. We can send this bill back to the National Assembly, but some of these things we can resolve and not tie this up in legal warfare for years. That will be my approach to say to the president, here’s the bill, and petition him to say, as my colleague, can we send this bill back to the National Assembly to discuss the contentious parts.”

Furthermore, Gwarube wants a curriculum review to understand how to adequately equip learners going through the system to start in grade R or the early child development centres and ensure they remain in the system until they leave grade 12.

“This is important because how do we ensure that the product they leave with – that matric certificate – is of quality and equips them for an economy of the future? That is the question that we must be asking.

“And we also must be asking ourselves, are we retaining enough learners across the system? It’s one thing to look at just the matric results and be content with that, but we’ve got to look at those results in context. Are those same people who started grade R the same number of students who finish?”

Of course, she said, while some learners branched off to TVET and Community Colleges, there must be a mechanism for tracking whether they are staying in school, getting a good quality education, and whether the educators are supportive, capacitated, and resourced enough to deliver a good quality product.

Turning to the importance of technology, she said it’s important to consider the department from a social level and one that had significant economic value.

“For me, that is the value of technology because you are equipping learners to vote for the economy of the future. Otherwise, I mean we are getting left behind around the globe. Countries like India have used technology to develop an entire industry of call centres and services for the rest of the world.

During her tenure, the Minister said she wants to explore public-private partnerships, especially in technological advancements, since it was in the interest of any significant economic player in South Africa to invest in the country’s future.

Citing the example of collaboration between the Chemical Industries Education & Training Authority (CHIETA) and private sector firm Highveld Industrial Park to launch the CHIETA SMART Skills Centre in rural Mpumalanga, she said society must step in, “because we can’t allow learners in South Africa to be left behind, while the rest of the world is doing incredible things in the world of technology”.

Since opening the first centre in Saldanha Bay in October 2022, more than 10,000 youth in rural areas have visited these centres to access free data services or print their CVs to apply for jobs. Smart Skills Centres have also opened in the Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the Brits Smart Skills Centre in the North West and Modjadjiskloof Smart Skills Centre in Limpopo.

“I think for the private sector, it’s not just as an act of kindness, there’s an economic incentive for them to invest in the technology of learners in South Africa.”

She would also like to see civic education fused into the curriculum to deepen democracy.

“The Independent Electoral Commission also has to come on board in terms of really activating that kind of work in schools in a nonpartisan way because what you want is to make sure that learners are civic-minded because we can’t have a situation where essentially half of the country’s population is checking out of the political system,” she said.

Concluding the interview with a question on the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union’s criticism of the DA getting the DBE portfolio, the Minister said she has no doubt she would work well with all stakeholders.

“I will orient myself, getting briefings from the department and our entities, like Umalusi and SACE, and meeting stakeholders, including unions and SGB bodies.

“My one message is, if your priority is to place the learner’s future at the centre of all we do, we will find each other. I cannot think of anything that will make us not get along.

“My understanding is that the union exists for its members, but its members are people who have dedicated themselves to educate learners, and if we can remember why they are there, why I am here, then we already have found common ground. I’m convinced that because our common interest is the learner’s future, we will certainly find each other,” she said.

INSIDE EDUCATION