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By Thapelo Molefe
Despite years of discussions and recommendations, key challenges in South Africa’s education sector remain unresolved.
Over the weekend, the 10th Basic Education Sector Lekgotla was held. Despite a decade of meetings, stakeholders voiced their frustration at the slow pace of implementation, calling for urgent action to bridge the gap between policy and implementation.
“We cannot keep repeating the same discussions every year without tangible results,” University of Free State Dean of the Faculty of Education Loyiso Jita told the gathering in Ekurhuleni.
“It is time we pick two or three critical issues and commit to their resolution before the next lekgotla.”
From the chronic shortage of well-trained teachers to the widening digital divide between urban and rural schools, the challenges are well documented.
This year, the theme for the three-day meeting was “Strengthening foundations for learning for a resilient future fit education system”.
Policymakers, educators and stakeholders tackled key issues plaguing the education system in six areas. They included foundational literacy and numeracy, early childhood development (ECD), care and support for teaching and learning (CSTL), educational professional development for a changing world, education using ICT, and mother tongue-based bilingual education (MTbBE).
A range of participants and delegates were adamant that more than ever it was now time to focus on implementation. Thirty years into the country’s democracy, South African learners were still battling with the basics such reading, numeracy and comprehension.
On foundational literacy and numeracy, delegates highlighted the widening gap between systematic evaluation assessments and school-based assessments. Among the solutions proposed were increasing mathematics instruction time, improving teacher support and embedding structured play-based learning to enhance literacy and numeracy.
On ECD, the commission urged that practitioners must have the right tools and support to lay the foundation for lifelong learning. They called for learning materials to be available in all the official languages.
Commission three, which focused on CSTL, delivered a stark warning that unaddressed trauma and adverse childhood experiences were crippling learners’ ability to succeed in school.
“A child living in fear can only process 30% of what they are taught,” Basic Education Department director for psychosocial support services, Sibongile Monareng, noted.
Recommendations included a five-year strategy to integrate psychosocial support into schools, with referral networks and teacher training to help address emotional and mental health challenges.
On teacher shortages and training gaps, which continue to threaten the quality of education, delegates called for micro-credentials for professional development, strengthening Professional Learning Communities and structured mentorship programmes.
“We need to value and incentivise continuous teacher development,” said acting deputy Director-General for Teachers, Human Resource and Institutional Development at the Basic Education Department, Enoch Rabotapi.
“Teachers are expected to adapt to new policies and methodologies, but where is the support to make that happen?”
While ICT has been recognised as a game-changer in education, the lack of infrastructure and security remains a roadblock. The country is already behind in digital transformation and without a clear ICT strategy, it risks falling behind even further.
Participants called for urgent collaboration with telecommunication providers to improve network access in rural schools. However, the theft of digital devices in schools has emerged as a serious challenge.
A security plan was proposed to safeguard ICT investments, but stakeholders demanded clear implementation timelines.
With Basic Education Laws Amendment Act mandating the expansion of MTbBE, questions around its execution dominated discussions. The commission recommended standardising terminology to align African language curricula with linguistic structures and expanding multilingual teacher training.
“We cannot promote mother tongue education without properly trained teachers and adequate learning materials,” said the department’s chief education specialist, Sello Galane.
The commission also emphasised the need for sustainable funding and strong policy advocacy to ensure effective implementation.
The frustration in the room was palpable. Delegates demanded an end to policy stagnation and called for urgent, measurable action.
Environmental concerns were also raised, with education official Fourten Khumalo from Mpumalanga calling for school policies that addressed climate-related challenges and safety issues.
In his closing remarks, former education director-general Duncan Hindle urged all stakeholders to move beyond words and into action.
“We must track progress and ensure commitments translate into real change,” he said.
He called for the Human Resource Development Council to integrate key lekgotla insights into national education policies, particularly those focused on foundational learning and future-readiness.
The 2025 Lekgotla has sent a clear message that the time for talk is over. The education sector must move from policy debates to implementation to ensure real improvements for learners and teachers.
“Next year, we must be discussing progress, not repeating the same challenges,” Jita concluded.
INSIDE EDUCATION