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WENDY MOTHATA |
GAUTENG Premier David Makhura said on Monday his administration would be introducing dedicated funding for the introduction of Coding and Robotics at primary schools in a bid to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or 4IR.
Makhura was speaking during the State of the Province Address held at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s chambers in Johannesburg.
“We introducing dedicated funding for the introduction of Coding and Robotics to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). We have identified 33 primary schools Grades R to 3 and 90 Grade 7 schools to participate in the pilot Coding and Robotics Programme,” said Makhura.
Since 2009, about R2.2 billion has been invested towards bursaries from which 30 000 students have benefited through the GCR financial assistance.
For the academic year 2021, Makhura said the GCR has set aside R420 million for Gauteng students who have done exceptionally well in matric results.
“We have harnessed ICT to provide smart schools and classrooms of the future.”
“This is across all schooling levels from Grade R to Grade 12. This includes supplying and delivering tablets and robotics coding kits to 62 primary schools. Grade 1-3 learners in 62 Primary schools have received mathematics manipulatives, including the abacus,” he said.
Makhura said since 1994, the democratic government has invested in the building of new houses, schools, clinics, hospitalisation, roads and streets, electricity and water connection.
“Since 1994 Educational outcomes have been a key area of pride. In 2014 we will continue to invest in the modernisation and quality delivery of education especially improving educational outcomes in township schools,” he said.
The Premier said: “Our 2014 decision to invest in the modernisation of our education system has proven fruitful over the last eight years. This progress has been the result of incremental interventions, which included ICT, investment in infrastructure, and inputs in teacher training, adequate provision of classroom resources.”
Makhura added that his administration is working with TVET colleges to provide ICT training. Through the partnership with Tshimologong and Wits.
Early Childhood Development provides a critical stage in the cognitive development of a child with last implications for their future learning capabilities. Makhura said the work included investing in producing practitioners who would make an impact on the early stage of a child’s development.
“We are pleased to report that 2 467 ECD Practitioners have achieved a qualification at NQF Level 6. We were also able to increase the percentage of public schools offering grade R to 95,1% in 2021. This is an increase of 24 new Grade R sites, from the 1 386 sites that offered grade R in 2020,” he said.
Between the years 2014 and 2019, the national senior certificate results have improved by an average of 85%. For the class of 2021 forty-four percent (50%) of bachelor passes in South Africa were in Gauteng.
“We have moved from 79% to 84% in terms of throughput rate largely because the focus was put on township schools to make learning conditions conducive.”
Makhura said: “We have ensured that the performance gap between learners from fee-paying and no-fee paying schools is narrowed. Despite being one of the areas severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, education has continued to record some great achievements.”
In the 2021 matric results, Gauteng was the second-best performing province with an 82.8% pass rate, which was a slight drop of 1% from 2020. A total of 130 schools in the province achieved a 100% pass rate, while 462 had a pass rate that was above 90%.
“Four of the top 10 districts in the country were from Gauteng. Since the year 2020, we have seen unprecedented disruptions to the schooling system due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this negative impact, our education system has shown resilience as evidenced by remarkable progress, especially the matric results,” the premier said.
–Inside Education.