Teachers and principals who fail to increase the matric pass rate in their schools will be dismissed, Gauteng provincial minister of education Angie Motshekga warned on Saturday.
Motshekga was addressing teachers, principals, pupils and parents at an education conference at the Sebokeng College of Education.
”The [provincial minister] was clear in saying that if a teacher was found not performing and the principal of the school had been made aware, the principal will take responsibility,” said her spokesperson Kate Bopela.
”If a teacher is found not improving, after they receive the required support then they must resign themselves or they will be released.”
The provincial minister will be delivering the warning to underperforming schools in Ekurhuleni, Soweto and Pretoria over the next three weeks as similar conferences will be held in those areas.
Bopela said the aim of the conferences was to ensure that schools who fared poorly in the last matric exams improved their performance.
”The [provincial minister] wants them to improve a lot … For her a 60% pass rate provides a safety net,” she said.
Teachers, pupils and parents were all to blame for the bad matric results these schools obtained.
”Some teachers are not in the classroom, you find the learners are loitering in the streets and at the same time parents are supposed to ensure that their children do schoolwork … it is really a triangle of a problem,” Bopela said.
Motshekga is clamping down on underperforming schools despite an increase of 3,4% in the matric pass rate in Gauteng in 2006, second to the Western Cape nationally. — Sapa