A reform of the basic education system was necessary to turn schools into centres of excellence after the Covid-19 pandemic, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said.

Motshekga made these remarks as she gave an opening address at the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC)inter-provincial workshop on Wednesday.

The QTLC was a collaborative effort between political parties, the Department of Basic Education, teacher unions and associations, and school governing bodies.

“We must use this workshop as an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the building of coherent responses on the envisaged measures to reboot and build the basic education system post-Covid-19,” she said.

During her address, Motshekga also said there was a need for a new set of non-negotiables for teachers, parents, and community leaders as they would form the backbone of the new basic education social compact sector they sought to build.

She said parents were the “vital cog in the wheel” of basic education while the learners were the heartbeat of the system.

“Sadly, we lack behind our peers in parents’ participation in children’s schools, especially in historically disadvantaged communities,” Motshekga said.

On the other hand, she applauded the QLTC for being hands-on in strengthening quality learning and teaching at the onset and during the pandemic.

“I am glad that finally, we have this opportunity to lay the foundation for a national social compact for basic education,” she said.

The workshop was held under the theme ‘Repositioning the QLTC to mobilise all stakeholders and strengthen partnerships to build a national social compact for education’.

The objective thereof was to reposition, strengthen, advance, redirect, review and re-evaluate the work of the QLTC.

Oversight they embarked on was done under these pillars:

– Monitor the basic functionality of schools

– Code of conduct for teachers, learners, and support staff

– Procedures and mechanisms of attending to learner absenteeism, teachers and support staff

– Teacher development roll-out plan.