THE Limpopo MEC for education, Dikeledi Magadzi, threatened to take serious action against poor performing schools’ principals.
Magadzi announced the gr. 12 results at The Ranch Resort in Polokwane last Tuesday and said Limpopo achieved a 71,8% pass rate, an improvement compared to the 66,9% achieved in 2012.
She said there was no excuse for poor performance and that she would follow labour law when dealing with these principals.
The MEC said principals were like chief executive officers of companies and if the companies were collapsing, the CEOs should explain why this happened.
She said the axe would start to fall at the circuit level where circuit managers would have to explain why their schools were not performing.
“I know principals tend to drop the ball while the department is paying them for being leaders of schools. We have already realised that something is wrong on the side of the principals. They must account for their poor performance, because they are the leaders of the schools and are paid their salaries for that,” she said.
According to Magadzi, some schools did not even finish last year’s curriculum.
“Leaders should be held accountable for their actions. The worst school in Limpopo is in the Waterberg district and somebody should be held accountable there,” she said.
Limpopo’s premier, Stan Mathabatha, supported Magadzi’s idea of taking action against poor performing principals.
“Next year this province should achieve an 80% pass rate. I am happy with the performance of the Vhembe district, particularly Mbilwi Secondary School, which is the top school in the province,” said Mathabatha.
