Limpopo hosts G20 Provincial Education Indaba

As part of the building up to the G20 summit, the provincial government held Education Indaba on the 21 May in Polokwane. The summit was attended by more than 300 delegates representing the education sector. The Indaba served as a platform to discuss and map critical discussion on quality foundational learning and teacher development.

Limpopo, being the 3rd province to host the indaba, delegates focused on the role of Early Child Education (ECE) to set path to academic success for inclusive quality education, by enhancing fundamental skills to strengthen early childhood framework to improve the quality of learning.
Addressing delegates, Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba urged School Governing Bodies, parents, civil society and private sector to take up moral responsibility in supporting education, to allow primary school learners to think critically and express themselves in confidence.

“Education is the heartbeat of a nation’s soul. It is the silent architect of our collective future, laying brick by brick the foundations upon which dreams are built and destinies fulfilled. When the pen meets the page, history is written anew, and hope is planted in the hearts of the next generation”.

The Indaba tackled educational challenges and discussed ways that can strengthen collaboration to exchange best practice while improving quality education, by investing more resources on the foundation phase in preparation for high schools to produce best grade 12 results and preparing learners for higher education environment.

Mdumo Mboweni study research paper from the University of Limpopo revealed that only 55% of children aged 4–5 are on track in literacy, 33% in numeracy and 19% of learners in grade 4 can read for meaning.

One of the Indaba resolutions included the continuous implementation of sign language training, braille and autism support to have inclusive learning programmes that caters for learners with profound intellectual disabilities.

The panel discussion highlighted that, the province is on the right path in tackling childhood development, teacher training and curriculum alignment that will benefit the province and country in sectors such as agriculture, tourism and mining. EC