Schools not Offering Mathematics; DBE Q4 2024/25 Performance; with Ministry

Video The Department of Basic Education (DBE) confirmed that it had achieved 94% of its performance indicators, meeting 68 out of 72 targets in the Fourth Quarter of 2024/25. The Minister highlighted key achievements, including the Bana Pele mass registration drive for Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, DBE’s continued financial discipline with R32.5 billion spent during the reporting period. The Minister emphasized the Department’s progress in implementing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, confirming that public comment would be invited on the regulations by June 2025. DBE also presented a presentation on the recent concern that 482 schools across the country did not offer Mathematics. A detailed breakdown was given of the affected schools. Ten of these were technical schools offering Technical Mathematics instead; 10 were Schools for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) with limited subject offerings and the remaining 462 schools offered only Mathematical Literacy. The majority of these were identified as small or non-viable schools with fewer than 70 learners in Grade 12. DBE committed to working with districts and provincial education departments to explore the merger of non-viable schools to ensure that learners have access to Mathematics, regardless of geographic or economic circumstance. Committee members raised serious concerns about this trend in access to Mathematics, pointing out that it disproportionately affected learners in rural areas and under-resourced communities. Several members argued that the legacy of apartheid education still shaped access to critical subjects such as Mathematics. The DBE was urged to take decisive action to address these inequities. As part of the way forward, the Minister and the DG agreed to provide the Committee with a full report about the schools that should be offering Mathematics but are not doing so. They also committed to producing a follow-up report within seven working days on the specific schools that the Committee had raised concerns about. Committee members also asked about the quality of Foundation Phase education, infrastructure delays, unpaid educators in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga procurement corruption allegations, implementation of the Funza Lushaka bursary programme, overcrowded classrooms, and non-delivery of meals and transport in provinces like the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The meeting concluded with a strong emphasis on the need to improve access to Mathematics as part of the country’s broader STEM education strategy and economic development goals. The Chairperson reiterated the Committee’s call for equitable access to high-value subjects and pressed the Department to uphold its responsibility to all learners, particularly those in historically disadvantaged areas.