Gina welcomes new Education MEC
The new KZN MEC for Education, Mthandeni Dlungwana has been given a mammoth task
DESPITE the school calendar year having already reached the halfway stage, Chairperson of the Basic Education Portfolio Committee Nomalungelo Gina has welcomed the appointment of the new KZN MEC for Education, Mthandeni Dlungwana.
Gina, who is also the provincial Executive Committee member for the SACP was speaking to the Zululand Observer on the sidelines of the SACP District Council meeting held last week, at uMfolozi TVET College.
‘We are aware that Dlungwana came at a time when plans were in motion to turn around the situation, regarding the improvement of matric results.
‘We welcome him with warm hands, and we are mindful that he is inheriting an entity with no head in place after the expiry of the contract of Dr Nkosinathi Sishi. That itself should give him an opportunity to apply his mind intelligently when planning for the future of the department.
‘I believe that he has been given a mammoth task to give hope not only to the learners of the province and the country, considering that this department is the biggest in the country.
‘Education being a societal issue entails direct involvement of all stakeholders whose energies need to be galvanised and directed towards achievement of common objectives and a shared vision.
‘We know that the department is struggling to find its true self from the disappointing matric results, that notoriously undermined commitment of all stakeholders in the last two years.
We believe in his leadership and organising capabilities that he will implement programmes designed to create conducive learning environment.
‘Our schools are besieged with violent protests and sometimes community infighting that undermine a culture of teaching and learning. This is but a critical area which our new MEC will have to find solutions to. We expect him to work with teacher unions which are an important stakeholders in the Department of Education.’
When asked about the teachers ‘Post for Sale Report,’ in which SADTU teachers were implicated, Gina said she would be in a position to comment once the final report has been released at the end of August.
‘The report does not only implicate teachers from SADTU, but teachers from various unions. The beauty of it is that no single teacher from uThungulu District has been implicated to my knowledge,’ added Gina, who is married to Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA) General Secretary Cedric Gina.
