Speaker, education's significance in reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth makes it critical for government to be on top of challenges facing the sector. The ACDP commends the Minister on action taken in this regard. We support the decision to implement the recommendations of the task team and are impressed with government's commitment to immediate changes, where possible.
During the July debate on the budget for Education, the ACDP pointed out that:
One of the major problems with education today is that teachers are not allowed to be teachers. They are inundated with administration, lesson plans for every lesson, marking, assessments, and endless forms to fill out. Our children are assessed and assessed again, but they are not being taught. This rigid control dilutes the unique teaching ability of individual teachers and our children have become statistics and not learners.
The Minister's reassurance that the intention of the changes are: firstly, to simplify the administrative functions that teachers are responsible for; and secondly, to provide structured systemic support, is encouraging. The ACDP has always had serious concerns with the concept and the implementation of OBE and we, therefore, welcome these new developments. Thank you.