Action Plan to 2019

This plan, produced by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), represents another milestone in the journey towards quality schooling for all South Africans. This document takes stock of key developments in the basic education sector
since the release in 2011 of the last sector plan, Action Plan to 2014: Towards the realisation of Schooling 2025. It reiterates many of the priorities outlined in the earlier plan, as to a large extent priorities have remained the same in recent years. However, there are also shifts of emphasis in the wake of lessons learnt and, very importantly, priorities put forward by the National Development Plan (NDP) released by the President in 2012.
In line with the NDP, the planning horizon in the current plan is 2030, and no longer 2025. The medium term horizon is set at 2019, which is the end of the 2014 to 2019 electoral cycle. The current plan is directed at a broad range of stakeholders involved in the momentous task of transforming South Africa’s schools. These stakeholders include parents, teachers, school principals, officials at the district, provincial and national levels, members of Parliament, leaders in civil society organisations, including teacher unions, private sector partners, researchers, and international partner agencies such as UNICEF and the World Bank. The document also serves to share with people outside the country, including foreign investors, ideas and strategies that South Africans firmly believe will enhance our education levels, and hence our prosperity, social cohesion, and ability to contribute to global development.
This plan provides continuity insofar as it follows the basic structure of the previous sector plan, which we shall refer to as the 2011 Action Plan in this document. Thus the original 27 goals covering a broad range of issues and interventions remain. Of these 27 goals, 13 deal with performance and participation outcomes we strive for and 14 deal with the ‘how’ of realising these improvements, in other words actions that need to be taken to strengthen the sector. Twenty-seven goals may seem like many goals, but they are retained as we want to underline how diverse the role players are who contribute towards educational improvement. To promote focus within the system, however, five of the 27 goals remain priority goals. These deal with Grade R, teacher development, learning materials, school management and support by district offices.