Minister of Basic Education Mrs Angie Motshekga will embark on roadshow to engage communities on the Second Chance Matric Support Programme (Second Chance) and Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the Kwa-Thema Skills Centre in Springs, Gauteng on Thursday, 21 October 2021.

Second Chance provides support to learners who could not meet the pass requirements of the National Senior Certificate Examinations. It responds to the National Development Plan’s (NDP) injunction that retention rates should be improved; and drop-out rates reduced.

President Cyril Ramaphosa directed during the 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that, “the responsibility for ECD centres will be migrated from the Department of Social Development to Basic Education”. The government has begun the process of migrating the responsibility for ECD from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to the DBE and making ECD a national priority.

The DBE, in partnership with the LEGO Foundation is undertaking a National Census of all ECD programmes in South Africa to help map out all ECD programmes in the country and form the foundation for a data management information system for the ECD sector.

The roadshows are aimed initiating an engagement with the communities to raise awareness the matric exams and lobby the communities to support educators during school hours including the times of the exams.

Source: Government of South Africa