Question NW124 to the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
22 February 2023 - NW124
Ngcobo, Mr SL to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Considering that her department in partnership with the University of South Africa has trained nearly 44 000 teachers in computer skills, (a) what additional training will teachers receive to equip them for an education system geared towards the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and (b) how will her department ensure that training focusing on the 4IR does not worsen the disparity between teachers in urban schools and teachers in rural schools?
Reply:
a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) does not have any information/data on the training of 44 000 educators that has been conducted by UNISA. This Department has over the past year covered extensive ground in ensuring that high quality teacher development opportunities are provided to teachers across all the nine (09) provinces in key areas such as the following:
- Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning for Foundation Phase Teachers; and
- Skills for a changing world in collaboration with the Teacher Union Collaboration (TUC); and
- Coding and Robotics.
b) The Department plans to continue to upskill teachers through the above offering of the above programmes by 2030, prioritizing the teachers in the lower quintiles especially the teachers in rural areas. DBE working with other government departments will continue to address the connectivity and infrastructure for 4IR for teaching and learning.