On July 27th, we launched our report Mapping Transparency, Accountability and Integrity in Primary Education in South Africa! After two years of extensive research, we were very happy to finally present our findings to the public. The event was held at the Protea Parktonian Hotel in Johannesburg and brought together officials from provinces, schools, unions and civil society organizations. After an introduction of the work of Transparency International and a summary of our report, we were watching the TISDA Education video together, which covers the Cameroonian and South African programs.
We were very happy to have representatives from the government as well as from civil society organizations joining us for the panel discussion.
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| Two of our panelists - Mr. David Makhado, education specialist from the Gauteng Department of Education (left), and Dr. Cas Prinsloo, Education Specialist from the Human Science Research Council |
The panelists discussed some of the main issues identified in the report, such as:
- the high percentages of teacher absenteeism,
- lack of parent participation,
- poor and unsafe infrastructure,
- late budget allocations and
- the lack of knowledge to govern and manage school resources and funds
The Good Governance Award was given to Lebowa Primary School, a small township school based in Sharpeville, Vereeniging, Gauteng. Lebowa Primary School was outstanding in its good government characteristics, i.e. the school was doing best among the 44 schools polled with regard to participation, accountability, transparency and integrity. The award was handed over by Letshego Mokeki and Helle Dossing to the School Principal, Mrs Moletsane and the Deputy Principal and one teacher. The school was awarded a netball and soccer ball and a further sporting equipment voucher of R1000 ($142, $1=7ZAR) from a leading sports warehouse to highlight their achievements and to define a role model for other schools.
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| Representatives from Lebowa Primary School receiving the award |
We are also very excited about the great interest media took in our event. Read yourself:
