MoBE Reinstates Turnaround Strategy
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday March 4, 2019 13:52
The turnaround strategy involves a team of experts tailored as the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP), which Monkge was a part of.
The turnaround strategy team was dismantled late last year in a controversial manner as they were told sometime around October that an executive decision had been made to order them to stop.
Assistant minister at MoBE, Thato Kwerepe confirmed the reinstatement of the turnaround strategy last Friday in a telephone interview.
“Yes, we have reinstated the turnaround strategy. It must be noted that it’s not that the team was victimised or something as at that time. The decision was relevant,” Kwerepe explained without elaborating.
The Monitor is informed that an executive decision was taken post Monkge’s exit to stop the turnaround strategy with reports that the strategy was gobbling up a lot of funds from the ministry’s coffers.
This was despite the fact that a team of 10 educationists had gone on specific training at the Harvard Graduate School of Education specifically to train school managers at various schools across the country to up their game and produce desired results.
At the time of its stopping, the turnaround strategy team had covered about five MoBE regions out of a total of 10 across the country.
The Monitor is on good authority that it was the new MoBE permanent secretary, Bridget John who took the bold decision to reinstate the work of the strategic team to continue where it had left off in an endeavour to improve the results at one of government’s beleaguered ministries.
The turnaround strategy team coordinator, Tshwarelo Hosia confirmed last Friday, “I have been instructed to start training of school managers in line with our turnaround programme aimed at improving issues of governance and accountability at the government schools”.
Hosia indicated that training at the schools’ regions was just about to commence at the remaining five regions.
“I am elated that we have received a notification letter authorising the strategy team to resume duty of training teachers,” emphasised the strategy team coordinator.
Meanwhile, those very close to the fired Monkge, credit him as the first PS who combined office work and foot soldiering at the troubled ministry of education.
He had come up with a clear roadmap on improving the schools’ results, an attribute that is also traceable to the new PS, John.
The schools turnaround strategy aims at involving all stakeholders in identifying the roles they could play in turning the situation around in schools.
It goes without saying that the nation has high hopes of a new vision that is now driven by John after Monkge pushed for the implementation of the strategy as part of the recommendations of the ETSSP dream.