The Department of Basic Education in Pretoria is on a mission to guarantee that every South African has access to quality, lifelong learning opportunities. This will contribute towards the building of a peaceful, prosperous, democratic country.
The Department strives to meet these objectives by developing, monitoring and supporting curriculum implementation and support. It also prioritizes improving teacher supply, development and utilization.
Human Resource Development
Human resource development (HRD) is the process of training and developing employees in order to boost their job performance and contribute to a company’s profitability. HRD also involves strengthening company culture, setting the foundations for leadership development and employee recruitment efforts.
Generally, this means working to achieve an organization’s training objectives through instructional design, course development and other strategic initiatives. It could involve creating an employer brand and cultivating a company culture that encourages employees to take risks and use their initiative.
The Department of Basic Education in Pretoria has an expansive Human Resource Management section responsible for payroll processing, leave administration, recruitment/retention, benefits administration, human relations management, in-service training and staff development. Their Human Resource Development division works towards cultivating employees by offering them specialized training opportunities while also assessing their needs through surveys and evaluation programs.
Physical Resources and Infrastructure
The department of basic education in Pretoria strives to guarantee that all children receive quality education in a secure and healthy learning environment. This requires ensuring physical resources and infrastructure in schools are adequate, secure, and functional for supporting teaching and learning processes.
School governing boards must effectively manage finances and physical resources of their school. Unfortunately, they often lack essential knowledge and abilities to do this effectively.
Establishing an efficient management system to oversee school physical resources and infrastructure is paramount. It requires systematic structures, well-thought out policies, and rigid processes in order to guarantee efficient procurement, utilization, and upkeep of these assets.
International Relations
The Department of Basic Education in Pretoria is responsible for policy and oversight in primary education in South Africa. This includes public schools, private educational establishments, early childhood development centres as well as special needs schools.
The DBE also maintains partnerships with other countries for technical exchanges in maths and science. These collaborations aim to develop teaching methods and strategies.
On the international front, the DBE has collaborated with South Africa’s neighbouring countries in order to promote education through ministerial dialogues.
The department has also engaged France in a variety of ways. This includes working with a French language advisor and expanding collaboration on technical vocational education and training.
Curriculum and Assessment
Curriculums serve as the framework for all educators in terms of what students must learn in order to become academically competent. They should include objectives, methods, materials and assessments that facilitate instruction and learning.
The Department of Basic Education Pretoria (DBE) is the government agency responsible for schools in South Africa. It receives funding from central government taxes, and pays a portion of teachers’ salaries at both government and independent schools alike.
Within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, education authorities have been faced with a range of speculations, proposals and tentative plans for school recovery. These range from official statements by politicians responsible for basic education in each province to proposals and ideas from leading researchers and scholars.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are critical components of any program. It involves collecting data, tracking key indicators, and assessing whether the program has achieved its goals.
Typically, this is handled by either a dedicated M&E officer or an external organization. This provides for objectivity and technical proficiency.
South Africa’s Department of Public Works and Economic Development (DPME) have adopted the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF). This comprehensive strategy guides strategic evaluation selection, implementation of various systems to support evaluations across the country, and serves as an overarching strategy.
At the national level, evaluation evidence is beginning to influence planning and budget processes. However, this movement is still relatively young and not yet fully institutionalised.
