PARLIAMENT’S education watchdog has pressed the Free State Department of Education to tighten its planning and fix gaps in its data, saying the province’s strong matric results cannot mask weaknesses in long-term skills development.
The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education met this week with the Free State and Northern Cape education departments as part of its oversight of provincial annual performance plans, financial management and school safety interventions.
In its presentation, the Free State Education Department reported that it continued to prioritise teaching and learning despite budget pressures and the freezing of senior management posts.
The committee acknowledged the province’s consistent academic excellence, noting that the Free State remains the country’s top performer in the National Senior Certificate.
However, the committee stressed that improved Bachelor’s pass rates should not be the sole marker of success.
It urged the province to align its targets with the National Development Plan 2030, which calls for stronger technical and vocational pathways to address labour-market shortages.
Committee members also raised concerns about the province’s performance in mathematics and science.
They requested detailed, disaggregated data on STEM participation – including how many learners take mathematics and physical science, the rate of progression into the mathematics stream and how foundation-phase interventions are expected to boost competency.
School safety was another pressing issue.
Members flagged persistent violence and bullying in schools and called for an urgent joint briefing with the ministers of Basic Education, Police, Social Development and Justice.
They also pushed for a review of the National School Safety Framework, noting that initiatives such as Adopt-a-Cop often underperform due to resource shortages at station level.
While the Free State drew praise for stability in teaching and learning, the committee warned that systemic weaknesses across provinces – including unreliable baselines, governance lapses and budget constraints – pose risks to the education sector as a whole.
The committee said it would engage National Treasury, the Financial and Fiscal Commission and the national Department of Basic Education on reforms needed to strengthen equity, efficiency and accountability in the funding model for basic education.
The Free State briefing followed similar engagements last week with the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo education departments.