Minister Blade Nzimande: Basic Education Lekgotla 2026

Minister of Basic Education, Ms. Siviwe Gwarube;

Ministers and Deputy Ministers;

Senior government officials;

Representatives of Universities, TVET Colleges and Research institutions;

Representatives of Business and Civil society;

Educators and Professional bodies;

Distinguished guests;

Members of the media:

Thank you to my Cabinet colleague, Minister Gwarube, for once again inviting me to this important gathering-the 2026 Education Lekgotla. 

I have been asked to speak on the topic ‘Aligning STEM with Foundational Learning,’ and I wish to make a few brief points under this topic. 

The first is the importance of investing in science, technology, and innovation. I often make the point that no country can hope to achieve its development goals if it fails to invest in the development of its science, technology, and innovation capabilities. 

As part of enhancing our country’s ability to respond to our historical and contemporary challenges, over the past three decades, we have made significant investments with the view of strengthening our country’s STI capabilities.

As an outcome, today, we boast the biggest and most robust public science system in Africa- at the heart of which  are some of our country’s premier public science institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the National Research Found (NRF), the South African National Space Agency ( SANSA), and many other similar public science institutions.

Our country also enjoys the status of an emerging global leader in a number of critical scientific domains. In astronomy and space science, we host two of the biggest scientific instruments in the world- the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).

Our Department has used the SKA to, among others, support maths, and science education in rural towns such as Carnarvon in the Northern Cape. For instance, we have awarded over 300 high school bursaries, robotics programmes, and early childhood development initiatives that are aimed at   inspiring the next generation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

We have also awarded over 1,317 research grants and trained over 1,100 students in radio astronomy as a way of creating a pipeline from high school to Doctoral level. 

We also have a unique collection of high- calibre scientific infrastructure such as the regional Space Weather Centre, which plays a crucial role in protecting technological systems by monitoring and forecasting space weather storms and their impacts.

Another one of our high calibre science infrastructure is the Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) facility which is housed at Steve Biko Hospital and focuses on drug development, clinical research and provide cutting-edge diagnostics for among others, cancer, tuberculosis, and other major diseases. 

Both these facilities are the only ones of their kind on the African continent. Last year saw another significant development for our public science system, when one of our local companies, Biovac got approval from the South African Heath Regulatory Products Authority (SAHPRA) to begin clinical trials of its Oral Cholera Vaccine. 

This breakthrough is a significant boost for the development of South Africa’s sovereign vaccine manufacturing capabilities and achieving the African Union’s goal of ensuring that by 2040, 60% of all vaccines used in Africa must be locally produced.

Why am I sharing all this with you? To make the point that, one of the reasons why our country is an emerging global leader in the science domains I have mentioned is because of the basic training in maths and science that our young people receive through our public education system.

The second issue I wish to highlight is the importance of a future-proof education system. We are living through one of the most unpredictable times in human history. 

A time that is characterised by an unprecedented set of challenges- some of which include the persistence of armed conflict, the threat of pandemics, economic and digital inequality, climate change and biodiversity loss, disruptive technologies, and the growing threat to multilateralism.

All these challenges have made the future of humanity increasingly uncertain and have forced us to rethink not only the kind of economic systems we would need in order to build a shared future for humanity, but also what kind of knowledge and skills we would need to realise such a future.

In response to this challenge, our country’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation (2022-2032) advocates for a future-proof education. By this, we do not mean the kind of education that only anticipates the future, but also one that shapes it.

In the context of our time, such an education would focus on digital and future skills for young people, with an emphasis on emerging domains such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, and the development of digital solutions.

We believe this focus must be complemented by soft and cognitive skills such as communication, teamwork, and resilience, problem-solving, creative, and critical thinking.

Equally important is the need to complement classroom-based instruction with extracurricular activities that stretch their minds and provide learners with a platform to put into practice the core scientific principles from the classroom in problem-solving scenarios.

The third issue I wish to highlight is some of our department’s initiatives in support of a future proof education. 

As a Department, we support a number of initiatives that seek to empower learners with digital and future skills. These include our learners’ STEMI Olympiads. These activities provide learners with an opportunity to engage physically with STEM while helping them to develop cognitive skills, particularly analytical and problem-solving skills.

As some of you may be aware, at a national level, these interventions are led by the South African Mathematics Foundation and the Eskom Expo, which lead among others, the South African Maths Olympiad, and the International Science Fair.

Our Department will continue to support these organisations and part of our long-term goal is to focus more resources on grassroots level support in the form of coaching and mentoring for learners participating or intending to participate in these activities.

Furthermore, as the Department of Basic Education increases its focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD), it would be important to think of ways in which we can help to introduce children to maths and science as part of ECD.

Our Department would be interested in providing enabling research support, especially as it relates to children’s STEM activities with ECD and related to this is the issue of exposing children to mathematics and science activities at the right age. 

This should also be geared towards addressing what I refer to as the Verwoerdian curse, which is the fear of maths and science that was systematically instilled in Black people during the apartheid era.

In fact, when she officially announced the 2025 matric results, Minister Gwarube expressed a similar concern by stating that “Only 34% of candidates wrote Mathematics, while most wrote Mathematical Literacy. This is concerning as Mathematics is an important gateway subject.”

To help address Minister Gwarube’s concern, one of the practical things I have done as Minister was to adopt a primary school in KZN called Crystal Springs. Part of my support included providing the school with maths and science support material.

I am proud to state that in November last year, 20 learners from Crystal Springs participated in a Coding and Robotics competition in Durban and they achieved second position.

There is also another matter that has been bothering me for a long time. Shouldn’t we consider having a special programme for learners who did not do well in matric that will enable them to acquire their matric certificate and also prepare them for university or college?

Call to action

In conclusion, in order to build an agile, responsive, and truly future-proof education system for our country, we do not simply have to respond to global trends, we should also develop the capacity to define them. Therefore, we need to give focused attention to the following:

1. Teacher development: This means among others, finding ways of making the teaching profession the profession of choice for many of our young people; 
2. Addressing resource disparities: Ensuring we close the resource gaps between schools, especially the rural-urban divide;
3. Coordination and partnerships: Ensuring that the interventions of governments, NGOs, Foundations, and professional bodies are aligned in terms of their core objectives; 
4. Mobilising alumni: One of the things I found is that the former students of some of our schools, some who are very influential or prominent people in society, do not always go back to support their former schools. We need to change this; and
5. Addressing inequality: Inequality is the greatest obstacle to the realisation of human potential. We cannot realistically hope to build a resilient and responsive education system but fail to undo inequality in society. 

Finally, I also think it is important that I make this point. Our educators work under extremely difficult circumstances and yet they contribute so much to the progress of our learners. I believe that as government and as a country, we must demonstrate a greater appreciation for the role and contribution of our educators.

I have no doubt that your Lekgotla will produce clear and practical recommendations that will propel our country forward. I wish you a productive Lekgotla and look forward to the outcome for your discussions.

Thank you.