Pretoria - The Eastern Cape Education Head of Department, Advocate Modidima Mannya, has been relieved of his duties, with his contract expected to end on 30 April 2012.
The announcement was by made by Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kiviet during a media briefing held in Bisho on Monday.
According to Kiviet, an agreement was reached in the best interest of education in the province and was not by any means a pronouncement on the suitability or lack thereof of the Head of the Department of Education.
"In terms of this re-determination, the contract will end on 30 April 2012, while his operational responsibilities as Head of Department will cease with effect from the date of the signing of the agreement, which is today - 23 April 2012," Kiviet said.
She expressed her gratitude to Mannya for his contribution in repositioning the delivery of education services in the Eastern Cape and wished him all the best in his future endeavours.
She said that the interventions by national government in the challenges facing the provincial education had resulted in a number of positive changes, which include the stabilisation in scholar transport, school nutrition programme, institutional capacity for effective use of infrastructure budget, as well as improving the compliance of the department with policies and prescripts of government.
"We also acknowledge that there is still a lot of work to be done to claim that we are getting out of the woods. There are still a lot of challenges affecting delivery of education in the Eastern Cape, including a need for a more unified interpretation of the problems and a shared approach to the solution across numerous players who share the passion for the education of our people.
"The Executive Council took a decision in 2010 to ensure a turn-around in education in many areas that include the provision of integrated technical and administrative support to the Department of Education led by an interdepartmental team."
As part of the Section 100 (1) (b), National Treasury, Departments of Public Services and Administration, and Basic Education are providing on-going support to the department.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga is expected to visit the province this week to check progress made and challenges still facing the provincial Education Department.
