Pretoria - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Tuesday told learners and teachers during visits to schools in Tshwane that government will leave no stone unturned to ensure improved performance in this year's matric results.
Addressing learners at Memezelo High School in Soshanguve, Motlanthe said partnering with community-based organisations and school governing bodies would form part of what the Department of Education will be doing to ensure teaching and learning took place.
"You must understand that no excuse whatsoever including my visit here should disrupt you from learning," Motlanthe said speaking in both Sotho and English.
Memeza is among the schools in Gauteng that have produced unsatisfactory results in the past few years but Motlanthe commended the school's 67.9 percent matric pass rate in 2009.
"I hope the class of 2010 will do even better to beat that number," he said.
The Deputy President reiterated President Jacob Zuma's earlier statements that teaching and learning will be non-negotiable. "Teachers are expected to be at school on time and every day of the week...to this end we will interact with the community to ensure that happens," said Motlanthe.
He was accompanied by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy.
Earlier, Motlanthe's entourage stopped at Soshanguve Technical High School's satellite and main campus respectively.
The visit formed part of government's school monitoring process.
Last week, Motlanthe also visited schools in the Eastern Cape that had performed dismally in last year's matric exams. The overall pass rate of 60.6 percent has been slammed with Motshekga vowing to take urgent steps to ensure drastic improvement.
Meanwhile, all nine provincial Education MECs are expected to hold a special Council of Education Ministers (CEM) meeting in February to discuss the technical report of the 2009 National Senior Certificate results.
The Eastern Cape has adopted what it called a "master plan" strategy in a bid to turn around the province's matric results in 2010.
