Amathole west education district today had the pleasure of hosting the Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube and Education MEC Gundile Gade for day one (1) of the 2025 academic year.

The Ministers visit forms part of the Back to School campaign that the National Department is embarking on around the country engaging with learners, educators and education stakeholders. The visit also seeks to highlight significant investments towards the Provinces school infrastructure and education in general.

According to Amathole West Education District Director, Simone Ncapayi this visit is a blessing and it gives the District more enthusiasm to work extra hard in the 2025 academic year. “As a District we are honoured and consider ourselves fortunate to have been the chosen District to be visited for the Back to School campaign and to have our Grade R and Grade 1 learners welcomed to the the schooling system by the Minister and MEC” said a visibly excited Ncapayi. He added that the visit has also helped to identify challenges faced by schools in delivering quality learning outcomes and figure out what kind of interventions and support are needed by schools from both the Provincial and National Education Department.

Gwarube’s visit focused more on the importance of broadening access to Early Childhood Development and school safety and said that these are areas that the Department needs not to ignore. “While we are in the celebratory mode as a Province due to the NSC results it is important that we don’t shift our focus on what is importand and what will improve our education system in the long run. We are here to welcome our Grade R and 1 learners to the system and also to recommit ourselves as the Department in supporting our schools, learners and educators and to also make sure that they get all the support that they need to succeed” said Gwarube.

The Minister together with her team also visited Healdtown Comprehensive School that is currently undergoing a construction upgrade of R100 million and inspected the site and ended her visit with addressing the matric class of 2025. She encouraged them to work harder and improve 84.98% pass rate that the Province got for 2024. “We appreciate this special visit by the Minister and MEC so much, we promise to show our gratitude by working hard and by dedicating ourselves to our school work” said Owam Bashe who is a Healdtown Comprehensive school Grade 12 learner.