THE EC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CELEBRATES SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT FACILITATORS

The Eastern Cape Department of Education, through the Teacher Development and Learning Institutions Chief Directorate partnered with SEED Educational Trust to host a graduation ceremony for the School Leadership and Development Facilitation Programme at Mandla Makupula Education Leadership Institute in East London. 

This marked the completion of the first cohort of in-house facilitators trained in school leadership, management, and governance, empowering them as material developers for the Department.

Mandla Makupula Education Leadership Institute Director, Pula Tabata highlighted the purpose of the partnership programme and stated that 38 colleagues from across the 12 districts in the department studied the Leadership, Management and Governance programme to become homegrown material developers and facilitators of the institution.

Tabata expressed her pride in the outcome of the programme. "We note that Mandla Makupula Education Leadership Institute now has its own faculty. We have our own facilitators who are material developers. This is going to benefit both districts and the province. After graduation, the next step is to facilitate training of school management teams, focusing on underperforming schools”, said Tabata.

SEED Educational Trust Managing Trustee, David Newby acknowledged and applauded the graduands for their remarkable effort and dedication in completing the programme. "These individuals have made the province proud with a 100% pass rate, 17 distinctions and a combined average of more than 70%. This is no mean achievement. Many of them acknowledged that this programme was tougher in some respects than a Master's degree. It pushed many of them out of their comfort zones and challenged many of their beliefs and practices around leadership and facilitation”, explained Newby.

Newby highlighted the foundation on which the partnership was based, stating that the challenges they identified included inadequate training methods, outsourced leadership responsibility, and a gap between policy formulation and implementation due to a lack of leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions among key leaders.

“I would like to thank the district directors and other line managers for releasing their team members to be part of this programme. I would encourage them to get behind their initiatives with underperforming schools in 2026 and bring all the resources at their disposal to support the change processes”, added Newby.

Reflecting on the journey, Nolundi Ngetu, CMC Head in Chris Hani West Education District highlighted the notable contribution the programme has made to empower them as beneficiaries. "The SLDF programme equipped us with new knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes, building on our existing skills and instilling behavioural change. Our learning journey groomed us to be intentional leaders who find purpose in our work and set clear goals, aligning actions with values and ensuring a positive impact."

Ngetu emphasized the benefit of the programme, enabling them to utilize a soft approach. “We reflected, realized we need to change, and the word 'change' is our pathway to creating a platform for conversation, building rapport with our principals and teachers through discussions and open-ended questions. We realized that the people we work with are not empty vessels; they already have prior knowledge and potential. We just gained skills to unleash their true potential”, said Ngetu.