The NECT, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, convened a Dialogue on the Review and Potential Repurposing of the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme (FLBP) at the Protea Hotel, OR Tambo on 18 November.
The Dialogue brought together beneficiaries, academia, unions and civil society to reflect on the 18-year-old programme, which has injected more than 200 000 teachers into the schooling system.
The engagement sought to align stakeholders on the purpose and scope of the review, surface key concerns, and refine the strategic questions that will guide the programme’s potential repurposing.
In his remarks, Acting DDG Mr Enoch Rabotapi emphasised that the review must assess whether the teachers produced through the scheme remain fit for purpose in a changing sector.
Lead evaluator of the review, Prof Yusuf Sayed, shared emerging findings from Phase 1, highlighting a central question:
What is the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the FLBP in light of the new priorities of the basic education sector, such as ECD, reading, mathematics, African languages as languages of teaching and learning, and digital literacy?
The Dialogue provided valuable insights that will shape the next steps of Phase 2 of the review.
