The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is one of the departments of the South African government. It oversees primary and secondary

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was created in 2009 after the election of President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

, when the former Department of Education was divided into the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training. The political head of the department is the

Minister of Basic Education The minister of basic education is the Minister (government), minister in the Cabinet of South Africa who has political responsibility for the Department of Basic Education. The portfolio includes both primary education, primary and secondary ed ...

; this is Siviwe Gwarube. The department oversees all the schools in South Africa, sets up the curriculum for the different grades. DBE works with many stakeholders such as ISASA and NAISA etc. The department is headquartered in Sol Plaatje House, named after the author Sol Plaatje, in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. This South African ministry has been heavily criticized, especially during the 2012 textbook crisis. In the 2010 national budget, the department received an appropriation of 6,166.2 million rand, and had 730 employees. In 2019, the department obtained a record matric pass rate of 81.3%. In 2020, the brand partnered up with eMedia Investments to introduce an educational channel to help learners known as DBE TV on the OpenView platform. Thereafter, they launched a new free-to-air initiative to help out matrics with their exams known as Woza Matrics. In 2020, they had a tough year dealing with the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, where schools had to close its doors and open them again.

References

External links

National Department of Basic Education

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Basic Education Education in South Africa South Africa, Basic {{SouthAfrica-gov-stub