Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi held a consultative meeting on Friday, 14 June to share the department's blueprint for the next five-year term.

Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi has a key focus for his next political term - Early Childhood Development.

Addressing a full hall of educators, learners and SGB members at Nasrec, Johannesburg, Lesufi outlined the department's road map for the next five years (2019-2024) and to also solicit input from relevant stakeholders.

According to Lesufi, the department's top priority in this political term is Early Childhood Development (ECD). This comes after "a political decision [was] taken to move ECD from the Department of Social Development to Education".

"All our primary schools must prepare to have two important grades - Grade RR and R," Lesufi said. Considering the bugbear that is overcrowding, the MEC says that a team has been organised to restructure classrooms across all primary schools in the province.

He added that ECD is a primary facet of fixing and building the education system emphasising that "if we can't get ECD right, we won't get the entire education system right".

Infrastructure is also on the department's priority list.

Lesufi said that there are 180 schools...