McKinsey & Company, the international management consulting firm, has included the Western Cape in a study of improving education systems in twenty (20) countries.
"We are pleased to note that McKinsey & Company sees the Western Cape Education Department as an example of good practice," said Donald Grant, Western Cape Education Minister.
"We have a long way to go, but the study suggests that we are on the right road. We'll study the report carefully to see how we can fine-tune our strategy, so that we can move from good to excellent in the not-too-distant future."
McKinsey released its findings today (Monday, 29 November 2010). The report is entitled "How the World's Best Performing School Systems Keep Getting Better".
The study sought to answer questions such as: "how does a school system with poor performance become good?", and "how does one with good performance become excellent?"
McKinsey included the Western Cape in the latest study because of the improvement in the province's literacy results in Grade 3 and 6 over the past eight years.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is implementing a comprehensive strategy to improve literacy and numeracy performance, which includes annual diagnostic testing of learners in Grades three (3), six (6) and nine (9).
McKinsey organised an international, online "webinar" today (29 November 2010) to discuss the results. Participants included education specialists in Canada, Hong Kong and the Western Cape, moderated by McKinsey partners.
Brian Schreuder, Deputy Director-General, Curriculum Management at the WCED, represented the Western Cape.
McKinsey researchers interviewed two hundred (200) system stakeholders and analysed 600 interventions in 20 countries.
McKinsey says that the report identifies reform elements that are replicable for school systems elsewhere as they move from poor to fair, good to great and to excellent performance.
The report identified eight key findings, namely:
1. A system can make significant gains from wherever it starts.
2. There is too little focus on "process" in the debate today.
3. Each particular stage of the school system improvement journey is associated with a unique set of interventions.
4. A systems context might not determine what needs to be done, but it does determine how it is done.
5. Six interventions occur frequently at every performance stage for all systems.
6. Systems further along the journey sustain improvement by balancing school autonomy with consistent teaching practice.
7. Leaders take advantage of changed circumstances to ignite reforms.
8. Leadership continuity is essential.
The full report and an executive summary are available on the McKinsey web site at:
http://sso.mckinsey.com/schools
For comment by McKinsey & Company, contact:
Paul Cook
Cell: 082 329 8102
For comment from the Western Cape Education Department, contact:
Brian Schreuder
Cell: 082 373 5989
Paddy Attwell
Director of Communication
Western Cape Education Department
Tel: 021 467 2531
Email: pattwell@pgwc.gov.za