Mr Godwin Khosa, CEO of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) organised a breakfast meeting with a few private sector people and influential education stakeholders on Wednesday, 7 December, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Rosebank. The breakfast meeting was attended by representatives from The Presidency, Zenex Foundation, First Rand Empowerment Fund, Old Mutual, OR Tambo Foundation, Sifiso Learning, SABC, and the NECT.

Dr Vijay Reddy presented the results of the Grade 5 Numeracy and the Grade 9 Mathematics and Science TIMSS 2015. These results provide important information about the state of mathematics and science education in the country and what is required for improving the quality of education. In addition, the TIMSS data allows for trend analysis of the results which provides insight into whether or not mathematics and science education is improving over time.

The purpose of the breakfast was to inculcate a positive narrative about education improvement amongst all stakeholders and we hope to have more of these meetings between education stakeholders and the corporate sector in the future. It is important that the corporate sector not only understand the factors responsible for improving the quality of education but get more involved in funding educational interventions.