Trailblazer: MEC for Education, Dr Tate Makgoe

Trailblazer: MEC for Education, Dr Tate Makgoe

I want to raise the bar higher & higher

The Free State Education Department sits on the shoulders of the MEC for Basic Education in the province, Dr Pule Herbert Makgoe. Affectionately known as Tate, Dr Magkoe has taken the matric results in the province to greater heights with 2021 marking three consecutive years in which the province has taken the number one spot for matric results in the country.

Dr Makgoe was appointed in 2009 as the MEC for Education in the Free State. He’s always been passionate about education and believes that it’s one of the “ingredients to take people out of abject poverty.”

His life is devoted to the disadvantaged and marginalised in order to fully realise the objectives of true political transformation and the total eradication of grinding poverty.

Upon his appointment, he said: “We have to make education comparable and comparative. The department is going to make difficult decisions to improve the existing situation. And in dealing with the existing problems, some of the solutions may not be in everyone’s favour. We have to raise the morals of our officials for them to be able to give the teachers all the support they need, to produce quality education. We need to work together as a team to overcome all the shortcomings.”

To this day, the province continues to produce excellent results for matrics in the country and has taken the number one spot in the country in various years, including; 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The leader holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the world-renowned University of South Africa (Unisa) and later obtained an Honours degree from the University of the Free State, and a Master’s degree in Business Leadership from Unisa. He was also awarded with an honorary doctorate in Business Administration by the VUT Faculty of Management Sciences. Dr Makgoe praised teachers in the province for their contribution to the province’s education system stating that they were the “lifeblood of the education system in the Free State.”

In 2021, he was conferred the Chancellor’s Excellence Award by the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) for his sterling leadership excellence and immense contribution to the advancement of education, not only in the province but nationally, as his work has touched communities and institutions alike.

“Growing up in the dusty township of Tumahole, Parys, I could not have possibly imagined that one day I’d be standing in front of esteemed academics, receiving this distinguished award. This accolade is a symbol of appreciation for one’s capacity to guide and motivate others to excel, with a proven commitment to serving and contributing to the development of our country, our province and our communities,” he said.

Speaking at the provincial matric prayer service at Kgolathuto Senior Secondary school in Phuthaditjhaba, Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality, ahead of the 2022 matric final exams, the Minister of Education, Angie Motshekga said the Free State makes an invaluable contribution to the overall quality of the matric results we produce as a country.

“The Free State continues to set the bar extremely high, and the level of excellence propels the entire country upward. The consistency of the Free State shows robustness and a systematic approach to producing excellence. There’s nothing more important to the country than our children and the Free State has made a telling investment in the education of its youth,” she said.

For the 2022 matric results, the province aims to achieve a 90% pass rate and remain the leading province country.

“We are destined to succeed and nothing will stop us, we have a good strategy that we have been improving annually. Our strategy looks simple at face value, but is difficult to implement. It needs dedicated leadership, teachers, administrators and pupils.

“I aim to achieve a 90% pass rate. I want to raise the bar higher and higher. It is achievable. We are ready to reach it.”