President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers keynote address at Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, 21 Jan

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, deliver a keynote address at the 2026 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla. The event will take place at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni, Gauteng.

Hosted by the Department of Basic Education, the annual event takes place from 20 to 22 January 2026 under the theme “Strengthening Foundations for a Resilient and Future Ready Education System”. The sector lekgotla serves as an annual strategic platform for reflection, dialogue and planning.

The gathering brings together senior education officials, policymakers, provincial education departments, development partners and sector experts to review progress, interrogate system wide challenges, and collectively shape priorities aimed at improving learner outcomes across the education value chain.

Building on policy momentum from previous makgotla, including the 2025 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, the 2026 Lekgotla will continue to advance sector priorities focused on:

• Improving access to and quality of Early Childhood Development
• Strengthening literacy and numeracy across all schooling phases, with particular emphasis on the Foundation Phase Grades R to 3
• Improving access to and quality of inclusive education
• Enhancing training and professional development opportunities for educators and School Management Teams
• Improving the safety, functionality and quality of schooling environments

This continuity reflects the Department’s deliberate effort to ensure that Lekgotla outcomes translate into sustained system reform, policy coherence and measurable improvements in learning and teaching.

President Ramaphosa will address the Lekgotla as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Time: 10h00
Venue: Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, Benoni, Gauteng Province

Enquiries:
Spokesperson to the President
Vincent Magwenya
E-mail: media@presidency.gov.za

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