The University of Pretoria (UP) recently welcomed Koen Becking, Netherlands minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Equal Opportunities, for a dialogue on teacher training for foundation-phase education. 

The discussion emphasised the social safety and well-being of learners, as well as preparing teachers for multilingual classrooms.

The official engagement took place at the Groenkloof Campus and was hosted by UP’s Faculty of Education, including South African higher education stakeholders.

Becking was accompanied by senior officials from the Netherlands’ Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.

Officials from the South African Department of Higher Education and Training, the South African Department of Basic Education, the University of Johannesburg, and the University of the Western Cape also participated in the discussion.

UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Francis Peterson opened the discussion, highlighting the university’s deep and multifaceted relationship with institutions of higher learning in the Netherlands.

“Universities are global citizens, and our role is to build bridges across borders to advance knowledge, innovation, and mutual understanding. International partnerships, such as those we share with Dutch institutions, enrich our academic environment, expand our students’ horizons, and strengthen our global impact,” he said.

Prof Lindelani Mnguni, dean of the University’s Faculty of Education, outlined a programme that combined evidence-based presentations with practical discussions to enable institutional partners and policymakers to identify immediate opportunities for further collaboration. 

Various experts in educational psychology focused on the first topic under discussion — teacher training and preparing teachers to support the social safety and well-being of foundation-phase learners in South Africa.

The University of Johannesburg’s Prof Jace Pillay, South African research chair: Education and Care in Childhood, and UNESCO chair: Mental Health and Psychological Support for Teachers and Learners, presented his multisystem intervention study, which focused on communities of practice for child well-being. 

According to Prof Pillay, communities of practice born out of the understanding that investing in children’s nutrition, education, health, and emotional well-being in the early years is an essential social investment in the human resources of a country.

Dr Karien Botha and Dr Michelle Finestone of UP’s Department of Educational Psychology delivered a presentation on building supportive, safe, and well-being-oriented learning environments, while Prof Irma Eloff spoke about student well-being at UP.

The next topic — preparing teachers for multilingual teaching in South Africa — began with a presentation on promoting multilingualism in the foundation phase. Prof Gerhard Genis and Dr Connie Makgabo of the Department of Humanities Education spoke about immersing students in multilingual teaching.

UJ’s Dr Fikile Simelane of the Department of Early Childhood and Dr Mosa Khasu of the Centre for African Languages Teaching (CALT) discussed research-based practices in the education and development of teachers who teach African languages in the foundation and intermediate phases of schooling.

The Dutch delegation’s visit forms part of ongoing cooperation in higher education and research between South Africa and the Netherlands.

This has included joint knowledge missions, multilateral frameworks, and institutional partnerships designed to strengthen teacher education, postgraduate training, mobility, and collaborative research.

Building on these foundations, the visit by Becking and his delegation offered an opportunity to forge new bilateral collaborations and partnerships between UP, the Department of Higher Education and Training, and Dutch universities, with a view to co-developing teacher training programmes and multilingual curriculum design.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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