They also aim to recognise and celebrate excellence in the public sector.

In an interview with BuaNews, Basic Education Director General Bobby Soobrayan, said the accolades confirmed that the vision of the department’s Minister Angie Motshekga, in terms of driving the strategy of improving quality, was taking root.

“It’s about recognising that we’ve got major challenges in this country [but] at the same time having the vision and the confidence to say that we can do something about it.

“There’s progressive improvement in the system and our interventions are maturing and clearly we are on the right path… The sector is succeeding and things will only get better from here,” said an elated Soobrayan.

He added that what was needed in a department was for each individual to recognise that they have a role to play in improving education.

He said the awards confirmed to people that despite the difficulty of working in a sector with so many challenges, there were people outside recognising the contribution they were making.

“The staff members here are highly motivated because of that, they believe there’s leadership in place as the awards confirm, they believe the path we’ve got to follow is clear and [they see] that work is being recognised.

“Once you’ve got the vision, let’s make sure we’ve got the organisation processes and keep them in place to make sure that happens,” he said.

Soobrayan believes the department deserves the awards as it has worked very hard following the restructuring of the Education Department into two separate departments.