The chairperson of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation admitted that there had been a dramatic decline in the performance of learners at schools in Kwa-Zulu-Natal. Chairperson Lungelwa Zwane said: “One of the reasons in my opinion is that cheating or copying in previous years has deceived us.”She was speaking after the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and the Select Committee on Education and Recreation concluded a joint oversight visit to schools in KwaZulu-Natal last week.The committees visited the province as part of an oversight programme to monitor the state of readiness of schools for the 2016 academic year.According to a statement released by the committees on Monday‚ they visited provinces‚ districts‚ and schools to monitor the implementation of key priority areas.“The Committees said that KwaZulu-Natal was chosen for the oversight visit as this province experienced the deepest decline in the 2015 National Senior Certificate results and performed the second lowest of all provinces. The province registered the highest number of candidates at 200 945 out of the overall national figure of 799 306‚” the statement said.Their statement said the “sudden dramatic decline in the performance of learners can only strengthen suspicions of previous examination cheating at some schools - and support provided by circuit offices as well as district offices must be improved”.Portfolio Committee Education Chairperson Nomalungelo Gina said: “We found that little teaching and learning was happening in the classroom. Some managers are also afraid to exert authority.”The Committees recommended “that principals should be provided with targeted management training workshop‚ targeted support for teachers ad subject advisers should be intensified‚ strategies should be urgently employed to support schools to address disciplinary challenges”...