Education stands as a fundamental pillar for progress and prosperity in South Africa, a nation grappling with considerable challenges. South Africa’s education system has long struggled with issues ranging from inadequate resources to overcrowded classrooms, which have hindered the quality of education provided to pupils. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (2019), South Africa ranks 137th out of 141 countries in the quality of its primary education. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study results reveal that South African pupils consistently perform below the international average in both mathematics and reading. The World Bank reports that despite spending about 6% of its GDP on education, a higher share than many other middle-income countries, South Africa’s education system continues to face issues such as inadequate infrastructure, low teacher morale and a lack of access to quality resources. In this week’s edition of the view of the nation, we look at the crafting of school policies, role of governing bodies and look ahead as to what needs to be done to better the state of basic education in 2024. General Secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) Matakanye Matakanya and Executive director of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa Basil Manuel join Lerato Mbele for the conversation.