Too many school teachers cannot pass the tests their pupils sit, the Basic Education Department said on Wednesday.

There are also serious problems with teachers' commitment to their tasks, according to a document tabled by the department's acting DG, Bobby Soobrayan, at a briefing for members of Parliament's Basic Education Portfolio Committee.

"Too many teachers cannot pass tests that their own learners are expected to pass," the document states.

Soobrayan told Members of Parliament (MPs) that among key interventions needed to tackle this problem was ensuring "all teachers have the required capability, commitment and practice". In this regard, the department planned to adopt a two-prong strategy.

"One is accountability, and the other is support through the establishment of a teacher development institute that will look at practical application."

While huge progress had been made in certifying teachers, the problem related to teaching in practice.

"So this is about practical application," he said.

Earlier, Soobrayan warned of a crisis in basic education, which covers the period from Grade R to matric.

"We are at a point now in the country, politically and otherwise, where there is a huge consensus that we face a crisis in basic education that requires urgent remediation.

"We recognise that, in terms of the primary objectives, too many schools do not have the conditions required for achieving learning outcomes.

"The problem is worse when you look at poverty levels, you look at race, diversity, and you look at geographic location."

Soobrayan said that efforts since 1994 to tackle these problems had not been as effective as the department had wanted.

"Therefore we need a fundamental shift in how we intervene in the system," he said.

Among the performance areas that would be closely monitored over the next five years were the numbers of matriculants qualifying for university entry; the maths and physical science pass rates in that examination; and literacy and numeracy levels in Grades three, six and nine.

According to the document, only 38% of Grade six pupils are currently (2009 figures) functioning at the required level of literacy, while only 35% of them are functioning at the required level in maths.

"Over five years [by 2014] it should be achievable to raise the proportion of students operating at the required level to 60%," it states.

Soobrayan said that numeracy and literacy were the key to improving educational performance.

"If we don't get that right, you don't have what educational psychologists call the... platform on which to build."

Teachers were the key to solving the problem.

"The improvement of the quality of teachers is a critical thing."