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Speaking in parliament during her budget vote speech Pandor said that, thanks to unacceptable levels of underperformance, her department was nowhere near where it should be.
She lamented the fact that too much attention is given to those who are "abusive, violent and disruptive" instead of supporting and focusing on scholars, teachers, officials and parents that are achieving excellence - many against all odds.
"I urge South Africans to affirm excellence and reject mediocrity in the interest of nation building, socio-economic development and true liberation.
"The levels of underperformance in our education system are unacceptably high, and an unjust subversion of the historic promise of freedom and democracy that we've put before our people," she said before calling on South Africans to celebrate success and expand it rather than to moaning about what is wrong.
At the system level, in research and in protest we have spent a great deal of time focusing on the negative, we have appeared far too tolerant of mediocrity in its many guises, and extremely neglectful of that which works and of those who are doing what must be done.
Pandor who is facing a teacher strike following teacher and other unions rejecting government's 6% wage offer said: "We tolerate public officials who are not up to the task of administrative or professional support, who leave work early, who fail to pay subsidies to schools on time, and who do not yet reflect the objectives and principles of Batho Pele.
"We also tolerate mediocrity in the teaching force. We tolerate too much that is unprofessional. We tolerate late-coming, little and sometimes no teaching, constant underperformance and poor academic success."
The defence of mediocrity she said is no longer justifiable and announced that she would be taking stronger action against those who practice and promote a poor work ethic.
