Plans to build 60 schools in the Eastern Cape are finally on the table and education in the province seems to be on the road to recovery, in the aftermath of months of chaos in which pupils waited in vain for transport, text books, stationery, school meals and teachers.
Plans to build 60 schools in the Eastern Cape are finally on the table and education in the province seems to be on the road to recovery, in the aftermath of months of chaos in which pupils waited in vain for transport, text books, stationery, school meals and teachers.
And education activists say things are looking up. The provincial education department was placed under administration in March because of maladministration that saw it R800 million in the red and incapable of delivering in crucial areas including the allocation and appointment of teachers, feeding schemes, transport for learners, the supply of stationery and books and the development of infrastructure.
Since then, an official intervention plan has been formulated. National co-ordinator of the plan, Mathanzima Mweli, said it was a joint response by the provincial and national education departments, and was intended to address these five priorities.
He said that by the time of President Jacob Zuma’s visit to the Eastern Cape on 7 June, the problem of school nutrition, via feeding schemes, had already been resolved. In addition, 90 percent of textbooks and 70 percent of the stationery had been delivered to the schools, he said.
“Learners’ transport was also reinstated in rural and farm schools," Mweli said. School transport was being managed by the department of transport. National government has allocated a budget of R8 billion for infrastructural development, 60 percent of which is earmarked for the Eastern Cape alone.
“The plan will be run in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the National Treasury, under the project called Asidi (Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative), to have all 60 targeted schools built as promised,” Mweli said.
Dmitri Holtzman, of the Equal Education lobby group, said since the provincial education department had been put under administration there had been notable commitments and planning in terms of infrastructural development by the government.
He acknowledged, however, that it would take time to implement these plans: “The government has also improved the situation by reinstating 4 000 temporary teachers whose contracts were terminated last year. However, a lot needs to be done to get the situation back to normal.”
Fezeka Loliwe, Eastern Cape provincial secretary of South African Democratic Teachers’ Union said that her organisation had met with the national minister last month, and had been waiting to hear from her since then. Loliwe said while some progress had been made on the question of the reinstatement of suspended teachers and feeding schemes, the organisation had not been informed of other developments.
She said the organisation would meet this week with the MEC of education and Superintendent General for further discussion around the national plan.
