Fix our schools, fix our future

27 June 2017

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the North West calls upon the Premier and MEC for Education, Sello Lehari, to table reports from the Public Services Committee (PSC) on Learner and Teacher Support Material in the Legislature in order to urgently to fix the horrific state of our schools.

The PSC’s reports on schools in the province confirmed issues that we brought to the ANC’s attention for a while now.

Upon their visits to the schools, the PSC discovered over-crowding of classrooms, the inexcusable use of pit toilets, lack of libraries and laboratories, poor safety measures at schools and dilapidated infrastructure as some of the glaring problems.

The report was already made available nearly 6 weeks ago to the Standard Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA) – giving the ANC ample of time to call for a debate on the issues. However, they rather decided to ignore the state of our schools.

We, therefore, share some of the content, as our communities have the right to know how blasé the governing party is about the future of our children.

According to the report the Department of Education should:

- Finalise textbook deliveries to schools by November each year so that the books can be available when the new school year commences.

- Affected schools should have functional libraries – stimulating teaching and learning by 31 March 2018.

- Pit toilets should be replaced by proper toilet facilities

- Mobile classes and mobile laboratories should be made available to ensure learners can be properly taught in maths, science and life science

Adequate security measures should be put in place at schools in order to “support the academic success of each child, giving them the opportunity to learn and achieve in a safe and nurturing environment”.

Education is a keystone in eradicating poverty and unemployment. Our learners should have a right to be developed in a school system that not only helps them to reach their full potential, but also to make a meaningful contribution to the economy.

The DA will remain committed to fighting for our youth who deserve to be taught in favourable conditions, in a school with all the necessary resources.

Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Leader, 27 June 2017