Eastern Cape workbook shortages: Department has broken its delivery promise

The DA's monitoring of schools in the Port Elizabeth district confirms that the Education Department has failed to address the province's chronic workbook shortage by today's deadline.

The majority of schools contacted by the DA today are either experiencing acute shortages of books or have received books in the wrong language.

Workbooks contain all the exercises that schoolchildren need to do for the curriculum. Without these books learners are not able to keep up with learning plans designed to help them pass their subjects, which seriously diminishes their prospects of scholastic success.

Yesterday, Port Elizabeth district director Nyathi Ntsiko promised that all books would be in schools today. Yet the DA's survey of a sample of schools in that district revealed that more than half (28 out of 50) did not have enough of the required workbooks. 

A list of these schools was submitted directly to the Education MEC, Mandla Makupula, during the portfolio committee meeting at the legislature today.

The Department is clearly not doing enough to address this crisis. We demand that the Department deliver all workbooks to schools without delay or we will pursue other avenues to force them to do so.

Statement issued by Edmund van Vuuren, DA Eastern Cape Education Spokesperson, July 20 2012

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