ANC resists school closures for poor

The Western Cape ANC cares very deeply about the plight of poor people especially the thousands of learners at the black schools that now face closure by provincial education MEC Donald Grant.

The majority are primary schools in rural areas where a special intervention is called for by President Jacob Zuma to curb the highest dropout rate for middle secondary schools of all the provinces. No tangible education or clear poor schools plan has been negotiated or instituted that also address the needs of farm and rural learners in the Western Cape.

The ANC says Grant still has to respond to the challenge by President Zuma to do something about learners in remote and marginalised areas. It is here where some learners have to get up at 4am to prepare for school, walk kilometres in rain, dark or even dangerous areas to get to school or a pickup point for an undependable bus to school. In the suburbs children have to now cross rival gang turf areas where bullets fly regularly and kill children too often.

When the ANC raises these concerns, it is precisely because the interests of these learners and their concerned parents are foremost in our minds. It is not a matter of postulation, but a deep rooted empathy for those disadvantaged people. The petty politicking reaction of the DA is haughty and heartless.

This proves the DA-led provincial government does not care about the poor and working class. It is more concerned about cold arguments and callous numbers. If it had any feeling for the affected people it would have first engaged communities, parents and teachers to understand what is going on. But, instead this government serves notices out of the blue on people and only due to pressure start an after-the-fact public participation process to merely go through the motions in the run-up to the intended closures.

ANC Western Cape secretary Songezo Mjongile says: "The ANC has consistently opposed arbitrary closures of schools. The coming commemoration of a year after the Rheenendal Bus Tragedy near Knysna where a school was closed and children taken to another school with suspect learner transport, is a grim reminder of the consequences and the result of school closures. 

"There fourteen children and the bus driver lost their lives when the vehicle ended up in a river. The report on the investigations into this accident as well as the general audit of the learner transport system is still veiled in secrecy or classified confidential.

"The ANC maintains the quality of education should be addresses systemically and not through merely shutting down schools that pose challenges. The pass rate in poor schools is thus not really addressed adequately, and neither are the high failure or dropout rates.

"Then there is the matter of struggling schools in white areas that are not closed down, while those that have a large number of black children are targeted to keep the blacks out of so-called white areas. Here the Zonnebloem Nest example is glaring.

"This DA government must learn not to ride roughshod over the lives of people in DA jackboot style. There are schools that did not get their handbooks on time, many teachers' posts are still vacant, schools are overcrowded, there are still learners not enrolled or placed past the halfway mark of this year and many schools still have shortages of equipment. Western Cape education is in a crisis and this government pretends nothing is wrong. The ANC will not stand for such nonsense."

Statement issued by Songezo Mjongile, ANC Western Cape provincial secretary, August 8 2012

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