LIMPOPO EDUCATION CHALLENGES & DA's OPPORTUNISTIC MARCH
The Parliamentary Caucus of the African National Congress joins the multitude of concerned voices regarding the education situation in the Limpopo provincial government. It is indeed unacceptable that receipt and access of text books by the province's learners should be frustrated by such unnecessary delays. Those officials responsible for this situation must face disciplinary measures.
We are satisfied with the great efforts made by the department of basic education to arrest the situation by ensuring that not only do learners across the province receive these important learning materials, but are also assisted through a catch-up programme. The catch-up plan, which wll be developed by the department and SECTION27, will ensure that learners and teachers disadvantaged by this situation receive adequate assistance such as extra tuition and other interventions.
The national education summit, which the department has proposed to convene in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, will comprehensively tackle all educational challenges the country might be facing and emerge with concrete recommendations so that these challenges do not recur.
The appointment of Ms Mary Metcalfe should be welcomed, as it will ensure that the statistics regarding the distribution of learning materials in the province is independently verified. The department must be commended for its cooperation with SECTION27 and the court, which ensured that the interests of the children of Limpopo are put first throughout the whole situation.The cooperation with various stakeholders indeed shows that government is as serious and determined as all of us to see these matters resolved.