Youth-related challenges, education and community development took centre stage during a recent outreach programme at the Munsieville Sports Complex, where residents engaged with representatives from the municipality and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE).

According to Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) Executive Mayor Lucky Sele, the event gave the municipality and the GDE an opportunity to listen to concerns raised by the community and explore possible solutions to issues affecting young people in the area.

Held under the theme ‘It Takes a Village to Raise a Child’, the outreach saw the Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, emphasise the importance of maintaining a functional school environment where learners can excel.

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“While maintaining discipline in schools is not always easy, teachers and school leadership must take charge of their classrooms and consistently enforce discipline,” Sele said.

He added that the MEC also highlighted the important role parents play in supporting learner success, saying the problem is that parents don’t care what their children are doing at school, or whether they are attending classes or not.

Stakeholders at the event also raised several concerns, including inadequate school infrastructure, the mismanagement of school funds, substance abuse among learners, overcrowding in schools, a shortage of accounting officials, limited sports facilities, and calls for the reintroduction of religious subjects.

The MEC said more schools, particularly high schools, need to be built in Munsieville. He also stressed the importance of expanding extracurricular activities, saying learners need opportunities beyond academics to develop and thrive.