NELSPRUIT – The Mpumalanga education department, targeting a matric pass rate of 87,6 per cent this year, said the first day of school on Wednesday generally went smoothly.
Public schools’ matrics in the province showed a big improvement in its pass rate in 2013, achieving 77,6 per cent. Mr Jasper Zwane, spokesman for the department, said that the aim was to improve the pass rate in all grades by 10 per cent.
Some hiccups which were experienced included admissions. Zwane said this was mostly due to pupils relocating during December.
“The majority of admissions were finalised last year, but for instance in the event that students relocated with their parents for working purposes, there were admissions problems. Where schools have informed parents that they are full, we are looking for alternative arrangements. Some pupils have been placed on waiting lists.”
He said the number affected were few. Similarly, Zwane said the schools that suffered storm damage last year, was also minimally affected. At the end of October, the department has placed the number of schools damaged at 22.
“We are in the process of fixing them, but the indication on Wednesday was that the challenge of school damage was insignificant,” he claimed.
The MEC for education, Ms Reginah Mhaule, requested that parents become involved in their children’s education. “They should at all times speak to their children about education-related issues and discourage them from being disobedient and help to instil discipline,” she said.
In November, the Department of Education announced that the delivery of textbooks which had been ordered stood at 100 per cent. Zwane said that since some schools may end up with more pupils than expected, these would be dealt with once the 10-day statistics on the final number of enrolled learners, have been consolidated.
Parents are requested to engage principals of schools should they experience any school-related challenges.
Col Leonard Hlathi, spokesman for the provincial police, said that no crimes related to the reopening had been reported.
View galleries of schools’ Grade One pupils’ first day here.
