3 000 learners go hungry everyday, says DA’s Jacques Smalle
In a statement, the DA says concerned parents, principals and teachers told them that children have been attending school on empty stomachs for the past two weeks.
POLOKWANE – The DA’s provincial spokesperson on Education, Jacque Smalle says they have written to the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to intervene on the non-delivery of food under the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP).
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Smalle says the non-delivery of food has affected more than 3 000 pupils in six primary schools within the Sekgosese West Circuit since the beginning of the academic year.
“It has been reported that teachers are struggling to hold the attention of these under-nourished learners which just affirms the fact that hungry children aren’t able to learn at their best,” he said.
According to Smalle, schools that have been affected by the non-delivery of NSNP include:
- Puledi Primary School in Dipateng Village, Botlokwa
• Mautswi Primary School in Mmatseke Village, Botlokwa
• Khunwana Primary School in Mphakane Village, Botlokwa
• Molemole Primary School in Ga Polatla Village, Botlokwa
• Mosima Primary School in Springs Village, Ga-Machaka, Botlokwa
• Momotshana Primary School in Botlokwa
“Last week, it was also reported that an estimated 4 800 pupils in 23 schools from three circuits in Moletjie, Moloto and Bakone, have not received food since the beginning of the school year.”
Smalle added that the DA is concerned, as the affected learners are from underprivileged communities with high unemployment rates who depend heavily on the one meal a day provided by the schools.
“MEC Kgetjepe and his flailing department have failed our learners once again due to lack of proper planning and the lack of political will to hold officials and service providers accountable for non-delivery of food in various schools across the province,”
“The DA can no longer count on MEC Kgetjepe to solve the current and continuous challenges and maladministration in his department and we urge Minister Motshekga to now hold MEC Kgetjepe personally accountable for the non-delivery of food in our schools, as the MEC is clearly not capable of self-correcting his department’s incompetence,” he concluded.
