DEAR Editor,-
Last week’s KZN legislature oversight visits to schools in the province showed that while everything was in place for the new academic year at most urban schools, the situation at rural schools was very different.
The visits, which took place across the province, revealed several ‘horror’ schools where readiness to start teaching and learning was certainly not the case with teachers absent from their classrooms and pupils arriving after 9am. In terms of infrastructure, DA MPLs found schools with no running water, while at almost every school there were complaints of inadequate or non-existent toilet facilities. It is difficult to imagine how pupils at these schools must feel. The impact on their ability to perform optimally must be devastating.
The visits also exposed generic issues, such as the increase in drugs and alcohol on school premises and the absence of security at many schools. The three-day programme did make one thing perfectly clear – SADTU’s ongoing dominance of education in KZN. Add to this the ANC’s inability to separate state and party, with some school visits conducted like party rallies, and you have a recipe for disaster.
The problems encountered by DA MPLs at the schools visited are the same we find every year. They point to a department completely overwhelmed by its mandate and leaders who cannot solve problems, despite having 12 months to ensure they do not happen again. They also raise very serious questions around whether KZN’s ANC-led government is truly motivated to transform education in the province
MBALI NTULI, MPL
DA KZN Spokesperson on Education
