DESPITE uThungulu District’s poor showing in last year’s matric results, there is no reason why the district cannot bounce back with the support of both labour unions and the private sector.
This was the message of Member of Parliament Nomalungelo Gina, speaking at the Department of Education’s uThungulu Achievement Awards held on Thursday at the Umfolozi Casino Resort.
Gina, who is also the Chairperson of the National Education Portfolio Committee, said while she was disappointed by the decline in matric results for uThungulu, she was hopeful that all was not lost and that the district could turn the tide.
‘It is with sadness we noted that we only produced six schools with a 100% pass rate, and we were number three from the bottom in the province. This is indeed a cause for concern. We need to ask ourselves how we are going to overcome this setback.
‘With uThungulu the third largest district in the province with a high learner enrollment, we are aware of the rural challenges in this district.
‘We have a challenge of teachers who refuse to teach in rural areas for reasons known to them. They would rather stay at home than teach in a rural school, and this has a negative impact on learners,’ Gina said.
But she commended teacher unions, in particular NATU and SADTU, for their involvement in developing and improving education in the district.
‘If we continue this partnership we can easily turn the tide. We also need to appeal to our corporate sector to continue supporting education initiatives for the benefit of the district.
‘As we celebrate 60 years of the Freedom Charter, which states that the doors of learning shall be opened, they must be opened to produce quality education that will take our learners to greater heights,’ she said.
uThungulu District Mayor Thembeka Mchunu, a former teacher herself, congratulated the school principals who managed to produce between 80 to 100% pass rates in last year’s matric exams under trying circumstances.
‘We are aware that infrastructure was the biggest challenge to our schools, but it is not the buildings that build a school, it is a teacher, a principal and a learner working in partnership,’ she said.
