Durban — The IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature has voiced its concerns about the number of schools that are reportedly on the verge of closing or being merged.
This follows the first quarterly performance report of 2022/23 for the KZN Department of Education, which was presented to the KZN education portfolio committee during the past week.
In it, 10 public schools were reported by districts to be non-functional during quarter one of 2022/23.
These schools are awaiting official notification of closure or merger, and once their status is confirmed, the target for 2023/24 will be reviewed.
IFP KZN spokesperson on Education, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa, said: “The IFP is mindful of the fact that the programme of rationalisation, realignment and the merging of non-viable schools is meant to ensure that limited state resources are optimised to benefit every pupil in the province. It is also motivated by the drive to improve the overall quality of education within the province.”
However, Madlopha-Mthethwa said the IFP is very concerned about these developments.
“If the KZN Department of Education goes ahead with these closures, pupils in rural areas could be denied access to education. They would need to travel long distances to their nearest towns with unreliable learner transport; as well as the possibility that schools in the towns may be full,” Madlopha-Mthethwa said.
She said more clarity was needed on how closures were going to be implemented, as they affected parents, teachers and pupils.
The IFP demanded answers from Education MEC Mbali Frazer on the following:
- Has supply chain management conducted audits of assets in schools identified for closure?
- In which districts are these schools situated?
- Has there been an infrastructure assessment of the schools that will be closed? If so, what preparations have been made for the transfer of immovable assets to the Department of Public Works?
- Has scholar transport been identified and made available for deserving learners from the schools to be closed - to avoid them dropping out of school or burdening parents with transport costs - where it transpires that they will not be taken to a school of choice?
- Are the parents and other relevant stakeholders, such as teacher unions, informed in advance about the proposed school closures?
- What will happen to the teachers, learning materials and buildings of schools that will be closed?
- When will all school accounts be closed? When will creditors be paid; and when will remaining monies be returned to the provincial fiscus?
Madlopha-Mthethwa said all the questions must be answered by the KZN MEC for Education.
“As a political head of the department, the buck stops with her.”
Madlopha-Mthethwa said the IFP believes that parents must be informed well in advance of any decisions that affect their children. Doing so will prevent unnecessary - and possibly violent - protests by aggrieved parents.
Additionally, Madlopha-Mthethwa said they noted in the report that many Funza Lushaka Bursary holders are not meeting school curricula requirements. This brought the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme into question.
“Why has the department awarded bursaries to pupils to study subjects that will not be beneficial to schools? The KZN Department of Education should carry part of the blame for the high rate of unemployed teacher graduates in KwaZulu-Natal, as thousands are qualified but cannot teach in schools,” Madlopha-Mthethwa said.
She said that the following questions remain:
- How much has been spent by the KZN Department of Education in awarding bursaries to learners that graduated with subjects that do not align with school curricula?
- How many teacher graduates are unemployed due to their not being able to teach the prescribed curricula in schools?
“We believe that this equates to fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The IFP would like to state clearly: we are not against the awarding of Funza Lushaka Bursaries to deserving students. However, we are of the firm view that the KZN Department of Education must ensure that students are trained in the appropriate subjects, as required by schools,” Madlopha-Mthethwa said.
Daily News