Pretoria - The Gauteng government has set aside R6 billion for the construction of new schools to alleviate overcrowding in provincial schools as well as to ease congestion due to online applications.
This was revealed by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi during his first State of the Province Address.
“Our education system is overcrowded, which is exacerbated by high levels of in-migration. Unless we do something differently, our education system will collapse. Addressing this issue and learning from the experience of unplaced learners in Grades 1 and 8, Gauteng has budgeted R6bn from our provincial coffers to build new schools in high-pressured communities,” he said.
Lesufi said his government has received a major boost of R1.5bn from the National Treasury to demolish mobile and asbestos schools, saying they would rebuild 18 new schools in Gauteng. He said in the coming weeks they would go to the market to solicit proposals from private companies to build these schools.
“To give our learners a competitive edge and to prepare them for the post-matric world, we will continue to roll out Schools of Specialisation. We have 21 Schools of Specialisation and by the end of this administration we would have 35 of these schools.
He added: “I want us to congratulate Mr Mashiane, principal of Soshanguve Engineering School of Specialisation with focus on automotives.
“He and his students were honoured for Visionary Clean Tech Student Award in Abu Dhabi. Mr Mashiane, representing his school, will be going to the Students for Advancement Global Entrepreneurship World Cup 2023, in California, US,” Lesufi said.
He said the number of children registered in Early Child Development (ECD) sites has increased as part of the process to bolster the education system.
“We are now ready to build an ECD of the future, starting with Tshwane (in Soshanguve),” he said.
“We are committed to rolling out ECDs of the future across the five corridors. The ECDs of the future will have classrooms with indoor splash pools, ICT centres, a water recycling area and mini sports areas. Coding and robotics will gradually be introduced into the curriculum to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Commenting on his government efforts to assist those matriculants who passed last year, he said: “In the 2023 academic year, 4 000 young people have received bursaries to the value of R360 million outside NSFAS. We are the only province which invests this amount of money in education and youth development.
“As an honour and an investment in our youth, every learner that obtained number 1, 2 and 3 in every township high school, will receive a three-year bursary at a university of their choice. This is a whopping R360m investment. These learners will also receive a laptop to make their studies easier.
“A great achievement to note is the progress made by Gauteng in closing the gap between former Model C and township schools pass rate from 12% to 9%.”
Pretoria News