Parliament, Monday, 22 August 2022 – The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today visited schools in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality area as part of its week-long oversight visit programme in Mpumalanga to assess the state of schooling in the province.
The first stop of the committee was the Tsakane Special School in Acornhoek which caters for learners with physical and intellectual disabilities. Management of the school and the School Governing Body (SGB) told the committee that the school needs hostel facilities to accommodate over 200 learners who come from far flung villages of Bushbuckridge and some of them travel about 190 kilometres to and from school every day.
The committee also visited Lekete Technical High School, Alfred Matshine Secondary, Mapulaneng Teacher Development Centre and Ngwaritšane Secondary School.
The committee discovered that some of the schools face challenges that include overcrowding, shortage of maths and science teachers and the lack of resources such as science and computer labs as well as sports facilities.
In one of the schools the committee heard that parents had to contribute money for their school to buy extra chairs for a class that had almost one hundred learners.
Committee Chairperson Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said it was unfortunate that there seems to be no clear plans by the Provincial Department of Education to address the issue of overcrowding in schools.
Tomorrow the committee will conduct oversight visits to schools in the Nkomazi Local Municipality and later hold a meeting with the national and provincial departments of education, Mpumalanga Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Education, SGB Associations, organised labour and the South African Principals Association.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS BONGIWE MBINQO-GIGABA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the committee Chairperson, please contact:
Name: Sakhile Mokoena
Cell: 081 705 2130
Email:smokoena@parliament.gov.za
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