Durban — The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education said it was concerned about the persistent infrastructure challenges facing some schools in KwaZulu-Natal.
The committee said this has a negative effect on the provision of quality teaching and learning. The committee concluded the third day of its week-long oversight programme in the province and has resolved to raise these concerns in its meeting with Education MEC Mbali Frazer.
Committee chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said while they are cognisant of the infrastructure backlog and unavailability of enough financial resources to remedy the deficiency, the committee has urged for more resources to be directed at remedying the problem.
“It is unfathomable that some learners are still utilising mud structures built by communities many years ago to make available learning environments. It is even more worrying that this affects mostly the poor in rural areas,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.
She said the committee will today conclude its visit to the province by visiting two schools in the morning and holding an extensive engagement with Frazer together with the senior management team.
“What is important to us is for the system to provide a safe and adequate space that will ensure an environment that fosters teaching and learning,” she said.
She said the availability of water and sanitation remained a challenge, some schools still using pit latrines that pose a danger, especially for young pupils.
“The committee has called for the department to provide an update on the roll-out of the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) programme to enable the committee to assess impact and provide solutions to impediments,” she added.
Mbinqo-Gigaba added that the committee was also concerned that some of the recommendations it made during a visit to the Harry Gwala Educational District during its first visit in 2021 have not been carried through.
She said this points to dereliction of duty on the part of provincial Department of Education officials, and as a result, the committee has recommended that the department investigates this matter and carries out consequence management in cases where officials failed to do their work.
Meanwhile the committee urged the department to strengthen its support to schools in relation to subject advisers to ensure improvements are made in the delivery of learning areas.
Mbinqo-Gigaba said despite these challenges, the committee was satisfied that generally the system is ready to deliver the 2023 academic year.
However DA KZN Spokesperson on Education Dr Imran Keeka, MPL labelled it a government tick-box exercise. Keeka believes that the multi-party oversights, conducted biannually by the KZN Legislature, have little to no impact on resolutions adopted, often falling along the wayside.
“This is particularly clear when we return to schools visited as part of the programme in years gone by and see that nothing has changed. Yet another ongoing concern is the cherry-picking of schools that are part of the programme,” he said.
Keeka said during the first leg of the programme, many of the schools visited were small and non-viable. He said in one instance, a school had just nine learners. Meanwhile, at Shange Primary, there are just 35 learners with two educators, one of whom is the principal.
At Ntabambamkhaya Primary in Harry Gwala, there are just two educators who teach learners ranging from Grade R to 7.
“Yet another problem area encountered is the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP). This includes the non-payment of many suppliers in the Ilembe district and – as identified today – within the Harry Gwala District,” Keeka said.
Some of the issues that the DA will be bringing into sharp focus during the next few days include:
• Schools have access to basic municipal services including water, electricity, refuse removal;
• The condition of ablution facilities including pit latrines;
• School’s quintile rankings given that many are incorrectly ranked by the DoE, leading to a shortage of government funding;
• School enrolment numbers, over-crowded classrooms and learner/educator ratios and vacancies;
• SGB functionality and parental involvement and;
• Access to KZN’s Learner Transport Programme.
Keeka said in the case of high schools, the DA will obtain matric pass rates.
“We will also establish the drop-out rates and teen pregnancy numbers and identify what has been done to get these learners back to school,” he said.
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