Education blames typing error

School ‘still to be constructed’ was put on wrong list

THE addition of a school that doesn’t exist to a list of school hostels to be renovated was due to a “typo error”, the Eastern Cape department of education has explained.

Instead of appearing on the list of schools to be refurbished, Nomsa Frans High School should have been listed as one of the hostels still to be constructed.

Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the mix-up was because of a typing error.

“There was suppose[d] to have been two paragraphs with two headlines and Nomsa Frans was supposed to have been under a different headline,” said Mtima.

In his 2017-18 policy speech in March, MEC Mandla Makupula said Nomsa Frans High in Cradock would be refurbished under a R1.5billion budget allocated to infrastructure projects.

However, it turned out Nomsa Frans High has not yet been built.

The department says the school was established and exists although it has not been constructed yet.

Last week, a sitting in the provincial legislature in Bhisho, when the portfolio committee on education tabled a report on its oversight visit to 14 school hostels between May 29 and June 2, revealed there was no such school in Cradock.

But even though the structure of the school does not exist, Mtima said in the department’s “jargon” the school does exist.

“It is not a non-existent school . . . to us [department], once [the] budget is made available for the construction, which is under way and feasibility studies conducted, we deem that school to be existing.

“I acknowledge that the jargon we use can be complex at times.”

The spokesman said feasibility studies conducted showed that R82million would be required for the school’s classrooms while R144-million would be required to build the hostel.

Mtima said the school would cater for 1 200 pupils and the hostel would house 320 pupils.

“Design processes for the school have already commenced, implementing agents have been employed and feasibility conducted.”

Speaking in a three-minute video posted on the department’s Facebook page, director for infrastructure Tsepo Pefole said Nomsa Frans “is non-existent but has been established”.

“The school and the hostel are currently sitting at the stage called ‘viability’, so that we can move into ‘design and development’ before ‘transit into tender’.

“We anticipate by the end of this year or early next year, we would have gone out on tender for the construction,” said Pefole. — studies have been