TECHNOLOGY TO BALANCE SCHOOL FUNDING
THE basic education department will introduce a new technology to fast-track funding for poorer schools.
Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga accepted that his department was faced with many challenges in funding, infrastructure and curriculum, especially in the lower school grades.
Veronica Hofmeester and Tokologo Monene, who were in the audience, had raised their concerns about the quality of teachers and insufficient funding of poor schools in townships and rural areas.
“I find it unfair that poorer schools could be expected to perform at the same rate as schools in the suburbs when we all know that a majority of schools lack resources,” Monene said.
Mhlanga said his department was working on a system to help adequately fund schools. Minister Angie Motshekga will announce the new system during her budget speech on May 10.
“We have the quintal system, which we have been using to categorise schools and allocate funding. Now we are reviewing the quintal system because we are realising that it puts certain schools in a difficult position,” Mhlanga said.
“Some schools have been placed in better areas [on paper], when in fact they are in a poor area. As a result we find ourselves allocating the budget inappropriately. All those things are being looked at.”
The new system will track pupil and teacher numbers at schools.
“We are moving to an electronic system, which will capture information about learners and the schools they are in. It will give us reliable data so that we can allocate resources and budget according to the numbers the school has,” Mhlanga said.