Call for overage pupils to take technical path
EDUCATION MEC Mandla Makupula has called for pupils who lack capacity for pure academic schooling to be compelled to try their luck in technical education.
This follows the revelation that Makukhanye Senior Secondary School in Lusikisiki had an alarming number of overage pupils – 135 between the ages of 20 and 25.
The school has 1 162 pupils, making it the worst school with overage children as 12% of its pupils are above the average age in grades 10 to 12.
The existing laws that govern the school system in the country stipulate that pupils who are in the school system but have become overage because of repeating grades may not be refused continued education.
According to the Department of Basic Education’s guidelines for the promotion and progression of Grade 10 to 12 pupils, a pupil cannot spend more than four years in this phase.
This means a pupil can only repeat either Grade 10 or Grade 11 once, failing which they should be promoted to the next class even if they failed to meet the requirements for a pupil to progress to the next grade.
The progression of the school child without merit is done without any guar- antee that the concerned pupil will make it in a tougher grade than the one they are being promoted from.
Makupula says he believes it is a waste of time and resources to have pupils who are academically challenged to be allowed to languish in the system instead of being given the chance at a technical education section.
“The MEC has been advocating for the implementation of the three-stream model curriculum that allows for channelling those who lack capacity for pure academic schooling towards technical education,” department spokesman Malibongwe Mti- ma said on behalf of Makupula.
The department, however, says it cannot do anything about the 25-year-olds at Makukhanye, who are sharing desks and classes with classmates 10 years their junior in some instances.
“In terms of national policy, learners who are in the school system but have become overage as a result of repeating grades may not be denied continued education at the school,” Mtima said.
But the DA in the province is up in arms that these older pupils, who are now adults, share the same space with teenagers, calling this a safety hazard to pupils.
“The older learners at the school are often victimised because of their age and this, in turn, leads to retaliation in the form of bullying the younger ones and dropouts,”’ DA education spokesman Edmund van Vuuren said. The DA says its stance should not be viewed as calling for the exclusion of overage pupils who left the school system only to return with the intention of getting a matric.
However, it says arrangements should be made not to have adults mix with teenagers
“We believe that learners of a certain age wanting to pursue their basic education should instead enrol at an Adult Education and Training Centre,” Van Vuuren said.
“However, the problem here is that the Eastern Cape has a limited number of centres and the few that there are, are inaccessible because of the geographical spread of this province.”