Pupils flee under-par Eastern Cape schools

PUPILS are abandoning Eastern Cape public schools because of “the poor quality of basic education”.

This damning admission is contained in the provincial education department’s latest annual report.

Pupil enrolments in the Eastern Cape’s public schools dropped by 91 563 in 2011, according to the latest statistics contained in the Department of Basic Education’s annual schools survey.

A further drop was recorded at the beginning of the year.

In 2011, enrollments in Free State schools dropped by 1 659, and by 22 121 in Limpopo.

In the same year, KwaZuluNatal, Gauteng and Western Cape schools recorded increases of 76 849, 33 883 and 9 876 respectively.

The Eastern Cape’s education department said that parents were also leaving the province for economic reasons.

Eastern Cape districts that recorded the biggest decrease in pupil enrolments between 2010 and 2011 were Sterkspruit, Fort Beaufort, Idutywa and Lusikisiki.

Last year, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille caused a furore when she tweeted that the Western Cape had built 30 schools, mainly for Eastern Cape “education refugees”.

The Eastern Cape education department’s superintendentgeneral, Mthunywa Ngonzo, admitted in the report that man- agement and governance structures had collapsed.

Western Cape education MEC Donald Grant’s spokesman, Bronagh Casey, confirmed that 18 852 pupils from other provinces, including 16 510 from the Eastern Cape, had enrolled at the province’s schools this year.

At least 44.2% of new enrolments in the Western Cape this year, excluding Grade R, were from the Eastern Cape. Last year’s enrolments from the Eastern Cape were 16 792.

Rural areas are blighted by the absence of infrastructure

Gauteng education department spokesman Gershwin Chuenyane said that, on average, there was a 2% increase in pupil enrolment every year.

He said that the department assumed it was owing to urbanisation.

Mncekeleli Ndongeni, Eastern Cape provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, said the department was “brave enough” to admit it was failing.

Eastern Cape education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said the rural areas “are blighted by the absence of infrastructure” and some teachers might be underqualified.

However, new schools were being built, he said.