DA calls for halt to schools merger

THE DA in the province called on Education MEC Mandla Makupula yesterday to put a moratorium on his plan to merge all small schools in the Eastern Cape.

Makupula announced the plan to rationalise more than 2 000 schools which had fewer than 200 pupils two years ago, saying the best thing was to close the small schools and take pupils to the nearest school.

This would have seen some of these schools converted into boarding schools because parents would not be able to afford other boarding schools, most of which have all the necessary infrastructure such as laboratories and libraries .

But the DA’s Edmund van Vuuren said his visit to schools in the Queenstown area last week suggested that the Eastern Cape education department was not ready to roll out the plan.

Among the schools he visited was Phakamani Senior Secondary in Mtwakazi village near Whittlesea. Van Vuuren said pupils from Phakamani had been moved to Mzamomhle High 10km away in Hackney due to a shortage of teachers.

He said he had received a report stating there were only three taxis available to ferry the children, which meant 16 pupils were left without transport.

Van Vuuren said three of the 16 rode their horses to school, and 13 would have to find R26 for taxi fare every day.

He cited the poor condition of their new school “which has broken windows, poor ablution facilities, no water and an insufficient number of classrooms for the 165 learners from both schools”.

Last year’s matric results suggest that pupils are adversely affected by the poor condition of their new school.

The matric pass rate for Phakamani SS dropped from 94.7% in 2015 to 66% last year.

“Parents have complained that the move from a relatively new and secure school building in Mtwakazi to a mud structure where multiple break-ins have taken place and learners study in constant fear has contributed to the 28.7% drop in the school’s matric pass rate,” Van Vuuren said.

The party wants the department to shelve the programme.

“I call on the MEC for education, Mandla Makupula, to place an urgent moratorium on the rationalisation of schools until a proper execution plan is put in place,” Van Vuuren said.

“I will be raising this matter in the next education portfolio committee meeting at the provincial legislature.”

Education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said they would follow up on the Queenstown case.