Motshekga says 1 523 unviable schools were closed since 2021

A TOTAL of 1 523 unviable schools were closed since the start of 2021 academic year, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said this week.

Motshekga said they first checked if a school was viable before closing it.

“In some instances, you find it is not viable and it makes no education sense to keep it.

“We support those schools to find spaces (for pupils) nearby,” Motshekga said.

She was responding to a question about the support her department was providing to rural schools under threat of closure, during an oral question session in the National Assembly.

Motshekga said they provided opportunities for multi-grading and improved school management in schools in affected farming communities.

“We give more teachers than mandated by the law,” she said about the schools especially in farming areas.

Asked about the impact on learning ability of children when they were transported to schools far away, Motshekga said the question was whether closing a school made educational sense.

“There are lots of considerations we have to make,” she said.

The minister said the Mpumalanga Education Department was rolling out a boarding-school programme for older children.

Asked about more than 1 000 schools that were identified this year for closure but were still open, Motshekga said it was not possible to abruptly close schools.

She said there were delays in closing down schools due to consultation and laws that have to be followed.

“It can take up to a year to reach consultation. Sometimes you don’t want to close a school and fight with communities,” she said.

The minister made an example of the Western Cape where they had a programme of boarding schools where some communities would not want their children to be mixed with others from certain areas for fear of them becoming gangsters.

“We are doing all we can being sensitive to the very people we are serving to make sure that they are not disadvantaged by what we think is to their advantage – quality teaching and learning,” Motshekga said.