Thousands of students are sitting at home – DA
The DA says there are thousands of Gauteng pupils not in school, and the Education MEC must act.
The opposition party alleges that there are currently many young people sitting at home and doing nothing.
Among them are those with grade 12 certificates.
DA communications officer Itumeleng Malatsi says some can’t access higher education because they don’t qualify even though they have certificates.
“If I include those who drop out of the system, the number increases. There is no doubt that not all children will go to university or FET colleges, but they must at least qualify to gain access,” says Malatsi.
Malatsi adds that the quality of passes is a major concern.
“Earlier this year, I saw a report of a child who passed only two subjects with 40 per cent and 50 per cent, then got less than 30 per cent in other subjects. The child was recommended to go to grade 8. So the pass rate was less than 30 per cent.
“I’m not sure if the child was given a favour to progress to the next grade or if the child was trapped into a disadvantaged corner.”
The DA says it is, however, looking forward to cooperating with Gauteng Premier David Makhura to offer robust debate and alternative solutions to ensure that available resources serve the people of Gauteng.
Malatsi points out that schools need to produce skilled, knowledgeable and innovative children.
“This means we must establish a culture of excellence and we must not celebrate and defend mediocrity.
“It means teachers must sign performance contracts with clarified expectations in order for us to identify individual teacher gaps and develop teachers based on their weaknesses.”
Malatsi says there is a huge demand to build more schools in Gauteng but this demand can be matched by the need to reopen closed schools.
“The Premier has made emphasis on radical transformation so, as the DA, we then wish to see township schools reopening and be the core of excellence in the next five years. Spatial planning of new developments must ensure schools are to be built at the same time.”
Malatsi encourages community members not to distance themselves from ownership of public institutions.
“Our schools are vandalised and classrooms serve as store rooms whilst computer labs are gathering dust in many schools. We need to ensure that we grow our economy rapidly in a sustainable manner, while creating jobs, alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life.” – @TumeloBoksburg
