MEC for education meets Mpumalanga special schools’ principals
The MEC for education, Bonakele Majuba, visited some of the special schools and noted that there is much to improve on.
The Mpumalanga MEC for education, Bonakele Majuba, convened a meeting with the principals and chairpersons of the school governing bodies of the 18 special schools in the province.
The meeting was held at Platorand Special School in eMakhazeni on Thursday February 22. It was aimed at taking stock of how 2024 has commenced and to address challenges to improve the delivery of quality learning and teaching to learners who require special care and support.
Majuba said they saw it necessary that they should convene this meeting for a number of reasons.
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“The first reason was to gather information about how the 18 special schools within the province started the 2024 academic year. We wished to be updated about the achievements, challenges and about the remedial actions put in place to address the impediments. The second reason was that all public ordinary schools are expected to participate in the upcoming school governing body elections, and our view is that special schools are not exempted. As such we were interested in understanding the preparations in this regard.
“The Mpumalanga Department of Education (DoE) had a meeting with sport federations and associations last week to discuss the resuscitation of School Sports Wednesday; as such our collective wish is to see special schools participating fully in that programme.
“We are doing this because it is imperative that we recall the instrumental role sports play in the holistic development of our learners and the overall well-being of the community. The overall reason relates to the performance of the learners in special schools. Our view is that these are learners who need to be supported to enable them to fully benefit from the gains ushered in by the democratic dispensation,” said Majuba.
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“We must avoid instances where we learn about what is happening in special schools from the outside stakeholders or the media. The reality is that special schools are not and must not be seen as the stepchild of the department. I have visited most of these schools, I have been to Masinakane, Wolvenkop, Platorand and Tsakane special schools and I can tell that indeed there is still a lot to improve. The better part of last year was about the state of affairs at Estralita Special School and I wish to be told that the situation has improved for the better,” said Majuba.
