ANCYL concerned about ‘preferential treatment’ for private schools

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Thursday it was concerned about the country’s separated education systems, saying that private schools were given preferential treatment in contrast to public schools.

In a statement, the ANCYL spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said private schools continued to get far better education when compared with the rest of the country.

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“We wish to register our concern with the manner in which preferential treatment is given to private schools in contrast to public schools,” Mkhize said.

“Private schools continue to get far better education if compared to the rest of the nation. As if that was not enough, their results are given to them ahead of other learners.”

Mkhize said government must act to curb the undesirable outcomes of these systems.

“This act must stop, otherwise it seeks to inculcate a notion that private services are better then public services. It affirms the centrality of money in order to get a better education,” Mkhize said.

“We call on our government to stop this practice before it gets worse.”

The ANCYL also congratulated all provinces that had increased their pass rate in contrast to last year’s pass rate “against the background of a nation that is in demand of free education”.

“We want to acknowledge among those provinces that have done well, Free State, Gauteng, North West, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga,” Mkhize said.

“We hope that other provinces will take lessons from the ones that have done better in increasing their pass rates, thus accelerating service delivery to our people.”

Mkhize urged all pupils who didn’t perform well in matric to use the opportunity presented by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in its NSC Second Chance Programme.

He said they wished well all those who had passed matric, saying that they should get ready for another struggle in pursuit of education in institutions of higher learning.

“Learners should consider both universities as well as Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges for furthering their studies,” Mkhize said.

“As this year registered the highest number of matriculants, so should the post-school infrastructure be expanded in order to accommodate more students.”

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