LIMPOPO – The Department of Basic Education plans to close and merge more than 1 400 schools located mainly in rural areas in an attempt to rationalise resources countrywide. This was revealed in response to questions asked in parliament early last week.
The National Education Policy Act Guidelines stipulates the department has a case for closing primary schools with fewer than 135 learners and secondary schools with fewer than 200 learners.
Provision of transport for only 42 schools has been made so far as an additional budget would be required for affected students travelling longer distances, while 142 mobile classrooms will be hired for a smooth transition.
The department said the closures would enhance service delivery as many of the schools had been deemed too small and unviable.
Nationally, the eradication of inappropriate and dangerous schools has been stalled by underspending.
The two main school infrastructure grants, the Education Infrastructure Grant and the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, have failed to meet national needs and deadlines.
Last Tuesday, Equal Education Spokesperson, Tshepo Motsepe, said while there were benefits to lawful and democratic rationalisation, a key challenge remained poor communication to schools about their rights in terms of the Schools Act.
He said schools might be merged with those that had less resources, adding that if there was a lack of co-ordination between infrastructure planning and those in charge of rationalisation, this could lead to wasted resources in schools that close with new infrastructure projects in the pipeline.
