School feeding issues ‘resolved’

The KZN Department of Education (DoE) says it has paid the school nutrition services providers and the feeding situation is back to normal.

This after teachers joined a Sadtu provincial march in Durban last month over a number of issues including the department’s failure to transfer financial allocations to schools.

The union said some schools in the uMkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo districts had not received allocations at all, leaving principals in debt.

‘Our principals are at the moment devastated as the situation forces them to use their own personal finances for school programs to continue.

‘There is no way that Sadtu can allow this to continue as it is the highest level of exploitation.

‘Our principals are deep in debt as they borrow money to run schools with the hope that when the allocation comes they recoup their dues.

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‘In areas like Umkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo Districts, for example, some schools did not receive the allocation at all,’ said Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza.

In a statement last week, the National Teachers’ Union (Natu) said it was also shocked to learn that pupils are starving because service providers have not been paid by the DoE in KZN since July.

‘The union is receiving incessant complaints from school principals about the starving children, as a result of the collapse of the feeding scheme due to service providers’ disenchantment at the department’s failure to meet its obligations towards the children.

‘Natu has it on good authority that thousands of school kids are going home hungry while the National School Nutrition Programme Grant ,which is over a billion rand, is not spent by the Province.

‘It is so unfortunate that this happens at a crucial time when kids are busy with their examinations,’ Natu deputy president and spokesman Allen Thompson said.

Last month the MEC for Education’s spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said funding allocation delays are a result of questionable learner numbers.

‘Some learners’ names appear in more than one school. This puts a huge financial burden on the department and the department has informed schools that resource allocations will be based on verification of learners’ ID numbers to eliminate duplication.

‘Schools were requested to supply missing learner ID numbers or affidavits. Those who complied have already received their allocations,’ Mthethwa said.

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