Gauteng MEC for Education and Youth Development, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, has expressed his gratefulness to all the stakeholders in the education sector for ensuring that teaching and learning continued throughout Gauteng schools, despite the tough challenges brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Gauteng schools will officially end the Term 1 of the 2021 school calendar on Friday, 23 April 2021; with almost 2.3-million learners going on a break until the start of Term 2 on Monday, 3 May 2021.
“We opened the 2021 school calendar on 15 February 2021 with many uncertainties which were brought about by the new normal of delivering quality education during the Coronavirus pandemic. Many parents were not sure whether they should allow their children back to school as this unseen enemy called COVID-19 continued to ravage our communities. Notwithstanding those fears; the majority of parents heeded our call and released their children into our care for the 2021 school year.
“We are thankful to all the stakeholders – from our School Governing Bodies to the Unions and the learners – for their selflessness and commitment which ensured that Term 1 of the 2021 school year is completed successfully,” MEC Lesufi said.
Some of the highlights in the past three months include the completion of online placements; the reactivation of the paperless classroom programme and the distribution of mobile classrooms to manage overcrowding.
“We are proud to declare that we have placed all Grade 1s and Grade 8s and plans for the 2022 online admissions are steaming ahead. We call on any parent whose child is still not placed in a school to urgently contact our District Offices for assistance,” MEC Lesufi.
As stated in this year’s State of the Province Address, the Gauteng Provincial Government is “[shifting] the delivery of more public services onto digital platforms.” Accordingly, the GDE has repurposed its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investment from being classroom-based to catering more for virtual learning as a response to COVID-19.
Virtual classrooms will also be introduced and streamed live through smartboards in ICT-enabled schools and full ICT schools to enable interaction during the lessons.
“The pandemic has compelled the system to adjust to the new normal to prevent disruption to teaching and learning. Technology provides for an alternative platform for curriculum delivery with more agility and adaptability to address the educational needs of the learners more specifically and on point,” the MEC said.
The GDE constantly assesses issues of infrastructure backlogs – ranging from the shortage of classrooms, administration blocks and ablutions – which are a result of a myriad of challenges; including vandalism and an influx of learners into the province, among others. The construction of permanent structures normally takes a longer period of procurement and construction, which directly impacts on learner/education spaces available.
To tackle the issue of admission and placement pressures, the GDE has, in the past three months, distributed 162 mobile classrooms to various schools around the province. This was done through the delivery of ordinary classrooms and Grade R mobiles to cater for schools that had no facilities dedicated for Grade R in existing schools. The Department is also continuing to transfer funding to schools for the construction of brick and mortar classrooms.
Our goal of ensuring that the majority of children are not forced to travel long distances to access good education is steaming ahead as we continue to open and hand-over quality new schools within poor communities.
During Term 1 of the academic year, we opened three new schools which now in full use and occupied. Those were Abraham Hlophe in Katlehong, Setlabotjha in Eatonside and Tshepiso in Sedibeng. These schools form part of the new and replacement programme to accommodate growth and overcrowding, as well as the commitment to eradicate schools built out of inappropriate materials, particularly asbestos, in the province.
Despite the strides made in the delivery of school infrastructure, our challenge continues to be criminal elements. During the 2021 academic year, vandalism, break-ins and arson were reported at 381 schools in the province. Thirty-seven percent of these schools have been affected more than once since the beginning of the national lockdown regulations. The current cost of rehabilitative work in these schools stands at R211 million.
“The successful conclusion of Term 1 of the 2021 academic year has emboldened our resolve to deliver quality education to all learners in our province, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. We support the initiative by the Minister of Basic Education, Mme Angie Motshekga, to consider bringing back all primary school learners in Term 2 as we strongly believe that the current rotational system is disadvantaging learners,” MEC Lesufi said.
