Question No. 1698
Mr GR Morgan (Democratic Alliance) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Why has the Zimele Molweni Centre for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Molweni, eThekwini municipality, not received accreditation from her department;
(2) Whether her department will pay the costs of an educator for the more than 50 learners currently enrolled at the school; if not, why not; if so, what are the criteria applied by her department when considering the provision of assistance to a school of this nature?
Reply:
1. The Zimele Molweni Centre's application for registration as a special school is being considered by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education against the following criteria:
A school can only be registered if it is within the broader spatial plan to establish adequate facilities for learners with disabilities in the province. This is in line with a Cabinet resolution passed by the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in 2007. A meeting to establish this facility's eligibility for registration was held with the Pinetown district officials on 30 April 2010 and a follow-up meeting was scheduled for the 14 June 2010 with the Pinetown district Department of Education officials as well as representatives from the Zimele Molweni Centre.
2. Resources of whatever nature are rendered strictly to registered schools. In the light of this, the department may not be able to provide educator posts, or any resources whatsoever until the school is registered. An interim measure could be to absorb then learners enrolled at the centre in other schools or to have the centre operate as a satellite under an existing school. These options will be tabled at the meeting mentioned in (1) above.
Source: Department of Education
Reply by Minister of Basic education, Angie Motshekga, on questions posed in the National Assembly for written reply
