Of the 5 700 school in the Eastern Cape Department of Education, 352 will be officially closed down five years from now. This will happen as soon as the rationalisation and re-alignment of schools programme comes to an end, but despite that education MEC Mandla Makupula calls for the return to basics.
Addressing a public hearing on rationalisation and re-alignment of schools at the Mount Frere education district Makupula urged parents and teachers to help learners seize the basics of schooling.
"Parents and teachers must help ensure that our learners can perform the basics which are reading, writing and counting at the foundation phase of their schooling" urged Makupula.
He added that teachers need to reintroduce, spelling of words, counting in class and writing. "We grew up doing time-tables and as such we were able to count, why can't we utilise such to help our children now. Additionally, the writing of speed tests to enhance learners' spelling of words and bring back time-tables to help our kids count easily," asked Makupula.
Makupula urged teachers to be creative and bring about techniques that children can easily understand, as that will help in building a better future for these upcoming leaders. "Since learners are the key role players in our education, can we all cooperate to ensure that our learners receive the best public education the country can offer" requested Makupula.
