"We are pleased with the successful reopening of schools for the start of the second term of the 2010 school year," said MEC Donald Grant on Tuesday.
Grant said that the second term is a critical term for teaching and learning, especially for our grade 12s who now have only 194 days left before the start of their national senior certificate examinations.
"That is why we are doing all we can to ensure that our grade 12s get all the support and motivation they need to help improve the number of passes we have in the province at the end of the year," he said.
"We are very pleased with the successful launch of our 'Own Your Future, Own Your Success, Study Hard to Pass Your Matric' campaign in Khayelitsha yesterday, where we handed out 'Tips for Success' booklets to each of the grade 12 learners at Manyano High School.
This booklet will be delivered to all grade 12s across the province in conjunction with other grade 12 interventions such as after school and tutor programmes, the rollout of past examination papers and the delivery of extra textbooks."
Unfortunately there have been disruptions at two of our schools in the province, Hague Primary in Delft and Naphakade Secondary in Malmesbury. These remain isolated incidents.
"Both of the incidents at these schools were unlawful. Yesterday, community members prevented learners and educators from entering Hague Primary. This incident and the communities concerns are currently being investigated by the relevant officials and we are doing all that is possible to ensure that learning and teaching continues without any further disruptions."
At Naphakade Secondary, learners set alight a security guard house and a toilet in a misguided attempt to highlight their desire for a new school.
"The reaction by these learners is unacceptable. It is most unfortunate that the actions of a few have caused us to now temporarily close the school down to ensure the safety of the other learners," he said.
"Their actions are unfortunate as Naphakade High School is part of our new school building programme and the tender for the construction of a new high school in the area will be going out shortly."
Grant added that there were two outstanding issues from the first term that have now been successfully resolved.
"Last term I personally intervened to help resolve overcrowding issues at two schools, Oranjekloof Mor. Primary in Hout Bay and Citrusdal Primary in Citrusdal," he said.
"I am happy to report that at Oranjekloof, three additional mobile units are in place and more units are scheduled for construction in the coming weeks. This will do a lot to alleviate some of the overcrowding issues they have at the school, as well as provide a safe and suitable classroom environment for these learners."
MEC Grant visited Citrusdal last week to negotiate a long-term solution to the schooling needs in the area.
"I am pleased with the outcome of this visit," he said. "I had a constructive engagement with the school governing bodies (SGBs) of both schools and am confident that a solution will be agreed to in due course."
At the request of Citrusdal Primary's SGB, all learners currently at the school will remain at the school until the end of 2011. In this interim period the Western Cape Department of Education will provide possible assistance to ensure that learning continues as smoothly as possible at the Primary school. The ultimate objective is to build a new high school to serve the needs of all the learners of Citrusdal by 2012.
"We have less than two months before the start of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. I am appealing to all to ensure that the tournament does not distract us from the task at hand, providing quality education to all learners in the Western Cape, five time s a week, seven hours a day," said Grant.
"We can certainly all join in the fun, but a healthy balance of work and play needs to be maintained."
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