Addressing the provincial House of Traditional Leaders last week Monday, the Eastern Cape Education Department MEC Mahlubandile Qwase lobbied for support in advancing the improvement of the state of education in the province.
Laying it all bare, Qwase recapped the challenges facing the education sector with particular focus on rural and township schools as compared to suburban and former Model-C schools that are better off.
“The majority of the suburban schools and former Model-C schools are performing above 60% with fewer schools from the townships and rural areas in this range” he deliberated.
He cited causes for poor performance of these rural and township schools as emanating, amongst other factors, from lack of classroom contact time, parents’ intervention and lack of governance within particular schools.
Highlighting their findings following recent school visits by the EXCO team (which he is also a member of), Qwase drew the House’s attention to socio-economic challenges affecting both teachers and learners which simultaneously impact greatly on the teaching and learning aspect of education, namely:
* Taverns [that] are at the door steps of schools and using learners as their market. Linked to this is increasing drug abuse in our schools.
* Poor attendance of meeting by parents and communities called by school governing bodies in schools.
* Lack of protection of schools by communities leading to vandalism and theft.
* Abuse of vulnerable children and orphans in our rural areas and townships.
After giving an unprepossessing depiction of the difficulties facing the department, Qwase pleaded for the traditional leaders to resume their social structural roles in abolishing such community incongruity.
“The department would appreciate if the House of Traditional Leaders in general could heed the call of the department and take up the campaign to improve quality of public education in their own areas,” he solicited.
Qwase further advocated for the traditional leaders to assume active roles in the goings-on of their communities.
“As government leaders, we appeal that traditional leaders should not keep quiet about the societal ills in our communities and we ask for their support on these issues. Whilst African learners constituted 75% of our matriculants last year, only 46% managed to pass,” he said. During his closing remarks Qwase pointed out that learners mostly affected by this “whole generation mishap” are from rural and urban poor areas.
Issued by: Department of Education, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
22 April 2010
Source: Department of Education, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecdoe.gov.za/)
