The following speeches were delivered in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL and DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Community Safety Michele Clarke MPL, during a debate on the 2016/17 Annual Report of the Gauteng Education Department.
Speech by
Khume Ramulifho MPL
“Education department continually fails to meet national and provincial targets”
- It is disappointing that millions are spent in building what we call ‘state of art schools’, now, the infrastructure has started to crack. Shoddy work done by builders, and no consequences for their actions;
- The DA has raised concerns on how districts are failing to support schools. The districts have failed to be proactive. The department has failed to deal with queries within 72 hours;
- No fee schools, scholar transport and nutrition programmes are very helpful. However, the biggest challenge is how do we ensure quality education. Are there any consequences for teachers who are failing to deliver on their mandate?
- The DA believes that quality education can be delivered to many learners. But this will require the political will to fire under-performing personnel, support from districts, appointing fit for purpose leadership, establishing strong partnerships with law enforcement agencies, creating conducive learning and teaching environments, redressing the past apartheid schooling environments and spending the budget.
The full speech can be obtained here:
Speech by
Michele Clarke MPL
“Basic education in Gauteng in desperate need of a new beginning”
- A major cause for concern remains the fact that almost a third of learners who started grade one will get to matric. Of 145 199 learners who started grade 1 in 2006, 45 000 have already been lost to the system in 2017. More must be done in this area, we cannot lose this many learners.
- Early school leavers will struggle to compete in an economy that demands skills, and the department is failing these learners;
- With regards to the Auditor-General report, it must be noted that the department has failed to pay suppliers within 30 days, against what the Premier has committed GPG to doing. Nearly half a billion rand was not paid to suppliers within 30 days;
- The MEC enjoys sugar coating things, chasing invisible bogeymen and engaging in soaring rhetoric. But the performance of the department leaves a lot to be desired.
- Education in Gauteng needs a new beginning. It needs a total change.
The full speech can be obtained here.