EDUCATION is in a mess in many parts of the Eastern Cape.
Kasi schools are raided by thieves who feed their drug habit while some schools in Nelson Mandela Bay have had to close down because of a sharp drop in pupil numbers.
The DA shadow MEC for education, Edmund van Vuuren, said he was disappointed that thugs had damaged textbooks while many pupils had none because they had not been delivered by the education department.
“In the Mbizana district the education department failed to distribute books to 214 schools. The department has said that 15% of books at 926 schools in the province have not yet been delivered.”
He said four new schools opened for grade 10 upwards in 2014 but they had not received textbooks for three years.
“Pupils were without books in grade 10, 11 and matric. They had to rely on study guides and other notes.”
Principal Thokeka Pityana-Kheswa of Ncedo Senior Secondary School in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth said vandalism at the school had affected the matric results.
“Our matric pass rate dropped from 64% to 40% because the revision programme was disrupted.”
Education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the delivery of textbooks was done after schools had retrieved as many as possible from leavers. The department then replaced those that had gone missing.
“The department is working closely with schools to address the issue of vandalism.”
