UMZINYATHI mayor Petros Ngubane has blamed his district’s high matric drop-out rate on boys who want lobola money.
Speaking at an awards ceremony for top performing matric pupils at the Dundee Moth Hall in KZN on Friday, he said he would continue to fight dropouts.
He said the district was full of rural people who still believed in old practices such as getting married by the age of 20. Such beliefs put pressure on pupils to leave school to find work in big cities.
“This is the problem I face in my district. This year, I have decided to focus on fighting this old cultural belief. I’m planning to start a campaign to bring educated people from the district to preach about the importance of education,” he said.
Ngubane said he would invite people such as KZN deputy judge president Mjabuliseni Madondo from Msinga, where the problem was the worst.
The mayor rewarded 20 matric pupils with certificates of excellence and R5 000 cash each. One of the recipients was Yekelani Chongo (19) from Mabaso High School, who got four As.
He said he would study a medical course at the University of KZN. He thanked the mayor for the money, which he said would help him pay his registration fee.
When she announced the matric results, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the government was concerned that of the million pupils who started grade R in 2007, more than 400 000 never reached matric.
