OWN CORRESPONDENTS | Tuesday 8.00pm
EDUCATION Minister Kader Asmal interrupted his scheduled tour of schools on Tuesday to descend unexpectedly on Meadowlands High School in Soweto where he found loitering pupils and filthy conditions.
Asmal stormed through the school demanding a list of teachers who had failed to arrive at school, warning that they would face disciplinary action. He also held meetings with both pupils and teachers in which he lashed out at the conditions at the school.
Asmal was just one of the many government and opposition figures touring schools as four of the provinces’ schools opened after concerns that schools would be hit by a shortage of textbooks and other teaching materials and fears that teachers would not arrive for the new term.
Mpumalanga’s premier and education MEC took some teachers by surprise when they dropped in to ensure lessons took place from the first day of school. An amused MEC Craig Padayachee said Tuesday afternoon that some teachers recovered quickly from the shock and then pretended to teach. ”I am an ex-teacher and can see when people are putting on a front,” he said with a smile. Otherwise teaching did take place, unlike in the past, he said.
Padayachee and Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu visited schools in Ekangala in the former Kwandebele homeland and in Mhluzi near Middelburg. Northern Province premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi arrived at a school in Mankweng for the first day of the new term on Tuesday, and found pupils leaving for home at 10am.
The Mamabudusha High School pupils told the premier, and education MEC Edgar Mushwana, their teachers were still preparing timetables. Mushwana warned that disciplinary steps would be taken against principals whose schools did not start work on Tuesday – a threat he first made about a month ago. He criticised pupils who were not serious about their education, and said he could find plenty of keen pupils to replace them.
Meanwhile, the government on Tuesday promised teachers and pupils there will be enough money for textbooks and stationery to go round. ”We don’t think there will be anything to hold up teaching. The budget for textbooks for the current financial year was increased to R627-million from R192-million so that the government can deliver textbooks,” said Education Ministry spokesman Bheki Khumalo. — Own correspondents, African Eye News Service and Reuters