New Minister of Education Naledi Pandor has acknowledged that it going to take a little longer than the end of the financial year to ensure that there is no longer a school pupil learning under a tree.
Referring to President Thabo Mbeki’s promise that the problem will be eradicated by the end of the financial year, she said that her department plans to provide for 95 new schools by the end of the year — but this will not eradicate the backlog.
Speaking at a media briefing at Parliament, the minister said that in 2003 there were 494 cases of schools without any classrooms, which was defined as a school under trees.
“By this year, the number has decreased to 152, of which 144 are in the Limpopo province,” she said.
“Although this is a declining phenomenon, it is important to note that rural to urban migration patterns put the education system under pressure,” she said, noting that it will cost R50-billion to eradicate the problem. “We have to accept a systematic and planned rollout of the programme over at least the three years of the current medium-term expenditure framework cycle.”
If for example, a sudden influx of people occurs in an area the demand arises for a school. This has required the use of innovative responses such as mobile classrooms.
She noted that there are still 1 781 schools with unacceptable facilities.
This translates into 12 123 classrooms that are required to accommodate 400 000 pupils. — I-Net Bridge