The Department of Education has expanded the number of schools that will not be charging school fees by 40% for next year.
”Funding is available and this will be implemented. It is also in keeping with government’s commitment that no child should be denied an education,” Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday.
Pandor was briefing the media on the resolutions made by the Council of Education Ministers on issues including safety in schools.
She said policies are in place that need to be implemented to make schools safe and secure.
Pandor also welcomed the announcement of allocations of bursaries for students studying to become teachers. The government will roll out R700-million over the next three years for this.
”Preference will be given to young people from the rural areas and we hope that they, once qualified, can go back and teach at those rural areas,” Pandor said.
Boost for maths, science
Meanwhile, South Africa sent 80 teachers in mathematics and physical science — who teach the subjects on the higher grade — for beefed-up training in September, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya reported on Monday.
He was briefing the media in Pretoria, but broadcast at Parliament in Cape Town.
He said this was part of the ”targeting of over 500 schools” in order to double the mathematics and science higher-grade output to 50 000 by 2008 in the final schooling year.
He said about 1 000 teachers were being targeted for training to improve their mathematics, science and technology teaching ”and to improve their qualifications through the National Professional Diploma in Education”.
”A total of 5 233 schools have been provided with reading books for their foundation-phase classes and a further 6 000 identified to benefit at the beginning of 2007,” he reported. — Sapa, I-Net Bridge