Underperforming schools in Gauteng and the Free State will remain open, the provincial education departments said on Tuesday.
”The [provincial minister] is not closing any schools for non-performance,” said the Gauteng education department spokesperson Mbela Phetlhe.
In a statement released on the department’s website, provincial minister Angie Motshekga said the schools that had a less than 50% pass rate in grade 12 for 2006 had to produce a turnaround strategy by the end of January.
”These will then be used to form a support and intervention strategy to assist them to improve performance in these schools,” she said.
Under-performing schools in the Free State will also not be closed by the department.
”We are not closing any schools in the Free State for underperformance,” said Free State education provincial minister Ouma Tsopo.
”The schools we will be closing [will be] where the learner numbers have declined,” she said.
She said the department will be merging schools that had low numbers of learners and where the schools’ capacity was not met. — Sapa