Minister Motshekga must apologise to Grade 12 learners in Limpopo - Annette Lovemore, Shadow Minister of Basic Education Mid-year exams have been postponed due to a lack of funds in Limpopo. As of last month, the Limpopo Education Department was still approximately R1.4 billion short of funding resulting in some learners receiving as little as R30 per learner versus the national norm of R1 010. The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga has been directly responsible for the administration of education in Limpopo since the national intervention and must therefore admit accountability. She and her Department have once again failed the learners of Limpopo. Minister Motshekga and her Department must apologise to every Grade 12 learner who has been affected by the trauma of having exam timetables reshuffled at the last minute. Our children’s educational future is at risk, and those responsible must be held directly accountable. The DA will submit parliamentary questions to the Minister to determine the norms and standards funding made available to public schools in each province. The Minister must also provide answers as to who approves deviations in funding and what actions will be taken by the Department to eliminate such deviations. In response to a DA parliamentary question, one of the primary reasons for the intervention by national government in the Limpopo Education Department in December 2011 was, according to Minister Motshekga, due to "an inability by the provincial education department to fund key strategic educational priorities, thus resulting in essential national standards or the established minimum standards for the provisioning of quality basic education in Limpopo not being met.” As part of the intervention, Mr Mzwandile Matthews was appointed as the education administrator in the province. He was deployed by the Department of Basic Education and reports to Minister Motshekga, and was appointed as the Accounting Officer by the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan. The Director-General of Basic Education, Bobby Soobrayan yesterday indicated that the required funding had been obtained and was "ready to be transferred" when the Limpopo Treasury made a change to their electronic financial management system. Soobrayan places the blame on the Limpopo Treasury, and the Department of Basic Education Spokesperson is referring queries to the Limpopo Media Officer. However, the Department of Education is in charge, not the Limpopo Provincial Education Department. Angie Motshekga must not shift blame for her Department’s own failures. The first step should be an admittance of failure, apologising to all learners affected and ensuring that the necessary remedial steps are taken.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:35:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015