edmund van vuuren

Dear MyPE On Wednesday morning matrics from the Ndaliso Senior Secondary School in Lusikisiki allegedly torched the school's administration block to express their anger at being forced to write their matric exams over two years. While I can sympathise with the frustrations of the learners, the destruction of institutions of learning can never be the answer. These learners were upset by the policy that requires progressed learners to write their exams over a two-year period, writing … [Read more...] about Destroying schools can never be the answer

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance is outraged at the thought that the Department of Education wants to create a draconian database of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) learners. In an email sent to schools around the province, the Special Programmes Unit Head Office instructed schools to provide them with a list of all LGBTI learners from their schools by close of business the same day. The email claims that the data is for a workshop to raise awareness of LGBTI … [Read more...] about Draconian LGBTI learner database leaves them open to abuse

Dear MyPE On behalf of the Democratic Alliance, I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Education MEC Mandla Makupula, who passed away during the early hours of this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. It is a sad day indeed. I worked well with Mandla, who had been a member of the provincial legislature since 1999 and held the position of MEC of Education since November 2010. He was a man … [Read more...] about RIP MEC Makupula

Dear MyPE Tomorrow, we celebrate World Teachers’ Day. The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape would like to thank all of the teachers in the province for their dedication to educating our children. Many teachers educate our children in non-conducive environments on a daily basis and our education system is in a state of crisis because of a shortage of teachers, a lack of basic resources, poor infrastructure and corruption. For the 2018 academic year, we have teachers who have not … [Read more...] about Celebrate Teachers on World Teachers’ Day

Dear MyPE Close to 700 learners, including those still in primary school, have fallen pregnant in the Eastern Cape over the past two years, with the figures climbing year-on-year. When a baby is born to a teenage mother, it places tremendous pressure on her, often resulting in her having to drop out of school to raise the child, trapping yet another generation in institutionalised poverty. Responding to a parliamentary question, MEC for Education, Mandla Makupula, indicated that 346 … [Read more...] about Pregnant learners futures stolen from them

Dear MyPE Thousands of learners pass out of the school system each year destined for joblessness because the system is failing them. It is hardly surprising that learners across the Eastern Cape are taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction at the state of their education, when vacancies at schools have still not been filled and thousands of teachers placed are not qualified to teach the subjects they are presenting. In response to a Parliamentary Question, the Eastern … [Read more...] about 3,000 Eastern Cape teachers not qualified to teach

Dear MyPE A parliamentary response from the MEC for Education, Mandla Makupula, reveals that a total number of nine officials from the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape have been placed on paid leave since 2015 pending various investigations including corruption and mismanagement of funds. The response reveals that three cases from the 2016/2017 financial year are still ongoing. These officials are still on suspension and the disciplinary hearings were scheduled for June and … [Read more...] about Department of Education pays officials millions to sit at home

Dear MyPE Only 1 in 10 schools in the Eastern Cape have a library, that is 554 schools out of a total of 5270 schools. This is in accordance with a response to a written question I submitted to the MEC for Education in the Eastern Cape, Mandla Makupula. This is a tragedy of mammoth proportions. History will judge the ANC harshly on this matter. This has a catastrophic impact on learners’ development and must play a huge role in the poor educational outcomes in the Eastern Cape. The poor … [Read more...] about Only 10% of schools in the Eastern Cape have libraries

Dear MyPE A mere 945 schools out of a total of 5 421 schools in the Eastern Cape have been connected with Information and Communication Technology (ICT). That means only 17% of learners, teachers, and principals have access to ICT at school, according to the response to a legislature question I asked Education MEC Mandla Makupula. One of the ways to combat the structural poverty that the Eastern Cape education system has foisted on the learners of this province is through a massive … [Read more...] about Only 17% of Eastern Cape schools have internet access

Dear MyPE The Eastern Cape Department of Education has no recorded data of the number of school buildings that are no longer being used for the purpose of education. To make matters worse, the Department of Public Works has never been informed of any intention from its sister department to hand back schools that have been closed. The disregard by the ANC-government relating to millions of rands of unused assets is unacceptable. In a DA-led government, public assets would not be mismanaged … [Read more...] about Education Department does not know how many abandoned schools there are

Dear MyPE The death of young Lumka Mkhethwa earlier this year at Luna Primary school in Bizana, Eastern Cape could have been prevented if the Department of Education prioritised the dire need for sufficient sanitation for schools after the death of 5 year old Michael Komape in Limpopo in 2014. A judgment was ordered a few days ago instructing the Department of Basic Education in Limpopo to supply and install at each rural school equipped with pit latrines, a sufficient number of toilets … [Read more...] about Poor school sanitation facilities still pose major health and safety threat

Dear MyPE The horrific drowning of a child in a latrine at the Luna Primary School in Mbizana on Tuesday must serve as a wake-up call to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Education MEC Mandla Makupula to stop making excuses about budget constraints because they cannot spend the money. The ANC-led government must act now to sort out the infrastructure mess at schools in the Eastern Cape. This incident highlights the extent of our broken province and the urgent need to fix it. It … [Read more...] about How Many More Children Must Die?

Dear MyPE The DA demands that the Eastern Cape Department of Education issues a memo stating why certain students who failed Grade 11 were not progressed to Grade 12 in 2018. It is alleged that a number of learners who were pushed through to Grade 12 in 2018 were redirected back to Grade 11 and were informed that, although they have failed more than twice, they will be retained in Grade 11. As a result, frustrated learners’ school attendance rates may drop and they might eventually drop … [Read more...] about Cruel EC Education Dept traumatizing progressed learners

Dear MyPE The Eastern Cape Department of Education underspent on its 2016/17 infrastructure budget by R49-million. The department had received R1.679-billion of which R1,629-billion was spent. The 2016/2017 output is disappointing and embarrassing to a department that promised so much but achieved so little. The underperformance is disheartening. The actual achievement of school infrastructure targets leaves much to be desired and continues to expose our learners to a tough learning … [Read more...] about EC Department of Education fails school infrastructure delivery

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance extends its best wishes to the 87 353 Grade 12 learners in the Eastern Cape who will be writing their matric final exams from Monday, 23 October 2017. It is our sincere hope that you will achieve high-quality results that will enable you to either continue with tertiary education, to enter the job market or to become a young entrepreneur. Education is the foundation for opportunity. Your determination to get a quality education is what will prepare you … [Read more...] about Best Wishes Extended to 2017 Matric Class