Durban - The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has given a thumbs up to the provincial department’s preparations for the opening of schools in a couple of weeks time.
Chairperson of the committee Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said the work done by the department was commendable and they were satisfied with the fact that teaching will start on February 15.
“But there remains areas of concern that need urgent action to be resolved to make the system full proof ready for the first day,” she said.
Mbinqo-Gigaba said some of the areas that needed attention was the provision of transport to children, providing water and the filling of vacant positions.
The committee has been in the province since Tuesday and completed today.
The visit was part of visits by the committee this week to Gauteng and the Eastern Cape to assess school readiness.
The committee would be paying attention to whether health protocols were followed, safety and security and provision of personal protective equipment among many issues.
To address the yearly challenge of transport in KZN, the committee encouraged the department to talk to the National Treasury about funding.
“Permanent solutions must be found for this problem especially considering that 70% of schools in KZN are in rural areas and they consist of learners largely who come from poor family backgrounds,” Mbinqo-Gigaba said.
Another concern Mbinqo-Gigaba was that there were 1845 pupils who had not been placed at schools. She said the sooner the pupils were placed , the less stressed parents would be.
Daily News