UP TO half of the Eastern Cape’s 5722 schools could be closed as pupil numbers fall .
This comes after the provincial education depart- ment announced recently that almost 400 schools had already been officially closed.
Education superintendent- general Mthunywa Ngonzo confirmed yesterday that more schools would be closed – mostly those with fewer than 50 pupils.
He said it was too soon to say how many schools would close, but most small and very small schools would have to merge or close.
The provincial department’s 2013 review, referred to as a Profile Snap Survey, revealed that 50% of schools were ranked as small with fewer than 100 pupils and sometimes fewer than 50.
Ngonzo said schools under the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Development Initiative (Asidi) designed to eradicate mud schools would not be affected.
Twenty mud schools out of 49 identified for upgrade have been replaced and another 50 are listed .
The department would provide temporary structures for small mud schools while a plan was being crafted to combine them , Ngonzo said.
He said the department had plans to merge schools with small numbers of pupils to form “massive” combined schools with hostel facilities.
“This is what we propose – that we have a massive school at the centre so that children can access it easily and live in hostels and go home ,” he said.
Ngonzo said it was in line with legislation to close down the schools .
“When a school is established it is gazetted and the same proper procedures need to be followed when closing schools,” he said.
Teachers “displaced” would be reassigned by a placement committee to nearby schools, he said.
The Western Cape High Court recently prevented the provincial authorities from closing 17 schools deemed too small to be efficient and the Constitutional Court last month denied MEC Donald Grant’s application for leave to appeal the decision.
This was after Sadtu and school governing bodies were granted an urgent interdict to stop Grant and Education Minister Angie Motshekga from shutting the schools.
Grant cited low enrolment numbers, multi-grade classes and a decline in pupil numbers as reasons to close .
At the portfolio committee on education on Tuesday, education MEC Mandla Makupula said the department was engaging with communities to deal with the scourge of migration of families from communities, which resulted in the closure of schools.
Makupula was responding to a question from ANC MPL Koliswa Fihlani on whether the department had any intervention plans to mitigate the impact that migration of communities had on schools.
“People move for a number of reasons. Some fall in love and others look for jobs elsewhere. We are handicapped.
“We try to engage with communities about the implications of moving their children,” Makupula said.
The 2011 census showed that the Eastern Cape was the slowest-growing province after the Free State, with a population growth of only 4.5% in 10 years compared to around 30% each in Gauteng and Western Province.
Reasons given for internal migration in several recent surveys have included the search for jobs as well as better education and health care. —
Half of EC schools could shut
This comes after the provincial education depart- ment announced recently that almost 400 schools had already been officially closed.
Education superintendent- general Mthunywa Ngonzo confirmed yesterday that more schools would be closed – mostly those with fewer than 50 pupils.
He said it was too soon to say how many schools would close, but most small and very small schools would have to merge or close.
The provincial department’s 2013 review, referred to as a Profile Snap Survey, revealed that 50% of schools were ranked as small with fewer than 100 pupils and sometimes fewer than 50.
Ngonzo said schools under the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Development Initiative (Asidi) designed to eradicate mud schools would not be affected.
Twenty mud schools out of 49 identified for upgrade have been replaced and another 50 are listed .
The department would provide temporary structures for small mud schools while a plan was being crafted to combine them , Ngonzo said.
He said the department had plans to merge schools with small numbers of pupils to form “massive” combined schools with hostel facilities.
“This is what we propose – that we have a massive school at the centre so that children can access it easily and live in hostels and go home ,” he said.
Ngonzo said it was in line with legislation to close down the schools .
“When a school is established it is gazetted and the same proper procedures need to be followed when closing schools,” he said.
Teachers “displaced” would be reassigned by a placement committee to nearby schools, he said.
The Western Cape High Court recently prevented the provincial authorities from closing 17 schools deemed too small to be efficient and the Constitutional Court last month denied MEC Donald Grant’s application for leave to appeal the decision.
This was after Sadtu and school governing bodies were granted an urgent interdict to stop Grant and Education Minister Angie Motshekga from shutting the schools.
Grant cited low enrolment numbers, multi-grade classes and a decline in pupil numbers as reasons to close .
At the portfolio committee on education on Tuesday, education MEC Mandla Makupula said the department was engaging with communities to deal with the scourge of migration of families from communities, which resulted in the closure of schools.
Makupula was responding to a question from ANC MPL Koliswa Fihlani on whether the department had any intervention plans to mitigate the impact that migration of communities had on schools.
“People move for a number of reasons. Some fall in love and others look for jobs elsewhere. We are handicapped.
“We try to engage with communities about the implications of moving their children,” Makupula said.
The 2011 census showed that the Eastern Cape was the slowest-growing province after the Free State, with a population growth of only 4.5% in 10 years compared to around 30% each in Gauteng and Western Province.
Reasons given for internal migration in several recent surveys have included the search for jobs as well as better education and health care. —
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