The DA in KZN has lashed out at education MEC Peggy Nkonyeni for refusing to acknowledge the existence of overcrowded schools in the province.
|||Durban – The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday lashed out at education MEC Peggy Nkonyeni for refusing to acknowledge the existence of overcrowded schools in the province.
According to DA MPL Mbali Ntuli “there are 387 KZN schools which remain severely overcrowded”.
Ntuli said the figure was based on an April 2016 parliamentary reply to questions submitted by the DA, “which shows that thousands of KZN learners are receiving a sub-standard education”.
Districts with the highest numbers of overcrowded schools were Uthungulu (159), Uthukela (50), Amajuba (42), Ilembe (33), Zululand (21) and Umzinyathi (20).
Reasons for the congestion included classroom shortages, school shortages, urbanisation, sharing of premises, storm damage not being attended to and failure to observe the admissions procedure, leading to over enrollment.
“The DA is deeply concerned by what this response reveals. Four hundred schools is a staggering number and these figures are an indictment on this province’s education department. Equally disturbing is that the MEC clearly has no idea what is going on at schools under her watch,” said Ntuli.
“She needs to get out into the province and see schools with her own eyes rather than relying on what is obviously false information fed to her by officials. The DA has warned her about this before. Every time we visit schools we see this problem so it is difficult to comprehend why the MEC is blind to it. The DA is happy to take the MEC to these schools,” she said.
At a press briefing in Durban on Tuesday, Nkonyeni and the newly appointed acting education HOD, advocate Bheki Masuku, said that overcrowding “was not a problem” at KZN schools. At the same time, about 80 Sadtu members were protesting outside the venue because of overcrowded schools.
African News Agency
