Limpopo Exams postponed 5 times as schools can't print exam papers
The Limpopo Education Department has postponed the start of mid-year exams as much as 5 times because schools don't have money to administer the exams.
Last week a 2 month investigation by the DA revealed that schools serving the province's poorest learners are receiving as little as R30 per child from the Department. The national standard set by Minister Motshekga is R1010 per learner for 2013/14.
Now correspondence in the DA's possession between the Limpopo Education Department and school principals shows how exams are continually being postponed as schools struggle to keep the lights on (available on request). Exams were meant to start on 27 May according to the original timetable. This has since been rescheduled several times, with the latest timetable sent to schools indicating a starting date of 7 June.
The DA understands that further emails and smses are being issued to principals about the postponement of the exams as we speak.
This is because schools don't have the basic funding they need, known as Norms and Standards funds, to cover electricity and water bills, photocopying, phone calls, and other everyday demands of running mid-year exams.
The DA has sent a formal demand to Limpopo Provincial Administrator Mzwandile Matthews to transfer the funds owed to these schools without delay. DA structures in Limpopo will be monitoring the current deadline to pay money owed to schools by this week Friday very closely to assess whether our demands have been met.
In Limpopo, 77% of all learners are taught at the poor schools (Quintiles 1 -3). When there is a funding crisis in poor schools, its impact is felt across poor communities province-wide. The Department must pay schools immediately and account for why funds are being with-held to start with.
Note to editors: The impact of the Department's with-holding of funding on schools is documented in the findings below of the DA's oversight visits in Limpopo -
|
School's Name (All schools are Quintile's 1 - 3) |
Area |
Amount of Norms and Standard received per child since Jan 2013 (R1010 is the gazetted minimum finding for 2013/14) |
Impact on the school
|
|
|
Sego High school |
Matlala Krantz |
R40 per learner |
No printing paper, no printing machine, |
|
|
Nthema High School |
Moletjie Fairlie |
R100 per learner |
No printing machine and paper, unable to pay electricity |
|
|
Westernburg High |
Westernburg |
R50 per learner |
Printing machine broken, electricity and water bill is more than R300,000 |
|
|
Raselete High school |
Moletjie Rammobola |
R67 per learner |
No faxing, photocopying, printing machine and paper |
|
|
Sekati High School |
Moletjie Ga Sechaba |
R107 per learner |
No electricity, no paper, fax, printing and photocopy machine |
|
|
Seokeng High school |
Moletjie Ceres |
R39 per learner |
Printing machine broken, no papers |
|
|
Agishanang primary |
Lonsdale |
R30 per learner |
No printing , fax, photocopy machine and paper. Outstanding electricity bill |
|
|
Bahlaloga High |
Lonsdale |
R39 per learner |
Printing machine broken. |
|
|
|
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Statement issued by Jacques Smalle (MP), DA Limpopo Provincial Leader, June 4 2013
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