Eastern Cape Education MEC, Fundile Gade, has failed to deliver on a promise he made in April to connect 1 000 rural schools to broadband internet by June, as part of the Department’s programme to improve education in far flung areas of the province. The Democratic Alliance will be monitoring the rollout closely, as it is simply unacceptable that it is taking so long. In response to a parliamentary question …


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Serious questions need to be asked about the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s (ECDoE) commitment to eradicate mud schools in the province. It is going to be very difficult to eradicate these structures, which have been deemed unfit for education purposes, if the ECDoE does not even know how many there are! Based on a recent response from Education MEC, Fundile Gade, to a parliamentary question, the number of mud …


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The shocking report of four senior officials, who allegedly defrauded the Department of R59 million meant for purchasing textbooks for pupils, has revealed an Eastern Cape Department of Education (EC DoE) in crisis. The charges, dating back to 2014, have revealed just how deep and far back the rot within the Department has spread, with top leadership, including the former Superintendent General (SG) Mthunywa Ngonzo implicated in the fraud. Alongside …


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The call for learners to return to full-time classes comes at a time where the lives of our learners, teachers and staff are being put at risk daily, due to the mismanagement of the Department of Education in the province during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overcrowded classrooms, inappropriate sanitation and even the removal of temporary toilet facilities are all adding to the unsafe environment at schools. In response to parliamentary questions, …


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The Eastern Cape Education department’s woes are deepening, as they are still trying to get back tablets distributed to Grade 12 learners under the highly irregular Sizwe Africa IT contract, now valued at more than R538 million. These tablets should have been retrieved from learners in October last year, following the court interdict, when the learners were still at school, but now they have created a mess. The Department is …


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The disturbing revelation of a principal lowering an 11-year-old learner into a pit latrine to retrieve his cell phone has once again cast the spotlight onto the dire lack of proper sanitation facilities in the Eastern Cape. The Democratic Alliance is calling for the Eastern Cape Department of Education to explain the delays in the eradication of pit latrines, and provide a comprehensive plan to address this once and for …


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The water supply to 167 schools in the Eastern Cape has been cut because the Department of Education has failed to pay an estimated R8 million in historic water debt owed to the Amathole District Municipality. Despite being informed nearly a month ago that this crisis was looming, the Department has done absolutely nothing to stop it, and as a result thousands of learners are at risk of further interruptions …


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The Provincial Treasury is withholding R15 million in authorised overtime from departmental staff involved with examinations, who have subsequently downed tools, bringing critical services to assist recent matric graduates to a complete standstill. I have reliably learnt that roughly 360 staff, including examination staff at a district level and provincial level, Human Resources and Salaries as well as internal control, have downed tools. This will have a devastating impact on …


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Over the past three academic years, 221 626 Eastern Cape learners have disappeared between their Grade 10 enrolment and their final matric exams. That’s enough to fill the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium five times over! In an increasingly competitive world, a solid educational foundation is a necessity, and even more so in the jobs scarce Eastern Cape, where the latest unemployment stats have risen to 47,9%. How can the Eastern …


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The dismal performance of the Eastern Cape matriculants should in no way rest on their shoulders, but rather on those of the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE), which has consistently placed greed and self-interest above the needs of its learners. This year the Eastern Cape’s results dropped from 76,5% to 68,1%. The Democratic Alliance commends all learners who, despite one of the most difficult academic years on record, have …


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