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The Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Hon. Prof. Hlengiwe Mkhize together with members of the Vanderbijlpark Parliamentary Constituency Office (PCO) visited two schools in the area as part of the “Making School Work” programme.

Amongst the prominent government and community leaders who participated in the visit were the speaker of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, Councilor Tsokodibane and ward councilors.

The purpose of the visit was to inspect the condition of the schools’ infrastructure and also look at other issues that include school material, uniforms, teacher capacity and the schools nutrition programme.

A visit to Ramosukula Secondary School situated in De Barrage, a rural area in Vanderbijlpark proved that nothing is impossible when they managed to achieve a 100 percent matric pass rate for two consecutive years. This is despite a number of challenges that the school is facing.

Highlighting the plight of the children and that of the teachers from a cramped office, the School Principal Peter Seholoba explained that although they were ecstatic about their success, there were a number of problems that they had to deal with.

The first issue was the shortage of classrooms as a result of an increasing number of learners.

“We wanted to use our school hall to create space for classrooms, but we don’t have funds   for a partition,” he said.

Seholoba said the situation was so bad that teachers did not even have a staff room and used the small office to hold meetings.

“As a rural school, we really feel marginalized,” he said.

A teacher at the school raised her concern about the containers that they were   currently using as classrooms saying that they should only be a temporary solution.

“In summer by mid-morning the pupils are already half asleep because of the heat and in winter it is too cold making it hard for them to concentrate,” she said.

In response, Prof. Mkhize said that the PCO was going to look into what they can do to at least get a partition for the school whilst they consulted with the relevant departments.

“Education is very important and I know that if the learners are in a conducive learning environment, they are motivated to work hard,” she said.

Mkhize assured Seholoba that as government they were going to continue supporting the school fully to ensure that it maintains its excellent pass rate.

“You must not only work towards getting a pass, but you must make sure that you aim high and set goals for yourselves,” Mkhize told the excited learners during an assembly meeting.

Meanwhile, approximately 20 kilometers away from Ramosukula Secondary School, there is Bophelong High School located in the Bophelong Township. This school did not have a good story to tell with its matric pass rate having dropped from an impressive 98 percent pass rate in 2014 to 77 percent in 2015.

With this significant drop, members of the PCO unanimously agreed that they had to make a follow up visit to the school again this month to encourage the learners and the teachers.

Mkhize told the school principal that during the next visit teachers should be prepared to give their analysis of what happened to cause such a “significant” drop in the results.

The principal’s immediate explanation was that high pregnancy rate, absenteeism and drug abuse could have contributed to the drop in results.

However, Mkhize did not mince her words to the principal.

“You have to lead or you will be out. You have to find a way to get back to where you were. The fact that you were once there means that you are capable of getting back there again. We will support you”.

Issued by The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services