Gwarube urges EC education to utilize funds to improve rural schools


Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube is visiting Fezeka Primary School in Peddie, in the Amathole District, as part of the Department’s Back to School Campaign.

According to the department, the visit is part of a national initiative to ensure that all provinces start teaching on the first day of the academic year.

Particular attention is being paid to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where flooding recently disrupted the reopening of some schools.

Gwarube says that she will continue to visit schools across the country, especially in rural areas, to ensure that learning starts on time and that schools are ready to support teaching from day one.

While in the Amathole District, she will also meet with district and local leaders to strengthen coordinated government development and address the challenges facing schools in the region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ne5A5JgiGg

Gwarube has urged the Eastern Cape Education Department to utilise allocated funds to improve school infrastructure in rural schools in the province. 

She says improved infrastructure will bridge the gap between rural and urban schools.   

“It’s important that whatever Treasury allocates to us is spent effectively, and every single additional grant must be spent accordingly. We are almost at the end of the financial year. We recently had a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers, which includes all the MECs, the 9 MECs, and I implored upon them to ensure that each and every one of them makes sure their grants are spent and spent well. What we don’t want to see is physical dumping. We want to see effective planning. We want to see infrastructure backlog being eradicated.”