Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane said she was satisfied with the state of readiness at schools in the province amid challenges posed by Corona virus.
The premier visited Sofunda Secondary School and Bankfontein Combined School in the Steve Tshwete municipality, Monday and Wednesday respectively, to assess compliance to Covid-19 regulations. “The visits to the schools were informed by, amongst others, the need to assess adherence to Covid-19 protocols within our school system,” she said.
Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane also stated that she was satisfied with the overall state of compliance across the provincial basic education system. “We are happy that learning has already started in this curriculum year. We have taken a walkabout to see that all children are in class learning,” she said. “We will continue to visit schools across the province to assess compliance to the Covid-19 regulations,” she said.
Bankfontein Combined School is one of the performing schools in the three circuits of Steve Tshwete. The school achieved a 100 percent matric pass rate last year, they have received a donation of tables to the grade 12 learners from the Premier’s Office. “We are encouraged by the work that is being done by the school as they have been getting 100 percent pass rate at grade 12 despite all challenges they have,” she said.
She continued, “We are hoping that the class of 2020 will also give us a 100 percent pass rate as we anxiously await to get our results next Monday.”
Education MEC, Bonakele Majuba, who was part of the premier’s entourage, said the department has had a huge challenge brought by the recent storms that affected most parts of the province, however, they have made learners have access to the schools. “We have done all we can to make sure that out of the 46 schools that had a challenge of inaccessibility, only a few now have that problem,” Majuba said. “We are confident that before the end of the week we shall have dealt with all the challenges,” he said.
