PHUTI MOSOMANE

FIVE children tragically lost their lives in a fatal traffic accident on Tuesday while on their way to school on AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain, Western Cape.

Reports indicate that the bakkie carrying the learners collided with a traffic light, causing the children to be thrown off the back of the vehicle.

Expressing his outrage, Ricardo Mackenzie, the Western Cape MEC of Mobility, denounced the accident as a result of transporting learners illegally.

He described the deaths as tragic and entirely preventable.

“How many more children must we lose on our roads before the transportation of these precious lives is taken seriously by those driving the vehicles? Anyone who is transporting passengers – especially children whose bodies are more vulnerable to injury – has the weighty responsibility to keep them safe,” he said. 

He said vehicles must be roadworthy, drivers must be qualified and an operating licence is required to transport passengers. 

“Cutting corners with any of these requirements and driving recklessly is a matter of life and death. My condolences and prayers go out to these parents who are now faced with the grief of losing a child, and those with children in the hospital,” he added. 

Mackenzie said anyone wishing to report illegal or unsafe transport operators in the metro must contact the City of Cape Town Traffic Department, for enforcement and possible impoundment if the vehicle is unsafe, overloaded or the driver is unqualified. 

He said he recently attended two community meetings in Mitchells Plain to address the issues around learner transport and ensure that operators are properly registered and licensed.

Western Cape MEC of Education David Maynier said, “Today is a sad day in this province. A tragic accident has taken the lives of five young learners. They are from Wespoort PS, Harvester PS, Ridgeville PS, Highlands PS, and Duneside PS. Two learners are receiving medical treatment, from Ridgeville PS and Lentegeur HS. Western Cape Education Department counselling support teams are supporting the affected schools.”

Maynier further said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and the school communities. This is an unimaginable tragedy. Our thoughts are also with the learners currently being treated in hospital.”

Both Mackenzie and Minister Maynier visited the scene of the accident to understand what happened and express their condolences to the parents of the children involved in the accident.

They were also briefed by the SAPS’ Mitchells Plain Station Commander.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the horror crash that claimed the lives of five pupils and seriously injured two others, along AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain.

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education said it has noted with great sadness the loss of five young lives early this morning in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, on their way to school.

Committee Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said the committee would like to extend its condolences to the families, friends and school community:“This is indeed tragic; the worst news any parent or loved one can receive. It is the last thing you expect when seeing you children off safely to school. We mourn the young lives of our learners whot will now not have an opportunity to prosper and contribute to the future of our country.”

Mbinqo-Gigaba called on the authorities to investigate the accident and to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of what happened. 

“Guilty or negligent parties should face the full might of the law. We call on all those transporting our precious cargo to take great care when doing so, especially during the rainy winter season,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.

Western Cape Premier Allan Winde said he felt “deep sorrow for the pain of thier parents.”

“My heart aches for the families of the young lives so tragically lost in a road accident in Mitchells Plain today. It’s hard to find the words to convey the magnitude of the loss of these precious children,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION 

ZINGISA MKHUMA

DELIVERING his first budget speech as Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane said he wanted to highlight efforts made in closing the gap in education quality between the fee-paying and no-fee paying schools as well as the achievement of universal access to schooling.

Chiloane was presenting the Department’s 2023/24 Budget of R 63,4 billion on Friday 6 May which shows an increase of 6.2% from a main appropriation of R59.7 billion in 2022/23 to  the current R63,4 billion allocation – a Rand value increase of R3,6 billion.

He said over R46 billion or 72.6% of the 2023/24 budget is spent on the compensation of employees, over R7,89 billion accounts for transfers and subsidies, infrastructure development is allocated R2,46 billion, leaving more than R7 billion for programmes, nutrition, transport and other goods and services.

“I am proud to present a budget plan that aims to focus on the consolidation of our Five-Year Strategic Plan with special emphasis on the Premier’s Elevated Priorities to build on the successes achieved to date and to adjust our focus to achieve and make an even greater impact for the citizens in Gauteng.

“As such, our approach to education transformation in Gauteng is multi-faceted and is directed to address the quality of learning through quality improvement strategies that will improve the classroom performance of teachers and the active learning of children in classrooms across all schools in the province.

“Simultaneously we are introducing interventions that compensate for poor family literacy level and the impact of poverty affecting a large percentage of our communities in Gauteng. It is for this reason that we wholly support the focus on Townships, Informal Settlements and Hostels,” Chiloane said.

Chiloane spoke about the Elevated Priorities that are in line with Gauteng’s vision that the Premier
Panyaza Lesufi delivered at the State of the Province Address as priorities elevated for accelerated
implementation for the remainder of the Sixth Administration.

In education the elevated priorities are:

• Improving Grade 12 results, measuring progress and educational outcomes must be a priority.
• Expanding access of ECD sites across poor and marginalised communities including residential
  hostels
• ICT schools’ role in the Townships must continue investing in skills of the future by Continuing to
  open Schools of Specialisation to reach 35 schools by the end of the term, introduce a system of
  multi-certification
• Modernisation, investing in school infrastructure and online admissions by investing in school
  infrastructure in townships, ensuring accelerated delivery of smart public infrastructure to meet the
  demand identified through the online admissions remains a critical priority
• Integration and incorporation of wellness programmes, and rehabilitation of children in conflict
  with the law into the education system by assessing those in care centres and rehabilitation centres
  ready for schooling and ensure they are reintegrated into the schooling system.
• School Safety must be a priority to ensure learner and teachers safety.
• Youth Development must be redefined to increase youth employability and employment.

Chiloane emphasised the Department’s priority in improving the Grade 12 performance in what he
called Reclaiming the ‘crown’ – continuing the improvement of quality learning in the FET Band.

He said the Matric Class for 2022 did a sterling job by achieving a pass rate of 84.4% which represents an improvement of 1.6% as compared to the 82.8% pass rate that was obtained in 2021.

In 2022 there were a total of 43 298 distinctions, which saw over 20 769 distinctions from township schools – a monumental achievement!’, adding that the GDE pass rate has consistently been higher than the National pass rate and this trend continues.

“A great achievement to note is the progress made by Gauteng in closing the gap between former model C and township schools’ pass rate from 12% to 9%. In the 2022 NCS examination, 24 learners from township schools received total marks in Mathematics, Business Economics and Economics.

“In 2023, the Department endeavour to improve the matric pass rate for Gauteng to 90% and the Bachelor Pass Rate to 50%, with specific emphasis in reducing the difference in NSC Pass rate between township and ex-Model C schools to 7%. Further emphasis will be placed on increasing learner participation in Mathematics and Science and ensuring that 21.5% of learners are achieving 60% and above in Physical Sciences and 17.5% of learners are achieving 60% and above in Mathematics”.

Furthermore, The Department will again offer additional support for Matric candidates that failed the exams and who have registered to write Supplementary Examinations. The enhanced SSIP Broadcast Project will continue as a means of support to all learners.

Additional intervention programmes will be given in respect of All other Grades, which includes District support for all schools, monitoring the Curriculum and Assessment standards, access to e- content and Early Grade Reading Assessments (Grades 1-3). 

The Introduction to African Languages and Maths, Science and Technology intervention programmes across all grades will be ongoing.

Responding to the challenges of scarce skills development, Chiloane said as outlined in GGT 2030, the province is implementing a strategy to reorganise and turnaround our schools, particularly schools in the township. 

“We are investing millions of rands to improve the quality of education in the townships and to turn around what were historically labour reservoirs for unskilled labour, into zones of hope, development, and transformation”.

INSIDE EDUCATION