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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System --------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Oct 2006 Title: Calls for eradication of mud schools --------------------------------------------------------------- By Oupa Segalwe, tel: (012) 314-2419 Engcobo - Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has urged the Eastern Cape government to do whatever it takes to eradicate schools built in mud in the province. "We must do away with mud-built schools more especially since this is a disaster-prone area," Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka told Education MEC Mkhangeli Matomela, during a Presidential Imbizo here on Saturday. Parents had complained that their children's lives were threatened by the poor infrastructure. Several such schools were washed away during heavy rains in the province recently. Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said it was government's aim to do way with such conditions as they were not conducive to progressive learning. Mr Matomela told BuaNews that the provincial government was so far left with 572 such structures to do away with, with R600 million had been set aside for this reason this financial year. "We have a plan to eradicate them over a period of [the next] two financial years," Mr Matomela said. To expedite the process, he said he would approach the provincial executive council to grant him authority to implement a programme where communities could build their own schools. "We have two pilot projects we have run in the Eastern Cape ... one in Mqanduli and another one in Matatiela where we trained communities to build their own schools. According to the MEC, one school cost government only R2 million as opposed to R4 million had the facility been built by a construction company. He emphasised that the approach did not only help address the backlog but benefited the community as the money circulated within it. - BuaNews |
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