The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Mpumalanga has called on the Department of Education to invest more in rural schools.
Provincial leader of the party, Collen Sedibe, claims that many rural schools are still without proper infrastructure.
Sedibe says the 2.3% decline in the 2017 matric results is unacceptable.
He says too much attention was given to urban schools which disadvantaged most of the rural schools.
“The department needs to tighten its bolts, the department needs to invest more in the rural schools, and make sure that all the teachers, get the necessary support including the learners and the school infrastructure are up to standard because as we speak there is overcrowding, some schools does not have classes the ablution facilities are not working toilets and everything else, so its affects the learners,” says Sedibe.
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Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga claims that the 2.3% decline in the 2017 matric results is due to poor planning of the Department of Education.
DA member of the provincial Legislature Jane Sithole claims that the class of 2017 has been let down by the Department of Education.
Sithole has accused the department of failing to provide proper resources to academic activities that were going to make learning and teaching easier.
Despite the decline Mpumalanga Education MEC Reginah Mhaule said the learners should take pride in the outcome because they’ve increased the number of bachelor passes from 22.9% in 2016 to 23.4% in 2017.
Mhaule attributed the 2.3% decline to service delivery protests that led to the disruption of schooling in the province.
Mhaule praised the class of 2017 grade twelve learners for managing to increase the number of distinctions from 8084 in 2016, 8941 in 2017.
