Northern Cape learners can’t go to class because schools have no money
Lack of funding for food and electricity has forced at least one hostel to close
The provincial education department announced a R100-million emergency allocation as schools struggle with funding in the new year. Illustration: Lisa Nelson.
Many schools in the Northern Cape had a rocky start to the year as they didn’t receive their school feeding scheme money or funds to pay various bills. GroundUp found over 130 learners who have been unable to attend school in Garies because the department has not sent sufficient funds for the hostel.
On 31 January, the provincial education department announced a R100-million emergency allocation to schools to be disbursed in the first two weeks of February in order to “address pressing needs within the provincial schooling system”.
These funds would be for learning material, services and maintenance, hostel subsidies, learner transport and remuneration for temporary educators to address staff shortages.
Department spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said that the emergency allocations will be paid to all schools this week.
“The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) were paid last week. Currently, the situation at schools allows them to continue as normal,” he said.
However, Garies High School principal William Hornimann said the department had wanted learners to be back at its hostel on Monday already. But about 135 learners, who are meant to live at the hostel while attending school in the town, were still stuck at home on Monday.
The hostel has no funding to provide the learners with meals, buy cleaning supplies to prepare the place for the learners arriving, or pay its electricity bill.
“The children can’t come to the hostel because we don’t have food to give the children,” said Hornimann.
Hornimann said the department’s promised over R200,000 but this is about a quarter of what is needed to cover the hostel’s bills. The last payment the school received was in May last year and that was to cover existing bills.
Currently, only matriculants, about 20, are staying in the hostel and only children who live in Garies are attending school.
Last month, the provincial South African Democratic Teachers’ Union raised concerns about the lack of funds in schools, as schools had not received their feeding scheme allocations or learning and teaching materials.
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