Durban - The first day of the 2023 school year got off to a smooth start yesterday, with Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga visiting some KwaZulu-Natal schools to monitor operations.
She was accompanied by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Education MEC Mbali Frazer on visits to schools in uMlazi, Parlock and La Mercy.
The provincial government said more than 2.8 million pupils across KZN went back to school yesterday.
The minister watched the Grade 1 pupils as they got ready for their first day at Kwazikumnandi Pre-school and was greeted with joy and excitement at Nkonkoni Primary School. Both schools are in uMlazi V section.
Nkonkoni Primary School principal Sthembiso Gwala said: “Today was a very busy day, but I feel very happy about the visit by the education leadership and the premier. We normally start the year full of energy but this time the energy was multiplied.”
Frazer said the department had been ready for the opening of schools.
“We have delivered stationery in schools except for two where there were burglaries.”
She added that the department had a huge task ahead to fix infrastructure in some township and rural schools.
Frazer said schools damaged in the floods in April last year had been provided with mobile classrooms.
Motshekga said it was too early to give an assessment of schooling across the coastal provinces, but she was happy with what she saw at the schools she visited.
Dube-Ncube welcomed the smooth start to the school year.
“The minor challenges experienced in some schools are being urgently addressed by the Department of Education. As the provincial government, we are fully committed to ensuring access to quality education, therefore it is critical that teaching and learning begins from the first day of the school year,” she said.
Doctor Ngema, National Teachers’ Union secretary-general in KZN, said: “Schools opened very well, the department provided the stationery. However, what troubled us is the
learners who did not come to school on the first day because they were affected by the floods. The department promised us that these learners would be ready for the opening.
“The department did renovate schools damaged by floods, but not all of them. Some were provided with mobile classrooms, but we have a problem with mobile classrooms as they are very hot, especially on days like this. We are hopeful that the department will find a permanent solution.”
South African Democratic Teachers’ Union provincial secretary, Nomarashiya Caluza, said the union was happy with how the first day had gone.
“The majority of the schools started well in KZN except for a few challenges raised by principals. These include the shortage of teachers, with some principals claiming this dates back as far as last year.
“Also there were break-ins at some schools, like Thembalethu in Kokstad. At Umkhumbi High School under the uMlazi district, there was an armed robbery, and in Westmead Secondary, wires and gutters were stolen.”