By SE Mfayela MP
IFP NCOP (KZN)
Delivered at National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
17 July 2019
Vote 14: Basic Education
The importance of the Department of Basic Education, I cannot stress enough.
The importance of ensuring that all our learners receive a good quality, dignified and life-ready education is fundamental.
What is even more fundamental, is the fact that this department is responsible for ensuring that we level the playing field across the board in all our public schools.
This department and this budget must address the issue of unequal education.
Chairperson,
It is very difficult to grasp the fact that inequalities within our education system still haunt us today.
We will only have reached equal education when a learner from Verulam or Umhlanga takes a bus to a school in Ndwedwe or KwaMashu.
It is when we get to the point that any school in our public system is good enough for any learner from any background and from any circumstances.
It is the duty of this department to ensure that the rural child has the same opportunities as the urban child.
It is the duty of this department to ensure that the rural child has access to the same facilities, laboratories, e-classrooms, libraries, ablution facilities and all culture and sporting codes – like the urban child.
It is the duty of this department to address our unequal education system. It is the duty of this department to not fail our rural children.
Chairperson,
The IFP is confident that the Minister will address this over the medium term.
In the interest of cooperative governance and in building an equal education system for the many not the few – The IFP supports this budget.
