Tag: education department

Chaos as coloureds refuse black school

Amid racial divisions between coloureds and blacks that resulted in government officials shutting down Roodepoort Primary school, one coloured community member was shot with a rubber bullet and was taken to hospital.

Before the pupils were transported to school, coloured parents shouted the “k” word at the black police telling them to bring back their children. The angry coloured community protested outside the school overpowering the police.

The police resorted to rubber bullets to try calm the situation. One man was injured in the process.

On Tuesday morning no teachers remained at the school as they were served with letters yesterday for continuing to teach while Gauteng Premier David Makhura had instructed the teachers to move to another school.

At least five people were injured on Tuesday morning during protests at the school. ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene and found a number of public on the scene as well as heavy SAPS presence.

On assessment, paramedics found that at least five people had sustained injuries due to what was reported to paramedics as rubber bullets.

Amid clashes between the community of Davidsonville and the Gauteng Education department to reopen Roodepoort Primary school, only about a hundred boarded the bus to go to Lufhereng Primary school.

On Wednesday morning, it looked like only few black learners were going to the school which the department had arranged for them to be taught at while the impasse between the community and the department is being resolved.

Economic Freedom Fighters provincial secretary Malesela Ledwaba addressed the community saying the party was in support of the call to reopen the school. Malesela also said the party had tried to contact the office of the MEC Panyaza Lesufi asking to be included in the mediation team to resolve the problems at the school.

The school houses over 1 300 learners but many coloured pupils were not at the school, but were seen among the community during the gathering. The community said they would not allow their children to go to a black school.

Source: The Citizen

Grade 9’s average 10% for maths

Ten percent. This is the average mark that Grade 9 pupils scored for maths in this year’s Annual National Assessment.

When making the announcement in Diepsloot on Thursday morning, a disappointed Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, said unlike the foundation phase, the senior phase was not responding to the department’s interventions.

The test, now in its third year, was written in September by over 7 million pupils from grades 1 to 9, with grades 7 and 8 taking part for the first time. The assessments aren’t used to grade pupils but are a diagnostic tool to test maths, language and literacy skills and to determine whether they know what they were supposed to have learnt in previous grades.

Last year, Grade 9 scored a 14 percent average and in 2012, the maths average was 12 percent.

“The Grade 9 results show our interventions are not working. Something has to give, the system is not responding at this point,” Motshekga said.

She said the department would do another in-depth investigation to assess where the problems in Grade 9 were, but admitted that she was disappointed as she thought that the department was on track with the interventions.

She said this was reflective of a deficit in the system, which peaks when pupils reach the senior phase.

Source: IOL