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18 June 2008

Gauteng Premier, Mbhazima Shilowa urged parents to help teachers in disciplining learners. He added that it was not only the teacher's job to instil discipline on learners but parents had a role to play too. Shilowa was addressing guests, parents, teachers and learners who had attended the hand over of 20 newly built schools at a function held at Kwa Thema Ext 7 High School in Kwa Thema, Ekurhuleni Metro.

"The question of ill discipline and abuse of drugs has become a major problem in our schools. Teachers have to deal with teaching the learners, make them aware of the dangers of the deadly HIV and AIDS disease and now added to their scope of work is dealing with learners who take drugs and are ill disciplined," said Shilowa.

The Gauteng Premier continued to say that it was amazing that when the Department of Education decides to conduct search and seizure operations at schools, this action would be met with resistance from the parents. "When there are actions of violence or learners misbehave, the very parents turn and ask what the Department is doing to sort out such problems. This should be rectified as a matter of urgency," he continued.

Speaking at the ceremony, MEC for Education, Angie Motshekga said that her Department was in the process of building 54 schools in the province. According to Motshekga this will go a long way in putting a serious dent on the huge backlog the Department has of building school around Gauteng. "The unavailability of buildings that suite the requirements of proper schools have forced the Department to bus learners into other areas. We were also forced to use the outdated platooning system which is not conducive for learning," Motshekga explained.

About R56 million has thus far being used to build these schools. The Kwa Thema Ext 7 High School, where the ceremony was held, boasts among other things; administration block, computer and media centres, two state of the art laboratories, twenty three classrooms, sports fields and ablution facilities.

"Premier, we all know that ablution facilities are important as they give one a sense of respect. Days of learners being told to imagine the colour of chemical mixture during science lesson are over. We have two fully equipped laboratories", Motshekga told the Premier and the attendees of the function.

The job of constructing all twenty schools was given to construction companies like among others, PROFICA and SSI MAFURI JV. These schools are erected in all fifteen districts of the Department. While others are operational, others are still to be occupied and the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) are to be elected leading to schools having proper names.

The ceremony was given a festival mood as the dancers and the school's orchestra belted tunes to shake the winter blues that engulfed the area. Premier Shilowa, MEC Motshekga and the Director of Procurement in the Department, Margaret Webber handed out twenty plagues to the elated representatives of the schools.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
18 June 2008
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.education.gpg.gov.za/)