large text
regular text
Article by Glynis Prince
Close to 4000 community members attended the launch of the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s (ECDoE) Community Mobilization Campaign in Qumbu District this week.
The two-day event took place at Tsolo Special School and Mvumelwano Location in Qumbu, respectively, between 25 - 26 November 2008.
The main purpose of the event was to involve parents and the entire communities and surrounding areas to participate in their childrens' schooling and school affairs.
In his opening remarks Cluster A Chief Director, Dr Soyisile Nuku pointed out the need for community participation in schooling affairs as highly central and beneficial for both schools and their children.
He said that it was essential for communities to “increase ownership and pride of our schools by guarding against acts of vandalism [and to] generate interest amongst parents to voluntarily assist learners in their academic performance”.
He further urged parents to be part of meetings in their local schools and take responsible decisions that best promote learners’ academic progression.
Nuku maintained the call for all departmental officials, principals and teachers to mobilize all communities in order to advocate the basics of people’s education to all the communities as reflected in the new policies of the Department of Education.
“It will therefore create a new culture which will include all stakeholders in education which reforms for the quality of learner performance”, he said.
South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) district representatives took turns to commended the Dept of Education for the initiative and in the same breath appealed to teachers “ to be committed to the teaching profession”.
They also stated the importance of active community participation in the schooling system and thus appealed to the ECDoE to also play their part by prioritizing Teacher Development as a whole.
Pledging his support, MEC for Education Mahlubandile Qwase said that education operation could not function in isolation.
“Education must be seen as a collective and communities need to get involved and actively participate in schooling activities as it is a social issue”, he said.
Qwase added that the DoE will ensure that all textbooks are to be delivered to the schools before the schools re-open for the new academic year, “in order for schools to operate effectively and efficiently”.
He pushed for districts to also play their part in the advancement of community participation and effective education. “The way forward is for districts to host similar events to create awareness amongst communities”, he concluded.
Article Tags: Community Mobilisation Campaign
Previous page
Print
Email
Favourites
Export to PDF
Customer Care