Riot Hlatshwayo

Mpumalanga education MEC Reginah Mhaule says she will do all she can to ensure that all schools in the province are in a good state for the enhancement of teaching and learning.

Mhaule was addressing the issue of school infrastructure at a media briefing in Mbombela yesterday where she announced that R692387m had been allocated to deal with 178 school projects this year.

Seventy of these schools were damaged as a result of storms. Mhaule said the provincial education department conceded there were schools experiencing overcrowding due to a shortage of classrooms.

She said some of these schools needed renovations, the improvement of sanitation systems and repairing of damage caused by storms while other areas required new schools.

She said the department commissioned the Education Facilities Management System to compile a report on the state of habitability of schools throughout the province.

This would enable the department to understand the magnitude of the problems facing them. She said that in the past two years 255 mobile classrooms were dispatched to schools.

The department focused on fixing 254 mud and unsafe schools and the project was nearing completion, with only 20 schools still in progress.

Mhaule also said the department handled 255 infrastructure projects last year at a cost of R620m. This included the construction of eight new schools.

provinces@thenewage.co.za