Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade has announced a bid to close 1 000 schools. (Sithandiwe Velaphi/News24)
The Eastern Cape Education Department is set to close about 1 000 schools deemed unviable due to low pupil numbers, amid a struggle by the provincial government to deal with an infrastructure backlog amounting to billions of rand.Â
Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade said the province’s infrastructure backlog currently stood at R72 billion.
Gade added according to the department’s rationalisation and merger policy, a primary school needed to have at least 135 pupils and a high school 200.
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Sithandiwe Velaphi
www.news24.com
