KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Education MEC, Mbali Frazer’s hosting of a 2023 NSC Examinations celebration in Durban today (view here) is nothing short of blatant ANC electioneering using government resources.
The event, to be held at Durban’s ICC, comes four months after the NSC results were released.
The MEC and her department held an NSC results event immediately after results were released in January. To host yet another event – using much-needed funding to ensure our schools function properly, pay their bills and improve the quality of education – is a political stunt aimed at garnering votes, inside and around the sector, which must be condemned.
The use of what is essentially taxpayers’ money is a disgrace on the part of the MEC and her increasingly desperate Taliban faction ANC government in KZN.
It is particularly shocking after the DoE’s announcement that the 2024/25 budget allocation is inadequate to cater for all learners that form part of KZN’s National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP), with the number of learners to be funded reduced by 5%. The question is: How can the MEC and her department host a meet, greet and eat while learners go hungry?
According to a media advisory issued by KZN’s Department of Education (DoE), the awards ceremony will also celebrate the 86.3% pass rate. This despite the DA having done the numbers and KZN’s real pass rate being 56.7%.
The figure is based on the number of 2023 matric learners who entered Grade 1, 12 years ago and who completed matric. It can also be calculated by looking at the number who began Grade 10 three years ago and who finished Grade 12. Our view is supported by leading academics.
KZN’s people are no longer fooled by this ANC government. They have seen through the posturing and the lies. On 29 May, they will have the opportunity to rescue our province and install a new government that prioritises quality education.