Hon Chairperson and hon members, we consider this budget at the time when the department has been embroiled in a controversy for years. But so far in the past year in particular, the controversy has been as far as the textbooks are concerned. The sad news is that at the end of April as many as 19 schools in Limpopo were still without the requisite textbooks despite the department's vehement denial of such facts.
It is disappointing that threats of disciplinary actions are issued against school principals who disclose the department's failure to deliver. School principals are mouthpieces of the poor children and they should not be silenced. It means that the children of these communities will be condemned to a life of poverty and underdevelopment.
The shortage of furniture in some schools is another area in which the department continues to fail dismally. Hundreds of thousands of pupils are forced to learn sitting on the floor because there are no desks in their schools. It is a disgrace that almost 20 years since democracy there are still so many mud schools.
It is unfortunate that as recently as yesterday, it has been brought to light that teachers are incapable of imparting skills on reasoning. It is absurd to argue that the teachers in question come from the old order and were trained to teach labourers. Even if that is the case a responsible government department should have upgraded their skills to meet modern demands. It has, of course, to be borne in mind that when the ANC said they were ready to govern it actually meant that they were ready to do so and geared to improving the quality of life of the people. Gone are the days of passing the buck.
The low numeracy and literacy levels are unacceptable. Without secure foundations of literacy and numeracy, our learners will never obtain the high skills needed by the nation to address poverty and inequality. The findings of the National Planning Commission that the quality of schooling is substandard, especially in township and rural schools, clearly indicate a crisis now and for the future.
While strike action is a right, the ease with which teachers quickly abandon their duties to take to the streets for their wage demands needs urgent attention. Teaching is a labour of love. Leaving classes unattended should be the last thing for professionals to do. One wishes that they could take a leaf from the book of the nonagenarian, Mama Qwelane of Mpumalanga, whose matric classes pass with flying colours. She really deserves the Baobab Order recently awarded to her by the President.
We remain astounded by the manner in which school-going children are inconvenienced by being sent from pillar to post as their schools are amalgamated without paying due consideration to issues such as their transport to such schools. [Time expired.]