5 million pupils to learn free

2006-11-22 18:34

Johanneburg - More than five million pupils and 13 000 schools will be exempt from school fees from January, said the education department on Wednesday.

The department said all provinces had submitted lists of the number of pupils and schools that would benefit from Education Minister Naledi Pandor's declaration of 40% of pupils in no-fee schools in 2007."

Spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said the number of pupils benefiting in each province varied according to the wealth of the people living there.

"In the Eastern Cape, one of the country's poorest provinces, more than one million pupils will be exempt, with 3 825 schools exempted," he said.

The Eastern Cape was followed by KwaZulu-Natal with more than 1.1 million pupils who would benefit.

In Limpopo, more than 1.015 million pupils would not have to pay fees and in Mpumalanga 404 432.

In Gauteng, the number was 383 674 pupils, the Free State 298 184, North West 267 042 and in the Western Cape 132 560 would benefit.

In the Northern Cape, 102 244 pupils would not have to pay fees from next year.

Ngqengelele said: "The government will subsidise pupils depending on which quintile the school appears in.

"Schools in quantile five being the poorest of the poor and increasing in wealth until quintile one."

Ngqengelele echoed earlier calls by Pandor for parents to help schools to raise funds as the policy might reduce revenue generated through fees.

"We urge parents to help in any form they can, whether it is with the general maintenance of the schools or raising funds," he said.

Pandor had cautioned parents that an increase in school fees might make it necessary for a school to grant fee exemptions to more parents.

Seventeen schools in KwaZulu-Natal sought legal intervention this month to block the implementation of the no-fee policy.

Fee exemption arose from the signing in of the Education Laws Amendment Bill in 2005, which gave the minister the power to determine if a school could charge school fees.

The names of the schools identified by province, their location and allocation is expected to be published in the Government Gazette by December 1.

- SAPA