Govt lying about textbook delivery - Cope
2013-02-12 16:00
Johannesburg - The basic education department is lying about
the state of textbook delivery in Limpopo schools, the Congress of the People
said on Tuesday.
"[Basic education spokesperson] Panyaza Lesufi has lied
to the public and we are calling on him to apologise and retract his
statement," Cope spokesperson in the province Motlatjo Thetjeng said in a
statement.
Thetjeng said a sizeable number of schools had not yet
received textbooks.
On Monday, Lesufi told reporters in Pretoria there was no
school that had not received textbooks in Limpopo.
"Most of the secondary schools in the province [are]
experiencing a shortage of textbooks in mathematics [and] physical science,
while most primary schools are without textbooks in English and technology
education," Thetjeng said.
Tangible proof
On Tuesday, Lesufi denied the allegation and said the
department would not retract its statement on textbooks delivery.
"The chairperson of the principals' association in
Limpopo has accepted our statement that textbooks were delivered in Limpopo. We
have given tangible proof to journalists of all delivery notes to
schools," he said.
The delivery of textbooks stood at 100% and the delivery of
workbooks was at 97.8%.
During Monday's press conference, Lesufi called on the
Democratic Alliance to apologise for discrediting the integrity of the basic
education department and minister Angie Motshekga.
The party had claimed some schools had not yet received
texbooks.
Lesufi said that at this time last year, no schools in
Limpopo had received any books.
"We have made a drastic improvement," he said.
- SAPA
