No more long walks to school

Employment news

Days of young school children walking long distances to and from school will soon be a thing of the past for the secluded Ga-Mohale village residents in the West Rand. This follows the unveiling by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane of a R120 million boarding school project in the farming community.

Accompanied by Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development Bheki Nkosi and West Rand Executive Mayor Mpho Nawa, Mokonyane said Gauteng Provincial Government was committed to ensuring the provision of quality education.

"Through this project, we aim to improve the quality of education, eradicate poverty and create job opportunities for our people," Mokonyane said.

Mama Action

Mama Action, as Mokonyane is affectionately called, said although the province was happy with the improvement in matric results, they remained concerned about the numbers.

She  said they could not pretend as if everything was well when almost 20 per cent of their matriculants failed their senior certificate exams.

“That is why we are not taking the foot off the pedal, but instead working even harder than before to ensure that we produce learners who will be able to contribute significantly towards the economic development and growth of this province and the country.”

Stay, play and eat

Mokonyane said that the the odds were stacked against children who had to walk for about five kilometres or more to get to school in the morning on an empty stomach, walk back from school and still had no guarantee of a decent dinner before going to bed.

“The burden of these socio-economic challenges are too much to deal with. By investing in this project we are saying let these children have a better and world-class facility where they will stay, play and eat.”

Mokonyane also announced that a contractor had already been appointed to start work on the project and that the company was 100 per cent female owned. She urged the community to take ownership of the project and to be the eyes and ears of the government.

-Xoli Mngambi, Gauteng Provincial Government