Northern Areas Education Committee

Awesome Stuff..... NAECOM is succeeding in getting the schools opened and learners are attending classes.

Our programme of action for the next 24hrs is to CALL on ALL PARENTS to attend public meetings which will be held as indicated below:

1 - 21 January 2016 | 15h00 | Chatty Community Centre
All the parents of schools between Booysens Park - Windvogel

2 - 21 January 2016 | 17h00 | Helenvale Resource Centre
All the parents of schools in Helenvale

3 - 21 January 2016 | 19h00 | Jarman Hall
All the parents of schools between Gelvandale - Schauderville

Since the efforts of various organisations, the majority of parents of the learners and leaders in the community including religious leaders to engage with the current organisation which is mostly dominated by principals and teachers to prevent and rescind the decision of closing the schools in the Northern Areas, it became evident that objective reasoning wont prevail.

Based on the negative impact the closure of schools will have on the learners and the disunity caused in the community a range of civil society organisations, the majority of parents and Educators and some Principals approached the honourable Christian Martin, member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature to immediately assist the parents in opening the schools and improve the quality of the status of our schools.

Therefore at a broad consultative meeting of organisations and community leaders and professionals held on 20 January 2016, a Nothern Areas Education Committee (NEACOM) was established whereby an interim committee was elected. Furthermore a decision was taken whereby the schools must be opened as from Friday, 22 January and by Monday NAECOM will visit all schools to assess if 100% of learners are present.

The immediate objectives of NEACOM are the following:

1. That all schools in the Northern Areas will be opened with immediate effect.
2. That mandated Governing Council representitives and NAECOM becomes part of the process of addressing the outstanding demands with the Department of Education.
3. That a programme of Educational Development and Support to schools to improve the quality of education be implemented.

Our programme of action for the next 24hrs is to CALL on ALL PARENTS to attend public meetings which will be held as indicated below:

1 - 21 January 2016 | 15h00 | Chatty Community Centre
All the parents of schools between Booysens Park - Windvogel

2 - 21 January 2016 | 17h00 | Helenvale Resource Centre
All the parents of schools in Helenvale

3 - 21 January 2016 | 19h00 | Jarman Hall
All the parents of schools between Gelvandale - Schauderville

Some parents requested that NAECOM also arrange meetings for specific schools or areas on Friday, 22 January or over the weekend, however it will be considered if formal requests wll be made by the relevant Schools Governing Council.

Based on the recommendations of the meeting; NAECOM will also write letters to all principals to allow learners to attend school, failing which the parents will have no option but to implement a Plan B.

We as NAECOM with the overpowering support of parents call on all learners to BE BACK AT SCHOOL ON FRIDAY 22 JANUARY 2016. We furthermore encourage parents to accompany their kids to school and make sure that they enter the classrooms. We all understand and accept that a community without Education will forever experience poverty and unemployment which continuously create a cycle of social ills, in particular crime.