BuaNews (Tshwane)
Bathandwa Mbola
19 February 2008
East London — More pupils in the Eastern Cape will be able to attend extra lessons on a Saturday and during the holidays in gateway subjects such as Mathematics, Science and English.
In a bid to improve learner performance in these subjects government has extended it's extra lessons programme to include more municipalities such as the Chris Hani District and Buffalo City Municipality.
"The Mathematics, Science and English Project is part of an integrated Skills Development Plan to address the shortage of engineers and other related fields within the transport industry,' said MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Mr Thobile Mhlahlo, on Monday.
He said the programme also aims to create a pool of competent Maths and Science pupils so that that the learners will have more career choices in the future.
"We have a medium- to long-term strategy to grow engineers and professionals within the transport sector in line with the principles of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan of promoting sustainable development through skills development," the MEC said.
The programme was initiated in 2003 in partnership with the Department of Education, various municipalities, Walter Sisulu University, the University of Fort Hare, Engen and others.
According to the department, learners will also receive specialised training from these universities to improve their results and enables them to access bursaries that the department offers for transport related studies.
"More than 1000 young people have benefited from this project and our target group is Grade 10 to 12 learners who are doing Maths and Science and show great potential."
Since 2003, the department said more than 300 bursaries worth more than R3 million have been awarded to young people of the Eastern Cape to study civil and mechanical engineering, aviation, transport economics, information technology and traffic law enforcement.
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