More money for no fee schools

By Busisiwe Mtabane

The Western Cape Education Department has allocated 29 million rand to fund the introduction of no fee schools during the 2006/07 financial year, focusing on the poorest schools.

The department plans to allocate 139 million rand in 2007/08 and more money for the following years to expand the no fee initiative to cover more schools over the next three years. Schools are ranked for funding purposes based on the relative poverty of the communities surrounding the schools.

The department says it is allocating 527 rand per learner to cover the first phase of the initiative this year. It also plans to expand the programme to cover 37.6 percent of learners in 2007, while increasing the allocation to at least 554 rand per learner.