Johannesburg - After pouring millions into townships education in the past four years, Panyaza Lesufi said the investment was finally bearing fruit if the recent results were anything to go by.
Speaking on Radio 702 this morning, the Gauteng MEC for Education said the investment into township schools was something they were ridiculed for initially. Today, however, he was thrilled at what they achieved, he said.
"It was a sore sight to stand at entrances of township schools in the morning and see people leaving townships to get quality education somewhere. So we needed to turn it (township education) around and I am grateful that it has started to yield dividends.
"We are not there yet but to have almost 10 of our township schools getting a 100 percent pass rate and to have more than 20 000 distinctions coming from townships and to have a school in the middle of an informal settlement in the West Rand called Raymond Mhlaba Secondary giving us a 100 percent pass rate and of that ,60 percent is bachelor pass...the investment in township education counts in that people were ridiculing us.
"Now that it's performing so well I am thrilled. Principals and teachers in township schools need to be congratulated, they worked very hard," he said.
Lesufi also said commitment and hard work were two factors that changed fortunes of Gauteng, catapulting it to number one nationally with an 87,9 pass rate.
This is an increase from 85.1 last year.