TEACHING and learning starts today for almost 1,55million pupils and 58000 teachers in Limpopo schools.

This was confirmed by departmental MEC Namane Masemola yesterday.

For the past five years Limpopo has performed dismally in the matric exams and poor planning has been blamed for the poor results.

Masemola said the province now wanted to do things by the book. He said his department had distributed textbooks and stationery to schools by the end of last year so that teaching and learning could start today.

He said the department had spent R197million to buy prescribed textbooks and a further R140million on all grades. The department had also supplied furniture to all schools that asked for it.

"All that was done to ensure that all our schools are ready for the academic year when schools reopen," he said.

The department had ordered teachers to start teaching as soon as they left assembly halls and attended to parents visiting the schools.

Masemola said some parents had ignored the call to register their children in August, which caused problems when schools opened.

He said parents were also to blame for the province's poor results because they disrupted the start of the school year.

Masemola will visit schools around Limpopo today to check on their readiness.