Mbandleni Primary School pupils face dangers of snakes, crumbling classrooms

Pupils and teachers scurried for cover in fear and frustration when a venomous snake reared its head in one of the dilapidated mobile classrooms at Mbandleni Primary School in KwaNongoma, KwaZulu-Natal.
 
Although the school has been operational since 2011, teaching and learning are still conducted in mobile classrooms. The units were meant to be used temporarily as some brick and cement buildings are in poor condition and need urgent repairs.
 
The recent encounter with the snake has raised even more concern about the safety of both pupils and staff. 
 
Cebi Myeni, a member of the school governing body, told Sunday World that the condition of the classrooms is seriously affecting teaching at the school.
 
“We are surrounded by bush, and last week, a snake was found inside one of the classrooms. It was a scary situation, but the staff managed to remove the snake and no learners were harmed.
 
“Still, this is becoming a serious concern. We hope the department will act quickly to address this issue,” said Myeni.
 
She said the snake incident has frightened both pupils and parents, who now worry about what other dangers may be lurking in these mobile classrooms.
 
One concerned parent, who asked not to be named for her child’s safety, expressed
frustration with the government’s failure to provide proper school facilities.
“Besides the snake problem, the mobile classrooms are falling apart and poorly equipped.
 
It’s unacceptable that our children have had to learn in these conditions for more than 10 years,” she said.
 
She added that the education department had promised to build proper classrooms, but nothing has been done.
 
“Now children fear that whenever they are in class, there might be a snake hiding in the corner. There should not be fear in schools, at least not a fear of snakes,” she said.
 
Sanelisiwe Zuma, KZN ActionSA spokesperson, said some of the challenges include leaking roofs caused by poor workmanship during a project to replace asbestos roofing with corrugated iron roof sheeting.
 
KZN Department of Education spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi, did not respond to a Sunday World enquiry on the matter.
 
In its 2024/25 budget, the provincial department of education noted it was constructing 22 new or replacement schools, and that several schools were undergoing major upgrades and additions as promised in the previous budget.
 
But Mbandleni does not appear on the list of schools earmarked for renovation.
In a February 2020 report titled South Africa: Broken and Unequal Education Perpetuating Poverty and Inequality, the NGO Amnesty International noted on its findings on school infrastructure.
 
“These [schools] included badly maintained buildings that had never been renovated, many of them dating back decades to the apartheid era and even previously. The buildings were hazardous, built with dangerous material such as asbestos and poorly maintained, in some cases putting the safety and security of learners at risk.
 
The buildings were also unhygienic, poorly maintained and in some cases unsafe,” the organisation noted.
 
In 2013, the basic education department enacted the minimum norms and standards for educational facilities.
 
This required the government to ensure that all schools have access to sanitation and electricity by November 2016, and that all pit latrines are replaced with safe and adequate sanitation and schools built from inappropriate materials, such as mud and asbestos are replaced.
 
But for the Mbandleni pupils, these remain just beautiful words on paper.
 

Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content

Latest News