KwaZulu-Natal province schools in the Verulam area and other northern parts of eThekwini metro have resorted to sending pupils home early because of a shortage of water supply.
Following community concerns, Sunday World visited several schools in Verulam, a few kilometers from Durban. During the visits, parents and teachers poured their hearts out. They lamented how water unavailability had dealt a heavy blow to teaching and learning.
Health hazard
In one school, only one JoJo tank was available to supply water to more than 900 pupils. During the 2023 matric year, the Temple Valley Secondary recorded a 98.2% pass rate. It has been a constant performer over the years.
“It’s a dire situation where we have to sacrifice lower grades and focus on Grade 10 to Grade 12. The one JoJo tank that we use is insufficient to supply the entire schooling community. It’s a health hazard,” one teacher, who declined to be named for fear of victimisation, told Sunday World.
The teacher also laid bare the challenges of electricity at the school, which relies on donated solar panels as a source of electricity.
Situation worsening
According to Khulani Jama, a member of the school governing body, their woes were worsening by day.
“It is undesirable to sacrifice the foundation phase because, it’s critical in the schooling system. But the school has no choice. The teachers have to release them at 10am every day,” he said.
Exacerbating the issues faced by the school is the Quintile 5 categorisation. This is because the school is located in place that’s considered less poor. It receives 140,000 annually from the provincial department of education. R60,000 of this amount goes towards textbooks. The funds, however, did not come through last year because of the budget cuts.
Quantile 5 level category problematic
But Jama explained that the Quantile 5 level was undesirable for the school.
“The school serves predominantly learners from poor communities and informal settlements of Waterloo and other poor areas. The Quantile 5 listing did not consider those important factors. Most of the leaners attended Quantile 1 schools during their primary years.
“They don’t pay any fees. But once they are here, it’s a culture shock for parents because they’re required to pay fees. Many default in their payments, leading to the school struggling financially,” he said.
Jama also pointed out that they were pleading with the education authorities to place the school under Quantile 3. Quantile 1 and 3 are no fee schools and receive a bigger budget allocation from the education department. On the other hand, Quantile 4 and 5 are fee-paying schools receiving minimal budget allocation from the national fiscus.
Water and electricity infrastructure damaged
It has been three years since the community of Verulam, Phoenix and uThongathi have been without reliable water supply. The problem started with the April 2021 floods. The aftermath was a badly damaged water and electricity infrastructure.
The eThekwini metro has given itself several deadlines to fix problems. However, this has not materialised.
The Sunday World visit coincided with the oversight school inspection by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The party bemoaned the state of schools in the area.
“These are lived challenges faced by schools across KZN. Educators carry out the incredible job of raising funds, which is not their primary jobs. We were also told of a school principal who has gone from a fulltime educator to being a full-time fundraiser. This was an indication of a failing education system,” said Chris Pappas, DA KwaZulu-Natal premier candidate.
“Residents had pinned their hopes on the February 15 deadline announced by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu. But it all came to naught.
“The modification work was not foreseen when the work was planned to be completed by February 15. We wish to apologise to residents who are still without water,” said Mchunu in his recent address to the concerned residents.
