As temperatures soared high this week and weather experts warned of possible side effects from the excessive heat, pupils from Meriting Primary School in Kgabalatsane, near Brits, in North West had to contend with attending classes under a tree.
Angry parents pointed a finger at the North West Department of Education, saying they had failed to repair a grade 7 block at the school after it got damaged during heavy rains in October last year.
Parents told Sunday World they had been engaging with the school and the Department of Education, pleading with them to fix the school to no avail.
“Last year, some of the learners had to stay at home while the grade 7s and other higher classes wrote their exams. We were promised that the department would fix the school this year. We are surprised that they want us to let them teach our children under a tree,” said a parent who wanted to remain anonymous.
Another parent said the department was not taking the lives of their children seriously.
“Our black sisters and brothers in government do not believe that education for black children is important. Our great-grandparents endured this horrible classroom approach, and it’s painful that I had to subject my child to the same method that my parents, who lived throughout the apartheid era, had to endure,” he said.
Parents staged a protest on Wednesday leading to the pupils missing a day of schooling.
But on Thursday, parents allowed their children to go to school. This time, the lessons were not taken beneath the tree.
“All I can say is that lessons began today, and learners came to school. I can’t say much about how we are managing the situation because all media enquiries must go through the province’s communication unit,” a teacher said.
The Meriting incident underlines deep challenges faced by schools in North West, which include overcrowding and lack of proper facilities.
North West legislature’s portfolio committee on education, arts, culture, sports, and recreation chairperson Priscilla Williams said while conducting oversight visits, she got the shock of her life.
“As per the regulation at schools, one class is supposed to accommodate 25 Grade R pupils and not more. It is also worrying to witness learners using toilets meant for adults instead of minors, all these conditions negatively affect the performance of learners at the school,” said Williams.
She said the Onkgopotse Tiro Comprehensive School outside Mahikeng were still using a kitchen and school hall built from asbestos.
Asbestos, which exposes people to the threat of contracting the incurable lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, was banned in SA in 2008.
“The department had promised and allocated a budget to renovate the kitchen, hall, and hostels in the past three years, but nothing has been done to date,” said Williams.
She said the committee was not pleased to find that minimal preparations were made for Grade R pupils.
“Learners were sent back home, as they were not allocated a Grade R tutor. Both schools do not have, among others, suitable furniture meant to cater to the Grade R learners, who are using adult chairs, with no tables allocated for them. Grade R learners at Ditsobotla Primary School were found sleeping on tables and the floors of classrooms without small beds or mattresses suitable for small children,” she said.
A report into the state of schools by Equal Education head of research Mahfouz Raffee and researcher Kimberly Khumalo noted that overcrowded classrooms reduced pupil’s attention, increased learning difficulties, and contributed to higher dropout rates.
The report further noted that the problem was especially dire in schools where pupils were forced to learn in dilapidated and insufficient classrooms, inadequate furniture, limited textbooks, and limited or dangerous sanitation facilities.
The North West Department of Education spokesperson Mphata Molokwane had not responded to questions by the time of going to print.
