Last week the DA was alerted to the fact that two schools are being simultaneously housed at The Hill High School premises.
Represented by me, the councillor for Ward 56, councillor Michael Crichton, undertook a visit to the school with our Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho.
I was unable to join in on this visit as I was attending to my parliamentary duties in Cape Town.
It appears that a presently non-existing school, apparently called “New South High School” is operating from The Hill High from two mobile classrooms especially erected on their school sports field for Grade 10 learners.
Unbelievably, Grade Nine learners are using the pavilion as a classroom.
At the same time Grade Eight learners from this new invisible school are presently being housed at Sir John Adamson High School where they are being taught as one giant classroom in the school hall.
If this wasn’t the truth it would almost be funny! Our research revealed even more craziness; the learners from the new non-existent school are from a different district to ours.
As a result, these poor learners are being transported everyday by the district to their non-existent school.
Not only is this time consuming, wasteful expenditure, obvious bad planning by the department, but also inconvenient and difficult for learners who should be the focus.
I believe that the teachers are also not performing optimally as teachers are forced to rotate between one school and the other.
It is obvious that this current situation in which these learners and teachers find themselves is not conducive for learning and teaching.
These learners are being denied the opportunity of being taught in a proper school environment.
I have asked the Minister of Education, Angie Motshekga, official questions about this.
This situation simply cannot continue like this.
I wonder what the parents of the existing two schools must think about all this?
Manny de Freitas, Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South, Democratic Alliance
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