Lack of furniture at local school hinders exams
“The situation is pathetic, we have complained to the Limpopo Department of Education and we were just promised that the situation was going to be fixed. Some of the learners stand in class or sit on two- or three-legged chairs,” the teacher said.
BOTHASHOEK – Its exam time at Phaahla Secondary School and learners are pulling and pushing one another, fighting for one last desk. The invigilator gets into the classrooms,with her question papers but more than 10 pupils have not yet been seated, because there is no desks for them.
The school is one of many in the Sekhukhune area that lacks furniture. Learners are forced to write on chairs and others on their knees, with the grade eights and nines having not started with their exams. Teachers are scratching their heads not knowing how they will accommodate the other learners when they all commence with their exams.
The lack of furniture at the school poses major challenges for children who either have to sit on broken chairs or stand while listening to their teachers during class.
One of the teachers said the learners found it difficult to do their work in the classrooms.
The school has 1 036 children. “The situation is pathetic, we have complained to the Limpopo Department of Education and we were just promised that the situation was going to be fixed. Some of the learners stand in class or sit on two- or three-legged chairs,” the teacher said.
According to the staff and school management, it not only needs furniture but also classrooms. “We have a crisis with the buildings, our classrooms are not enough. Mobile classrooms were delivered by the department years ago, but most were destroyed by heavy rain and storms,” one teacher said. For this article and more grab a copy of the Steelburger/Lydenburg News this Friday.
