Lesodi Primary closed for second week by parents
The Lesodi Primary School has been begging for mobile classes since 2019. This request was made after an inspection from the Department of Labour.
The report stated that the classrooms are unfit due to overcrowding.
On Thursday February 17 the students, parents and school governing body (SGB) made their unhappiness clear when they started protesting outside the school.
The learners have been carrying their desks outside the whole year. The school feels it is a more practical option than sitting in overcrowded classrooms.
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“After the Department of Labour’s report, we requested the Bohlabela District, Department of Education, to provide us with a temporary solution in the form of mobile classes. We as the SGB and parents went to visit the provincial offices in Mbombela but the officials were not prepared to address Lesodi’s issues. It is sometimes too cold to have classes outside. We are just lucky that it is summer at the moment. The children are getting sick when it rains. Teaching has become difficult for educators because the learners can’t focus due to the hectic movement,” said Bafana Mkhonza, SGB chairperson.
Another concern of the school is that they do not have the correct resources for Grade R. “We feel that we are forced to take in as many as possible Grade R’s and we don’t have the resources to provide these children with the education they deserve,” said Mkhonza.
• Protests against the Department of Education also recently took place at Batubatse Primary School in Praktiseer. More than 1 200 pupils were supposed to be attending class, but the support staff locked the gates on Friday February 11. The reasons behind this were similar to the situation at Lesodi Primary School, and included service delivery by the department. “Our last salary was paid on December 15. The principal hasn’t been at the school since the start of 2022. She was supposed to ensure and authorise our monies to be paid, but she isn’t around,” said the protesters. The staff said there was no Covid-19 PPE at Batubatse. “We are still in the middle of Covid-19. How can we adhere to the regulations while the school has run out of sanitisers?” they asked. “We are experiencing so many problems. Soon they will cut off power and water due to non-payment.” They vowed to lock the gates until their salaries were paid. One of the parents, who chose to remain anonymous, said they were concerned, as this was affecting the pupils badly. “We plead with the Department of Education to intervene so that the kids can get back to class.” The Limpopo Department of Education’s spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said the department was aware of the situation.
