Learners raise concerns about the safety of their school in Ivory Park

Learners at Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park blocked the school’s main entrance on 4 November in a protest requesting that something be done to fix their school’s infrastructure.

The learners stood outside the school gates ahead of their first exam, waiting for a district official to come and give them a response as to whether or not their plea has been heard and taken seriously by the Gauteng Department of Education.

Learners said that they refuse to risk their lives in order to be educated in a potentially dangerous structure.

Pfarelo Maphangula, a Grade 12 learner and Congress of South African Students member, said that a part of the building structure fell down during the first week of lockdown and engineers were sent immediately to do an assessment on the building.

Pfarelo added that it was communicated to the school by the Gauteng Department of Education that fixing the building would take six months, starting from July until December this year.

“Since then, there has not been any movement. We have sent multiple emails as student leaders of the school but no response has been given.”

Rhoonel Khoza, also a Grade 12 learner and member of the representative council of learners, said, “I am actually one of the learners who influenced learners to take revolutionary action today, reason being that it has been a while since the Gauteng Department of Education said they would fix this mess.”

There are 40 classrooms in the building. Rhoonel added, “There’s another structure which was in the same state, about to fall down – it was fixed but it has not been allocated to us for use.”

Rhoonel said that there are learners attending classes only twice a week or twice a month, as there are not enough classrooms.

In response to the matter at the Ivory Park school, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education Steve Mabona said that the department would monitor the situation at the school accordingly.

“The department is aware of the structural challenges at the school and has appointed a team of structural engineers to conduct a condition assessment to provide recommendations to resolve them.

“The department provided 20 temporary mobile units to relieve the pressure in all affected classrooms while awaiting the refurbishment process.

Mabona concluded, “It is also important to note that the Gauteng Department of Education condemns in the strongest terms the disruption of schools by anyone.”