Etete school sewage problem a major health concern

Radha Roopsing Primary School’s ground has been flooded with sewage for months, presenting a serious health hazard for pupils and teachers.

The Etete school has been facing infrastructure and maintenance issues for years, as classrooms are overcrowded and falling apart, on top of a shortage of toilets with a messed-up sewage system.

The school recently won R100 000 in the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet ’21 years of Giving Back’ campaign.

However, teachers believe this will have limited effect in solving their problems.

“We are supposed to be using the money to build new toilets for the school, but we might use it to fix the sewage system. We really appreciate the help we are getting from the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet, however we need more,” said one of the teachers.

The 62-year-old school has only four girls’ and four boys’ toilets for more than 930 pupils; that’s one toilet for every 100 pupils.

“The sewage is spilling into the grounds from both the boys’ and girls’ toilets. The sad part is that children are walking and playing there. We are extremely worried about their health and also when they return from playing, they bring in a very bad odour. It is very unhygienic and unhealthy,” said another teacher.

Also read: Baby rescued from pit latrine at Doringkop high school

School governing body chairperson Thabani Mthethwa said the education department had been promising to renovate the school for a number of years, however nothing had been done.

“As much as the principal and governing body tried to maintain the school, it is difficult because the school has not been renovated since it was built,” said Mthethwa.

Early last year the school was in the limelight when parents protested against the shortage of classrooms as children were forced to study under a tree.

The department have since given the school two extra mobile classrooms, however due to increased enrollment the problem is far from over.

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