Parents say schools must remain closed until demands are met

Three local schools received a baptism of fire from parents within the first five days of school this year.

Nonhlevu Secondary School in Groutville, Tugela Secondary School in Mandeni and Radha Roopsingh Primary School in Etete were all closed by protests about overcrowding, alleged problem teachers and unfulfilled promises for new classrooms and building maintenance.

Groutville residents brought Nonhlevu Secondary School to a standstill on Tuesday morning, demanding that three teachers be removed from the school.

They accused them of not doing their jobs, assaulting pupils and smoking dagga with pupils inside the school premises.

They said the school must remain closed until these teachers are removed from the school.

“There were meetings held with the department regarding these teachers and we were promised that they would not return this year. Despite this, they are back,” said a member of the school’s governing body, who asked not to be named.

Tugela Secondary School was closed on Monday morning as parents protested over a shortage of classrooms and teachers.

About 300 of the school’s 1600 pupils do not have teachers or classrooms.

Treasurer of the school governing body, Bongani Gumede said the education department was made aware of the increase in enrolment last year.

However, there is no plan in place to deal with the situation.

“A parents meeting was held last Sunday where they decided to close the school until the department fixes the problem,” said Gumede.

He said the school was built to accommodate 1200 pupils.

“The department promised to send furniture and teachers this week. Classes are overcrowded. There is a class that has about 60 pupils instead of 40. Should the department fail to keep its promise, the school will be closed again,” said Gumede.

More than 100 residents of Etete forced the closure of the Radha Roopsingh Primary School last Wednesday, complaining about overcrowding and the state of disrepair of school buildings.

They said they were tired of waiting for the education department which had promised to renovate the school years ago.

“There have been countless meetings and every meeting we are told that the school is on the list. Closing the school was a last resort. Perhaps now we will get answers from the department,” said Etete resident Njabulo Khetshane.

Khetshane said the school opened the next day after a meeting with the principal, however a meeting is scheduled with an official from the department this Sunday.

“We do not want to deny the children their right to education but our children are learning in an unsafe environment. Hopefully, this will be resolved this coming weekend,” said Khetshane.

The school was built 63 years ago and is in desperate need of repair. The parents say that the ceiling is in danger of falling and it is a safety hazard.

Parents previously closed the school for three days in 2018, complaining about the shortage of teachers and classrooms.

At that time there were about 40 children attending class under a tree.

The school has 13 permanent classrooms and nine mobile classrooms.

“Two mobile classrooms that were sent by the department last year helped a bit, so this year we will not have children being taught under the tree. However, the issue of overcrowding is far from over. We still have classrooms crowded with up to 51 pupils and others between 40 and 48 pupils,” he said.

He said the school was built for 930 pupils but there are now more than 1000 pupils.

The education department was unavailable for comment.

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