Parents close down school in Sun Valley
Parents say they won't open the school until their demands are met
The learners at Indlondlobala Primary School, situated at Sun Valley Estate in Weenen, haven’t been back to school since the Easter holidays. Schools in KZN opened on April 3, but Indlondlobala Primary School learners are still sitting at home. This comes after parents and community members closed down the school on April 3. Parents are demanding that a new school be built or that the school be provided with temporary mobile classes, as promised.
Learners from Grade 1 to 4 are currently using the wide open space of an old farm building that has not been divided into classrooms. Community members complain that when teachers are doing their job, they can hear and see each other, which is distracting for everyone concerned.
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‘’Indlondlobala Primary was registered in 2015 to have its registration number, but the district hid that from us; we only found out in 2016 when we approached the Department of Education in Pietermaritzburg.
“The school has no toilets. The teachers and learners are currently using those built by the community; the department didn’t do anything. The school is neglected by the department; they are failing to even provide mobile classes. For that reason, the parents have taken the decision to close the school. When it rains, teaching and learning is disturbed for maybe three hours while learners push out the water.
There are no offices, no kitchen, and even the gas used to cook is inside the building, which puts the learners in danger,” said a member of the SGB.
Ward Councillor and Deputy Mayor Sithabiso Dladla confirmed that they have been trying to resolve the above matter. They have been communicating with department officials, but now they are not answering calls. He said he hopes the matter will be resolved so that the learners can go back to school.
Parents say they started off by closing the school, but they ended up even closing the main road from Weenen to Msinga. Vehicles were forced to turn around and use alternative routes.
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