Editor – This letter is in response to the article ‘Learners clean up while workers go on strike’, published in the June 15 edition of the Ladysmith Gazette.
As an educational institution, we pride ourselves on the sanitation of our school and it is the responsibility that comes with the right to education of every single learner to make sure that their impact on the environment, in which learning takes place, is up to standard.
The presence of a general workers’ team is a privilege.
We believe that since the litter, if any, is caused by the students, then it is only right that they are taught to clean up after themselves. It also teaches them environmental responsibility.
Due to circumstances that are beyond our control at the school, such as the strike, maintenance of the grounds has become a challenge. However, as a student body, we value the cleanliness of our school.
The article fails to mention the behind-the-scenes commitment of our principal, Mr Pieterse, who practices what he preaches. He not only motivates us to keep the school clean, but does it himself.
The article also fails to mention that teachers spend their free time maintaining the cleanliness of the classrooms, which is not in their job description.
One of the key values of The Land Service Club is to clean the school as a token of their appreciation towards the environment.
Learners may be put on detention because of certain inflictions of the school’s code of conduct, but this article implies that they are forced to clean up the school, which is not the case. Learners are given a choice to help, as opposed to carrying out the normal detention policy. Picking up litter is voluntary.
Parents have apparently complained and suggested that the school is “in disarray”. Our school is certainly not in disarray.
Let us not forget that litter is caused by the students.
That learners leave at 1pm on Friday is a privilege and if learners are to stay after school to clean up due to the litter they cause, it would be time spent as a consequence of their actions, where they would then leave at the normal time of 2.30pm.
The motives of the article are unclear and it only serves to falsify information, degrading the integrity of the school without concrete evidence.
Irresponsible reporting on matters of concern in a tight-knit community is counter-productive.
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