Learners from Bert’s Bricks Primary School gathered in front of the Department of Education on Monday to protest against the lack of transport and water at the school.
According to the School Governing Body (SGB) chairman, Ariel Monethi, many children have missed school since the start of the term because only one of the buses has shown up. According to him, there are supposed to be seven buses for the seven different routes.
To add to the school’s woes, the borehole that used to provide the water seems to have dried up, leaving the school high and dry.

‘For a whole week, those children who were able to get to school could not use the bathrooms and the feeding scheme could not cook food for the learners,’ said Monethi. He said the department had appointed a new transport service provider after the previous contract had come to an end. ‘The service provider we had before offered an excellent service and should be reinstated,’ he said.
Representatives of the SGB met with the Department of Education on Monday morning to discuss these issues. According to Monethi, the department had promised to rectify the situation by the following morning. ‘They said they would ask the municipality to assist with water and engage with the Department of Transport although, according to them, the issue of transportation is not their responsibility,’ he said.
Despite these promises, only three of the seven buses arrived to pick up the children the following day.
‘There have also been reports from learners that the buses are not safe. One child said that one of the passengers would have to hold the door closed because it would swing open whenever the bus turned,’ he said.
At the time of going to print, neither the North West Department of Education nor the municipality had responded to the Herald’s enquiries.