Boipuso Primary School has 30-day deadline after notice of closure

Residents were surprised when the illegally-run Boipuso Primary School was operating again just a week after a fire at its premises. The fire saw an investigation conducted by the Department of Education and then issuing a notice of closure to the school when they learned the school was not correctly registered.

The department responded that this notice had a 30-day deadline and that the department was busy finding schools for the affected learners after the fire on August 29.

It also said the school in Bloubosrand catered to 87 children. However, after conducting an oversite visit on September 11, the Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho said he believed there had been 168 children enrolled at the school on the day of the fire. Furthermore, he said only 33 children had been removed by their parents and the department since then.

Also read: WATCH: Illegal school in Bloubosrand is closed after fire

Ramulifho was joined by Douglasdale Community Policing Forum chairperson Lizzy Mabena, Ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe, DA provincial spokesperson Sergio dos Santos, and a resident who did not wish to be named for fear of victimisation.

“I don’t live adjacent to the school but my neighbours say a few times they have come home to find girls defecating in their driveway,” the resident said.

“Conditions are terrible at the school. There are two toilets – without doors – for so many children. They have no privacy. On the weekend the people living on the property have drunken parties. During school hours there is little adult supervision and no real learning. I know one woman who took her child out of the school because after a year the child could not spell their name yet. That sets the child back years.”

The resident said parents should know better than to send their children to schools without proper registration with the department or clean and safe learning environments. Mabena said she and other community members had to fight the fire with their hosepipes and fire extinguishers after the school had none of its own.

The Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department had given district officials the authority to ensure all the learners were placed in registered schools within the 30 days.

“Accordingly, we are busy conducting a desktop placement of all the children to identify schools that are appropriate for the affected learners’ grades, languages and subjects,” he said. “This is how the department plans to enforce the deadline.”

Boipuso’s principal, who only gave this publication his first name, Asher, and refused to provide his surname, said he would respond to questions about the school’s legality and cleanliness by September 1. But he never did. All attempts by this publication to secure comment from him since then have been met with refusal and threats. The latest attempt, made on September 12, was no different.

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