Mams technical school without electricity for months due to cable theft
The learners claim that for more than three months the school has been without electricity, which they need to complete their projects for the year mark and study their daily subjects.
Cable theft has left Mamelodi’s only technical school without electricity for more than three months.
The situation at Modiri technical school has also led the Gauteng education department to appeal to the local community to refrain from hindering learning and teaching by stealing valuable resources.
Learners at the school claimed they were without electricity for weeks on end making learning difficult as most of their subjects are practical and need electricity for delivery.
They claimed that in April criminals stole the supply cable and main switch and since the school has had no power.
Learners said it was impossible to teach mechanical, and electrical subjects as well as woodwork without electricity because the tools required run on electricity.
They said they were being “left behind” when it came to these subjects.
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed that Modiri was without electricity due to cable theft.
He said the department has appointed a contractor to restore the electricity supply to the school and they will commence with the work soon.
“The department has been assisting the school in ensuring that they have access to the necessary resources such as photocopy machines and other resources which require electricity to ensure that teaching and learning are not interrupted,” said Mabona.
Without electricity, learners said they were forced to only study technical subjects in theory and also couldn’t finish their practical projects.
Grade 12 learner Busisiwe Bogopa (18) said she was concerned about her school and wondered if she would pass her final exams.
She had to complete her practical projects to obtain good grades to pass her matric at the end of the year.
“There is no way I can do their practical work without electricity,” said Bogopa.
She said the school has a generator but it was not working because it had not been serviced in years.
Other learners said staff had to do their school admin work at a neighbouring school.
Grade 10 learner, Lesego Motshana, (16) said the electricity problems started around April this year because when the school reopened, they had no electricity.
He said he is at the moment studying electric from pictures in the books he can find.
“The department of education needs to start thinking about our future,” said Motshana.
“The matter was reported. Why is the department taking so long to fix the problem?”
Another Grade 10 learner, Kgothatso Phalane, who is taking mechanical subjects, said the department had no time to waste because “we need to finish our projects”.
“We depend on these projects for more marks,” he said.
Another Grade 12 learner, Lesedi Chauke (18), who is taking mechanical technology, said they are stuck on the first term.
“We should be doing practical work this term, but we are stuck on the theory we covered in the first term instead. We have not even completed the braai stand we have been working on,” said Chauke.
The learners pleaded with the department to replace the stolen cables as soon as possible, “because our future is at stake, not the department’s”.
Mabona appealed to community members to refrain from stealing valuable school resources.
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