Parents decry the poor conditions at school

PARENTS of learners at Ukuthula Primary School in Mageva village accused the department of education of infringing on their children’s rights to education by failing to provide a conductive environment for them to learn.

The group of parents said the department did nothing to repair or replace or rebuild the two blocks of classrooms that was virtually destroyed by a storm in February 2012, despite repeated efforts by the school’s governing body (SGB) and the principal to have these classrooms repaired.

“The school was built by the community in 1956, the infrastructure is old and fragile. The bathrooms are not even usable,” the deputy chaiperson of the SGB, Pambulani Mabunda, said on Friday at the sit-in arranged by parents who were threatening to remove their children from the school if conditions did not improve.

Mabunda said overcrowding was also a problem with an average of 60 learners per class, with as much as 67 learners in one specific classroom. “How can you expect a learner to concentrate in a class of more than 60 learners,” said Nelly Baloyi, a parent who participated in the sit-in.

“As parents we have done all we could, with the help of the principal, to address this problem.

“We even went to the department’s head offices in Polokwane several time to tsolve our problems, but nothing happened, despite promises made to us,” said Mabunda.

CV spoke to the spokesperson of the department of education, Pitsi Maloba, and he said the department was not aware of any damage to the school and promised that the department would investigate the matter.

He said the department was busy with extensive repairs to schools throughout the province.