Learners demand right to learn
Learners of Mohlakaneng Secondary School in Seshego zone 1 locked the school gates and refused teachers access to the school last Friday.
POLOKWANE – Learners of Mohlakaneng Secondary School in Seshego zone 1 locked the school gates and refused teachers access to the school last Friday.
According to the learners, this was in protest against alleged maltreatment and violation of their rights to education by the school principal.
They said they had not been attending their lessons since the beginning of the year due to a lack of teachers and textbooks.
One of the learners, who wished to remain anonymous, said 12 teachers had been transferred to other schools, but the department had not appointed other teachers to replace them.
“We are at school for eight hours a day but we only attend one subject for 30 minutes, then we are on our own without educators. There is no order in school and the principal threatens to suspend us every time we speak up about the situation,” he said.
He added that learners were forced to pay R120 at the beginning of the year and no one knew where the money was going.
Another learner said the principal disagreed with everything learners suggested.
“Some of the gr. 12 learners were suspended for planning the strike. This kind of behaviour will lead us to fail and we can not allow that. We call upon the department of education to intervene as soon as possible to avoid further damage,” she said.
DA Limpopo leader, Jacques Smalle, was also present at the protest and said it was unfortunate the learners found themselves in this regrettable position.
“The department is violating these learners’ rights to education. The protest shows that learners are forced to fight for what is rightfully theirs: education. The department should act fast so that these learners can catch up on the lessons they have missed,” Smalle said.
The school principal denied the learners’ allegations and said what they were saying was new to him. He further said he did not remember any learner being suspended from the school.
He referred Review to the department of education for further comment. Education spokesperson, Paena Galane, said the department was aware of the protest action at the school. He said everything had gone back to normal since Tuesday. He admitted there was a shortage of teachers and said the department was attending to the problem.
