Greenside pupils fed up with a lack of furniture
Learners and parents from Kabela Secondary School in Greenside on Monday marched to the department of education in Biccard Street in Polokwane to hand over a memorandum demanding school furniture.
Desmond Boshego
LIMPOPO – KABELO Secondary School’s classrooms have been likened to kraals by learners, and classes at the school in Greenside were put on hold on Monday when learners and parents marched to the department of education in Biccard Street in Polokwane to hand over a memorandum demanding school furniture.
At the gates of the department, the frustrated group sang struggle songs and chanted slogans.
According to the school’s student representative council president, Polite Mbengwa, the school had run for several years without a principal or proper furniture and this had negatively affected their education.
“We don’t enjoy school because the classrooms are no better than kraals. There is no furniture at all; we use pieces of wood or other material as chairs and our laps as tables.
“This is a shocking state of affairs to all of us, especially in the 21st year of democracy. It seems like we have been forgotten; we are so ashamed of our education department,” Mbengwa said.
One of the parents, Margaret Selepe, said they had asked the department several times to assist with furniture, but the department never came back to them.
“As parents, we are very worried because our children’s rights have been done away with. We are afraid that our children will start engaging in criminal activities because the school always closes early in the morning,” she said.
Gr. 12 learner, Kwena Manamela, said they wrote their examinations in empty classes.
“This affected us very negatively. All the classrooms’ windows and doors are broken, but they have been ignored for a long time.
“We no longer feel safe or protected in our classrooms as the structures are shaky and the ceiling could collapse on us at anytime. We urge the department to assist us immediately because there has been enough time to do so before, right now we need to prepare ourselves for our final exams. We have had enough of the education department,” Manamela said.
Education senior communications manager, Dr Naledzani Rasila, said the department had met with the school governing body and the parents recently to discuss the matter and they had all agreed on several matters.
“The school’s requests have been noted. We had a meeting with our office to negotiate the budget for the school furniture and the budget is out now.
“It is not only Kabelo Secondary School, there are other schools in the province that have the same problem and we work day and night to ensure the schools are in good condition,” Rasila said. “The department acknowledges the challenges these angry, frustrated learners face. The furniture will start being delivered to Kabelo Secondary School and the other schools that need them, as from August 30.
