[TAKE NOTE] Equal Education to march for better school infrastructure on Wednesday
Around five hundred members and supporters of Equal Education Limpopo are planning to picket, march and hold a night vigil.
POLOKWANE – Equal Education (EE), a movement of learners, parents, and teachers striving for quality and equality in South African education, is set to march tomorrow (Wednesday) for better school infrastructure in the province’s school.
The organisation plans to picket, march and hold a night vigil.
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“It is one year since basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga failed to comply with the School Infrastructure Law, and we will march for clean, reliable water at schools as well as safe and dignified toilets at schools in the province,” Mila Kakaza, Spokesperson of EE said. “Wednesday 29 November 2017 is a day of national action for EE, to demand that national and provincial government demonstrate the efficacy and urgency necessary to #FixOurSchools. Every new school built in South Africa is a victory, but it is still the case that many poor Black learners are in schools with infrastructure that hinders learning, that infringes upon the dignity of learners, and that poses an immediate danger to learners’ safety.”
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Kakaza said it is illegal for any public school to be without access to water, electricity or toilets, and to constructed of inappropriate materials such as mud, wood, zinc and asbestos. “This is thanks to the Regulations for Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, which EE fought for to be promulgated on 29 November 2013.”
Wednesday is the fourth anniversary of the adoption of the Norms and Standards. This day also marks one year since Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the nine education MECs failed to comply with these legally binding regulations.
EE members in Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the Western Cape will be picketing, marching and holding a night vigil.
The march will start at 12:00 from the SABC park offices (corner of Excelsior Street and Market Street) and then proceed to LDoE (corner of Hans Van Rensburg Street and Excelsior Street). Around five hundred members and supporters of Equal Education Limpopo are expected to march to the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) in Polokwane.
“We will be releasing our new report on the provision of water and of decent sanitation in Limpopo schools outside the LDoE. The report contains the findings of our visits to 18 schools in Ga-Mashashane,” Kakaza said. “Our findings, coupled with an analysis of the LDoE’s various infrastructure plans and publications, as well as the Auditor General’s evaluation of the Limpopo provincial government, reveal that the LDoE is in disarray. It is unable to effectively plan, implement, or maintain urgent water and sanitation projects.”
“We demand the urgent provision of a clean and reliable water supply, and safe and dignified toilets, to the 18 schools in Ga-Mashashane. We also demand improved planning, implementation, and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure projects in all Limpopo schools.”
