‘Prioritise jabs for young people’

POLOKWANE – Learners in their school uniforms descended upon SABC park to form part of the march that was aimed to get their grievances heard.

Sello Mahladisha, the provincial secretary of Cosas Limpopo said that the march was long overdue as they fail to receive a response from the Department of Education.

“We are here to raise the demands which we have tried by all means to communicate to the department. We tried to negotiate and wrote to them many times. We are here to tell them that we want the vaccinations,” he said.

The list of demands tabled by Cosas also includes immediate intervention for the nutrition programme, immediate delivery of mobile classes, cancellation of physical learning and teaching and the continuation of rotational learning and teaching. They further demand that schools have access to free Wi-Fi.

Phineas Sebola, South African Student Congress (Sasco) convener in the province stated that it doesn’t make sense that prisoners be vaccinated before learners.

“This doesn’t make sense. They started with old people who are at home and they left the young people behind. The very young people who move around are not being vaccinated,” he said.

Martin Mashaba, the deputy director-general of corporative services accepted the memorandum. He stated that some of the demands are not implemented by the Department of Education and they rely on other departments and would engage them to deliver. “What we can address, we will make the commitment and make sure that they are implemented properly. Whatever matters that we cannot resolve today, we will engage on,” he said.

He added that the department is aware that there are challenges with the service providers that they have appointed for the delivery of food for the nutrition programme and are dealing with the issue.

In terms of the vaccination, he stated that they would be engaging with the health department.