Parents close down Davel Combined School

Angry parents and members of the community of KwaDela in Davel  locked the school gates at Davel Combined School last Thursday in protest of their children’s safety and the unhygienic environment their children are taught in.

During the Highvelder’s visit to the school, the parents took the reporter for a walk around the school, pointing out the appalling conditions their children are subjected to.

During the walkabout, dirty toilet facilities with most of them not functioning, a roof ripped apart, exposed electric wiring and classes flooded with water were observed.

The parents said the problem began in October last year when the roof on the second floor was blown away. Two weeks ago the school principal, Ms Dladla, told the parents in a meeting that she would be moving pupils out of the destroyed classes for their safety.

The parents say they were surprised to hear from their children that Ms Dladla instructed them to return to the very classes they were removed from and they decided to take the matter into their own hands to protect their children.

They went to the school on a rainy day last Wednesday to find their children in the classes reported to be unsafe.

They immediately decided to get the children out and lock the gates.

The parents are also angry with the Department of Education for not keeping their promise for mobile classes, which they were promised to arrive in January and to date they are still waiting.

“The school will remain locked until the arrival of mobile classes. We also want the Department of Education to fix the school as there’s no telling when an accident will happen,”said one of the parents.

Another parent who attended the school in her youth and whose children and now also her grandchildren go to the same school said nothing has changed.

All the problems they had experienced with toilets and the structure still exist.

Chairman of the of the School Governing Body (SGB) Ms Nontethelelo Mkhaliphi said they wrote to the Department of Education requesting mobile classes after the incident last year.

She said they were not just sitting and doing nothing. So far they are in the process of replacing broken doors and windows.

When asked why they allowed the learners to be returned to the unsafe classes without informing the parents, Ms Mkhaliphi admitted it was incorrect of them not to have done so. She did, however, explain that the principal discussed the matter with them and said it was to avoid overcrowding in the classes which placed strain on the staff.

The weather was also favorable when the children were returned to the unsafe classes.

Last Friday, a meeting between the Circuit Manager, SGB, parents and the community took place.

However, the Circuit Manager could not commit to when the mobile classes would arrive as the matter is dealt with at a higher level.

At the time of going to print, no comment had been received from the Department of Education.