Democratic Alliance assess the readiness of Parkdale Primary School

DA officials began the school year by conducting oversight inspections at Parkdale Primary School on Wednesday, January 17 in Eldorado Park.

The visit was made to ensure that there is no interrupted learning and teaching during the 2024 academic year.

It comes after complaints made by the school governing body regarding the school’s infrastructure and the leaking classrooms.

DA spokesperson for Education, Sergio Dos Santos conducted a walkabout with the SGB and a school representative and discovered that learners are still taught in asbestos classrooms and uncut lawn on the school yard.

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“The purpose of the visit is to check on the school readiness but there have been complaints that have been coming through the past months from the SGB.

“Our primary concern is the asbestos classes, toilets are water running and the infrastructure is not suitable for learning,” said Dos Santos.

Almost every beginning of the year, many township schools always have to fight for the proper infrastructure and children have to go back to learning in leaking classes and not functioning toilets.

One of the educators mentioned that due to the heavy rains the mat in her class was wet and she had to remove it because it brought bad ardour, leaving her Grade two learners without a place to have their story time lesson.

Shabier Rubbidge, the SGB chairman said, “I hope the hard work that we have put in as the SGB will amount to something and it will not just end with this visit like the previous times. We would like to see all the asbestos classes removed and all the walls fixed.”

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According to Glenwill Sweetland, another member of the SGB, the issue of poor infrastructure has been ongoing since 2020 and there are also disciplinary processes that are currently taking place and still not resolved.

There is also the issue of not having a principal and financial mismanagement issue. All these issues are a result of not having proper leadership.

“We paid donations to fix the wall five years ago and today the wall is still broken and people from outside come in to violate and vandalise the school premises. There are huge financial irregularities and issues of infrastructure,” Sweetland mentioned.

Dos Santos promises the SGB to take this matter to those above him to ensure that children are taught in a proper learning and teaching environment.