Learning affected by rubble, chaos
TEACHERS and parents are disillusioned with the Department of Education for the appalling state of an Umbilo school.
Its been three years since Carrington Primary in Durban was battered by a storm, causing extensive damage to some of the classrooms.
This has led to overcrowding in Grade R with pupils crammed inside a wooden cabin (mjondolo) which becomes unbearably hot in summer. It has also created teaching and learning difficulties for teachers and pupils.
A parents’ meeting was held on Thursday to discuss pupils’ performance for the first quarter. The Sunday Tribune was present.
A teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity blamed the department for a string of unfulfilled promises.
“Honestly, officials come here and they can see the state we are in. The environment does not inspire effective teaching and learning. The hygiene at the school has everyone concerned, rodents and snakes are everywhere. This is a disaster waiting to happen. The school needs to be fixed urgently.”
She said about 750 children’s lives at the no-fee school were at stake. She pointed to an old library building which had been filled with broken furniture. Books were scattered on the floor.
The roof had been blown off and the classrooms filled up with rubble, broken doors, desks and windows.
When entering the girls’ toilet, the stench at the door was overwhelming. In an untidy passage below a double-story building near the tuck-shop, two large silver pots rested on a stove connected to a gas cylinder used to prepare meals for the pupils.
A parent, who only gave her name as Khumalo, complained that the school’s state of affairs affected her son’s health.
She also said a child could trip on the stove connector.
“I was not expecting such a ridiculous situation at the school. I may have to remove my son next year.”
National Teachers Union president Allen Thompson accused the department of delaying tactics at the expense of pupils.
“The school was damaged by the storm, but it has taken years for the government to fix it. Whereas schools damaged as a result of the community protests, are quickly.
“This encourages vandalism at the schools. Those following proper channels were being ignored. This behaviour signals that if the community uses force, they get what they want,” Thompson said.
Kwazulu-natal Education Department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said Carrington Primary was part of the storm-damage programme.
“Necessary planning and designs have been completed and the project will be advertised during the new financial year in April 2017 with the intention to get suitable contractors to repair the school,” he said.