School shutdown affects thousands
Parents with children on waiting list vow to keep Alfonso Arries closed indefinitely
PARENTS of 763 pupils on a waiting list for Alfonso Arries Primary School in Chatty Extension 11 kept the school closed yesterday, demanding 22 temporary classrooms be built to accommodate their children.
The parents have kept the school closed since Thursday last week after space ran out.
With 33 classrooms, the school already caters for 1 200 pupils. But an extra 801 pupils have already been enrolled, with 763 more still left on the waiting list.
The parents have vowed to keep the school shut indefinitely if their demands are not met.
Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said a team of officials would be sent to the school to engage with the parents.
“We have heard their grievances but what these parents are doing is against the law. Despite that we will look into the matter,” he said.
Parents protested outside the school gates from 6am yesterday, stopping everyone from entering the premises. Nontombi Dapo, 33, whose child is among those on the waiting list for Grade 2, said she had applied in September.
“We understand that a school cannot be built overnight, that is why we are demanding temporary structures while we get into discussions about building permanent ones,” she said.
While Thabisa Ngcombolo, 34, managed to secure a spot for her child, she was keeping him away from school in support of the struggling parents.
“My son is already 13 years old, but he is only in Grade 7 because there was no school in the area for many years,” Ngcombolo said.
She said they had been relocated from Seyisi in Kwazakhele and had to protest until Alfonso Arries Primary was built in 2012.
“But why must we protest for things to happen here?” she asked.
Nomathamsanqa Masebe, 32, said her two children – in Grade 1 and Grade 4 – had been stranded following their relocation by the municipality from Vastrap last month.
“Before we were relocated, my child was attending a school in New Brighton but nothing was said to us about what would happen regarding school after we moved,” she said.
School principal Andile Lucwaba said his concern was that the matter would never be resolved as more people were being relocated to the area.
“Many pupils will starve as they only eat at school, as the unemployment rate is very high in the area,” he said.
“It is very troubling that this issue will never be solved as we are expecting 2 000 more families to be relocated here by the end of this year.
“What is going to happen to those children in 2018?”
But why must we protest for things to happen here