No desks for farm school pupils
Learning cold comfort for eager youngsters at farm school in Bay
THEY sit eagerly on the concrete floor, yearning to learn despite not having desks and chairs. Colleen Glen Primary – a farm school in Seaview, on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth – is in desperate need of school furniture for its pupils.
A class of 36 Grade 3 pupils must push and shove if they want space on the dingy mat in their classroom, or they have to sit on the concrete floor.
Yesterday, staff from the office of Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani handed out 36 schoolbags and lunch boxes to the pupils.
While the pupils were happy with the gifts, they highlighted their need for desks.
Grade 3 pupil Asekhona Witbooi, 12, said she was excited to get a new bag but would have preferred a desk and a chair.
“It is very uncomfortable to sit on the floor. It would be great to have chairs and desks,” she said.
“I don’t even look forward to coming to school, especially when it is cold.”
Fellow Grade 3 pupil Iviwe Dingana, 9, said: “It is good that they have given us new bags, my bag was old anyway.
“We are going to pray for someone to donate desks for us so that we can be like other kids and write on proper desks.”
The children have to sit with boards on their laps to press on when they write.
The pupils were interviewed with the permission of their principal.
Bobani said he was working at getting businesspeople to donate tables and chairs for the school.
Principal Nompiliso Makunga said even though they appreciated the gifts from Bobani’s office, their problems were many.
“We feel blessed that we have been chosen as we are dealing with kids who have nothing,” she said. “However, our problems are far from over.
“These kids don’t have proper uniforms and we have a shortage of tables and chairs in the intermediate and foundation phase. There is a Grade 3 class with no desks at all.
“[The children] can’t concentrate on what the teacher is saying.
“The situation is worse in winter as they are always sick.
“We appeal to the education department to do something about our situation.
“We also have a shortage of teachers – at the moment, we have two volunteer teachers and we can’t afford to pay them.”
Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the department planned to address the shortage of desks across the province.
“On the issue of teachers, the department gave an instruction to all districts to appoint temporary teachers to ensure that on the first day of schooling all pupils have teachers,” he said.
“The school principal should approach the district for assistance.”