‘Top-of-priority-list’ school waiting since 2015

Louis Rex Primary School has been first on the department of education school construction priority list since 2015, but pupils and teachers are still being injured by holes in the rotting wooden floor.

Principal Bevan Christoffels said, “We have had to take pupils to the clinic and the hospital because of the bad state of the floor.”

He was speaking during a visit by DA officials, including Eastern Cape DA leader Nqaba Bhanga, recently.

The roofing is of asbestos and some of the classroom walls are prefab, which Christoffels said was a health risk as it was no longer permitted in schools. He said only the school fence had been erected in 2015.

According to him, the school has a good performance record and is in great demand in surrounding communities.

“Many parents bypass other schools to bring their children to us. As a result, we have an influx of 1,430 pupils even though the school is meant to cater for 900.”

He said this resulted in a teacher shortage as it had 37 teachers although the ratio was supposed to be one teacher for 34 pupils.

The school also had a limited number of toilets which needed to be increased and was an easy target for burglars as a result of the increased unemployment in the community.

DA shadow MEC for education Edmund van Vuuren said, “We cannot allow schools not to have enough teachers. There are three vacant teaching posts that have not been filled. The department must give reasons why well-performing schools do not have all the teachers they are supposed to have.”

Van Vuuren said he had interacted with the department of education since 2012 and the latter had made promises of constructing the school since 2015.

“I came to announce to the school in that year that a new school would be built and that it was No 1 on the priority list.”

He said the provincial education department was failing children.

“At the moment, the department does not have a cent in the infrastructure budget. I hope this time around the department will not fail the community, that they will stick to their word and that the school will be the first priority for the 2019-20 budget.”

Van Vuuren said he would follow up on the matter in the legislature and take careful note that the promises made to the school were fulfilled.

Department of education spokesperson Mali Mtima said the department could not do anything at the moment because it was near the end of the financial year in March.

“When our budget is revealed in April, depending on the allocated amount, we will start building projects.”