Overcrowding and decay at Limpopo high school
ABOUT 90 Grade 10 maths and science pupils at Kopano Secondary School in Lebowakgomo squash into one classroom every day.
The school, outside Polokwane in Limpopo, has 900 pupils and 11 classrooms.
The Star visited the school yesterday and found some of the pupils were also crammed inside five dilapidated mobile units that had broken doors and windows.
The Star ran a story in January 2013 about the unused mobile units.
Department officials had blamed national administrator Mzwandile Matthews for nondelivery of the mobile units.
Former department head Morebudi Thamaga had said Matthews refused to deliver the mobile units to schools.
But Matthews rejected the accusation as “power games of some sort”, saying he refused to be used as a scapegoat.
He said the units were bought in 2009 and he became the department’s administrator only in 2013, after Limpopo was placed under national administration in December 2011. The administration team left the province in February this year.
Sources said the mobile units remained idle inside the department’s premises along Hospital Street.
Department spokesman Paena Galane said yesterday that there were no mobile classrooms sitting idle on the department premises.
“These are not mobile classrooms but mobile offices used by the departmental staff and the Office of the Auditor-General. They are housed in those mobile offices due to lack of office space,” said Galane.
About the dire conditions at Kopano Secondary and other schools, Galane said the department had engaged the services of the CSIR to conduct a condi- tional assessment of all its infrastructural assets.
He said the assessment would determine the amount of money required to repair classrooms that were dilapidated.
“This is expected to be completed in July and will be crucial in directing the planning process of the department to ensure that resource allocation is aimed at the critical areas,” said Galane.
DA MPL Jacques Smalle said he had written to acting Education MEC Jerry Ndou, asking him to provide Kopano Secondary with mobile classrooms and toilets as a temporary measure.