Moshesh Secondary back to normal, says education department

CAPE TOWN — The Eastern Cape education department said yesterday activities at the Moshesh Senior Secondary School had “by and large” returned to normal after moves were made to deal with issues hampering learning.

Pupils who had planned to take the department to court over “appalling conditions”, reached a settlement with the school this week. The pupils contacted lobby group Equal Education last year, and reported various problems at the school, 30km from Matatiele.

The settlement comes a few weeks after the publication of the Department of Basic Education’s much anticipated draft Infrastructure Norms and Standards for school infrastructure. The final draft is expected to be published in the Government Gazette next month amid concerns that provinces could have up to 17 years to implement the norms and standards. These touch on crucial aspects such as the size of classrooms, electricity and sanitation.

Moshesh is just one of many schools in the Eastern Cape that are bedevilled by poor management and infrastructure. Many have also suffered because of a lack of teachers.

The settlement agreement says national and provincial education authorities will pursue disciplinary proceedings against the principal, who has been suspended. An acting principal will be appointed to manage the school and provide continuous support to a newly appointed school governing body.

The department has also undertaken to monitor teacher attendance and discipline and ensure full provision of teacher support to pupils.

Pupils at Moshesh claimed that the school had not received textbooks and was relying on publications from the 1980s, and that the principal had been absent for nine months.

Palesa Manyokole, a grade 11 learner, initiated legal action when she took eight respondents — including Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, the Eastern Cape education MEC, the school principal, and the school gov- erning body — to court in a bid to hold them accountable for conditions at the school. However, a settlement agreement was reached before the matter reached the courts.

Eastern Cape education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said yesterday that the department had started addressing some of the issues raised by the pupils. “Most of the issues have been dealt with … we have, for example, dealt with the issues of teacher vacancies and staff morale. We have a district director with a dedicated team that is focusing on Moshesh and they visit the school at least once a week.”

Other issues raised by the pupils at Moshesh included: the insufficient number of teachers for all subjects; some teachers not coming to school; a lack of access by pupils to all textbooks; underperformance; and appalling conditions at the hostel.

Equal Education said the settlement will help the school and the community to improve teaching and learning conditions and governance.