Parents act as teachers as schools are full
MORE THAN 1000 children are still not placed in schools in Mfuleni as there are no available spaces.
Mfuleni community member Nonyaniso Mvango, mother of 13-year-old Simanye, said she and four other parents came up with the idea of teaching these children in an old building which served as a clinic and a nearby church.
Mvango said their children were in deep trouble. “I have been going around looking for a school that can accept my child. I have been to Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Crossroads but to no avail,” Mvango said.
Another parent who is helping the unplaced children, Neliswa Bara, said all they were hoping for is for the government to listen and grant their children places in schools.
“We ask for food from a nearby school, Manzomthombo Secondary. We need help,” Bara said.
Education MEC Debbie Schäfer’s spokesperson Jessica Shelver said they were aware of the situation in Mfuleni and they were attending to it as a priority through their district and infrastructure officials.
Shelver said their infrastructure directorate had been in negotiation with the Mfuleni Education Forum to enable the completion of the mobile schools placed on the Silversands site.
“There seems to be different groupings within the community who are abusing the situation for their own purposes,” she said.
Shelver said it also appeared that there were various interests at play and not all wanted the same outcome.
“We are engaging with the City of Cape Town to release a site so that we can establish a primary school.”
Shelver said that to accommodate the growth in numbers, “we are building schools where we can. One of our biggest challenges is available land in the metros to do so”.
“The City of Cape Town can only expand northwards, as migrants continue to flock to Cape Town, because of limited space on the peninsula. This movement to these areas is placing huge demands on all resources, including demand for housing, schools, medical facilities and jobs.”
Mfuleni Education Forum chairperson Thembekile Gqwaka said they had a meeting with the Education Department last week.
“We have been waiting for the department’s response since Monday and they have not yet communicated with us,” Gqwaka said.