Glaring lack of investment in schools

THE next few days will determine the future of thousands of school kids – whether they are going back to the classroom or not, depending on what each party says.

This has been a sticking point since Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced more than a week ago that schools would be reopened for grades 7 and 12 on Monday.

The unions have been up in arms that the schools were not ready and there had been no personal protective equipment (PPE) delivered in rural and township schools.

This is despite assurances from provinces and the national department that this was going to happen.

This is a serious concern as already children have lost several weeks of schooling due to Covid-19.

But the problem does not start with the issue of PPE. The biggest problem in our education system, health, transport and other sectors is lack of investment over the last 25 years of democracy. Rural schools and those in townships have not been upgraded. Schools in these areas are dilapidated and almost falling apart.

If the government had prioritised the upgrading of these schools and pumped in billions from day one, the infrastructure would have made the situation much better.

The same thing applies to health, where hospitals, clinics and other public health-care facilities have not been upgraded.

Lack of investment in our public schools and hospitals is a sign that the government missed an opportunity at the dawn of democracy to improve infrastructure for the most vulnerable.

Poor children still go to schools that lack proper ablution facilities, running water, laboratories and no electricity. Some children still study in mud schools.

The issue of Covid-19 has not only exposed poverty in our society, but also how the government has failed to build infrastructure in our public schools. The government is now facing a daunting task that when most of the children return to school there should be PPE, and it must start ramping up infrastructure upgrades.

This depends on the willingness from the government to divert resources post-Covid-19 to improve many facilities. The glaring inequality in our education system should not condemn poor children to being left out of the education system and a better future.

There is no better time for the government to improve the education system than after Covid-19. Like many years before, we hope this will not be a lost opportunity for the government to act.