Fix our schools, pupils demand

Community-based organisation Equal Education (EE) in the Eastern Cape has given the provincial department of education two weeks to attend to schools with water and sanitation problems.

On Tuesday, EE members picketed outside the department’s offices in Zwelitsha to demand it supply water and sanitation, address overcrowding and ensure schools are supplied with adequate building materials.

EE said there were schools in the province not ready to open during the Covid-19 pandemic due to lack of toilets, water and personal protective equipment.

It said the department must fix these issues before schools allow more pupils to return.

In the memorandum handed over to officials on Tuesday, EE listed at least 10 schools in desperate need of toilets, among other things.

Among the listed schools were Mvuzo Junior Secondary School in Cofimvaba with pit toilets, Gobizizwe Senior Primary School in Port St Johns where the school is built with out of mud and Vukile Tshwete Senior Secondary School, which has no sanitation and dilapidated classrooms.

Gcina Mtya, a matric pupil from Qonce High, said the lack of textbooks and toilets made learning difficult.

“Our taps are often dry for two days a week and there are no alternatives like water tanks. This forces pupils to wait until after school to relieve themselves and that is not fair,” said Matya.

“Another issue is overcrowding. Most of the time our periods clash, then pupils are forced to choose which subject to attend. “If you miss a class, the teacher is not going to repeat the lesson for you.

“Those are some of the things we want the department to look into.”

Nande Mbukushe, a Grade 11 pupil from Ndimbaza Central High, said his school had a lack of Covid-19 protection, with blocked toilets and intermittent water supply.

Mbukushe said that on Monday, teachers sent pupils home because toilets were dirty and protective equipment had not yet been delivered.

“For the past three years I have been marching to the department but our cries seem to be falling on deaf ears,” he said.

According to a statement by the department on Sunday, 4 726 of 5 253 schools in the province are ready to welcome more pupils back to school.

The department said only 5% had infrastructure and water issues.

EE organiser Itumeleng Mothlabane said: “We do not know why the department’s numbers keep changing.

“We want the department to fix the issues we have raised in our memorandum.”

The document was handed to deputy director-general Ray Tywakadi, who promised to respond to EE within 14 days.

For the past three years I have been marching to the department but our cries seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Nande Mbukushe Ndimbaza Central High pupil