Glitches mar first day No water, toilets don’t flush at school
There’s little point in spending R92m on one school when the others are dilapidated
THE FIRST day of the 2016 academic year started with district offices scrambling to accommodate late applicants, furniture shortages in schools and hundreds of children left stranded outside an unfinished new school.
Excitement that had punctuated the early morning rush turned to disappointment and agitation as hundreds of children who were due to start school at Ormonde Primary in the south of Joburg arrived to a notice indicating lessons will start only in two weeks’ time.
It read: “Due to the fact that the school has no municipal water connection and no toilets, it’s the decision of the governing body to close the school at 10am today and then keep the school closed until January 25, 2016.”
Just like that, the little ones, dressed in their brand new uniforms, shiny shoes and carrying backpacks with stationery for “big school”, had to go back home.
While some parents left, scores more camped outside the principal’s office, demanding answers as their children played on the lawn, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.
“It is very disappointing and I really hope that they find a solution soon because I have to return to work and there will be no one to look after my child,” said Themba Poza, who was even more enraged by the fact that no attempt was made to inform parents ahead of time that the school would be able to open only at the end of the month.
These sentiments were echoed by another parent, Virginia Makhitha, who said the school’s failure to open on time had damped her daughter’s spirits as she had been excited to start her first day of Grade 1.
Makhitha, who was part of the meeting at the school with education officials yesterday, school governing body members and parents, said a solution to the school’s water problems needed to be found soon, as she and other parents were not willing to wait for two weeks for classes to begin.
Following a meeting with the school management team later in the day, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said it had been resolved that the school would open today, with 20 executive flushable toilets to be delivered there.
Lesufi said the department also had approval to install septic tanks to connect main toilets for the pupils to use.
But by 8pm last night, one of the parents phoned by The Star had not been made aware of the new developments.
Other glitches were experienced in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, where Lesufi unveiled the new Chief Albert Luthuli Primary School, which he calls “the school of the future”.
However, its sister school – Chief Albert Luthuli Primary 1 – was nothing to be proud of.
Unlike the new school, the other school doesn’t have a phone line or internet connection.
The DA’s Michele Clarke said that when she visited the school, which was opened in 2013, she discovered it was overcrowded. “Introducing paperless classrooms to Daveyton is commendable, but there is little point in spending R92 million on one school when others in the area are without the infrastructure they most need,” she said.
Lesufi has said the department was short of 300 641 chairs and 250 000 desks, but they had been procured and would be sent to schools.
Speaking at the opening of Chief Albert Luthuli Primary School yes- terday, he said all new schools in the province would be built in a similar way.
He noted: “We are doing away with those traditional building of schools were it’s just two blocks and everyone can just walk into the school premises.
“With this school, we are taking a larger chunk of space and separating Grade R from the higher grades.”
He said Grade 7 pupils at the school had a paperless classroom instead of traditional teaching methods.
They were given laptops yesterday. The school has a sports field, a community hall and a nutrition centre.
The school was opened by Gauteng Premier David Makhura and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
Another sore point in the prov- ince is Roodepoort Primary School, west of Joburg, where on Monday, 15 black teachers started reporting at the district office, instead of at the school, citing security concerns.
This followed last year’s violent clashes between teachers and parents who were against the appointment of a new principal.
Lesufi said that through the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme database, the department had found 11 replacement teachers for the school as the old teachers were not willing to go back.
On what action would be taken against them, Lesufi said: “We just need to check if it’s misconduct and then we’ll be able to deal with these issues.”
By midday, parents gathered outside the school to pick up Grade R and Grade 1 pupils, who finish earlier than the other grades.
SOME might think he’s a little crazy, but Eldorado Park teenager Chester van Zyl thought that returning to school was his best birthday present.
Yesterday, a day after his 17th birthday, Chester started his first day at The Gateway School for children with special educational needs.
He has spent the majority of the past two years at home, hindered by the degenerative eye disease keratoconus, which left him with only 20 percent vision in his right eye and 60 percent in the left.
His bad sight meant he steadily fell behind his peers, was bullied and became increasingly frustrated, until his mother, Rene Russell, decided to take him out of school.
But in November, his life changed, when, through the kind-heartedness of a specialist ophthalmologist from Visiomed Eye Laser Clinic, the donation of a cornea by the Gauteng Cornea and Eye Bank and generous donations from The Star readers, he underwent a cornea transplant on his right eye.
The Star spoke to Chester as he left school yesterday, and he could hardly contain his excitement.
“It was great, awesome. I feel more comfortable there than at any other school,” he said. He added that he had already made friends and spent a good part of the day talking to them and covering books.
He spent the previous day, his birthday, getting ready for school and had a haircut.
Last year, after his operation, he told The Star that he was looking forward to doing music and eventually getting his driving licence.
Although he was still waiting for the vision to completely return to his right eye, a process that could take a few months, he said he could tell it was improving.
“I’m patient, I just thank God every day for healing me,” he grinned. Next week, he’ll be collecting a new pair of spectacles, also paid for by The Star readers’ donations.
Meanwhile, Russell was elated to see her child back in school. “I am overjoyed and happy and I can just thank everybody who was involved and contributed to giving Chester this second chance,” she said.
Doctors were happy with the condition of his eye, despite Chester suffering from a severe sinus infection a few weeks after the operation, which provided a threat to the new organ, she added.
Now that Chester is back in school, Russell aims to continue with the campaign she started to raise money for the transplant, in order to assist other children with vision problems. She has already identified the first beneficiary.