By Amy Musgrave
The North West education department is ready for the new year on paper only, with a severe lack of resources at many schools, according to the Democratic Alliance in the province.
DA members of the provincial legislature conducted a school readiness oversight assessment in the province.
At the schools it visited, it found that all learner and teacher support materials had been delivered.
“However, we have noted major concerns specifically with school infrastructure, safety, security, problems with the national school nutrition programme, overcrowding of classrooms, lack of internet connectivity, non-existent science and computer laboratories and unsuitable ablution facilities,” said DA provincial education spokesperson CJ Steyl.
Major problems were also identified with the roll-out of the Grade R function.
Many schools are now offering Grade R due to new education legislation, however, some of them do not have the appropriate facilities to accommodate the special needs required for these learners aged between aged 4-5.
At Geysdorp Secondary School in Geysdorp, classes were badly overcrowded. One Grade 8 class recorded 80 learners, while another had almost 100 learners. Pupils sat three at a desk, and where desks were broken, many were required to stand.
Classes were filled up to the blackboard, leaving no space for adequate interactive teaching.
There were also dilapidated and unsuitable ablution facilities. While new facilities have been built, they have not been connected. Exacerbating matters was that the quality of the new facilities is unsuitable for a school with more than 900 learners.
There was unhygienic storage of food alongside stationery, and an unsuitable and unhygienic food preparation area.
At Kelebogile Primary School in Doornlaagte, the principal was not there the day the DA visited as he had to travel to Mahikeng to attend to the school’s broken network router. The school does not have any connectivity to support learning and teaching.
Issues included dysfunctional ablution facilities, a library with no books, and there were 42 learners in the Grade R class, while the number should not exceed 25.
At Moshoette Primary School in Khunwana Village, two posts for teacher departmental heads remain vacant for sciences and foundation phase.
One class block’s foundation was giving way, there was a severe shortage of desks and chairs, and unsuitable ablution facilities. Learners have to make use of inadequate facilities, while newly built toilets were far from the school, without adequate water supply, and were locked.
Grade R facilities are housed in a temporary structure, without suitable ablution facilities for minors. The playground is also unsafe and unsuitable.
“While all the teachers and principals we engaged were committed to educating learners, they struggle with a severe lack of resources. We commend these dedicated teachers for their commitment to shaping young minds,” Steyl.
“The DA will engage the provincial department of education on a plan to address the concerns we have identified, specifically to limit overcrowding by providing mobile classrooms and upgrading facilities.”
He said that more importantly, schools must have internet connectivity to support teaching and learning to pupils for a world that was moving to a knowledge-based economy.
“There is little use in attracting learners to the sciences on paper but fail to provide the necessary laboratories to conduct the experiments necessary for learning. This is a focus area the provincial department of education must give attention too,” Steyl said.
The party will also demand that the department revisit the implementation of the school nutrition programme.
Maize meal, milk, samp and beans may stem hunger, but young bodies needed nutrition, and required fruit, vegetables and adequate protein varieties to support brain function and adequate growth, the party said.
It would also demand that the food preparation facilities were brought up to standard to improve hygiene and ventilation. Currently, the facilities visited posed a health risk to learners, as food handlers did not have the necessary soap, disinfectant, ventilation, PPEs and hand sanitiser to ensure compliance with food safety preparation codes.
At the end of 2023, the SA Human Rights Commission issued a report detailing the dire situation at North West schools.
Although the investigation focused on infrastructure challenges that had been identified in a few schools in the province, it became apparent during the probe that infrastructure challenges at schools in the North West remain endemic, manifesting along racial and socio-economic lines.
The identified infrastructure challenges ranged from blown-off roofs to collapsed ceilings, cracked walls, cracked floors, broken windows, asbestos in school structures, inadequate parameter fencing, and inadequate access to water and sanitation. Overcrowded classrooms were also highlighted as a major concern for qualitative outcomes in the education system.
In the report, the department cited several reasons for the state of affairs, including an influx of foreign nationals into the province, an inadequate budget and a lack of preventative maintenance.
“While the commission finds in its report that the first two cited reasons do not fully explain the existence of the identified challenges, the lack of preventative maintenance, as well as the absence of an effective system to report and monitor infrastructure challenges, was a significant factor leading to non-prioritisation of these matters. The lack of an effective system to report and monitor infrastructure challenges, also impedes infrastructure planning and budget management,” the report reads.
INSIDE EDUCATION
