Pupils at the newly opened Tshepong Secondary School in Evaton in the Vaal, only get three hours of lessons a day due to the lack of water, sanitation and electricity.
while normal secondary school day lasts up to six hours, meaning Tshepong learners spend half the time in class less than the rest of the pupils across the country.
The school's 1,200 learners in grades 8 to 11 are taught in mobile classrooms. The pupils feel hopeless about passing as they are lagging behind with the curriculum.
“We only have about three periods a day, and after lunch, school is over,” said a grade 11 pupil.
“I am frustrated with what is happening at our school. Since the start of the third term, we haven’t been taught properly. Most of the time, we sit outside and do projects with very limited information.
“We don’t have textbooks, so we can’t even do proper research or learn on our own. Teachers try their best, but they don’t have textbooks as well and are forced to use their phones to get the lessons they are focusing on.”
The satellite school opened in January but is not connected to the municipal electricity or water networks.
Pupils protested at the lack of basic services at the school on Monday, leading to a meeting between the school management, the school governing body and the education department the next day.
The school on 12 mobile toilets with no running water, which are not cleaned regularly, exposing them to infections and diarrhoea.
The school has asked the Gauteng education department to help with a recovery plan.
Other pupils said they had done three projects since the beginning of the third term, and while teachers give them assessments to try to help them get through the curriculum, it was not enough.
“In history, we still don’t know which essay we will be expected to write as we haven’t been prepared for exams at all,” said the pupil.
The school started operating without being connected to bulk water and electricity. Before learners were brought here, these services should have been secured. They applied for the right of occupation in 2016 but only moved in this year, without our systems being ready.
— George Ncebesha, assistant manager in mayor's office
Two grade 9 pupils said they last sat for formal exams in March.
“Even if we were to write a national exam paper at the end of the year, we would definitely fail,” one pupil said.
“Teachers don’t get a chance to come to class and when they do, it’s only for a few hours,” another said.
Parent Irene Kokoropo described the school as a health hazard.
“Children contract infections because of these toilets. Sometimes the toilets are not drained and cleaned for two weeks.”
Paul Mokoena, chairperson of the SA Democratic Teachers Union in Evaton South, said teachers and pupils had lost patience.
“We tolerated it at first because the school was new and still being built, but now it’s September and nothing has changed,” he said.
“Many teachers have suffered infections from these toilets. Absenteeism is high and some have exhausted their sick leave because they keep going to the doctor for the same problems, either infections or diarrhoea.”
Sometimes, staff have asked neighbours to use their toilets and to get water.
“When you have to relieve yourself, you must leave the premises, which is a very serious problem,” Mokoena said.
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona blamed the lack of water on the Emfuleni local municipality, saying they were not “able to locate the funds paid in April for water connection”.
“Consequently, as an interim solution, mobile toilets were used while waiting for water to be connected,” he said.
George Ncebesha, the assistant manager in mayor Sipho Radebe’s office, criticised the education department for opening the school prematurely.
“The school started operating without being connected to bulk water and electricity. Before learners were brought here, these services should have been secured. They applied for the right of occupation in 2016 but only moved in this year, without our systems being ready,” he said.
“Even if people want to blame the municipality, the truth is that the department moved learners here without completing all the requirements. They never opened an account with us, meaning there was no billing arrangement for water or electricity. Essentially, the school is operating outside formal systems and that puts a huge burden on us to intervene reactively,” he said.
Thabiso Radebe, secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies in the Sedibeng region, said the lack of basic infrastructure was unacceptable.
“The school is running on a generator. Learners and educators are suffering,” he said, adding that the lack of water had disrupted the school’s feeding scheme.
Ncebesha said the municipality would begin installing bulk water services immediately and provide water tankers in the interim.
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