The Eastern Cape department of education has come under criticism for spending more than R30m to provide prefabricated structures for schools in the province’s rural areas instead of building proper classrooms.
The department says prefab structures were faster and more cost effective to erect than conventional brick and mortar structures.
Mceula Senior Secondary School in Cala village cost the department R11m for 20 additional classrooms. Mokheseng Senior Secondary in Mehloloaneng, Matatiele, had 10 classrooms that cost the department R10.7m.
Mhlontlo Senior Secondary in Kuliweni had 17 additional classrooms that cost the department close to R10m, while the five additional classrooms at Rabula Senior Secondary were built at a cost of R5.8m. The department said apart from providing prefab classrooms for the rural schools, they provided water, sanitation and electricity.
Some teachers complained that the prefab structures could be very hot in summer, which makes it difficult for children to concentrate.
“You should see the sweat running in children’s faces on hot days. The money could have been spent on building proper classrooms,” said the teachers.
Children’s rights activist Petrus Majola of the Khula Community Development Project said as much as children had a right to basic education, they should be given education in a decent environment. “Those prefabs are not classrooms but are shacks. When it is hot they become too hot and on cold days you will find water dripping from the roof, which poses a danger to kids,” Majola said.
The DA’s Sandile Magaqa, who is responsible for human settlements, said a prefab structure needs to have a life span.
“You cannot give a school a prefab that will only last for less than 15 years. The department is trying to use short cuts to satisfy communities that have been complaining about lack of service delivery. Unfortunately, these short cuts will cost them a lot,” Magaqa said.
Social media users also did not spare the department criticism, complaining that their children were not being taken seriously.
Andiswa Mashiya wrote on Facebook: “Then EC government wonders why many children are sent to their relatives in other provinces to go study.”
Nkosinathi Mya added: “And the department is excited to be sharing temporary structures that don’t even last a year. That time their children attend schools with better infrastructure.”
Athie Mbulelo said: “I wonder who introduced these things in the Eastern Cape, prefab is a cold room.”
Education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said the department had successfully completed numerous projects providing additional classrooms and sanitation facilities using these alternative building methods.
“Modular buildings [prefabs] are being used more often in construction as they offer better acoustics, improved health and safety, [are] environmentally friendly, cool in warm conditions, [at] lower risk of damage, cheap, [need] shorter construction time and the structure can easily be deconstructed and moved to another site,” Pulumani said.
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