As thousands of pupils made their way back to school yesterday, 845 pupils and staff from Ndzalama Primary School in Limpopo were greeted by the same dilapidated building they left last year.
Ndzalama is one of four schools around Giyani who dragged the national department of education to court in October to force it to activate the Educational Infrastructure Grant (EIG) it suspended to divert money towards Covid-19 in 2020.
Ndzalama, together with Dingamanzi and Bvuma primary schools and Chameti Secondary School want the department to reinstate the EIG so their schools can be renovated.
Yesterday, the situation at the school appeared to have worsened since Sowetan’s last visit in October. The floors were cracked and the ceilings were falling apart. Some classrooms were unusable after the ceilings were blown away by storm years ago. Now teachers are forced to cram learners into other classrooms, which is also not safe.
The school’s SGB chairperson Solange Solly Milambo said they were disappointed by the government’s inaction.
“I feel so bad. We thought by now learners would at least be attending inside mobile classrooms while we wait for the infrastructure to be fixed. But I will not rest until our school gets proper classrooms because it’s long overdue,” Milambo said.
Ndzalama, a mathematics and science school, attracted 744 pupils last year but this number has now gone up by 101, with more expected to enrol in the coming days.
A teacher at the school said the situation was frustrating.
“Having to come to dilapidated buildings and cracked floors affects us psychologically. What I find particularly disturbing are the delays in solving our problem,” she said.
At Dingamanzi primary, about 20 minutes' drive from Giyani CBD, lack of proper classrooms is still a problem with a block of four classrooms written off because of broken ceilings and potholed floors. They are now relying on four mobile classrooms and four brick and mortar classrooms.
SGB chairperson Hatlane Mathebula said: “We are desperate for our pupils to get proper classes because these mobiles are unbearable... when the weather gets hot they get hotter.”
Civic organisation Section27 filed court papers before the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in October and the department is expected to file their response next month.
Senior attorney at Section27 Zeenat Sujee said a court date would be set once all papers had been filed. Sujee said they granted the department an extension to file answering papers to allow them enough time to respond adequately.
She said it was disappointing that the department was slow to address infrastructure issues at schools. “It’s really unfortunate that we are in the same position and there’s no improvement in infrastructure at schools,” Sujee said.
Department spokesperson Mike Maringa said he could not comment on the matter as it was sub judice.
mahopoz@sowetan.co.za
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