After the COURIER reported that a number of unplaced learners were temporarily placed at The Hill and Sir John Adamson high schools, Khume Ramulifho MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, visited The Hill High on February 17.
His visit was to conduct an oversight inspection to see how the learners and the teachers are doing and how they are adapting to the situation.
In total, there are 75 learners in Grade Nine and 10 at the school.
Two new mobile classrooms have also been erected on the school’s athletics field.
The Grade 10s are using the mobile classes, while the Grade Nines are using the pavilion as a classroom.
It was also established that these learners come from Johannesburg Central District and for the time being, the name of their school is New South High School.
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For now this is just a name as there is no physical building attached to it.
The Hill High, which belongs to Johannesburg South District, is helping out in accommodating the learners.
After the oversight inspection, Ramulifho said the DA was disappointed to discover that two different schools are being housed in one facility.
“The learners who are part of this new school are being transported every day by the district to their temporary schools, which is time-consuming.
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“Teachers are also frustrated as they have to rotate from one school to another.
“This current situation is not conducive for learning and teaching.
“These learners are being denied the opportunity of being taught in a proper school environment.
“It’s high time the department engages with the Department of Infrastructure Development to release the available vacant land to build more schools in Johannesburg South.
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“The DA calls on MEC Lesufi to prioritise building more new schools in this area to match the demand of new developments in Johannesburg South.
“This will also minimise current pressure faced by schools in the area,” explained Ramulifho.
Ward 56 councillor Michael Crichton was also present at the oversight inspection. He said: “This shows there is a problem with spacing in the province to house learners.
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“What concerns me is the distance the learners have to travel to get to school every day. It is very disruptive for them and puts pressure on the teachers as well.
“There is a lot of vacant land owned by departments such as the Department of Public Works.
“I implore the Gauteng Department of Education to look at these available areas for new schools.”
