GLENVISTA – Ground work is taking place despite the objections raised by the residents of the area and as far as can be ascertained there has been no approval from the Town Planning office either. The site does not lend itself to the establishment of playing fields as it is on the side of a hill.
While an additional school in the area is long overdue, the proposed prefab school is not in keeping with the economic status of the area. Most parents have worked hard to move into an area where their children can attend better schools so it would be extremely unlikely that any of the Glenvista residents would even consider sending their children to a prefab school as the perception is that a prefab school would mean an inferior education.
Teachers would agree that this is indeed the case as the teaching environment is negatively affected by the fact that a permanent structure has not been built. Even in an established school that has a few prefab classrooms the children behave badly and are of the opinion that only inferior teachers are required to teach in prefab classrooms while the better teaches are allocated proper classrooms.
Teaching in a prefab is much more difficult as the classroom is very noisy and very cold in winter or very hot in summer. Every desk or chair being moved reverberates in these classrooms making teaching extremely challenging.
If the children of Glenvista are not going to attend the school then why is the school being built on this site? It would be extremely short sighted of the GDE to build a school for children outside the area to attend. These children would then have to be transported into the area every day instead of being able to walk to school as should be the case. The cost of transport to the parents in a lower income group is extremely prohibitive. In addition these children’s lives are being put at risk as was seen in the accident in Kempton Park only last week where one child was killed and several injured. The taxis that transport these little ones are not required to have each child fastened into a seatbelt so even a minor accident can result in serious injury to a child. This situation is just not acceptable.
The children of Glenvista deserve a proper permanent school of brick and mortar.
Marilyn Swan
Ward 23 Committee Member for Community Development
*According to the GDE the school buildings will not be prefabricated but permanent structures. News Editor – Julie Maule
