Learners, teachers forced to walk to bushes to answer the call of nature
SOME 700 learners and their teachers are losing significant time each day just to relieve themselves in the bushes or drive 4km to use public toilets.
Alex Matlala
LIMPOPO – SOME 700 learners and their teachers are losing significant time each day just to relieve themselves in the bushes or drive 4km to use public toilets.
This situation is one that they are used to at Kgwekgwe High School in Moleketla village outside Tzaneen,.
On rainy days, some learners who have no wish to get wet, relieve themselves into plastic bags behind the school blocks and get rid of the waste after school. Those prepared to face the elements jump the school fence to use the bushes, which are often snake infested.
Teachers are forced to drive about 4km to Ga-Motupa Clinic or Relela police station to relieve themselves.
The school governing body (SGB) has allegedly tried in vain over a period of time to convince the department of education to provide them with toilets, “but it seems as if our pleas always fall on deaf ears”.
The principal, Sydney Manyama, told CV that the shortage of toilets had definitely affected learning and teaching at the school. Manyama said the only available toilets were not safe to use as there were no roofs and the walls had huge cracks in them, which could cause the walls to topple over at the drop of a hat.
“We had only two sets of pit toilets for a total of 714 pupils and 25 teachers. But all those toilets were blown away by a vicious storm in 2010,” Manyama said.
He further said the school was an inclusive school that enrolled both able children and children living with disabilities. He said those with disabilities were hard hit by the shortage as they could not walk long distances to the bushes.
Chairperson of the SGB, Obert Leswiswi, said the shortage negatively affected learners’ concentration and understanding during lessons.
Elsewhere, learners at Ramoba Secondary School in Thabina outside Lenyenye walk 500m from the school to use the toilets inside a busy bottlestore and tavern.
Asked what would be done about the study time that learners were losing out on, education head of communications, Dr Naledzani Rasila, said the department was working closely with curriculum advisors to find ways to recoup the time lost by learners. “But we have not encountered such challenges before and we believe we will cross that bridge when we get there,” Rasila said.
He further said the department would refurbish and build new toilets at 67 schools this financial year. He said over 90% of school toilets had been built the last financial year and the department aimed to address the shortage by the end of this and the next financial year.
“We had a problem with a service provider who was doing shoddy work and we terminated his contract. Today as we speak a new service provider was on the cards and work will resume soon,” he said.
