Hundreds of pupils from the newly built Ormonde Primary School returned home with their parents on the first day of school, following the school governing body’s decision to lock the gates, due to poor sanitation and a lack of books.
The school was expecting over 700 learners and was supposed to officially open on Wednesday, January 13.
The building was completed recently, after construction commenced in 2014.
Acting spokesperson for the MEC for Education, Oupa Bodibe, confirmed that the school does not have a municipal account, hence there is no electricity and the toilets and taps are not connected to a municipal drainage system.
The COURIER made contact with chairman of the SGB Teddy Nair on Tuesday, the day before schools were due to open, and he said: “The department brought a generator and 20 mobile toilets to the school, but those toilets are not safe for the children, because they do not lock and the small ones could fall in.
”Also, we are still waiting for books; we need the department to start delivering so teachers can start teaching.”
Nair informed the COURIER that they had communicated these challenges to the Department of Education on various occasions, but that nothing was done to address the problems.
Nair and the school principal met on Wednesday, and the challenges were put on the table, with the department promising swift action to replace mobile toilets with other mobile toilets that can flush the next day.
Caption>>> FIRST DAY, LAST DAY: A disappointed learner has nothing to do but sit on the ground and wait for his parents to fetch him after work.
