First day of school at Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School gone wrong
First day of school gone wrong as the situation got tense at Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School in Pimville Zone 5.
Parents were profusely angry when they discovered that a newly installed ceiling has collapsed in one the classrooms.
The school governing body (SGB) together with parents refused to allow their children to attend school as usual under these risky conditions, which have been going on for years.
“We are here as the SGB and parents concerning the issue of the Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School infrastructure. This school has no toilets. Both the educators and the leaners share one toilet, our children have to stay pressed and wait for school to be out to relieve themselves at home,” said one of the SGB members.
According to the parents their children have been learning under poor infrastructure for over ten years and no action has been taken. Communication had been sent to the Department of Education (DOE) asking for mobile units.
One of the parents said, “The last newsletter stated that the process of developing the school will take place from November 16 to December 2022. It’s very sad to find the school today in the same condition we left it in last year.
“We are just urging the DOE to assist us with mobile toilets and classrooms for our children while they are deciding when they will fix the school,” he added.
The issue of proper sanitation in school is not only about the health of the children but it is also about human decency. Because of the poor infrastructure of Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary school, children are denied the right to proper education.
Cllr Sebenzile Mabuza said, “After I had meetings with the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) and DOE. They promised me that the mobile units will be delivered when the schools reopen. The department is really letting us the community and our little ones down. A day lost for a child is enough to make a child fail,” Mabuza said.
