Parents of children attending Eldridge Primary School in Extension Two, are up in arms after a contractor assigned to build new classrooms and renovate the school has gone to ground following complaints of poor workmanship and the use of substandard materials in completing the project.
The school hall which was funded by residents, was partitioned into seven classrooms which housed approximately 320 learners in Grades Four, Five, Six and Seven. This was to be a temporary solution put in place for a period not exceeding nine months, but learners have been receiving instruction there for well beyond that timeframe.
This has become a safety hazard for learners and educators alike and a decision was taken by the principal, Jacobus Cloete, to remove the partitions.
Cloete confirms that the school are awaiting the delivery of five mobile classrooms to accommodate learners, but this has not happened since 2014. Parents have taken to drawing up a petition against what they view as an unsafe, impractical solution to the issue.
Planned renovations at the school were ended by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) because of the poor quality materials used by the contractor. The call from parents is that a brick and mortar structure be built with quality workmanship which will foster and enhance a culture of pride in the school.
Cloete points out that the school has suffered major financial losses as the school hall was used to host various cultural and sporting events which were supported by the community.
Efforts by the school to contact the previous contractor has borne no fruit.
Cheryl Pillay, community activist and Local Drug Action Committee chairperson, said, “The situation is untenable and the matter needs to be addressed as soon as possible to restore a semblance of pride in the learning institutions within our community.”
Zain Kaldine, former School Governing Body chairperson at the school added that, “I am amazed that the situation has gone so long without redress. This is not an environment conducive to learning and teaching.”
Daniel Louw, Natural Sciences and Technology educator at the school says that he has requested president Zuma’s assistance in July this year and is still awaiting a response from the president’s office.
Brand van den Heever at the Gauteng Department of Education has advised that their office is awaiting approval for the purchase of mobile classrooms to accommodate the learners on a temporary basis and has confirmed that DID has advertised the project and will get contractors to the site and subject to review, will enter into a contract to complete the four remaining blocks at the school.
van den Heever also informed the Eldorado Urban News reporter that the second phase of the project, intended to begin early next year, will see the demolition of all blocks built by the previous contractor and the replacement of these with brick and mortar.
