ActionSA raises concerns on conditions of Noordgesig Secondary School
"It is with great concern that our schools have opened and this specific school still does not have enough classes and still has asbestos classes which were closed by the Health Department due to health concerns."
ActionSA activist and former Member of Parliament, Tshepo Mhlongo together with other members of ActionSA recently visited Noordgesig Secondary School to conduct an oversight on the school readiness for the 2024 academic year.
This comes after numerous complaints over the issue of dilapidating infrastructure in the school and the shortage of classrooms to cater for the number of learners in the school.
According to Mhlongo, he wants to make it a normality to visit different schools in the area every year to assess where they lack and ways in which they can be assisted before the academic year commerce.
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This year they have chosen Noordgesig Secondary School after receiving complaints from residents.
“During the oversight visit we noted various points that we need to address, especially with the Gauteng Department of Education.
“It is with great concern that our schools have opened and this specific school still does not have enough classes and still has asbestos classes which were closed by the Health Department due to health concerns,” Mhlongo said.
He added that the Gauteng Department of Education was supposed to deliver 13 mobile classes, but only delivered eight.
“Mobile classes needs electricity with immediate effect. There has also been complaints and allegations that the principal of the school is undermining members of the SGB.
“We are due to look into these allegations by conducting an investigation in the upcoming meeting with members of the SGB because we have the schools best interest at heart and we want all stakeholders to be satisfied with the outcome.”
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Mhlongo said due to the shortage of classes, teachers have a rotation for Grade eight and nine classes so that no learner is left behind.
“We have reached out to the Department of Education on the challenge faced by the school and we are currently waiting for their response and hopefully a visit from the MEC.
“We are giving them until the end of February to deliver the outstanding five classrooms and we are really hoping that the Department will really take the matter seriously to ensure that learners have a condurcive teaching and learning environment.”
Members of ActionSA were due to have a follow up meeting with the SGB members on January 30.
