PARENTS SHUT DOWN SCHOOL: ‘FIX OUR TOILETS!’

Parents closed Van Coller Primary School on Wednesday as other schools started teaching the learning.

As schools across the country started their first day at school, parents in Van Coller Primary School in Komani and Newtown High School in Fort Beaufort turned away groups of learners who came to school on Wednesday (14/1).

Parents in Newtown were complaining about classrooms as learners are crammed like sardines into five prefabricated classrooms.

According to the parents, more than 300 pupils and six teachers are crammed into five prefabricated classrooms

The parents have given the department until Sunday to fix all the vandalized toilets and infrastructure at the school.

According to the angry parents, the basic things that need the attention are the toilets, fence and cutting of grass.

Parent Bulelani Qowa said they will only allow their children back to school when the department has fixed the toilets.

“We can not expose our children to such conditions. If we allow them to come to a school like this, we will be exposing them in unhealthy conditions.

“They can’t use the toilets as there are no toilets and there is a need to fix the fence around the school,” he said.

Qowa said the vandalism at the school was done by residents of the nearby informal settlement who cut the fence in order to get access to water and toilets.

“In order to address the issues at the school we need to first look after the school and not allow vandals inside,” he said.

Another parent Lizalise Swaartbooi said they have set their key priorities clear to the department.

“We have short-term goals and long term goals. As part of our short-term goals is for the department to fix the toilets, cut the grass and fix the windows,” he said.

He said they are aware that the school has been in the list of schools that were going to be renovated in the province for the past three years but nothing has been done.

“We have decided to keep our children at home until next week as the department has promised to bring plumbers to fix the water and toilet problem at the school,” he said.

He said their long term goals is to have the whole school renovated and for the school governing body (SGB) to report to the parents on what they have been doing to fix these problems.

“On Sunday the SGB will be giving us the financial report and explaining to us why they have ignored the issue of toilets for years.

Community leader Axolile Masiza said the situation in Van Coller shows that there is a problem of service delivery facing the residents of the informal settlement.

“We need to address the issue of service delivery because those residents come to the school to get water and to use the toilets which they don’t have,” he said.

The department of education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the first day at school went well in all parts of the province except for the two schools where parents closed schools.

He said in Newtown parents were demanding classes and the department will be distributing prefabricated classrooms to the school soon.

“In Van Coller, a contractor will be appointed by the department to fix the toilets,” he said.