The parents of children at the Seatides Combined School on the north coast, are hoping that when classes resume tomorrow it will be in a safe environment. The school was battered by a tornado that hit the area last month.
While the Grade 12 pupils are being taught at Anton Lembede Maths and Science Technology Academy in La mercy, the Grade R to the Grade 11 pupils, could not return to school this week like the rest of the province.
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka, and the Head of Department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, visited the school on Monday with the principal Kola Govender, to inspect the damage and the state of readiness for the new mobile classrooms.
But parents fearing for their children’s safety are worried about their return. Jonathan Naidoo, the chairperson of the school governing body (SGB) said that they were concerned about the condition of the grounds. “A team of officials arrived at school to assess the school's state of readiness in respect of the completion of the construction of temporary classrooms on our school grounds.
“Twenty seven classroom units have already been partially erected, and the Department of Education has called for all learners to return to school.”
Naidoo said while the SGB was appreciative of the 27 classrooms being available, it was concerned about the safety and state of readiness of the classrooms and surroundings.
They were worried about contractors still working on site, unsatisfactory and unstable ablution facilities “coupled with no electricity and incomplete plumbing.”
Naidoo added: “There are safety hazards which include, nails, slip and trip hazards, builders rubble, no access route for vehicles, strong fumes from glue in classrooms, construction vehicles on site, incomplete fencing with sharp edges, classrooms incomplete with no official handover, classrooms partially furnished, walkway incomplete and no assembly area.
“We the SGB deem the site unsafe for our children to attend and we await official handover.”
Anamika Maharaj, chairperson of the Deeply Concerned Parents committee and a teacher, said they had agreed that no pupils should be at the school until the outstanding issues were resolved.
“The department wanted all grades from preschool to grade 12 to return to school on Tuesday. It was worrying that school opened without it being safe for the children. We as parents took the decision not to send our children on Tuesday.
“We have been assured that progress is being made to make the area safe for learners. We acknowledge the efforts by the department and are grateful for the classrooms, however, as parents we are concerned about the safety of our children.
“The reason for concerns were the toilets, no running water and the safety of the learners. Safety is a basic human right and we saw it unfit to let the learners return,” said Maharaj.
Govender, the principal, said, “The school was reopened on Tuesday with only a handful of children returning, the parents were worried and found the school unsafe for their children.
“The safety of the learners is important, we have to declare certain areas restricted because of safety.
“We have outstanding issues; however, the department saw it fit to reopen. They heard our concerns on Tuesday and they are in the process of repairing and installing more acceptable toilets for the learners,” said Govender.
The school has more that 900 pupils.
“The department said they will fix the issues and we are optimistic that they will come through for our school. We looked forward to coming back to school, we are grateful for the temporary classrooms and the furniture which was given to us.
“We hope that on Monday, all the repairs and issues are fixed so we can get back to teaching and learning,” said Govender.
The private sector, through Gift of the Givers and other organisations, has contributed 70% of what is needed to fix the school.