Deteriorating school structure poses danger to pupils
Zaaiplaas
Concerned community members and parents of children schooling in a hazardous school structure in Zaaiplaas, say they are still worried about the safety of their children, despite raising numerous complaints with the Limpopo Department of Education (DoE).
Embhokodweni Primary School in Zaaiplaas Village outside Hlogotlou, Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality, is in dire state of despair with its roof falling apart and posing risk on learners.
The primary school was since constructed in the early 1980s by the old South African government and was never revamped or upgraded after its establishment about 40 years ago.
A concerned parent, Abram Mahlangu, told the publication that over the past three years, parents have been complaining about the bad state of the school building.
“We submitted letters to the Department of Education expressing our dissatisfaction about the structure of the school and no one bothers to attend to our pleas,” he said.
Mahlangu said in recent unfortunate incident, a ceiling collapsed, seriously injuring a Grade 6 pupil who ended up in hospital.
“This is the worst incident ever happened, the child sustained serious injuries when the ceiling board collapsed on him. We reported the problem to the Department of Education and still nothing happened,” he said.
Mahlangu informed that in May 2021, the Sekhukhune South District Department of Education Infrastructure team visited the school for assessment.
“Their report indicated that the school structure require urgent varying levels of refurbishment and repairs. We were told we are on a priority list of Planning Unit for Infrastructure. We were told submission was also being made to the Department of Public Works on replacement of roof and ceiling with painting in identified blocks. However, it has been over a year now and we are still waiting,” he said.
Mahlangu said parents are fed-up with empty promises and planning to shut-down the school until the structure is refurbished.
“We cannot allow our children to continue taking their classes in that deteriorating infrastructure. It is worse now in August because the roof rattles when it is windy and could collapse and cause injuries to more pupils during lessons,” he said.
When contacted for a comment, Limpopo Education Department Spokesperson, Mike Maringa, said the department has sent the matter to relevant directorate and will comment as soon as they get feedback.
