School alignment dispute subject pupils to take lessons under trees
Laersdrift – Over 90 learners from Sango Secondary School in Laersdrift outside Groblersdal are subjected to take their lessons under trees, allegedly because they cannot be admitted at Laersdrift Primary School due to a dispute between principals of the two schools in the area.
Laersdrift Combined School has learners from Grade R to Grade 9, while the Sango Combined School educates learners from Grade R right through to matric.
Sango Secondary School is severely constrained by lack of infrastructure and must cope with up to 90 learners per class in the junior phases, while senior students and matriculants are having their classes under trees without desks.
Recently, the Department of Education in Limpopo (LDoE) has directed that the Grade 8 to matric learners be moved to the Laersdrift school facilities and the Grade R to Grade 7 learners move to the Sango facility to relieve the pressure on both schools and to accommodate the learners in formal classrooms without overcrowding.
However, the principal of Laersdrift Primary has allegedly seemingly refused to comply with the directive from the LDoE, leaving the students suffering from the consequences of his actions.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality (EMLM) said the problem was brought to their attention by concerned community members in the area.
DA Constituency Head in EMLM, Lindy Wilson, said the party has written to the MEC for Education, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, asking for an urgent intervention on the matter and for disciplinary action to be taken against the principal of the Laersdrift Primary School.
“We will not sit by while our learners suffer the consequences of political games. Furthermore, a petition from the community will be handed over to the MEC by the DA, demanding immediate intervention,” she said.
Wilson added that the party is concerned because the challenge of billions in school infrastructure backlogs and classroom shortages affects the quality of education the learners receive.
“It is little wonder that 54 000 students dropped out of school between Grade 10 in 2021 and Grade 12 in 2023. In the Western Cape, a school was recently built in 71 days to address these types of challenges,” she said.
LDoE Spokesperson Matome Taueatsoala, said the department is fully aware about the situation, however, he is dismissing the claims that the principal of Laersdrift Primary is refusing to admit desperate pupils from Sango Combined School.
“It should also be cleared that the principal of Laersdrift is not refusing nor rejecting the realignment nor directive from the department as it is carried out in the statement. An application for the realignment of the two schools was approved, meaning the two schools were to swap learners. That is, Sango Secondary learners will be moved to Laersdrift and Laersdrift Primary learners would be moved to Sango,” he said.
Taueatsoala said the decision was taken on an educational sound reason and based on the requirements of the South African Schools Act that we only have two types of schools which are primary and secondary.
“The decision was that primary learners be moved to Sango as it is situated in the center of the village and safe for primary learners as it is closer to their homes and all secondary learners will then be catered at Laersdrift,” he said.
Taueatsoala indicated that the Governing Body of Laersdrift raised concerns about the realignment to the extent that they escalated the matter to the National Association of School Governing Bodies.
“This association took the matter to the High Court to challenge the departmental decision and the outcome of the court is that the approval by the Accounting Officer be set aside. The department will dispatch a team to conduct more investigation and provide necessary support,” he said.