Angry parents shut-down school over shortage of classrooms
Magakadimeng
A group of aggrieved parents, have on Wednesday 25 January, suspended classes at Maila Nkokonono Secondary School with immediate effect.
The parents complain against shortage of classrooms and teachers, which they say dates back to 2008. The angry parents vow to stand to their decision until the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) delivers mobile classrooms that they were promised since October last year.
The secondary school, in Magakadimeng Village in Dennilton, Moutse, has only six classrooms, accommodating pupils from grade eight to grade eleven.
The learners are urged to cramp in one classroom per grade also experiencing a serious shortage of desks, chairs and teachers.
To make matters worse, the overcrowded learners are doing three different streams of subjects in each classroom, which disrupts lessons because the teachers are unbaled to attend them.
A parent, Ellah Mashiloane, said parents took the resolution to suspend the classes because they ran out of patience.
“The problem was raised with the Department of Education years back. They promised to do something about this situation and we are still in vain waiting for their intervention,” she said.
According to Mashiloane, during a parents meeting in October last year, the LDoE promised to provide two mobile classrooms as a temporary relief measure to the overcrowding problem.
“We were informed that the mobile classrooms will be delivered within two weeks, which was in November last year. We went to check during the schools reopening day and still the classrooms were not delivered. This is the reason the parents are angry and decided to shut-down the school,” she said.
Mashiloane said parents vowed that classes will not resume until the mobile classrooms are delivered at the school.
“Parents have lost hope with the government and believe that an immediate action should be taken so that their demand could be heard,” she said.
Mike Maringa, LDoE Spokesperson, said they were not aware of disruptions of lessons at the school.
“What I know is that mobile classrooms will be delivered around February for all the schools in need in the province,” he said.
