Pit toilets in schools a constant worry for Limpopo parents
Defying court orders and self-imposed deadlines, the Limpopo education department has failed to eradicate pit toilets at schools in the province.
Defying court orders and self-imposed deadlines, the Limpopo education department has failed to eradicate pit toilets at schools in the province.
Learners at Lwandisa complain that classes have been combined in the classrooms that are still usable, leading to overcrowding.
Half of the school’s prefab buildings are dilapidated, with rats and bees resident and the wind passing through.
Education minister belabours the impact of Covid-19 on learning and teaching amid dismal literacy scores.
According to the department of education in the Eastern Cape, the improvement of facilities at almost half of the schools in the province is delayed while about a fifth have no electricity.
The department says it is doing its best to place learners who applied late.
The Grade 12 learners at the school this year say they are feeling the pressure to beat the 70% pass rate achieved by the class of 2022.
Sadtu says there is a shortage of more than 2,000 teachers in KwaZulu-Natal.
While some schools in the Eastern Cape may have sufficient teachers, they may not have a library or laboratory – like Gcinubuzwe Combined School in Jansenville.
Reports by Sadtu regions in the EC add to concerns raised by members of parliament over the state of readiness of schools to re-open in the province.
Parents and SGBs of mud schools in Port St Johns say they have tried in vain to get government to build proper classrooms.
Despite government’s repeated promises to upgrade sanitation facilities in South African schools, pit toilets are all that is available to 200 learners at the school, and only one is usable.