KZN schools battered by bad weather

A rural high school in central KwaZulu-Natal has been described as an accident waiting to happen after a classroom there collapsed at the weekend.

One remaining classroom‚ also on the brink of collapse‚ remains in use as the province braces for more torrential rains.

Over 300 schools in the province have been damaged as a result of bad weather over the past few months.

Enkangala High School‚ which caters for Grades 8 and 9‚ has now been reduced to a single structure‚ with the older grade relegated to learning under a tree.

Equal Education’s Luyolo Mazwembe said the building is partially constructed from mud and there are serious doubts about its structural integrity.

“The building has no door‚ no windows and no electricity. It is built from mud and brick and it is full of cracks and holes and it is a collapse waiting to happen‚” he said.

“When it started raining‚ the Grade 9s [who had been studying outside] had to be sent home early. Today we are going to interview the pupils. They have no idea what the future holds for them and they don’t know where they will be writing their final exams and they are worried‚” Mazwembe added.

He said the school’s infrastructure flew in the face of minimum norms and standards‚ adopted by the Department of Basic Education in 2013.

“They‚ in terms of these norms‚ should have a proper building with proper facilities‚ electricity and sanitation. It is illegal for these children to be schooled under these conditions and the department doesn’t care‚” he said.

Provincial education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said over 300 schools in the province had been damaged by bad weather.

“We need to visit the school to determine the extent to which it was damaged and‚ once that is done‚ we will check if it has affected teaching and learning. If so‚ we will provide mobile classrooms and then we will write a letter to the HOD to declare that school as an emergency‚” he said.

“We were aware of the situation at the school but [up until the collapse of the classroom] it had not affected teaching and learning‚ so we prioritised other schools which suffered worse damage in the storms.”