Learning under a tree: Government slammed for not providing safe classrooms

The department of education is facing legal action for allegedly failing to provide safe and adequate school infrastructure for pupils who have been taught under trees since January in Limpopo.

Section27‚ a public interest law centre‚ said on Wednesday that pupils had been taught under trees at Makangwane Secondary School in Nonparella‚ Limpopo‚ since part of the school's corrugated-iron roof was ripped off during a storm.

The dilapidated building posed a threat to the safety of pupils‚ with support beams having previously fallen down in class‚ and the school governing body (SGB) decided that they be taught outdoors.

“This incident occurred after more than a decade of correspondence to the department about the state of the school buildings and the danger it poses‚” said the centre. A former principal alerted the department to the poor state of the school in a letter in 2006.

Pupils have fallen behind in the curriculum in their respective grades while being taught under trees. Matriculants were unable to write all of their first-term tests‚ the results of which would have been used for tertiary applications for 2019.

The centre accused the department of failing to ensure that there was safe and adequate infrastructure at the school‚ a situation which violated the rights of pupils and staff.

The centre was asked to intervene on behalf of the SGB and served papers on the department indicating that it was going to court to obtain an interdict to ensure that temporary classrooms were provided along with desks and chairs and that a fully-funded catch-up plan for pupils was in place.

On the day that legal papers were served‚ the department informed Section27 that mobile classrooms would not be delivered and the school would not be renovated. Instead‚ the department said that it planned to merge the school with a neighbouring school.

“The current state of affairs requires an urgent and immediate solution that is in the best interest of the learners to ensure that no learner is left behind. We therefore call on the department to act urgently and with viable solutions in the interests of the learners‚” said Section27.

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