Yes, flood damage at KZN schools must be fixed pronto, but prioritise matrics

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Floating desks, thick mud and flooded grounds were among the sights that greeted education officials who visited some of the more than 600 schools affected by torrential rains that caused devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal eight days ago.

On Tuesday basic education minister Angie Motshekga and provincial education MEC Kwazi Mshengu visited schools to assess the impact of the floods, the consequences for teaching and learning and the infrastructure that would need to be repaired.

At Brettonwood High School, Motshekga was horrified to see some classrooms thick with mud, damaged desks and chairs in pools of water and flooded common areas outside the buildings after the the nearby Umbilo River burst its banks

She said the department was accessing engineers to evaluate the safety of schools that were structurally affected.

Motshekga was optimistic schooling should resume by Friday.

“We are taking it individually. You can see in this school the infrastructure is in place. What we need are textbooks and pupil support material,” she said.

School principal Ellen Zizhou said: “We are doing our best to bring our children back and are waiting for the department to send someone to tell us the building is safe. We are ready to teach but need peace of mind.”

Zizhou said the damage was huge after losing all administration infrastructure, including computers, telephone lines and the intercom at the 56-year old school.

“We had a fairly new innovated science lab. The loss financially is unthinkable, but human resources are still here and with the right support, we will rise again. We are hungry to start teaching but don’t know if it is safe. We are confident we will get the help,” she said.

Pompey Sukool, principal of Dr Macken Mistry Primary in Sea Cow Lake, said the water reached roof height, damaging furniture and destroying school records, books and files.

“When the water entered the rooms, with the pressure it created all our equipment was crushed and broken. All we are left with is the residue of mud, nothing else,” he said.

Mshengu said more than R442m would be needed to deal with more than 120 damaged schools.

“These are the preliminary figures. It is likely the number will go up. We are in the process of quantifying the numbers,” said Mshengu.

The minister’s visit to affected schools came amid a call by select committee on education and technology, sports, arts and culture chairperson Elleck Nchabeleng to prioritise matric pupils affected by the tragedy.

Nchabeleng said a clear provincial plan has to be drafted, adopted and approved by the department to ensure the impact of floods is taken into account during the upcoming mid-year examinations.

“The class of 2022 should be able to apply for tertiary placements and the mid-year examinations are a barometer by which many institutions base their admissions criteria. They have to attend to this as it threatens to have a long-term impact on the future of the affected pupils beyond the contact time they will miss.”

Nchabeleng said the committee was concerned prolonged disruption of class time could lead to learning gaps.

He said although the focus was correctly on infrastructure damage and immediate needs for the affected communities, the future and education needs of the children was also important.

Nchabeleng said virtual learning should supplement class time and if placement of the affected matric pupils at other schools was necessary, that should be considered without delay.

“This disaster calls for pulling together of resources even from the private sector and civil society to boost the initiatives of government. Every pupil should be accounted for and provided with the necessary support.”

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