ActionSA has written to the MEC for Education, Mr Sipho Hlomuka, expressing our deep concerns about the appalling conditions at Mbandleni Primary School in KwaNongoma, Ward 22, under the iMona Circuit, following our oversight visit conducted yesterday after countless engagements with the school’s SGB.
The state of the school is unacceptable and highlights a severe failure by the Department of Education to provide a safe and conducive learning environment for learners and teachers.
The school, which was opened in 2011, has relied entirely on mobile classrooms since its inception. Despite additional mobile units being added in 2012 and 2015, the conditions remain dire.
These mobile classrooms are plagued by numerous challenges, including extreme heat and cold due to tin roofs, and the school’s location in a bushy area frequently attracts snakes and other reptiles, endangering the safety of learners and teachers.
Parents, with their limited resources, have taken it upon themselves to seal classroom floors with cement to prevent snakes from entering. However, this is only a temporary solution and does little to address the broader challenges faced by the school.
For over a decade, Mbandleni Primary School has been promised a proper school building, yet no action has been taken to fulfil this promise.
Mbandleni Primary School serves as a feeder school to a high school within its vicinity, making it undeniable that the quality of education at the primary school level is imperative for the success of high school learners.
The government cannot continue to only prioritise matric pass rates while neglecting the foundational stages of education in primary schools.
The focus must shift from quantity to quality, as the quality of primary education directly informs the performance and outcomes at the high school level.
The Department of Education must act now to uphold the constitutional right of every child to quality education in a safe and conducive environment.
ActionSA Writes to MEC for Education Demanding Urgent Intervention for Mbandleni Primary School in kwaNongoma
ActionSA has written to the MEC for Education, Mr Sipho Hlomuka, expressing our deep concerns about the appalling conditions at Mbandleni Primary School in KwaNongoma, Ward 22, under the iMona Circuit, following our oversight visit conducted yesterday after countless engagements with the school’s SGB.
The state of the school is unacceptable and highlights a severe failure by the Department of Education to provide a safe and conducive learning environment for learners and teachers.
The school, which was opened in 2011, has relied entirely on mobile classrooms since its inception. Despite additional mobile units being added in 2012 and 2015, the conditions remain dire.
These mobile classrooms are plagued by numerous challenges, including extreme heat and cold due to tin roofs, and the school’s location in a bushy area frequently attracts snakes and other reptiles, endangering the safety of learners and teachers.
Parents, with their limited resources, have taken it upon themselves to seal classroom floors with cement to prevent snakes from entering. However, this is only a temporary solution and does little to address the broader challenges faced by the school.
For over a decade, Mbandleni Primary School has been promised a proper school building, yet no action has been taken to fulfil this promise.
Mbandleni Primary School serves as a feeder school to a high school within its vicinity, making it undeniable that the quality of education at the primary school level is imperative for the success of high school learners.
The government cannot continue to only prioritise matric pass rates while neglecting the foundational stages of education in primary schools.
The focus must shift from quantity to quality, as the quality of primary education directly informs the performance and outcomes at the high school level.
The Department of Education must act now to uphold the constitutional right of every child to quality education in a safe and conducive environment.