Pupils, parents march to save school

Community worker David Van Wyk is joined by Uitsig High School pupils, as they hand over a memorandum to the Western Cape Provincial Legislature to keep their school open. Picture: David Ritchie

Community worker David Van Wyk is joined by Uitsig High School pupils, as they hand over a memorandum to the Western Cape Provincial Legislature to keep their school open. Picture: David Ritchie

Published Jan 25, 2017

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Cape Town – Fears of their children falling prey to gangsters should Uitsig High School close saw parents and pupils march to the Provincial Legislature to hand over a memorandum in the hopes of keeping their school open.

Matric pupil Charne Slinger said she didn’t want to go to another nearby school, St Andrews, as it was a technical high school.

“We are not only fighting for ourselves but others that might want to go there, so they can also attend a school that is close by. Even though we are being taught in the containers they gave us and it gets very hot in summer and cold in winter, we push through and do our best.”

Fellow matric pupil Chandre Meintjies said she has been at the school since Grade 8 and described it as “the best school you could ever have”.

“They need to fix all those classes and have proper security. It is the only school in the area and I don’t want to see it closed.”

Chantal Simons, a parent of a matric pupil at the school, said they tried to make the best of a bad situation and fixed up the school, which is a regular target of vandalism.

She said they had acted as security guards during school holidays, getting the water turned back on and providing school lunches for the children.

“Why must other people do it when the education department doesn’t do anything? We put into that school but the department doesn’t want to. We want a new school, that school is over 50 years old. Last year we had a 75% matric pass rate, why must it close?”

Simons said they fear should children from Uitsig go to schools in neighbouring areas, more of them would be involved in gangs. “The Ravensmead gangsters don’t want our children there.”

The department head of education, Brian Schreuder, said: “Vandals have continued to vandalise the school to the extent that the school is unsafe and no longer habitable, despite the deployment of security guards. Our district office has arranged accommodation for the 125 learners elsewhere where they have access to safer, better resourced schools.”

Cape Argus

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