Cape Town - In a tent in the scorching sun, about 800 primary school pupils from Grade R to 7 sat for hours trying to listen to what their teachers were trying to say above the noise made by speeding cars and rowdy passers-by.
Since the start of the academic year, these Mfuleni pupils have not participated in any formal education.
Their classroom, since Wednesday, has been a tent that was erected to serve as a church.
They have no textbooks, stationery, desks or chairs and neither do the teachers.
Teachers have to escort pupils to an abandoned field strewn with litter and which serves as a toilet, which they too have to use.
There is no running water and neighbours from nearby houses supply drinks of water as temperatures reach up to 35ºC.
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schafer, said the department was working with principals in the area to determine whether they had any space available at their schools.
“The district met community leaders regarding their concerns in Mfuleni. Their immediate demand was for a new school. The department advised the community leaders that they would be able to assist with placement of pupils. However, they would need the details of these pupils in order to place the children,” Shelver said.
Since Wednesday, however, the department had not received the details it had requested.
The department suspected that some of the pupils had already enrolled at other schools in Philippi and Khayelitsha.
“Because we do not have the list (of names of pupils), we cannot determine whether they are already enrolled in the area or outside the area. These children may very well be enrolled at schools in the area,” said Shelver.
The informal tent school was started by Ncebakazi Mbono, a qualified, unemployed teacher living in the area.
She was told that the pupils had not been accepted at any schools, and had been sitting at home “getting up to no good”.
“There are a lot of upset parents in the area. Many came to me and asked if I could do something to help.
“I decided that because I know a few more teachers who are also sitting at home and could not find work, that we (would) start this school and keep the children occupied,” said Mbono.
The tent school had 20 volunteer teachers by on Thursday, but needed more because the number of pupils attending was “growing every day”, Mbono said.
SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin said the environment the pupils were being taught in was not conducive to learning and that little or no learning could take place without the necessary resources.
“Sadtu finds the situation totally unacceptable. The union was assured by the Western Cape Education Department in 2015 that measures would be in place to accommodate all pupils in the province.
“The situation needs to be resolved speedily. It cannot continue. It is a violation of the pupils’ constitutional right to (an) education.”
Parent Buntukazi Mrululu said her son had been rejected from a nearby school because she had applied too late.
Babalwa Papi had the same grievance.
Papi said: “I am aware that I had not applied in time… but I had problems regarding his birth certificate.
“More schools need to be built in the area.”
A principal from a nearby school, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the five primary schools in the area were not enough to support the growing population.
“Mfuleni is facing a crisis. We need more education facilities.”
Cape Times