The first day of the third term for a Tembisa high school kicked off with learners picketing outside the school demanding critical resources such as chairs, tables, textbooks and proper sanitation.
The learners of JB Matabane Secondary School in Tembisa staged a picket at the school yesterday morning demanding that the school’s toilets be fixed, more classrooms be built, and for desks and chairs to be provided; a clear time frame on when the school infrastructure will be repaired and a meeting with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
According to the pupils, there is a lack of critical resources at the school such as chairs, tables, textbooks, proper sanitation and proper classrooms.
“This environment is not conducive for learners and today we are here expressing our feelings towards the education systems because we think our rights have been violated by the Department of Education,” said one of the learners who organised the picket yesterday morning.
“We want brick and mortar classrooms,” said another pupil.
According to a statement written by learners that was released by Equal Education (EE), the JB Matabane Secondary School pupils have been learning in mobile classrooms for about 10 years and these classrooms have deteriorated and lack adequate furniture as learners found themselves overcrowded in classrooms and sitting on tables and at times on the floor.
“Throughout the process of learning, which is already made worse by the environment we are in, we meet challenges that affect our participation in class and thus undermine the process of learning and teaching as a whole. The lack of critical resources such as chairs, tables, textbooks, proper sanitation and even worse classrooms makes the process of learning unbearable as teachers have to constantly make plans and this means even learning under trees,” the learners said.
The pupils added that in class, they lose focus and find themselves losing interest in school because of their learning conditions.
“We believe that this is the root of the dropout rates we see, the use of illegal substances, teenage pregnancy and the social ills that our society is facing. Our plight as the kids of the working class is undermined and this further feeds the cycle of crime and poverty that is prevalent in our community of Ivory Park,” the learners said.
Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed that officials visited the school to receive a memorandum of demands which included furniture and infrastructure.
“Identified furniture required will be delivered in due course. We are done with a process of identifying all mobile schools which need to be replaced by brick-and-mortar schools. JB Matabane is part of that process and such schools will be eradicated,” Mabona said.
He added that the department condemned any disruption of schooling; more so during a time when every day counts as schools have already lost several critical school days due to such disruptions.
“We urge all stakeholders to use available structures to raise issues of concern and not resort to disrupting the limited learning and teaching time we have. Lost contact time is not easily recovered. We will monitor the situation and intervene accordingly,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, yesterday wasn’t the first time there was a demonstration at JB Matabane Secondary School about the school’s infrastructure. In 2018 and 2019, the community and parents at the school picketed due to the poor state of the infrastructure. In early 2019, Lesufi allegedly committed to fixing the school and later that year Motshekga visited the school.
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