The educational system in South Africa has a recurrent problem with inadequate school facilities. Despite efforts to find answers, the issue still exists, particularly at schools found in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
eMagcekeni Primary School in KwaNongoma in the Zululand area is one of several schools that suffer from having fewer classrooms than they can efficiently accommodate.
Beginning in July, the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education moved the school’s students to another location while the promised deployment of mobile classrooms was still pending.
Dongothule Primary School was reported to have sufficient space to accommodate the learners from eMagcekeni Primary School, as well as good infrastructure, while eMagcekeni Primary was labeled as “un-viable”, with only 87 learners in attendance.
The school is one of many in the province which has been historically disadvantaged. The Department said it was committed to prioritizing such schools located in the poorest communities, including multi-grade, multiphase, farm, and rural schools.
“We are not only addressing the issue of classrooms but are also building administration blocks for school principals and management teams. In addition, we will also ensure to bring essential services such as water, electricity, and decent sanitation,” added the Department.
In January 2021, the South African Amnesty International Organization released a report that revealed the number of pit latrine toilets that still exist in South African schools.
The province that held the top position was KwaZulu-Natal with approximately 80% of schools still relying on this outdated lavatory system.
Pit toilets are a health hazard, but are also unsafe, degrading, and unlawful; there have been many cases where school learners have fallen into these pit toilets, resulting in deaths.
Many South African learners are forced to attend school within run-down buildings, often worrying that they will collapse; resulting in injuries or death. Learners often have no other choice but to use unsafe sanitation facilities or relieve themselves in nearby fields.
Furthermore, South Africa’s courts have repeatedly stated that the connections between pit toilets and learners’ ability to study should not go un-noticed. Poor infrastructure overall has a negative impact on the health and wellness of school learners, and the quality of education that takes place.
“Even new schools that are built [are] not up to standard and in some schools in the Eastern Cape, we’ve got schools that are newly bought [but] the toilets are still not functional; there is no water supply,” said the Vice-President of the National Professional Teacher’s Organization of South Africa (NAPTOSA), Tinus Du Preez,
Du Preez continued by saying that the responsibility to ensure that functional and decent infrastructure within schools lies with the National Department, as that is where the funding comes from.
Although changes to the unfavorable conditions of schooling environments in poorer communities have been highlighted and addressed numerous times, the delivery of such promises has been slow.
A meeting was recently held between the Department of Basic Education and those carrying out school infrastructure projects, which included Minister Angie Motshekga, Deputy Minister Dr. Reginah Mhaule, Director General in the Department Mathanzima Mweli, and the CEOs of implementing agents.
Minister Motshekga stated that the Department would no longer tolerate the slow pace of delivery and poor workmanship in the school infrastructure projects.