A protest at Solomon Qatyana Primary School in Asanda Village, which halted learning from Monday 27 to Thursday 30 January, has raised significant concerns over the school’s infrastructure and the backlog of schoolwork.
The protest was sparked by the community’s frustration with the ongoing use of temporary mobile classrooms at the school.
On those days disgruntled protesters gathered outside the gates of Solomon Qatyana Primary School, demanding the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) fulfil its promise of building a permanent school in 2025.
Due to the protest action many parents were forced to keep their children at home, leaving teachers in a difficult position.
“We lost five days of school because of the protest,” said one teacher, who wished to remain anonymous.
She expressed concern over the backlog of work students now need to catch up on, noting that although teachers had developed a plan to help students recover lost time compensating for it remained a challenge.
“It’s not our fault that we lost those days, but now it’s our responsibility to ensure the learners catch up,” she said.
The teacher shared the difficulty of teaching in the temporary mobile classrooms, which have been in use since the school’s inception in 2005.
“During the summer children get nosebleeds from the heat in the classroom and, in winter, rain floods the classroom up to knee level.”
Although she empathised with the protesters, she felt the community sometimes painted teachers with the same brush as they did the WCED.
“If I were building a house I would know how many rooms I needed and planned accordingly. It does not seem as if the WCED has done that in its construction of schools.”
The school reopened on Friday 31 January, following a meeting between district officials and the community on Thursday.
“The process for determining school needs and new infrastructure projects was explained,” said Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the WCED.
She further explained that the department had never committed to replacing Solomon Qatyana Primary with a new school in 2020-’21.
“We have, however, committed to expanding access to schools within the area, which included the new Lwandle school precinct development, which opened in January this year.”
Further to the WCED’s comments, DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette’s enquiries regarding the department’s assistance in making up for the lost school days and their awareness of the alleged issues surrounding temporary mobile classrooms had not been answered at the time of going to press.
