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Secondary school learners
Schooling has been disrupted by torrential rains in some areas in the North West province. Learning was halted at several schools due to flooding and collapsed infrastructure while some learners did not report to school due to inaccessible roads that affected scholar transport.
Torrential rain has been falling in many parts of the country for almost a week. In the North West province, some roads were closed due to floods, forcing motorists to manoeuvre slow traffic.
“Currently I’m staying in a top village where there are no good roads. The roads are very bad when it rains like this we are really affected. We cannot even drive. We cannot take our kids to school accurately whereby in the morning sometimes we have to call our fellow brothers who are driving big bakkies to come and assist us when our cars are stuck in the mud,” a motorist says.
Schools were also not spared, as pupils were returned home.
A parent says, “Our children were unable to attend school today due to the damage the rain has caused to the roads.”
Another adds, “My kids didn’t come to school. We were given a message yesterday that the kids must not attend school today. We’re worried as parents about infrastructure.”
Ceilings collapse
Signal Hill Primary School is one of the affected schools. Learning was halted, after ceilings collapsed in a number of classes.
“As a member of the School Governing Body (SGB), along with other parents, we are deeply concerned about the poor condition of this school. We have no proper toilets, and the overall structure is in a bad state. You can see for yourself that the ceiling has collapsed. Just imagine the harm it could have caused if it had fallen while the children were in class. We urgently need the department to step in for the safety and well-being of our children,” says SGB Secretary Mathapelo Kepu.
The Provincial Department of Education says it will commence with damage assessment.
“I can confirm that today we received reports from district directors through circuit managers. We do have the list of all the schools that are affected. As I’m talking to you now after addressing this particular event, I’m going to Lerontsi, Lesedi secondary school in Tswaing, which is one of the schools that are affected by the rain. We continue to encourage principals that there must be smooth communication between our schools and the parents so that they are able to know whether the learning and teaching are taking place or not,” says NW Education MEC Viola Motsumi.
The department has also issued a circular, advising schools to pause learning until next week.
