Parents of learners at Kwanang Primary School in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga have threatened to shut down the school if the government does not build a new school for the learners. The school was built by parents more than 40 years ago and no maintenance has been done to date.
Dilapidated building and overcrowded classrooms are some of the issues parents of learners at Kwanang Primary school are concerned about. The parents feel their children are exposed to danger, having to learn in such conditions.
According to the parents, they have exhausted all options to get help for the school to be rebuilt.
“Our children’s lives are in danger as the school is not in a good condition. The school was built a long time ago and the walls are cracking. This school might fall anytime. We are asking the department to help us because we have gone to the department and we went to all these different places to get help and till today, we were not helped,” says Duduzile Lubisi, member of the School Governing Body.
Parents are also livid that a police station is being built in the area instead of a school.
“We feel so much pain with the situation of the school. What is more painful is that we have been to so many places, and no help. What hurts us the most is that two weeks back, we had a meeting with the chief and he told us that they met with the police, management was there and they told us that they want build a police station that was supposed to be built 2026. So, they are prioritising a police station over a school,” says parent Elvis Banda.
“The department sent engineers at the end of September to assess the damage. They will send us the report, and we will take it from there,” says deparmernt spokesperson, Gerald Sambo.
According to the department, the school was given four mobile classes in 2019 to ease the overcrowding in the classrooms.
