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Dwindling pupil numbers lead dept to close down school

Pupils in class
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More than 60 learners from Long Hope Primary School, near Elliot, Eastern Cape, have been left stranded since schools re-opened.

This small farm school has been closed by the provincial education department as part of its streamlining process where schools with less than 130 learners are closed down or integrated with other nearby schools.

The learners and teachers are left in limbo as they have not been provided alternatives schools.

The Long Hope primary school is about 10 km away from other schools in the area. The closure of the school means learners from Grade R to Grade 7 will walk close to 10 km to get to either the Montgomery or Rhino primary schools.

A near impossible task of the learners as scholar transport is not provided by the education department.

The learners are also now losing valuable school time as they are not attending any classes:

“We are sad because they are closing our school and we don’t have transport to go to other schools. I will have to cross two rivers for me to get to the other schools.”

“We want to continue with our studies here and we don’t want this school to close. We’ve been attending this school ever since we started schooling. We can’t be told now that our school is closed as we have already bought uniform.”

The school’s governing body says they were shocked when the department instructed them to remove their children from the school and find alternative schools for them.

SGB member Funani Shologu says they received a letter late in 2018.

“In October we received a letter to tell us that the school is closing. This year, Mr Malapi came early this year when we were supposed to open the school; he came and said there were no school because the school is closing. There were no school; there were no teachers because they told us they are going to look for the other school for the teachers. Then we’re supposed to stay with our kids at home.”

Parents attribute the dwindling scholar numbers at the school due to the lack of scholar transport. One of the parents, Mzunzima Mbanga, says some of the children live more than 5 km away.

“As parents this is not sitting well with us because government had promised to bring services closer to the people. Their kids are at school as we speak and ours are stranded. That’s what hurt us the most. I attended this school in 1960 as a child. Even the principal of this school was born in this farm and he went to this school. His parents and I went to the same school because it was the first school in this area.”

The department of education in the province has promised to dispatch its delegation to the school to investigate the matter.

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