The Gauteng Education Department says schools need to spend monies allocated to them for maintenance.
The Department was reacting to claims by teacher union – SAOU – that 18 classrooms at Hoërskool Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, are not being used due to their extreme state of dilapidation.
SAOU says an engineering company employed by the school found that the classroom floors had sagged and there were visible cracks on the reinforced concrete floors.
It has also been found that the three-storey building where these classes are located pose a danger to learners.
The Department’s Steve Mabona says they will follow up on the matter.
He says the Department has money allocated from its budget to schools and this money should be used for the maintenance of these schools.
He says: “We do not want to find a school dilapidated due to mere maintenance.”
“We indicate to them that if you feel the money we give you is not enough then escalate this to us so that we take over the process of rehabilitation or refurbishing the area that you are concerned with,” adds Mabona.
