Parents remove children from unsafe school

Angry parents of pupils attending school at the dilapidated Khubvi Primary School have removed their children from the school, saying they fear for their safety.

The parents, who braved early morning showers, have vowed not to return their children until the school, which has been declared a safety hazard, is fixed. The school, located at Khubvi outside Thohoyandou, is no longer safe and collapsing and the walls full of big cracks.

School governing body secretary Evelyn Nenguda-Makhuvha said they had liaised with the education department on numerous occasions, but they only "got empty promises". “There is a serious need for a new school here. Just look, our classes are all cracked, some with the entire roofing caved in, which leaves our educators and children at risk and always faced with danger."

She added that earlier this year they had reminded the department of the promises of new classes, "but we feel our children cannot continue learning under these circumstances. We are left with no other option but to withdraw them for their safety, and until such time that the government listens to us, we will not let our children to come here."

According to her, they provided the department a deadline of seven days to react, "and if they do not listen to us, we will be left with no option but to march to the head office in Polokwane.”

Nenguda-Makhuvha also condemned the department's officials, who she said were uncooperative and undermining the community. She said they wanted a full investigation by the MEC to investigate what had gone wrong with their project. "As a community, we demand 12 classrooms, an administrative block, a hall, laboratory, library, kitchen, dinning hall and a guard room,” she said.

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Paena Galane, said they had met the leaders of the community and had told them of the department's plans. “We are in the process of providing mobile classes to all schools that have the need, and Khubvi Primary is one of the schools that have been identified for that project. We are worried about the issue of removing children from the school. Removing children from the classrooms is denying them their future and we strongly condemn that,” he said.

News - Date: 06 March 2015

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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