Despite the school turning 30 last week, teachers and pupils at Vulingcobo Senior Secondary School near Dutywa have little to celebrate.
The classrooms are crumbling, nearly 500 pupils have to relieve themselves in the open because there are only four toilets and the road leading to the school is so bad that the school has to close when it rains.
Overcrowding is also a problem with as many as 78 pupils in some classrooms.
Nestled in a valley below Chizele village more than 20km from Dutywa, the school was established in 1985.
Pupils, parents and teachers yesterday accused the Eastern Cape department of education of failing to honour its promise to build a new school.
“The morale among staff is very low but the only thing that drives them is their passion for teaching and their quest to develop these young pupils,” said a teacher.
Several teachers who asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to speak to the media, said they were battling to teach because of overcrowding.
The school reportedly managed to secure an alternative site in 2012.
“We just get told that we are on the department’s priority list each and every year,” teachers said.
They said schooling could not take place on rainy days as their cars were unable to negotiate the road connecting the school to the village.
Constructed from old prefab material, some classrooms are crumbling, windows are damaged and teachers are forced to keep valuable school equipment like photocopiers at the homes of villagers.
Grade 10 pupil Siphelele Mxesibe, 19, who sits next to a broken window, said pupils had to use old boards and clothing to protect themselves from the cold and rain.
Teachers claimed the school, which is not even properly fenced, had been vandalised many times.
Meanwhile the Dispatch witnessed many boys relieving themselves in an open field.
In one of the girl’s toilets, the door was damaged and two girls were standing together as a shield to give a third some privacy.
The school’s learner representative council president, Wanda Sikiti, described the situation as “pathetic, painful and demoralising”.
“All we want is a proper school so that we can also realise our dreams like other young people out there.”
A former pupil who is now a successful businessman, Siphiwo Maqondo, blamed the department for what he termed a “violation of children’s rights to quality education”.
School governing body treasurer Nozuko Magananda said all they wanted was a proper school.
“This is not what a school is supposed to look like,” she said.
Provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani had not responded to questions on the matter at the time of writing yesterday. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Rural school in dire straits
The classrooms are crumbling, nearly 500 pupils have to relieve themselves in the open because there are only four toilets and the road leading to the school is so bad that the school has to close when it rains.
Overcrowding is also a problem with as many as 78 pupils in some classrooms.
Nestled in a valley below Chizele village more than 20km from Dutywa, the school was established in 1985.
Pupils, parents and teachers yesterday accused the Eastern Cape department of education of failing to honour its promise to build a new school.
“The morale among staff is very low but the only thing that drives them is their passion for teaching and their quest to develop these young pupils,” said a teacher.
Several teachers who asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to speak to the media, said they were battling to teach because of overcrowding.
The school reportedly managed to secure an alternative site in 2012.
“We just get told that we are on the department’s priority list each and every year,” teachers said.
They said schooling could not take place on rainy days as their cars were unable to negotiate the road connecting the school to the village.
Constructed from old prefab material, some classrooms are crumbling, windows are damaged and teachers are forced to keep valuable school equipment like photocopiers at the homes of villagers.
Grade 10 pupil Siphelele Mxesibe, 19, who sits next to a broken window, said pupils had to use old boards and clothing to protect themselves from the cold and rain.
Teachers claimed the school, which is not even properly fenced, had been vandalised many times.
Meanwhile the Dispatch witnessed many boys relieving themselves in an open field.
In one of the girl’s toilets, the door was damaged and two girls were standing together as a shield to give a third some privacy.
The school’s learner representative council president, Wanda Sikiti, described the situation as “pathetic, painful and demoralising”.
“All we want is a proper school so that we can also realise our dreams like other young people out there.”
A former pupil who is now a successful businessman, Siphiwo Maqondo, blamed the department for what he termed a “violation of children’s rights to quality education”.
School governing body treasurer Nozuko Magananda said all they wanted was a proper school.
“This is not what a school is supposed to look like,” she said.
Provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani had not responded to questions on the matter at the time of writing yesterday. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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