Rural Eastern Cape pupils suffer without power to access government programmes

Despite being born in one of the most  rural parts of the Eastern Cape, 17-year-old Phindile Tshaka is a young girl with big dreams.

She wants to be a pilot and travel the world. But the Grade 12 pupil is worried about what not having access to power during the coronavirus lockdown will do to her matric results.

Provincial education bosses have introduced virtual classes for Grade 12s, with lessons broadcast on community radio stations and the SABC.

Education authorities also announced on Monday that all current Eastern Cape matrics would be issued with SIM cards to enable them to access curriculum-related e-learning content on any platform for free.

But for Phindile, and thousands of other matrics in Eastern Cape villages,  these measures might not be enough. 

Manxudebe village in Ntabankulu, where Phindile lives, is one of six villages that have been without electricity since early March after an electricity pole was cut down by thugs. Eskom subsequently disconnected the villages from the power grid.

Phindile, who attends Zwelakhe Senior Secondary near KwaBhaca, told the Dispatch that although her family owned a radio and television, they required electricity to work.

“I am really struggling because even my cellphone battery dies and I have to go without it for up to three days at a time,” she said.

“I have to beg someone in the village who has a solar panel to help me recharge it. But by the time it is switched on back again, I am already behind. I try to play catch-up because the virtual lessons continue and do not wait for me.”

At this stage she does not know if she will be adequately prepared for the matric exams.

Rural schoolchildren often turn to study groups for learning purposes, but under the current lockdown regulations, they cannot meet one another.

South African Democratic Teachers Union provincial secretary Chris Mdingi said the reality was that virtual classes were not reaching every rural pupil, but the government could not be blamed as the initiative was born out of the coronavirus crisis.

But Mdingi acknowledged that the situation could also have a negative bearing on this year's matric results.

He said the union had urged its members to go the extra mile in helping pupils after the lockdown.

Provincial education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.

Ntabankulu mayor Tsileng Sobuthongo said the municipality had engaged with community and traditional leaders in the affected villages on Monday to try to find a lasting solution to the electricity problem.

She said Eskom needed assurances that electricity poles would not be cut down again.

“They (village communities) have assured us they will safeguard the infrastructure from being vandalised. We have sent out a report to Eskom and await their response,” Sobuthongo said.

sikhon@dispatch.co.za

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