Parents of pupils at Mncwati Senior Secondary School in Mbizana are crying foul over the school’s dilapidated and dangerous “cardboard” structure which was built nearly four decades ago.
The parents say the school has been abandoned by the authorities, despite their complaints to the education department for years.
The school’s 15 classrooms, which cater for nearly 1,000 pupils, get flooded when it rains.
According to SGB chair Headman Mlonzi, when the school was built in 1986, parents were informed it was a temporary situation.
Mlonzi said the SGB had to buy zinc to patch the most damaged parts of the cardboard structure which leaked when it rained.
“We have been promised that this matter will be attended to, but now we are losing hope, because at some point [a] construction [company] came and people were hired, but after that it just disappeared.
“We even went to the department to inquire about the person who came to our village with a construction company, but unfortunately, they said they did not find them.”
He said the department “seems not to care”.
“As parents we are hurt by this. We feel abandoned and we are pleading to our government to save us."
Mlonzi said it was stressful for SGB members because parents were demanding that their children be provided with proper facilities.
Despite the challenge, he said the school produced outstanding matric results.
Grade 12 pupil Yolanda Mxikwa said the state of the school structure affected pupils’ academic results.
“Firstly, our classrooms are not all right because the wind comes in, and when it is raining the water fills our classrooms.
“Sometimes it even damages our books.
“I remember when we were writing our June isiXhosa paper, some of our papers got wet as the rain was getting in,” Mxikwa said.
“When we are attending our classes or want to study, once it rains, we must shift from one classroom during the lesson to another classroom.
“The environment that we study in is affecting us.
“You cannot do anything productive when it is raining because lessons are disrupted, or your exam papers get wet, leading some to have to start over and write again.
“I wish the school could be rebuilt because it is hard studying in this environment.”
A parent, Nontyantyambo Nomlomo, said: “I am devastated by the conditions our children must go through in this school. It affects them mentally.
“As parents we are hurt by this. We feel abandoned and we are pleading to our government to save us.
“We have been approaching the department multiple times.
“They promised to put us on a list of schools that will be built, but till now nothing has happened.”
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Local chief Samkelo Mnyanyisa said the community had been waiting for years for the school to be rebuilt properly.
“We have been waiting many years for the school to be redeveloped but nothing has been done.
“The condition is bad to the point where you can see the pupils while in class without looking through the windows.
“This matter makes me sad because some schools have been developed, so it is sad to see this one not getting any assistance.
“I also studied in the same school and it has been in the same conditions since 1986, and it is sad to see that even today nothing has been done.”
Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima failed to respond to questions sent by the time of writing on Friday.
However, DA MPL Horatio Hendricks said: “The budgets of the department do not speak to the hard solutions required to address the stark realities of dilapidated buildings and unsafe learning environments our children face, particularly in rural parts of the Eastern Cape.”
He said substantive redress of school infrastructure needed to be prioritised to deliver on commitments, saying “promises and commitments need to be more than lip service, they must bring tangible results”.
Equal Education’s head of youth organising, Itumeleng Mothlabane said: “It is extremely frustrating to witness the slow delivery of school infrastructure in our province.”
Mothlabane said a compromised teaching and learning environment had a negative impact on education outcomes.
“In past years, the department has been returning unspent funds to the National Treasury, particularly those allocated to school infrastructure without any clear accountability undertaken.
“We believe these funds could have been used to accelerate the provision of infrastructure in the province.
“The continuation of pupils studying in undignified environments is carelessness and lack of urgency from our government, and should stop,” Mothlabane said.
“It is further appalling that the education facility management system report of 2023 tells us that there are no schools made of inappropriate material in the Eastern Cape, when cases like Mncwati High continue to come up.
“It is unfortunate that even with the pressure we have applied and continue to do so, the lack of political will to urgently provide school infrastructure continues to prevail.”
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