The learners at Finetown Secondary School are being denied access to basic education due to parents protesting and disrupting schooling as well as the shortage of water in the area.
It is unacceptable that there has been no schooling since Monday and learners continue to lose much of their learning time.
Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL and the DA Johannesburg Ward 6 PR Councilor, Nonhlanhla Sifumba, conducted an oversight inspection at the school. They were shocked to discover that there was no learning and teaching taking place at the school. The learners were standing outside the school gate while some were idling around the schoolyard.
The frustrated parents have been protesting over the shortage of teachers, overcrowding in classrooms and shortage of chairs and desks. They are demanding that the rotational learning system ends and that the school infrastructure is fixed.
The mobile classrooms are old and were erected 11 years ago; the infrastructure is dilapidated and is in dire need of regular maintenance.
The school has 1820 learners; the classrooms are severely overcrowded and not conducive for learning and teaching. It is unacceptable as our learners are being denied the dignity of learning in an adequate environment.
Currently, there are 36 teachers, and the ratio is one teacher to 50 learners, which is unacceptable. There is also a shortage of teachers for the following subjects: Mathematics, Life Orientation, English, and Technology.
Despite the government ending the rotational learning system, teachers at this school are continuing with the rotational learning system due to a shortage of classrooms and teachers.
The DA is appealing to parents to refrain from disrupting schooling as it is affecting their children’s futures. We encourage them to find ways to engage with the department when there are matters of concern without disrupting learning and teaching.
The DA has engaged the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi demanding his immediate intervention to ensure that learning and teaching resume at this school. We also demand that MEC Lesufi fix the school’s dilapidated infrastructure and provide the school with all the necessary resources needed for schooling.
We will also be tabling written questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain when the school be replaced with a brick-and-mortar structure; when the school will be provided with teachers, furniture and additional classrooms as well as when the school infrastructure will be fixed.
It is the responsibility of the department to eradicate all the ageing infrastructure and ensure that our schools have adequate classrooms, teachers and learning materials and equipment.