School for pupils with special needs in disrepair

A school that caters for children with special needs in Orange Farm is in such a state of disrepair that parents say their pleas for help to fix the school have fallen on deaf ears.

School governing body (SGB) members at Duzenendlela Special School say the school was struggling due to a lack of support and resources, compounded by ongoing administrative challenges.

While some of the children at the school use ramps for their wheelchairs, the railing they need for support is broken. As a result, they are assisted by other learners to go up the ramps. 

Previously, pupils were separated according to their needs, but now even the structure that enabled that purpose is also broken. The steel barriers still in place can easily be pushed aside, allowing everyone to mingle freely.

Parents said the poor state of the school structure, coupled with weakened administration, has led to chaos and safety concerns as pupils allegedly often fight or engage in reckless activities such as sex.

SGB members have emphasised the necessity of the barriers to protect children with special needs from each other.

There is a fire dump site at the back of the school that is not sectioned off or barred, raising further concerns among SGB members. The five workshop classes, which lack equipment, remain closed as there are no teachers.

The last one went on pension in December.

The boys toilets have deteriorated to the point where the ceiling has collapsed. It has since been completely repurposed as a storage facility. 

The other toilet, which boys and girls have to now share, remains  locked by the caretakers, and entry can only be gained by fiddling with the door handles.

The toilets, which were reported broken after the Covid-19 pandemic, have remained blocked and unusable, exacerbating the already dire conditions.

The septic tank is also broken, resulting in the sewage running in the schoolyard.

Most classrooms have more desks than chairs, and some have limited furniture, making it difficult for learners to have a proper learning environment. This further highlights the neglect and lack of resources that the school is facing.

Gauteng department of education's spokesperson Steve Mabona said they were aware of the situation at the schooland that they would send a team to conduct an assessment.

“The department is aware of the situation at Duzenendlela Special School. Accordingly, a team from our Infrastructure Unit was dispatched to conduct the necessary assessments on the work required, in addition to other problems that require rectification."

A month later Sowetan asked Mabona on the findings of the assessment team, but he asked for more time in order to give a comprehensive response.

SGB member Nthabiseng Tseeke said the groundskeepers at the school have tried to fix the plumbing issues, but that they could only do so much.

“In fact, when most things break, they are fixed by the groundskeepers and the community, but this is bigger than us. We have raised these issues, but they are never taken seriously. Some of these children are very sensitive, and others don’t know any better, so having sewage running like this is very harmful to the kids,” said Tseeke.

She said when they are met with backlash when the raise the issues with the school administration. 

“There are a lot more bad things happening at that school. When we, as the SGB, try to address our children's needs, the principal always blocks us. She only does things that benefit her, not our kids.

"As the SGB, we are not listened to, our concerns about our children are not taken into consideration. We are told that we are dramatic. But even the teachers agree with our stance on the situation.

“The teachers themselves can’t teach in such circumstances. They don’t have the proper equipment or the support they need to take care of the children properly, so they often get fed up and leave,” said Tseeke.

Another SGB member, Puleng Mokoena, said the problems have been ongoing since 2018.

“It has got worse over the years. This school teaches skills such as welding, sewing and carpentry among others, but the people who teach these skills are struggling with the problem of getting the material to teach these children.

“Right now, we don’t have a teacher for these skills. The last one took a pension in December, and they have not found a replacement. Now our kids have to travel to Lens Special School to get the lessons they need."

"As parents, we were confused by this arrangement because they have a school right here, yet they have to travel all the way to Lenasia," said Mokoena.