SOWETAN | State fails to make schools safe

Last week,  Stats SA’s Census 2022 revealed that 5.2-million young people aged between  five and 24 were not  attending school.

The figure is shocking and raised questions about how three decades into our democracy, we sill have a substantial number of young people outside of the education system.

Our cover story today provides insight into some of the structural challenges that plague our schooling system, stacking the odds against children who live in poverty.

Five years ago, the department of labour flagged Lukholweni primary school in Orlando East, Soweto, as  a structure with asbestos roofs that urgently needed to be replaced.

This  was one of the 29 schools identified by the Gauteng department of education  as having asbestos structures and thus needing refurbishment. 

The school revealed that that for five years it wrote letters to the department seeking assistance.

Promises of intervention never materialised.

Last month, the labour department, after its latest round of inspections, rightly locked up the affected classrooms because they did not meet safety standards.

This meant displaced pupils had to cram into classes used by others.

Last week, our journalists found up to 130 children crammed into a classroom, at least 115 into another, making effective teaching and learning nearly impossible.

The department says that of the identified schools,  seven  are under construction while the rest are being designed with plans to complete construction in two years. 

The fact remains, however, that these children and many others across Gauteng find themselves in this situation because the department failed to plan accordingly.

For five years they have known the extent of the problem but failed to act proactively to protect the rights of children to learn in a safe and conducive environment.

The department is yet to respond to requests for the school to be provided with mobile classrooms as a temporary measure. 

Such systemic failures are preventable.

But our government systems are not efficient to respond within reasonable time frames to address challenges experienced by our schools.

These schools need urgent intervention to immediately ease overcrowding and in the medium term to  provide safe structures for pupils.  

Crucially, the schools need a responsive government  that places the needs of children above all else.