Parents of learners attending school at the Sigonde Primary School in Musina are requesting the Limpopo Department of Basic Education to provide mobile classrooms as a matter of urgency. This follows the closure of the school on 27 May by the Limpopo Department of Labour and Employment, who declared the building non-compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHASA).
The school falls under the Vhembe East Education District. Labour inspectors found that the Grade 4 classroom had cracks at the door post that were overlapping to the Grade 5 classroom. Besides the Grade 2 classrooms, all the other classrooms were found to have bats in their roofs, which the department believes could pose a danger to the health and safety of learners and educators. Educators also allege that snakes, attracted by the bats, were killed weekly.
"We alerted the Department of Basic Education several times since 2008, but nothing changed, even though the department visited the school many times," said Mashudu Sigonde, chairperson of the school governing board. He said the department should urgently deliver mobile classrooms as learners were missing valuable learning time now. The school has 259 learners and eight educators.
According to the Department of Labour, the school was closed because of non-compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which stipulates that, if the state of a building threatens, or is likely to threaten, the health and/or safety of persons, the building should not be occupied.
"Inspections are our day-to-day business. When we come across any life-threatening situation, we will, unfortunately, have to close the building. We commend our inspectors who do not compromise the health and safety of persons and encourage them to continue to do their jobs to mitigate non-compliance," said Reckson Tshitshivheli, acting provincial inspector. He urged employers to comply with the OHS legislation.
The Limpopo Department of Basic Education said that they were aware of and concerned about the closure of Sigonde Primary School. "It is important that we comply for the safety of our learners and the entire school community. The school has seven classrooms in total. Five of them were non-compliant, leaving two functional classrooms. Pest exterminators were called to address the issue [of bats] through continuous and consistent treatment, and this is ongoing," said Ms Tidimalo Chuene, spokesperson for the department.
She said that the district's infrastructure unit was in the process of facilitating the immediate procurement of mobile classrooms as an interim measure. "The school is on the district's priority list for infrastructure projects. Attempts are being made to move projects' starting dates closer, owing to the dire situation at the school. The school will be kept abreast of progress in this regard," she said.
The DBE is also investigating an allegation that 50 learners were reported sick from the infestation of the bats, but no medical confirmation of this was received from the school's records.
"The circuit office will be working with the school to adjust the timetable and seating arrangements to accommodate learners in the remaining classrooms at the school as an immediate intervention. This is especially important for writing mid-term examinations, which should have started on 2 June," Chuene said.