ADVERTISEMENT:

 
 

The toilet building is sinking. Photo supplied.

Pupils have to turn to the bushes when nature calls

 

Pupils of Mainganye High School at Muwaweni in the Tshitale area are forced to relieve themselves in the bushes because of the dilapidated and dangerous state of their toilets.

When the Grade 7s and 12s reopened on Monday, good hygiene in the fight against Covid-19 was not practised, because no proper toilets are available.

The ablution block is dilapidated and some class buildings at the school have a lot of cracks, which the pupils said made them unsafe to use. The school was built by the community 40 years ago. Two pit toilets are available for learners and teachers; the girls use one toilet with the female educators and the other one is used by the boys and is shared with the male educators.

The chairperson of the SGB, Mr Bernard Ramusilei, said that mobile toilets and classrooms could alleviate the situation as the lack of toilets was a matter that required urgent attention. The toilets are open, with no walls or shelter, which leaves pupils exposed to the public when they choose to use them.

“A bushy area within the school grounds is littered with faeces as some pupils choose to squat there for privacy’s sake,” Ramusilei said. He said that some pupils at the school preferred to use the toilets of residents who stay near the school, while some risked using the ones at their school.

“Parents are worried and fear for their children’s lives.” He said the department was aware of their plea as they had also written a letter to it, requesting safer toilets. “All we need is an ablution block and classes to accommodate our children,” said Ramusilei. “We have applied many times for toilets and classes and visited the department office at Polokwane since 2016, but our pleas have not yielded any fruits.”

One of the pupils, Given Nevondwe, said that during the rainy season, the toilets were flooded, and the cracked walls could fall over at any time. A parent, Ms Christina Masia, said that they found it shocking and disappointing that, after 26 years of democracy, children were still attending classes in a bad condition. She said the toilet problem was putting the safety and lives of the pupils at risk. “The pupils are very curious and might end up falling inside the toilet pits,” she said. “We called upon the department of education for an urgent intervention to build toilets and classrooms for our children.”

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Ms Tidimalo Chuene, said that they were facing a huge backlog." Many schools around the province are without proper toilets and classes," she said. Chuene added that they had already submitted a report to the relevant department and that they were still waiting for a response.

 

 

 

Date:19 June 2020

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Read: 932

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT:

ADVERTISEMENT:

 

Recent Articles

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Popular Articles