Nelson Mandela Bay pupils are being taught in shocking conditions as the Education Department washes its hands of crumbling classrooms that have become potential deathtraps.
Many schools in the region have not undergone any kind of maintenance in more than 40 years, resulting in roofs blowing off and walls disintegrating.
Pupils have to fight over a handful of desks, sports facilities are often non-existent and school libraries, computer rooms and science labs are something many pupils can only dream of.
At one school in Chatty strong winds blew the roof off last year. With no funding forthcoming for repairs, the classrooms are now useless.
An investigation by The Herald into the state of public schools in the region also found that:
Teaching is continuing in dilapidated buildings that have been condemned by health authorities;
One primary school in Jeffreys Bay has four toilets for 750 pupils – and all are broken;
A science lab sits unused at a school in Zwide as staff cannot afford to buy the necessary chemicals; At the same school, a computer room with 20 computers donated by Telkom is permanently deserted as there is no qualified teacher to give computer lessons;
Lack of fencing at a Jeffreys Bay primary school has resulted in squatters settling on school land; Many schools have minimal electricity, and some have none at all; Some schools have more than double the maximum number of children they are built to accommodate; and Two high schools in Humansdorp have to accommodate pupils from within a 200km radius.
The provincial Education Department says it needs R23-billion to address infrastructure issues in the Eastern Cape and that the backlog will take 20 years to clear.
However, with an annual budget of R18-billion – only R981-million of which is earmarked for infrastructure – the situation at many schools is likely to get worse, not better, in years to come.
Provincial Education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said the department’s main priority was to demolish schools made from mud and shacks and replace them with proper buildings.
“We are building 12 schools this year in the province and replacing these structures is our current priority.
"Unfortunately, the budget does not allow for us to see to every individual school’s problem,” he said.
However, most schools say even though their schools fees are modest, only a small percentage of parents bother to pay, leaving them with little funding to buy equipment and do maintenance.
At Republiek Primary in Windvogel, one block of classrooms has crumbled to such an extent that teaching can no longer take place. It is now used for storage.
“We have tried to get the department to repair it, without any luck,” said deputy principal Charles Adams.
The roof inside the toilets is also cracked and worn. Adams said the only sport played at the school was netball. Pupils used “patches” of land around the school for training.
“Our kids cross the busy and dangerous Stanford Road to go to municipal grounds to play other sports. A parent was killed while crossing the road last week,” Adams said.
In Uitenhage, two school buildings have been condemned by health officials yet teaching continues in them.
CW Hendrickse Primary School principal Dawood Ryners said the school had been built as a temporary structure 30 years ago but nothing had been done since then to build a proper school building.
Jubilee Park Primary School principal Lorna Bosman said she feared for the safety of the pupils if a fire were to break out because the school was made from old planks and had not been maintained since the school was built in 1952.
Loyiso High School in Zwide has produced many business and sports leaders including former ANC provincial chairman Stone Sizani, businessman Saki Macozoma and Springbok rugby player Solly Tyibilika. Last year, the school had a 79% matric pass rate, yet the conditions in which teachers and pupils work are appalling.
The school walls are crumbling and there are holes in both the roof and the wooden floor.
Of the 30 classrooms, 28 do not have electricity while 10 of the 12 toilets are blocked.
“We are scared the roof might fall on our heads one day,” said teacher Zoleka Sithole.
"Teachers and pupils recently discovered a wild cat living beneath the floorboards in a Grade 10 classroom.
Although the school has a library, a shortage of teachers means it is closed most of the time.
The school also has 20 computers donated by Telkom. However, there is no qualified teacher to give lessons and so the equipment stands idle.
“The government does not give us enough money to fix all our problems,” said the school’s deputy principal Jerry Mbenge.
“The school was built in 1966. Since then no maintenance or renovations have been done by the government.
"If we were to renovate the school ourselves we couldn’t afford the equipment that is needed.”
Loyiso High also has a science lab but, like many high schools in the areas, no lessons have taken place there because the Education Department has not supplied any of the necessary chemicals “since FW de Klerk was president”.
Mbenge said when they applied to the department for the chemicals, they were told to raise the money themselves.
The result is that the school’s science and biology labs are now used as general classrooms.
This is also the case at Masiphathisane High School in Motherwell.
“We cannot do experiments with the chemicals that we have.
"They are outdated and we are scared that if we use them they will explode and cause danger to our pupils and teachers,” said principal Mzoli Maarman.
He said the school had last received chemicals in 1992.
At Sipho Hashe Comprehensive School in Kwazakhele, pupils dream of having a school hall, library and computer and science labs.
“The school has grown from a primary school to now accommodating Grade 8 and 9 as well.
"Having either a science laboratory or a computer room is essential for our pupils,” said teacher Nokuzola Mabeqa.
Grade 8 pupil Aviwe Kekana said he would love to use a school library.
“I do not have the time to go to a community library.
"It is far away from where I stay and when I come home from school my parents expect me to do chores round the house.
“At least if the library was at school I could use it during breaks and free periods.”
In the city’s northern areas, Dr AW Habelgaarn Primary in Chatty was dubbed “the school of hell” by former Public Works MEC Christian Martin a few years ago.
A visit by The Herald found the roof on one block of the school had not yet been repaired after a gale-force wind destroyed it last year.
Teaching has been suspended in these classrooms.
Principal Leonard Schoeman said had been communicating with the Education Department about the roof issue but to no avail.
Only the administration building now has electricity.
“The school has also been vandalised numerous times,” Schoeman said.
“They (the vandals) removed the electricity box and some copper wires, leaving almost all the classrooms without electricity.”
He said unemployed parents who could not afford to pay school fees were required to get an affidavit to this effect from a police station, but many were “abusing this privilege”.
Even those who could afford to pay school fees where obtaining the affidavit to not pay fees.
“However, it must be noted that the school serves children who come from poverty-stricken homes.”
Schoeman said sporting facilities were non-existent and the school did not have equipment for any sporting codes. “We don’t play any sports in the school.”
Desmond Grove, who is the principal of David Livingstone Secondary in Schauderville’s Searle Road, said its rugby field was “overgrown” and pupils had to use municipal grounds for all other sports.
While the school looks well maintained from the outside, Abraham Levy Primary in Searle Road, Schauderville, is facing a shortage of classrooms.
Principal Gordon Geduld said: “We are using the staff room as a computer lab, so our teachers hang around the tuckshop during lunch breaks.”
Geduld has to share his office with his secretary.
The school also does not have a “conducive playground”, as the current one “is very small”.
While they renovated the school themselves, Geduld said they could not continue with this because only about 39% of their 620 pupils paid the annual R350 school fees.
In Jeffreys Bay, the 750 pupils at Makukhanye Primary School share only four toilets.
One stall does not have a door and the toilets are often not working.
Classrooms are so overcrowded that two classes are forced to share one classroom.
There are also not enough desks to go around. There are two Grade 7 classes of 78 children sharing one class and two Grade 6 classes of 81 sharing one classroom.
And the school’s tiny school yard was made even smaller when a squatter settlement encroached on the school premises before a fence around the school was built.
Principal Zanoxolo Kama said the school was in dire need of more classrooms, but if the new classrooms were built they would have to be placed on the school’s only sports field since there was no other space.
He said the school received little to no assistance from the Education Department, especially when it came to pleas for new classrooms, desks and toilets for the school.
In Addo, Addo Primary School has been closed by the department because of the shocking state of the facilities.
The children have not attended school for the last month while the teachers and the principal are assisting the district office with administration work.
In Thornhill, the only two primary schools share the same school yard.
There are eight toilets per school in a prefab structure and not all of them are always in proper working order.
One toilet is blocked and the other does not flush, causing a terrible smell and health concerns for the 488 pupils.
Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela Primary school principal Shumikazi Zuba said pleas to build a proper school building has fallen on deaf ears.
“We need a school building made from bricks and cement.
"We also need a school library because you give the children homework but there are no books to do research from.
"We do not have a school library and there is no library in Thornhill.
The closest libraries we have are in Jeffreys Bay and Port Elizabeth and the children here cannot afford to travel there for homework. It is very difficult for us here,” she said.
Both the principals of the Thornhill and Jeffreys Bay primary schools said there was an alarming shortage of high schools in the area, forcing pupils who want to continue with high school to travel to Humansdorp.
This has caused the only two non-former Model C high schools in Humansdorp to buckle under the strain of the massive influx of pupil.
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