Fed up parents disrupt school

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "We want Smith. We want Smith," parents chanted outside the principal's office at Ridgeview Primary School on Tuesday morning, in an attempt to elicit answers regarding the situation at school from Western Cape Education Department circuit manager, Rozelle Smith.

Smith was summoned to the school following a meeting at the school on Monday night, attended by some 150 parents to discuss the delay in urgent repair work at the school.

On 13 January, on the first day of school, as reported upon in the Mossel Bay Advertiser (15 January 2016), the learners were sent home as ablution facilities were so vandalised that it could not be used. Nineteen chemical toilets were issued to the school from 15 January as an emergency measure.

Those were removed last Friday, causing outrage among parents.

In July 2015 the school also had to make use of chemical toilets due to vandalism.

An ongoing dilemma

According to the shool's principal, Mr Francois Visagie, the absence of appropriate fencing sits at the core of the vandalism problem that has been plaguing the school.

Visagie, senior members of his staff and members of the school governing body confirmed that the repair and replacement of the fencing has been an ongoing discussion with Western Cape Education Department (WCED) for the past four years. Following the closure of the school in January, the WCED however, agreed to provide security guards at the school for 24-hour surveillance of the premises.

Vandals again removed water pipes presumably on Sunday 7 February. According to Mr Visagie, the incident took place despite the security guard being on duty. This caused the water supply to the ablution facilities to be interrupted.

Despite emergency repairs to the existing ablution facilities commissioned by the WCED, the removal of the chemical toilets posed a problem at Ridgeview this week since the learners still had limited, if any access to running water to wash their hands.

"Like before, I have brought the issue, especially regarding the basins to the attention of the circuit office of WCED in George and when nothing came of it, I reported it to the head office in Cape Town," Mr Visagie said.

The WCED reacted that the toilets were removed 'as they were no longer necessary'.

In lieu of enteroviral meningitis having done the rounds in Mossel Bay since December 2015, parents on Tuesday expressed their utmost displeasure at their children's limited access to basins with running water. Regular hand washing with soap and water is imperative to prevent infection with many enteroviruses.

"There is one running tap to serve 1000 children. What if our children get sick?" a parent exclaimed.

On Tuesday morning, whilst parents were at the school, a plumber repaired the damage, restoring the water supply to the ablution facilities.

Acting chairperson of the school governing body had a hard time making himself heard to calm the irate parents.

'Enough is enough'

Ridgeview was due for repairs in between April and July 2015 under the Emergency programme of the WCED, as reported in the Mossel Bay Advertiser (15 January 2016). This was to include new fencing; remedial work to retaining walls; remedial work to movement joints on classroom blocks; as well as repair and replacement of failed components in ablution facilities.

In January, the Department confirmed upon enquiry that they are aware of work being done at the school in 2015, but also reported further cases of vandalism. The Department also confirmed the school being on the scheduled maintenance list as top priority with promises of erecting a fence during the first term, followed by more structural work.

On Tuesday, however, parents were repeatedly heard complaining that the promised repair work is taking too long to materialize.

"Enough is enough, we are taking action and mobilising the parents," Eugene Kiewit, acting chairperson of the school governing body told the Advertiser on Tuesday. Although he called for civil interaction, temperaments flared as irate parents posed their questions to WCED circuit manager Rozelle Smith. Smith, in turn, reprimanded the parents for creating a disturbance at the school, witnessed by their children.

"We don't want to state our issues again, you know them. We want a response. When we leave here, we want to leave with answers," a parent said firmly.

Shared accountability

Mrs Smith told parents on Tuesday that funds are allocated to schools for eventualities like minor repairs, which, according to her, include the repair of the water supply to the ablution facilities.

The sum mentioned, according to Mrs Smith, the school could have covered from the mentioned budget. She called upon the parents to not only look to the WCED, but to also hold the school accountable to manage its assets.

Mr Visagie's disagreed saying that the repair work amounts to much more and should be covered by the WCED.

According to Mrs Smith, more than R3-million has been budgeted for the erection of a fence at the school. The WCED could not confirm the exact amount, but stated on Thursday that fence repairs are scheduled to start at the end of February and early March.

Mr Granville Briesies, principal of Diaz Primary, close to Ridgeview and chairperson of the Mossel Bay principal's forum, said that his school had their fair share of break-ins and vandalism.

"We now have an alarm system, which seems to curb break-ins. However, as recent as October 2015, the unlawful removal of copper pipes also left us without running water for a while. We have since replaced them with plastic pipes," Mr Briesies reported upon enquiry. He also confirmed that the issues at Ridgeview will feature in discussions at the principal's forum.

Capt Wollie Fourie, spokesperson of the Da Gamaskop-police, which serves the community of Extension 8 where Ridgeview is situated, said that parents should take an interest in safeguarding school assets by joining a neighbourhood watch or street committee.

"Parents should commit themselves especially after hours when opportunistic crimes take place."

* At the time of going to print, vice-principal at Ridgeview, Mr Deon Prinsloo confirmed that repairs to the toilets at the school also commenced.

"These problems at school, especially the lack of proper fencing around the school, has been carrying on for the past four years. I feel WKOD management aren't doing their job," says Richard Michaels.

Jodi Simons says that she had to keep her child at home during the first week of the new term due to the sanitation crises at school. "I feel the problems at the school should be attended to during the holidays. Now it inconveniences everyone."

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