Report of SACP Visits to Kwazulu Natal Schools

23 January 2003

Yesterday and today, the SACP General Secretary, Blade Nzimande led more than 200 Red October Brigades to visit 8 schools in KwaZulu Natal as part of the Joe Slovo Memorial Month.

The schools and activities held at these schools were:

• Durban - Meetings with teachers, students, school governing bodies and a People's Forum in Umdepha High School (KwaXimba, Durban West); Amaoti Lower Primary School, Amaoti; Fredeville Combined School in Inchanga; and
  Cato Crest High School (Chesterville).
• Empangeni - Meetings with teachers, studends and School Governing Bodies Skhaleni High School, Imbesheni High School, Mdlafe High School, Mdlavuzo High School, and Umcabango High School.

The SACP was impressed by the positive approach taken by all the schools visited not to turn away pupils without school fees and uniforms as it has been reported elsewhere.

This visit highlighted the need for infrastructural development in many schools given the backlog and lack of access to facilities essential to effective teaching and learning. In one case, Umdepha High School offers science to its students even though it has no laboratory and equipment. Fredeville Combined School is beset with a drug problem amongst its male pupils and has no adequate security. In most of the schools, stationery and books had not been delivered on time. The SACP calls on the Department of Education to ensure that this is addressed urgently. Given the other massive problems faced by the schools, the delay in delivery of stationery and books worsens the situation.

In all the schools, the SACP was concerned that there were tens of unemployed teachers whose contracts expired at the end of last year and have not been renewed. These teachers have not yet been re-employed and this has affected class allocations and starting with effective learning and education from the first day of the school year. The SACP calls on the Department of Education to address this matter urgently.

The visit also highlighted the need for continued mobilisation of communities in order to address the distance and gap between communities and their schools. Fredeville Combined School combines a lower primary, a higher primary and a high school with three separate School Governing Bodies which do not meet together and work collectively yet they face similar problems in the same locality. The SACP local branch will work to ensure that these SGBs work together through a Quarterly Education Forum. The SACP will also work to ensure that the National Association of School Governing Bodies is strengthened and is able to support such local initiatives.

All the schools have to use a significant part of school fees to pay for water, electricity and sanitation services provided by various municipalities. On several occasions last year, these services were cut when the schools could not keep up with the payments. This goes against the right to education given that the availability of water, electricity and sanitation services is fundamental to a decent education. The SACP calls on all local municipalities to ensure that schools in poor communities also qualify to receive a free basic amount of water, electricity and sanitation services.

The SACP salutes the Red October Brigades for their ongoing work to ensure that communities are aware of their education rights and that they are mobilised to ensure that education is fundamentally transformed and available to all South Africans.

CONTACT

Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara)

Department of Media, Information and Publicity

South African Communist Party

Tel 011 339 3621; Fax 011 339 4244,Cell 083 651 0271

Email mazibuko@sacp.org.za