Mud schools travesty: Eastern Cape mud schools testament to bad governance
When R44 billion of education funds nationally cannot be accounted for, it is not the provincial officials who pay the price for incompetence and corruption. Rather, it is the tens of thousands of children hungry for a decent education who pay the price. In a visit to the Nomandla Senior Primary School in the Eastern Cape village of Mabheleni (20 kilometers from Libode which itself is 30 kilometers from Mthatha), my Democratic Alliance (DA) colleagues and I saw first-hand how mismanagement and corruption destroy our children's educational futures.
The DA hopes that the charges that this school, along with 6 others, brings against the government will force the department of basic education to finally provide the infrastructure and support that these schools, teachers, and learners require. These 7 schools are taking the department to the High Court in Bisho over the lack of infrastructure provided to them. The case has national significance as it shall likely appear before the Constitutional Court where it may have to determine criteria that the state shall have to meet to realize the progressive right to an education.
At Nomandla Senior Primary, which was started in 1991, 323 learners in Grades R to 8 sit in unlit mud huts barely able to see what the teachers write on the disintegrating blackboard. These children from impoverished homes deep in the old Transkei sit on broken benches at worn-out desks. There are only 42 chairs and 113 desks for the 323 learners. Teachers encourage them to bring their own chairs. The classrooms are freezing in the winter as cold winds cut through the clothes of those who have any. And when it's hot, the students find it difficult to concentrate due to physical discomfort.
There is no running water at Nomandla. The school depends on rain water caught on the roofs of the pit latrine toilets which is stored in water tanks. Otherwise, children must fetch the water at a dirty stream some 700 metres down a steep hill. The sole electricity feed stops at the hut used by the community to prepare food for the children, on surfaces which are kept clean with applications of cow dung. The toilets built by a local Trust are used for storage because it is the only dry place available as the thatched-roofs allow rain to pour into the classrooms. The resulting damp moldy conditions threaten the health of the teachers and the children.
The principal has an office the size of a broom closet. He, along with the teachers, have no private toilets and no staff room to enjoy an ordinary cup of tea or coffee.
In a community of 55 760 households where 36% of families do not have access to a regular income and a further 41% earn less than R800 per month, the parents still managed to raise enough money to build 3 brick and mortar classrooms after a terrible storm had ruined some of their older facilities in 2009. The school now has 3 mud classrooms, 3 brick and mortar classrooms, and 2 other structures.
By way of example, here are some pictures to illustrate the conditions:
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During our visit, we met with the parents who shared with us their ambition to see their children become teachers, lawyers, doctors and engineers. The teachers worked hard, they said, and the principal is committed. But they wondered why the education department doesn't care about them?
The Auditor-General (AG) says that the Eastern Cape's education department spent its allotted 2009/10 infrastructure funds, but it could not determine on what. As a result, it indicted the department with a disclaimer of opinion, the worst possible audit outcome.
Some people suspect that it was used to increase teachers' salaries in a province where the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) directs a large community of delinquent teachers. Teacher absenteeism is rife. Learners walk the streets during school hours.
No wonder then that all the letters and appeals from the principal, teachers and parents are returned with the callous words of the accountant ‘that the Provincial office has no funds available at this stage to entertain the request.'
Perhaps the money was spent on the 2,000 ghost employees apparently still on the education department books. The officials, driving the fanciest cars and living in the grandest homes their ministerial handbooks allow, have certainly had their requests ‘entertained'.
Sadly, this financial mismanagement and corruption compromises children's chance for a decent public education as their potential is wasted by unaccountable state officials.
The Eastern Cape is the heartland of the African National Congress (ANC), yet it has made no effort to sort out this province. When it has, SADTU, its ostensible ally, stands in the way.
We in the DA believe that the officials responsible for this travesty should be held to account. The department receives qualified audit after qualified audit. It is time for a three-strike rule: three qualified audits and the relevant official is dismissed. This would go some way to addressing the chronic mismanagement and inadequate resources actually being devoted to teaching.
Statement issued by Dr Wilmot JamesMP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Basic Education, October 18 2010
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