Everson Luhanga
Over 1500 learners share only four toilets at the Alexandra’s Eastbank High School.
Pictures of dirty toilets, broken desks and unused locked toilets were taken by the protesting learners at the school after students disrupted classes for four days.
Classes at Eastbank High School in Alexandra have been disrupted since last Friday by protesting learners, parents and members of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas).
Teachers have been locked out and demonstrations have been staged daily outside the gates of the school
The protesters claimed that the school has many issues that need to be addressed by the provincial Department of Education.
Vincent Ndima, the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) security cluster leader, said the school has only four toilets for over 1 500 learners.
Moreover, “there are two principals at the school who have divided the school into two factions and learners go to school unsearched and bring dangerous weapons.
“The school patrollers do not have any contract with the school and there is no security for the learners,” he said.
Ndima said these issues have been reported to departmental channels at the district level and have not been attended to. “There are many toilets which are not working and the school has locked them.”
He said that on Monday, one official was held hostage by learners and Cosas representatives who emptied dustbins in the corridors.
On Tuesday, protesters chased teachers out of the school premises and locked the gates, blocking everyone from entering the premises.
On Wednesday the protests continued and learning and teaching were once again disrupted.
The provincial department confirmed the events.
Spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “The Gauteng Department would like to acknowledge that there are disruptions at the said school. However, we refute the allegations that learners use four toilets.”
He said the department will prioritise the process to appoint a principal at the school.
“We must emphasise that nothing justifies the disruption of schooling, more so during a time when every day counts as we have already lost a number of critical school days due to the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
“We call upon parents and all stakeholders to play a role in discouraging learners not to disrupt schooling for the future of their children, as lost contact time is not easily recovered.”
