THERE was no teaching or learning at Gobhogobho Primary School on Thursday, 17 March.
This was because parents locked the gates of the school in Ntuzuma F, north of Durban, demanding that the KZN Department of Education renovate the building.
Teachers arrived in the morning to find the gate locked. A parent told Daily Sun the double-storey building was built five years ago but was already falling apart.
“The walls of the classrooms are cracking and even the principal’s office has huge cracks.
“The windows are broken and on rainy days, water comes into the classes. In winter, it’s very cold,” she said.
The school governing body’s (SGB) deputy chairwoman, Zama Mathonsi, said the children’s lives were in danger.
“The building is not stable. It shakes. We also want the school to be fenced because you can lock the gate, but it’s still not safe,” said Mathonsi.
She said they would keep the school closed until something was done.
“We also want a change of ownership. The land the school is on belongs to someone who we don’t even know,” she said.
“We don’t know who this person is and where he’s from. We can’t get funding because the school is in somenoe’s name.
“We will appreciate it if they could at least give us mobile classrooms” As long as we get something from the department, we will be happy and re-open the schoo,” she said.
KZN education spokesman, Muzi Mahlambi said communities did not have the right to close schools.
“We have created structures that communities can engage with in the form of school management teams, SGBs and circuit and district management,” We can cannot have a situation where you simply decide to become disruptivehe said.
