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PHUTI MOSOMANE
GAUTENG MEC for Education Matome Chiloane has criticized the Democratic Alliance (DA) for making “sensationalist and opportunistic” allegations that he is violating the rights of Relebogile Secondary School learners to access basic education.
This comes after the DA’s Gauteng shadow MEC for Education Khume Ramulifho reported Chiloane to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for violating Relebogile Secondary School learners’ right to access basic education.
The learners of Relebogile Secondary School have not been attending school since 9 February due to a sinkhole that appeared, which has put their safety at risk, and led to the school being shut down.
But Chiloane has come out guns blazing, saying the allegations by the DA that he is denying the learners their rights to education is a cheap Public Relations (PR) stunt.
“It’s sensationalist and opportunistic response to the unfortunate situation in Khutsong where a massive sinkhole has led to disruptions in learning and teaching at Relebogile Secondary School,” he said.
Ramulifho said the department is aware of the issue, and the DA has on several occasions engaged the MEC; however, he has failed to deliver on his promise to provide alternative accommodation to ensure that learning and teaching resume at this school.
Chiloane said several interventions have been undertaken and learners are attending classes at the nearby schools.
“Firstly, we would like to dispel an insinuation peddled by the DA that the Gauteng Education Department (GDE) is not doing anything to ensure that the impact of the sinkhole at Relebogile Secondary does not negatively affect the learners longer than necessary,” said Chiloane.
“Since February, when the matter came to our attention, several interventions have been undertaken to minimise the negative impact of the disaster on Relebogile learners. The first step was to, naturally, ensure that we protect the lives of all who use the school by immediately evacuating and stopping classes so that we do not put our learners and officials; lives at risk. Once that was done, we ensured that Relebogile learners were accommodated at a neighbouring school as an interim measure, with their classes taking place between 12h00 and 17h00 daily.”
MEC Chiloane added that the school, working with the district, was also implementing a catch-up programme for learners while waiting for a permanent solution.
At the moment, about 28 mobile classes have been delivered to an identified site to accommodate affected learners. Plans are also afoot to finalise water connectivity so that learners can occupy the mobile units as soon as reasonably possible.
He said further plans are in progress to accommodate all Grade 12 learners at a camp in due course, with the intention to assist them before their final examination.
Ramulifho told Inside Education that Chiloane has not done much since February.
“I think the MEC is out of his depth. This thing broke out on February 09, 2023- the MEC only sent a team on Friday following my visit. We want him to be proactive. He must get mobile classrooms.
“I personally called MEC Chiloane when I visited the areas pleading with him to send his team,” said in an interview with Inside Education.
He said because Khutsong is far removed from the main city centres, the department is relaxed knowing very well chances of media visiting and exposing the problem is limited.
“While we know that this is not a man-made thing, we expect the MEC to have developed alternative plans by now,” he said.
He urged the MEC to provide an attendant register since February as proof that learners have been attending classes.
On Monday, Chiloane also lambasted Ramulifho for deliberately misinterpreting the Department’s information on the number of dropouts in the province.
“To claim that more than 110 000 children dropped out of our schools last year shows how little Ramulifho understands Gauteng’s complex schooling system. Our data shows that the 110 000 learners he is referring to are learners lost to the system in the last 12 years in total – from 2010 to 2022. Those learners are not in the system for various reasons, including, but not limited to, moving to private schools or out of the province, some failed and migrated to other Countries. We will continue to monitor the situation at the school and ensure that we provide more support, as needed. We call for patience and urge the community to allow us to implement our interventions so that our children do not suffer any further,” he said.
Chiloane requested all stakeholders to refrain from exploiting the natural catastrophe at the expense of Gauteng learners.
The DA had claimed that parents of 10 learners have already indicated that they will be relocating their children to other provinces. In addition, Ramulifho said he fears that more learners may leave or drop out of school, adding to the over 100 000 dropout rates from 2022.
Khutsong is known for having sinkholes, which become more prevalent after heavy rains.
In February, a large sinkhole emerged at the Relebogile High School affecting the toilets and left holes in certain parts of the building.
INSIDE EDUCATION