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The Gauteng Department of Education's (GDE) failure to meet its promises to supply schools with sufficient resources for the 2023 Academic Year has compromised learning and teaching at Ekurhuleni Schools.

The DA’s School readiness tour has discovered that Laerskool Birchleigh, Hoërskool Birchleigh and Phomolong Secondary are three schools in Ekurhuleni which are on high demand for learner placement but are still in need for more classrooms.

Despite this, the department has yet again failed to supply these schools with additional mobile classrooms even though it made a promise to Laerskool Birchleigh to fund the school for additional classes.

Instead, it has only supplied the school with two mobile classrooms, leaving the school to rent six mobile classrooms to accommodate learners at the cost of over R6000 monthly each, which is taken from school fees.

We understand that learner placement is the biggest issue basic education is dealing with now. However, we demand that GDE equally meet its demand for schools to accommodate learners to match the number of classrooms, furniture, and stationery it supplies.

In Laerskool Birchleigh and Hoërskool Birchleigh the schools are still partially using asbestos infrastructure for classrooms which is unacceptable.

See images here, here and here.

Moreover, the long wait for additional mobile classrooms and chairs at Phomolong Secondary is frustrating the educators while they are expected to produce good results while teaching in an unconducive learning environment.

In Phomolong Secondary, the most vulnerable parents fundraised money from their pockets so their children could have an additional 200 chairs.

The DA is concerned that communities are sitting with a huge responsibility of maintaining and upgrading their schools while government fails to supply resources.

The DA demands that the GDE keep to its word and swiftly supply these schools with mobile classrooms.

We will also write to the MEC to establish when he will eradicate the hazardous asbestos infrastructure at Laerskool Birchleigh and Hoërskool Birchleigh.

Issued by Khume Ramulifho MPL - DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education