Mud schools: South Africa's children deserve better

Note to editors: the following statement accompanies a press conference held in Parliament this morning. A copy of the document released at that press conference is available online.

I recently concluded a series of visits to some of the poorest schools in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The substandard level of infrastructure and support provided at these schools demonstrates how far we have to go to provide an optimal standard of basic education to all of our students. Delivery of basic amenities like electricity, water and sanitation is slow to non-existent in the areas I visited. Without them, children are essentially unable to enjoy their constitutional rights.

The plight of learners in the areas I visited needs to be placed right at the centre of our national agenda. So today, I have:

* Proposed that a debate be held in Parliament on the challenges facing basic education in South Africa.

* Proposed that this debate include the critical issues of what government should be obliged to provide our learners and what penalties officials should face if they fail to roll out school infrastructure in a timely manner.

* Released a comprehensive summary of the findings of my visit, which is available in a document accompanying this statement, which is also available online.

* Requested from the Eastern Cape and Limpopo MECs details of the steps being undertaken presently to address the desperate infrastructure shortfalls at the schools that I visited, and others in a similar state.

According to the latest National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) report from 2007, of the 24,000 of the public schools in the country:

* 25% do not have water facilities,
* 15% do not have sanitation facilities,
* 24% are overcrowded,
* 75% do not have libraries,
* they are short a total of 31 254 classrooms,
* 50% of Eastern Cape schools use ordinary pit latrines - and only 20% of schools in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo have flush toilets,
* 90% of secondary schools lack functioning laboratories,
* 68% of schools have no computers, and
* Only 2% of schools are equipped for disabled learners.

These infrastructure backlogs constitute a threat to learners' right to a basic education.

These failings have recently been highlighted by the court case brought by seven ‘mud schools' in the Eastern Cape. Comprehensive norms and standards for schools were prescribed by former Education Minister Naledi Pandor in 2008-9. Implementation of the norms and standards - from educational spaces to service provision - have been reasonable in some provinces but inadequate in others, such as the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the North West.

Two weeks ago, I visited Nomandla Senior Primary School in the Eastern Cape. Despite a motivated principal and staff, the school was in dire shape. Three classrooms were mud huts, three others were cinder block structures - all made from the donations from the community. But without proper walls, windows and roofs, the rooms were freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer. Without electricity, the teachers had to use the blackboards sparingly so the children didn't strain their eyes squinting to read in the darkness. Without piped-water, they lacked a potable water source to quench the learners' thirsts. Teachers and students had to share rudimentary pit latrine toilets.

This week I went to two schools in Limpopo, both of which were in bad state of disrepair. Neither had libraries, laboratories, computer facilities, or sufficient classrooms and staff rooms. And they lacked a culture of maintenance as everything was falling apart. At one, some children were taught under a tree. Both seemed likely to continue producing weak results as their matric pass rates were 2% at one, 20% at the other. Surely this is not what our government had in mind when guaranteeing the right to a basic education? The fact is, South Africa's children deserve better.

There are three fundamental aspects to having a quality education system. First, teachers must be qualified to teach their subjects. Secondly, teachers must work in a functional school environment, with clear rules for recognising performance and ensuring accountability. Thirdly, there must be a modern curriculum delivered in a built infrastructure serviced appropriately according existing norms and standards.

Either the courts will compel governments to act and do so in a timely and responsible manner or we can. It is for that reason that I proposed a debate in the House on this matter -- so that we can start defining what government should be accountable for, when it comes providing a basic education. We've let the problem fester for too long. Clarity will offer a chance for improvement.

Statement issued by Wilmot James, MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Basic Education, October 28 2010

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