Bleak start to academic year for high school learners in Tsitsikamma

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Over 150 high school learners from Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape are currently sitting at home due to the unavailability of a High School in their area. Disgruntled parents say the provincial Education Department had committed to providing additional classrooms for the high school learners at Tsitsikamma Primary School. But this did not happen. The nearest high school for the community is 70 kilometres away and no scholar transport is provided for the learners.

It was a bleak start to the 2024 academic year for the learners, who are unable to get a basic education. The area is in dire need of a high school as the parents cannot afford to transport their children to schools in nearby communities. Parents are uncertain if the proposed change of Tsitsikamma Primary School to a high school will materialize.

“This has been happening for some time now, we need intervention from the government,” a parent says.

“I am a pensioner and I cannot afford transport. I am heartbroken because my child is roaming around the streets now,” a parent explains.

The Tsitsikamma Primary School governing body says proper processes have not been followed in converting the school to a high school.

“The school has not been informed in writing about the conversion of the school. There is no way this can be done without that. We have requested formal writing and to this day we have not received it. We are not saying the school must not be converted but this must be done through the proper channels,” says Burton Mlandu, Tsitsikamma Primary School SGB member.

Meanwhile, teaching and learning at the nearby Qhayiyalethu Secondary School have been disrupted by the parents of learners from Tsitsikamma Primary School as they await a resolution to their problem. Over 900 learners have been affected.

“No child will come to school while mine is sitting at home. How can they exclude them from getting their right, this is not fair,” a parent elaborates.

“I am here as a parent, some of the children hitchhike and this is not safe, all the surrounding areas have been affected and all we need is transportation for our children. We have been sent back and forth without any clarity,” another parent says.

The Department of Education says they are still in the process of determining when the school will be built.

“We are aware of the issue and there have been various meetings held to change the school to a high school so that the learners do not travel a long distance. We had already arranged the deployment of teachers and stationery. The meeting is really needed to finalize that so as to ensure the building of the school,” says Malibongwe Mtima, Eastern Cape Education Department spokesperson.

The Department of Transport says due to budget constraints, they had to decrease the number of learners benefitting from scholar transport. But it says there’s a team of officials attending to this matter.

VIDEO: Learners stranded as Tsitsikamma Primary School not yet transformed to also take high school pupils: